Most Profitable Star: Naomi Watts
Filed under: Newsstand
In this time of economic uncertainty and the potential evaporating of the old, reliable Hollywood star system, some math nerds may have saved the jobs of ten lucky actresses. Forbes Magazine has recently completed its annual list of female stars that provide the most bang for the buck. Their poll process is pretty complex. To qualify, actors must have appeared in at least three movies over the past five years that opened on 500 screens or more. Someone then adds up and averages the actors' salary on each film, each film's budget and each film's final gross. This year's winner: Naomi Watts, who earned $44 for each $1 she was paid. Despite starring in interesting movies like The Painted Veil, Funny Games and Eastern Promises, it looks as if Watts' place on the list was snagged mostly by King Kong, which earned $550 million worldwide.
In second place, we have Jennifer Connelly, who earned $41 for each $1 she was paid. Her film The Day the Earth Stood Still earned $80 million in the US, but on a $79 million budget. Her success probably resides mostly in the hit chick flick He's Just Not That Into You. It's easier to figure out the third place winner, Rachel McAdams, who starred in a string of more modest hits, like The Notebook, Red Eye, Wedding Crashers, The Family Stone and The Time Traveler's Wife.
In fourth place we have Natalie Portman, earning $28 for every $1 she was paid, probably thanks to Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith and V for Vendetta. In fifth place came Meryl Streep, earning $27 for every $1 she was paid; Forbes credits her success mainly to the huge Mamma Mia! (and probably having nothing to do with Lions for Lambs).
Rounding out the top ten, we have: Jennifer Aniston, Halle Berry, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway and Hilary Swank. Interestingly, neither Julia Roberts or Angelina Jolie cracked the top 10.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-07-2009 @ 8:23PM
Andy said...
Hey, it's good to rank like this...that's more acting bang for your buck right there.
Although it's a bummer to see Jennifer Aniston on this list mostly because she annoys the jitterbuggin Jesus out of me. Maybe they take into account the money they make for grocery store tabloids.
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10-07-2009 @ 8:06PM
DJ Heinlein said...
Naomi Watts = Yummy
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10-07-2009 @ 8:06PM
juwan808 said...
I guess Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie and Dakota Fanning, who I think was the #1 female earner a year ago, are just too big to qualify for the most profitable. Their paychecks take a large chunk out of the profits up front, which affects their overall profitability margin.
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10-07-2009 @ 10:43PM
Jason7@ said...
This means that "big stars" with high paycheck demands are not worth it for the studios. Actresses like Julia Roberts, Reese Witherspoo, Angelina Jolie, Cameron Diaz will have to take a pay cut in order to be profitable. Known actors don't sell films on their names alone anymore so it is beyond ridiculous to pay 20M to any actor nowadays. They should invest more in good marketing.
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10-08-2009 @ 8:05AM
Robin said...
Interesting, so not even accounting for those (stupid, stupid) DirecTV commercials she is big money.
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