In the current economic climate you’d think that studios investing in big movies would also invest in high profile actresses worth upward of $15M as an assured draw to carry it all, but that ain’t the case it seems. Actresses who make a third of that are the way to go, and not necessarily because they cost less.
The venerable Forbes magazine, venerable as in everybody knows about it but I never met someone who reads it, published a list of the 10 safest actresses to invest in, calculated in what each of them brings back as a profit versus the investment made in them. Any guess as to whom the top-3 might be? Not Jolie, nor Johansson or even Bullock.
In third place comes that lass who makes it impossible for her fellow Canucks not to have a crush on her, Rachel McAdams who apparently returns $30 for every $1 she got paid in her last few films. Second place is the eternally mesmerizing Jennifer Connelly who has a 41-to1 ratio. Lately. Hasn’t always been the case… And the cherry on top? Aussie beauty Naomi Watts whose latest 3 movies made $44 for every buck of her salary.
The rest of the top-10 is comprised of Natalie Portman, Meryl Streep (who also has the advantage of a surefire Oscar nomination…), Jennifer Aniston (really???), Halle Berry (now THAT I need to be convinced of), Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway and Hilary Swank (again, Oscar baggage…).
The ‘zine also has that list for guys, with Shia on top. I’m pretty sure he’s the reason TF2 made so much money. *snarl*