adminlist, determined by the misalignment between star salaries and their films’ box office take, Murphy, once a one-man gold mine with 1980s hits such as “Trading Places” and “Beverly Hills Cop”, displaced Drew Barrymore for the top spot.
“Murphy’s career has just collapsed,” Forbes said, citing such recent box office bombs as “Imagine That”, “A Thousand Words” and “Meet Dave”.
Weighing box office receipts against paycheques, Forbes calculated that for every dollar Murphy was paid for his last three films, they returned an average of just US$2,30 at the box office. Murphy placed second on the list a year ago. Popular actresses such as Katherine Heigl, and Oscar winners Reese Witherspoon and Sandra Bullock, made the top five, with “returns” ranging from US$3,40 to US$5.
Forbes took issue with Witherspoon’s “questionable” choices such as the star-laden, James L. Brooks romantic comedy “How Do You Know”, which was one of 2010’s worst-performing films. It cost US$120 million, much of which went toward star salaries, but grossed a paltry US$49 million.
The cast included two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington, as well as actors generally considered solid at the box office such as Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller.
“Washington’s films do fine at the box office but he can demand an outsized paycheck on those movies,” Forbes noted. — Reuters.
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