Just five years ago, The Frat Pack brought back the R-rated comedy and were the kings of mainstream comedy. Movies like Old School, Anchorman, and Wedding Crashers killed at the box office, and the biggest cog in the machinewas SNL-alum Will Ferrell. Since then, the group kind of petered out, with Judd Apatow's gang taking the reins, and while Ferrell has continued to have big hits (both Step Brothers and Blades of Glory made more than $100 million), his price tag is not worth what it used to be.
Forbes has printed a list of Hollywood's most overpaid actors, using a salary to returns ratio, and have determined that Ferrell tops the list, drawing only $3.29 for each dollar he was paid. His statistics were most harmed by the performance of both Semi-Pro and this past summer's Land of the Lost, neither of which earned more than $50 million. Second on the list behind Ferrell is Ewan McGregor who, with Obi-Wan behind now a few years past, now has a ratio of only $3.75 for each dollar in salary.
This isn't exactly surprising news. Just like when you read a lot of books by the same author in a row, eventually style fatigue sets in and you start looking for something different. Ferrell is a funny actor, but perpetually plays the whiny, oft-naked man-child and the shtick has run tired. Judging by the actors with the best ratios (Shia LaBeouf, Robert Downey Jr., and Christian Bale) the best way to move up is to be cast in a popular action series, particularly one based on a comic book. Don't expect Ferrell to be cast as Captain America, but clearly some kind of change is in order.
