Lawrence tops box office earnings list

Jennifer Lawrence has been named Hollywood’s highest-grossing actor of 2014.

The 24-year-old star has topped Forbes’ annual ranking, based on figures from Box Office Mojo, after her blockbusters The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 and X-Men: Days Of Future Past pulled in a combined figure of $1.4bn (€1.14bn) at the worldwide box office earlier this year.

Chris Pratt, 35, followed closely behind in second place with $1.2bn in global grosses after the success of his movies Guardians Of The Galaxy and the comedy The Lego Movie.

Scarlett Johansson, 30, who gave birth to her first child Rose in September, climbed into the third spot after her films Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Black Widow, Lucy, and Under The Skin made a total of $1.18bn in global grosses.

Mark Wahlberg, 43, secured fourth position with $1bn thanks to Transformers: Age Of Extinction, while Chris Evans, 33, finished off the top five with $801m after the success of The Winter Soldier and the sci-fi action film Snowpiercer.

Meanwhile, Emma Stone, 26, just missed out on the top five after her films The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Magic in the Moonlight, and Birdman secured $764m at the box office.

Angelina Jolie, 39, jumped into seventh position after her movie Maleficent scored $758m, while James McAvoy, 35, ended up in eighth place after X-Men: Days of Future Past and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby secured $747m.

Michael Fassbender, 37, and Hugh Jackman, 46, finished off the top ten after their movies both made $746m.

The Huffington Post said Lawrence made the list last year but only took in a gross of $700m. In 2013, Dwayne Johnson took the number one spot with $1.3bn.

Next year Lawrence’ will appear in the final instalment of the Hunger Games and she will also see her working again with American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook director David O. Russell in the film Joy.

Meanwhile, Adam Sandler topped Forbes’ list of Hollywood’s most overpaid actors for a second consecutive year, nudging out Johnny Depp and Tom Hanks for the dubious honour, the magazine said.

Although Sandler’s latest film Grown Ups 2 was a hit, pulling in $246m at the global box office, it didn’t go far enough to make up for the 48-year-old’s previous flops, Jack and Jill and That’s My Boy.

“We estimate that for every $1 Sandler was paid, he returned an average of $3.20,” said Forbes, the lowest return on investment of any actor whose record the magazine examined.

Depp, came in second on the overpaid list, returning an average of $4.10 for each dollar paid.

Taken turning US parents off sending kids to Europe

Hollywood star Liam Neeson has said his Taken film series is stopping US parents sending their children abroad on school trips.

The kidnap thrillers have become the surprise movie hits of the last century thanks to the screen presence of the Ballymena, Co Antrim, actor who plays an ex-CIA operative taking bloody revenge on thugs who capture his daughter in the first film and his wife in the second movie.

Neeson — who has reinvented himself as one of the world’s biggest actions stars in middle age –proved to be box office gold with Taken 2 raking in €273m globally in 2012 with Taken 3 expected to be another huge hit.   Lynne Kelleher