entertainment

Johnny Depp, Will Smith, George Clooney on 'overpaid' Forbes list

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Depp led the list for the second straight year after his movie “Alice Through The Looking Glass” brought in just $300 million at the global box-office after costing about $170 million to produce.

A profit of "just" 130 million? Please, if that is considered a flop now a days, feel free to donate the money made to my favorite charity! ME!

4 ( +5 / -1 )

It calculated that Depp, whose 2015 movie “Mortdecai” also bombed, returned just $2.8 at the box office for every $1 he was paid.

These figures don't explain things. If I made an employer $2.80 for every dollar I was paid, I would feel pretty secure in my job, and maybe even underpaid.

The more difficult thing to determine is how much the star actually contributes to the box office receipts. Things like plot, marketing, writing are pretty important, too. A lot of hit movies I think would have done just as well with a less famous actor in the lead. Other times, some crappy movies probably manage to make a profit only because of the star.

I think Hollywood got in the habit of promoting stars 90 years ago, and can't get out of it. I don't think having a big name star is as important as it used to be.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

I'd be more interested in a list of underpaid actors.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

These figures don't explain things. If I made an employer $2.80 for every dollar I was paid, I would feel pretty secure in my job, and maybe even underpaid.

I wish all my employees brought that kind of return.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

I am not in the entertainment industry so I am not at all sure what the expected ratio is there. Also we make nowhere near what these entertainers do. In this case though it seems that there are other actors and support people involved that also need to be paid so if an entire movie is only grossing 2.8 times what ONE actor is paid that seems pretty crazy! On the other hand, the movie did seem to make a nice profit however......guess I chose the wrong profession!!!

In my business we consider 3 to 1 to be about right considering overhead costs (rent, utilities, licences and fees, etc. etc. etc.) and payroll taxes and to account for business cycles as well. We have been operating there for several years and the end result is that at the end of the FY all employees get a pretty good bonus (do not do the Japan twice a year style and all of the Japanese employees seem to really like it).

I am by no means a socialist, however there are times I wonder.....looking at the salary of a teacher for example as opposed to an athlete or actor.....it seems it would be better to put more value on those who are entrusted to teach your children than those playing a sport or acting. When I bring this type of point up it always seems to inspire a very lively debate regardless of which side of the issue one is on.

As RealityofFake said it would be quite interesting to see the underpaid list too!

5 ( +5 / -0 )

I am by no means a socialist, however there are times I wonder.....looking at the salary of a teacher for example as opposed to an athlete or actor.....it seems it would be better to put more value on those who are entrusted to teach your children than those playing a sport or acting.

I couldn't agree more. Investing in education is investing in the future of your country, with the bonus being that we get to live around less stupid people.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

@Yubaru i am not sure but they spend a huge amount on promoting the films, but i do not think they spend a 100 million on promoting the movie.

Tomorrow land was not a bad movie

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@Yubaru i am not sure but they spend a huge amount on promoting the films, but i do not think they spend a 100 million on promoting the movie.

I just googled that, as I was curious how much they do spend, and it looks like $100 million is not uncommon: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/200-million-rising-hollywood-struggles-721818

0 ( +1 / -1 )

it seems it would be better to put more value on those who are entrusted to teach your children than those playing a sport or acting.

I agree. But easier said than done. Maybe if we allowed teachers to shine like stars, and let those stars demand greater pay. The compensation system in place now makes little distinction between a poor teacher and a great teacher.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Commanteer....I think that is also true. I am not sure what the answer is as that is not particularly my area of expertise. On the other hand I am well over 50 but I still remember very vividly.....almost as it was yesterday....the teachers that convinced me to study engineering and their willingness to support my efforts. They were the "George Clooney", "Michael Jordan", "Leonardo DiCaprio", etc. of the teaching profession. They were also very unselfish and caring people. The sad part is that some of the actors/sports stars make in a half day what the teachers made in a year.

It is fascinating to see what it costs to make these movies. I do understand as well that the industry does provide jobs and is an economy in and of itself.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Well, seeing as a movie generally needs to bring in revenues of about 3x the budget just to break even, these figures are disastrous

2 ( +2 / -0 )

If they are overpaid it's because they are also overrated by producers and/or lazy film makers who think 'stars' will bring $ no matter how poor their movie is. Unfortunately for them this is only partially true.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Only overpaid in the eyes of the envious.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

If they are overpaid it's because they are also overrated by producers and/or lazy film makers who think 'stars' will bring $ no matter how poor their movie is.

I think the fault lies at the producers/investors end. A lot of the people who provide the money to get a movie made are not film pros. They are just people with money who want to get in show biz. And even the studios are dominated by pencil pushers.

These people can't tell a good script from a bad script, but they do know a movie star when they see one. Joe Blow, the investor, is approached by two film makers. One has a great script, with a great writer and brilliant ideas. The other has Tom Cruise with no script and only vague ideas of a story. Guess who gets the money?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I couldn't agree more. Investing in education is investing in the future of your country, with the bonus being that we get to live around less stupid people.

Condescension alert.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Hey, someone is worth whatever someone is willing to pay them, lol.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

I could see George Clooney and Johnny Depp being overpaid but not Will Smith he's one of the best actors in the bussiness

0 ( +0 / -0 )

That's a good problem to have!!!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

A.N.Other, agreed.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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