Billy Bob Thornton, Tom Cruise and Jim Carrey also made the top 10 tally of actors who cost more to hire than they appear to be worth at box offices.Ferrell took first place largely due to the flop of his summer 2009 movie “Land of the Lost,” which Forbes said cost an estimated $100 million to make but earned just $65 million at box offices worldwide for movie studio Universal Pictures. The movie followed a disappointing $43 million box office for Ferrell’s 2008 outing “Semi-Pro,” and $128 million for “Step Brothers.”
Using a formula that calculated the actor’s estimated salary on each film, including DVD and TV sales, compared to the film’s revenues from theater box offices and elsewhere, Forbes.com said that for every dollar Ferrell was paid, his films earned an average $3.29. To create the list, the financial news Web site looked at Hollywood’s 100 biggest stars who had lead performances in at least three widely distributed movies in the last five years. McGregor, best known for “Trainspotting” and his work in the “Star Wars” franchise, is not among Hollywood’s highest paid actors but has recently proved a poor investment, averaging a return of $3.75.
