Eddie Murphy named most overpaid actor

Wellington: Eddie Murphy, who was once among Hollywood’s top box office draws, now has the dubious honour of being crowned its most overpaid actor.

According to Forbes magazine’s annual list, determined by the misalignment between star salaries and their films’ box office take, Murphy, once a one-man gold mine with 1980s hits such as ‘Trading Places’ and ‘Beverly Hills Cop,’ displaced Drew Barrymore for the top spot, Stuff.co.nz reported. “Murphy’s career has just collapsed,” Forbes said, citing such recent box office bombs as ‘Imagine That,’ ‘A Thousand Words’ and ‘Meet Dave.’ Weighing box office receipts against pay cheques, Forbes calculated that for every dollar Murphy was paid for his last three films, they returned an average of just 2.30 dollars at the box office. Murphy placed second on the list a year ago. Popular actresses such as Katherine Heigl, and Oscar winners Reese Witherspoon and Sandra Bullock, made the top five, with “returns” ranging from 3.40 dollars to 5 dollars. ANI