After a string of flops such as Imagine That, A Thousand Words and Meet Dave, Eddie Murphy has found himself in the unenviable position of being named ‘Hollywood’s Most Overpaid Actor’, topping Forbes magazine’s list of low-to-no-value-for-money A-listers.
The magazine has gathered box office data for the last three non-animation movies for each actor over the previous three years and divided this by their upfront and backend fees to calculate a “return on investment” number, which shows how much a studio earns for each dollar invested.
According to this formula, Murphy has made $2.30 for every $1 he’s been paid – in fairness, that’s still a pretty healthy profit, and probably goes some way to explaining how Murphy is still finding work, despite the fact he’s only made a couple of decent films since his heyday in the 1980s.
Here’s the top ten in full…
1. Eddie Murphy – $2.30
2. Katherine Heigl – $3.40
3. Reese Witherspoon – $3.90
4. Sandra Bullock – $5
5. Jack Black – $5.20
6. Nicolas Cage – $6
7. Adam Sandler – $6.30
8. Denzel Washington – $6.30
9. Ben Stiller – $6.50
10. Sarah Jessica Parker – $7
Originally published December 6, 2012. Updated April 10, 2018.
