Matt Damon: Hollywood's Best Value.

Producers take note, the following is the list of actors and actresses from Forbes Magazine who generate the most gross revenue per dollar they are paid:

1) Matt Damon
$29 per dollar paid.
2) Brad Pitt
$24 per dollar paid.
3)[TIE] Vince Vaughn & Johnny Depp
$21 per dollar paid.
4)Jennifer Anniston
$17 per dollar paid.
5)Angelina Jolie**
$15 per dollar paid.
6)Renée Zellweger
$14 per dollar paid.
7) [TIE] Reese Witherspoon, Ben Stiller & Sandra Bullock
$13 per dollar paid.
8) Tom Hanks
$12 per dollar paid.
9)[TIE] Leonardo DiCaprio & Tom Cruise
$11 per dollar paid.
10)[TIE] Will Smith & Denzel Washington
$10 per dollar paid.
11) [TIE] Cameron Diaz & Adam Sandler
$9 per dollar paid.
12) Will Ferrell
$8 per dollar paid.


This is all very interesting, because I would wager that the reason Damon is on top is because he has a knack for picking good scripts as well as projects with talented directors. He may have to pay lip service in a Danny Ocean film from time to time, but no one can deny that the Jason Bourne trilogy was an excellent series of films. The same could be said of no. 2 man Brad Pitt, who like Damon, may choose a 'paycheck' film from time to time (*cough, cough--Troy), but he has picked some well-written projects as well.

Johnny Depp's agent might rejoice that the actor managed to tie for the no. 3 spot, but they might want to hold off before uncorking a bottle of champagne. Of all the actors on this list, Depp is the one whose last few projects (i.e. The Pirates sequels) have cost the most money. The last two Pirates of the Caribbean movies nearly cost half a billion dollars to make -- and that's only the ammount the studio will admit to paying.

Will Ferrell rides low on this list, because, as Forbes points out, "Ferrell's shtick doesn't translate overseas." I'm guessing when someone from, say, France sees a film like Talladega Nights, they are probably thinking one of two different things: 1) This guy is acting like a typical, stupid American, but I'm not sure how that's funny. 2) What the hell is 'NASCAR' racing, and why do so many people give a crap when professional street racing is so much better?


**The list also made mention of the fact that Jolie would be playing a character named 'The Fox' in the Mark Millar comic book adaptation Wanted. Hurm, must investigate futher....