Matt Damon offers best box-office return on salary

I think this is a great way to calculate an actor's worth! What do you guys think?

- Ray

Published: Tuesday, 7 August, 2007

NEW YORK: Hollywood actors regularly earn millions of dollars per movie, but are they worth it? Apparently some are. A Forbes magazine survey published yesterday showed Matt Damon offers the best box-office return on his salary, more than twice that of Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise.

For every dollar The Bourne Ultimatum star was paid for his last three roles, the films returned $29 in gross income. Jennifer Aniston was the top-ranked actress, making No 5 on the list with a gross income return of $17. Damon’s first two outings in the Bourne trilogy have so far grossed around $850mn worldwide at the box office and in DVD sales, Forbes said.

The latest instalment opened last weekend, taking $70.2mn at the US box office. Aniston’s rank was mainly the result of her role in The Break Up, which grossed around $288mn worldwide. Aniston’s ex-husband Brad Pitt came in at No 2, earning $24 for every dollar of his salary, while Aniston’s former boyfriend Vince Vaughn grabbed third spot with $21, tying with Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp.

“The biggest stars in Hollywood are not the actors that deliver the biggest returns,” Michael Ozanian, Forbes senior editor, said in a statement. The survey found movies starring Hollywood heavyweights Hanks, Cruise and Will Smith averaged $12, $11 and $10 in gross income respectively for every salary dollar. Funnymen Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell and Jim Carrey ranked near the bottom with Sandler bringing in $9 in gross income, and Ferrell and Carrey $8. “American comedies don’t translate as well as action flicks to foreign audiences,” Forbes said. Coming in at the bottom of the list was Oscar-winner Russell Crowe, whose past three movies – A Good Year, Cinderella Man and Master and Commander – all disappointed at the box office and earned an average gross income of only $5 for each $1 of the Australian’s salary.

Forbes.com calculated the net revenue for a film by adding the worldwide box office and US DVD revenues and then taking away the budget. The net revenue was divided by an actor’s total compensation to produce gross income. The average gross income of an actor’s past three movies produced their return. - Reuters