Matt Damon Delivers Most Bang for the Buck on "Ultimate Star Payback" Ranking

Business Wire, August 6, 2007

Jennifer Aniston Delivers Highest Return Among Actresses

NEW YORK -- Forbes.com today published Forbes' inaugural ranking of Hollywood stars who deliver the highest returns at the box office, based on their pay.

The "Forbes Ultimate Star Payback" - available exclusively on Forbes.com - ranks 22 actors with starring roles in their past three major motion pictures. According to Forbes Senior Editor Michael Ozanian, "The biggest stars in Hollywood are not the actors that deliver the biggest returns."

Net revenue figures were calculated for each of the actor's films by adding up their worldwide box office and U.S. DVD and video rentals, and then subtracting the budget. The net revenue figure was then divided by the actor's total compensation to derive gross income. The average gross income for the actor's last three major motion pictures is the "payback."

So which actors can studios rely on for the ultimate payback? Matt Damon tops the list - for every dollar he got paid, his movies averaged $29 of gross income. (This does not include The Bourne Ultimatum, released this past weekend). Jennifer Aniston is the actress that delivered the highest return, with $17 in gross income for each dollar paid. The top five and their gross payback:

                   1)   Matt Damon                $29
                   2)   Brad Pitt                 $24
                   3)   Vince Vaughn              $21
                   3)   Johnny Depp               $21
                   5)   Jennifer Aniston          $17

At the bottom of the list is Russell Crowe, whose films earned an average of just $5 for every dollar he was paid. Top-earning funnymen Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell and Jim Carrey also rank near the bottom of the list.

For the complete list, methodology and much more, please visit:

www.forbes.com/starpayback