Kidman tops list of least bankable stars

NICOLE KIDMAN was named the most overpaid celebrity in Hollywood in the second annual list of the least bankable stars by US magazine Forbes, taking the top slot from fellow Australian Russell Crowe.

Kidman’s films were estimated to earn only $1 for every dollar the Oscar-winning actress was paid, compared with $8 a year ago.

The Invasion, a remake of the 1956 classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers, even lost $2.68 for every dollar earned by Kidman, who was reportedly paid $17 million (€12.2m).

“Despite winning an Oscar for her performance in 2002’s The Hours, Kidman has become the most overpaid celebrity in Hollywood,” said Forbes.

Second on the list came Jennifer Garner, whose movies — including The Kingdom and Catch and Release — have underperformed at the box office. Her movies were calculated to earn $3.60 for every $1 she was paid.

Kidman’s ex-husband, Tom Cruise, came third on the list with a $4 return for every dollar he was paid, mostly because of the failure of last year’s movie Lions for Lambs. For every dollar the star earned, the film returned only $1.88.

Forbes said the ranking was compiled by looking at a star’s past three movies and dividing their total earnings by the films’ gross income to get the actor’s payback figure.

Making up the top 10 overpaid Hollywood celebrities were Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Jim Carrey, Nicolas Cage, Drew Barrymore, Will Ferrell and Cate Blanchett.

The actor whose bankability improved most over the past year was Crowe, who was ranked the most overpaid celebrity last year when Kidman was in second place.

Last year, Forbes estimated the movie Cinderella Man earned $5 for every dollar Crowe was paid. But this year he was the 18th best earner on a list of actors who were worth their pay, with a return of $6.88 for every dollar he earned.

This shift was attributed to last year’s movie American Gangster with Denzel Washington, for which Crowe returned $10.80 for every dollar he was paid.