Will Ferrell's been named one of the most overpaid actors in H-wood.
Will Ferrell has had a tough run lately at the box office, especially with this summer's "Land of The Lost": the $100 million film was supposed to be a franchise-starter for Universal, only to wither and die with only $65m in box office receipts. It's math like that that's landed Ferrell on Forbes' "Most Overpaid Actors" list. Read on for the details, my gentle Examiner readers...
We like Will Ferrell here at the Comedy Examiner's Office, but we also recognize that his last few films have been dead on arrival: "Land of The Lost" bombed justifiably, as did "Semi-Pro" a few years back. But now, Ferrell's being called out for being a bad investment by Forbes.
In a recent list of 'The Most Overpaid Actors in Hollywood", Ferrell is on top (with new "Star Wars" trilogy star Ewan McGregor a close second). Here's what they're saying:
Land of the Lost's dismal box office helped land star Will Ferrell at the top of our annual list of Hollywood's Most Overpaid Stars...Ferrell's 2008 film Semi-Pro earned only $43 million. Step Brothers did better with $128 million, but it wasn't enough to help Ferrell--mainly because the star commands a high salary in comedies where he plays his trademark man-child role.
For every dollar Ferrell was paid, his films earned an average $3.29. Compare that to Shia LaBeouf, who topped our list of Best Actors for the Buck in August. For every dollar LaBeouf was paid, his films earned an average $160.
That's gotta sting a bit, right? One thing we learned from this article: two Universal execs were fired in the aftermath of the "Land of The Lost" bombing. With the economy in the state that it's in, even studios that have an extra $100m lying around to make a special-effects extravaganza comedy aren't able to take on a $35m loss (and, in all likelihood, those figures are being kind to the situation: factor in marketing for that comedy, and you're looking at another $40m, easy). Wonder if Will Ferrell plans on dropping his asking price any time soon?
Know what other comedian ended up on the list? Eddie Murphy. Here's what his numbers look like:
Besides Will Ferrell, other big names on our list include Eddie Murphy and Tom Cruise. Murphy (who ranks fourth) has commanded one of the highest quotes in Hollywood for his work in family comedies, thanks to the performance of movies like The Nutty Professor, which grossed $274 million at the worldwide box office.
But lately his return on investment has fallen off a cliff. Last year's Meet Dave was a box office disaster, earning only $50 million worldwide. This year's Imagine That did even worse, bringing in $18 million. Murphy escaped being named the most overpaid star thanks to 2007's Norbit, which earned $160 million. For every dollar Murphy was paid, his films earned an average $4.43.
We're shocked that Murphy actually came out looking better in this thing than Ferrell did, but we suppose that we also forgot "Norbit" even existed. For the full article detailing what other actors are wastes of your time and money, head on over to Forbes. And here's hoping that both Ferrell and Murphy will pull out of the slump that they're currently in.
While we're waiting on that to happen (it could be a minute), let's take a look at some of the other recent articles from the Comedy Examiner's Office:
"South Park" takes on minorities, public urination, and waterparks in its 13th season finale (with video)"-- in which we review the "South Park" season finale and offer up video of one of the most gleefully offensive songs in the series' history. Click the link, feel your jaw drop.
"Eddie Murphy's next film? "The Misadventures of Fluffy" (you read that right)"-- in which we learn what project Eddie Murphy's lined up and you'll be avoiding probably next summer. Click the link for your warning.
"Michael Moore's comedic documentary "Capitalism" gets snubbed for Oscar love"-- in which we look at the news that Moore's latest doc, "Capitalism: A Love Story", is getting shut out at this year's Oscars.
(photo: starpulse.com)
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