Shia LaBeouf is once again for the second year in the row at the top of Forbes list of Best Actors for The Buck. For every $1 the studio invests in the talented actor they get an average return of $81 of profit. Which is an amazing reputation to have with any studio, and also explains why they wanted Shia LaBeouf for the new Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps film. In second place is Anne Hathaway as the highest-ranking woman on the list she brings in $64 of profit for ever $1 invested in her by the studios.
The way Forbes figures out these numbers is as follows:
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.
All the comments about Shia just riding the wave of season franchises have valid points.
ex: Transformers and Indiana Jones
But what you seem to be forgetting is that he must be a hella of an actor to get the role in the first place, and if you dont agree with me on the basis of is work in Eagle eye and Disturbia….then hopefully Wall Street 2 will bring you into the light
Not suprising, Ever since Transformers he’s been getting alot more roles and becoming more and more popular. I’ve liked him since his Even Stevens days and i’m a huge fan now. No matter if the film appeals to me or not i’ll still watch it because i just love watching him act, Its so easy to relate to his charecters and lets be honest, He makes films 100 times better….I think everyone likes to watch him, he’s such a likeable guy, Thats why he makes so much money for charecters.
People like Indiana Jones.
People like Transformers.
Shia is just ridin’ the wave, man…
His agent is obviously doing something right.
I dunno, once an actor endears himself to the part I would have a hard time accepting a different actor in the role meaning I liked Shia in Transformers and probably wouldn’t be excited about a replacement if it were to happen.
All valid arguments though.
i think they should also take a look at the types of movies that they are in…for instance, transformers’ success had absolutely nothing to do shia lebeouf. they could have put a monkey in that role and it still would have made a huge profit. on the other hand anne hathaway actually deserves to be up there because her movies usually don’t have an established fanbase to work with and they must rely solely on the acting talent and the quality of the movie, so her grosses have more to do with her than shia’s do.
That being said I would love to sit down and do all those calculations…that sounds like weeks worth of fun.
Dis the kid all you want, but he’s got a certain charisma, Did I see all his movies?(Eagle Eye) NO! and I really had a hard time with him in Indiana jones with his porteail of Indy jr. BUT that said, he does a good job in the Transformers movies (even though he plays Sam as his character in Disturbia) he’s still fun to watch and (still now) doesn’t get old.
unlike say:
Russell Brand (Stale out the gate)
Seth Rogen (gettin’ tired)
Jonah Hill (wanna see the one w/ Tomei-but startin’ to grow fungus)
Micheal Cera (how many movies did he sign up for-geeeeesh)
Just sayin’
Surprised Daniel Radcliffe or the Twilight Crew weren’t number one.
This is very true to a certain extent. Yes Shia could be replaced in Transformers 2 but that is cause people watch Transformers to see the Transformers not to see Shia or Megan Fox. But a movie like Harry Potter you would not be able to change Daniel Radcliff as Harry Potter for people would be furious and may not watch the film because Daniel is the face of Harry, It’s almost like how a logo would represent a company. It really depends on the kind of movie though.
But they could have found many other kids to play harry potter since the first movie and the serious would still be successful.
For me the list of actors that bring me to the theater are Brad Pitt, Leonardo Dicaprio, Will Smith, Johnny Depp and maybe a few others.
With out those actors I wouldn’t have saw movies like wild wild west, the curious case of Benjamin button, the beach, Sweeney todd, leaves of grass. The only appeal in all of these movies for me were those actors. Harry potter would still have appeal with radclif.
When radclif does another movie or robert patterson does remember me, they may be the only appeal for seeing those movies.
Which if you ask me, there is no way to tell how much influence a actor has over the audience. I would go see any movies those actors are in, but sometimes I would see the movies even if they weren’t in them.
You would have to ask every that saw the movie what the biggest draw for them. Or at least do a survey to represent everyone that saw the movie. I’m sure shia labouf and radclif wouldn’t be the number one reasons for see there movies.
I really think actors get more credit than what they deserve, I mean Shia could have been replaced in transformers 2 and people would still have filled the movie theaters.
Not at all, I for one watched the second for Shia….If he wasnt i certainly wouldnt have watched it.