Posted on 09/01/2010 1:50:17 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
For the second straight year, "Transformers" star Shia LaBeouf topped a Forbes.com list of Hollywood's Best Actors for the Buck with women claiming five of the top 10 spots compared to zero last year.
Based on the financial news site's own calculations, for every $1 the studios spent on LaBeouf, his films return about $81 of profit. Those movies included "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" ($836 million worldwide box office) and the fourth "Indiana Jones" film ($787 million).
Anne Hathaway took the No. 2 spot, earning the studios $64 off of her films for every dollar they spent for her to star in "Alice in Wonderland" ($1 billion global box office) and "Bride Wars," among others.
Hathaway's emergence bumped last year's runner-up, "Wanted" actor James McAvoy, completely off the top 10 list.
"Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe was No. 3 this year, while "Iron Man's" Robert Downey Jr. nabbed fourth. Both moved up a spot from last year.
Behind them, Cate Blanchett came in fifth and Meryl Streep and Jennifer Aniston were tied in sixth place.
Johnny Depp, Nicolas Cage and Sarah Jessica Parker round out the top 10. The full list can be found at www.forbes.com.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
The only thing I know about this kid is that he was in that dismal last installment of Indiana Jones. I guess I must be getting old if I don’t know why he’s on this list.
CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE LIST AND EXPLANATION :
Here is Forbes’ Methodology ...
In order to create our list we looked at the top 36 earners in Hollywood. To qualify, each actor had to have starred in at least three movies in the past five years that opened in more than 500 theaters. Movies that opened after June 1 of this year are not counted. We did not include animated films because the actors aren’t really the draw and they tend to take pay cuts for voice work.
We then used data gathered for our annual Celebrity 100 list to calculate each star’s estimated earnings on each film (including upfront pay and any earnings from the movie’s box-office receipts, DVD and TV sales). We then looked at each movie’s estimated budget (not including marketing costs, which are susceptible to accounting chicanery) and box-office, DVD and television earnings to figure out an operating income for each film.
We added up each star’s compensation on his or her last three films and the operating income on those films and divided total operating income by the star’s total compensation to come up with each return on investment number. The final number represents an average of how much a studio earns for every dollar paid to the actor.
Because women typically earn less than men in Hollywood, they make up a full half of our top 10 list. Anne Hathaway is the highest-ranking woman in the No. 2 spot. For every dollar she earns studios earn $64 off of her films.
You are more dialed in than me. I thought Shia was a she-a.
Outside of a streaks of hits built by the likes of Tom Cruise and Will Smith (featuring a variety of genres and types of roles) there is absolutely no way to determine to my satisfaction that an actor is worth his paycheck. I’m convinced no one went to see either Transformers movie nor “Indiana Jones: Aw, Screw It, Something About Aliens and Aztecs or Something” because of Shia Lebouf.
I went to see the first Transformers movie in theaters 7 times, mostly because I’m a long-time fan of the franchise.
RE: Anne Hathaway
Some Entertainment reporters dub her as the second coming of Audrey Hepburn. Do you or anyone else agree with this assessment ?
The last Indiana Jones movie may have been “dismal” in your view but the article is about who gives a return for investment. LaBeouf was in the Transformers movies too and though I thought they were lame they made insane amounts of money.
“’Bang for the buck’ is what producers look for when casting young actresses.” -Sarkoff, Hollywood insider
For a group that claims to be so enlightened, it's funny to see this hypocrisy.
He’s cute. He was in a golf movie.
I don’t know what Hepburn has done, but I do know Anne Hathaway is quite naturally beautiful.
The first transformers was unwatchable...walked out.I can suspend reality only so far, absolute Sh!t.
RE: I don’t know what Hepburn has done
Haven’t you seen the classics — ROMAN HOLIDAY ( where Hepburn won an Oscar playing a princess), MY FAIR LADY, CHARADE, BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’s, etc. ?
RE: The first transformers was unwatchable...walked out
I actually stayed on to wait for the next scene with Megan Fox on it. Those were the only scenes worth watching ( NOT her acting mind you ).
I don’t watch or read what people consider to be ‘classics’. I’m only 24 and am mainly concerned about stuff from the 1980’s-on.
Ahh, but were any of them successful BECAUSE Shia was in them? That’s the important question. I remember the same faulty logic being used by Demi Moore’s agent to get her a huge payday back in the 90’s. She got her payday. Once. The movie was such a dismal failure that we didn’t hear from her much again until she started robbing the cradle and praying to Obama. Sometimes, a high concept movie and an actor fit together, but many folks have lost a lot of money betting that just because a star chose a few high concept films in a row, that it makes him ‘bankable’.
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