Hollywood Babble On & On #832: Presenting An All-Star Cast!

It's that time of the year again. No not Autumn, I'm talking about it being the time that Forbes magazine publishes it's annual list of Hollywood's most overpaid stars.

Here's a brief run through the top ten.

 
1. Drew Barrymore  For every $1 Barrymore is paid, her films return an average 40 cents.

2. Eddie Murphy For every $1 Murphy is paid, his films return an average $2.70. 

3. Will Ferrell  For every $1 Ferrell is paid, his films return an average $3.50. 

4. Reese Witherspoon  For every $1 Witherspoon is paid, her films return an average $3.55. 

5. Denzel Washington  For every $1 Washington is paid, his films return an average $4.25. 

6. Nicolas Cage For every $1 Cage is paid, his films return an average $4.40. 

7. Adam Sandler  For every $1 Sandler is paid, his films return an average $5.20. 

8. Vince Vaughn  For every $1 Vaughn is paid, his films return an average $5.20. 

9. Tom Cruise  For every $1 Cruise is paid, his films return an average $6.35

10. Nicole Kidman  For every $1 Kidman is paid, her films return an average $6.70.

Now here is what I learned from this list:

Some stars, once thought safe bets in a certain genre/budget, can become great big financial negatives when their appeal goes down just as prices go up. (Drew Barrymore.)

Some stars can be hurt by being in some expensive flops in an otherwise fairly solid record. (Reese Witherspoon, Vince Vaughn, Tom Cruise)

Quite a few stars have prices so big that can negatively impact the profitability of the films they star in, regardless of the film's box office performance. (Adam Sandler, Nicholas Cage, Denzel Washington.)

Some stars coast on a combination of past success, and name recognition. (Will Ferrell, Eddie Murphy)

And when Nicole Kidman, who has dropped more bombs than Curtis LeMay, is considered the best investment among this crew, the "star system" as we know it is completely screwed up beyond all hope of repair.

In fact, movie stardom as we once knew it may be all an...

Of course if you try telling the people who run Hollywood this, you get this as their reaction.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU! LALALALA!"

Now what I'd like to see next is a list of Hollywood's most underpaid stars.  Does anyone have a definitive list of who delivers best for the money?