Stay classy, Will: Ferrell tops Forbes' overpaid stars

Will Ferrell is laughing all the way to the bank.

That's according to Forbes magazine, which has put the funny man at the top of its list of overpaid actors in Hollywood for the second year in a row. A string of cinematic flops, including 2009's "Land of the Lost," which cost $100 million to produce but only earned a little more than two-thirds of that number, make the "Anchorman" star a terrible bet at the box office.

Ferrell is hardly the only high-profile celebrity raking in the dough without showing strong returns. Denzel Washington, Eddie Murphy and Tom Cruise also make the list, with "Green Hornet" star Seth Rogen rounding out the top five.

Though Rogen isn't nearly as high-profile as the other celebrities on Forbes' list of over promoted celebs, he gets an un-honorable mention for last year's box office bomb "Funny People," which also helped place co-star Adam Sandler ninth on Forbes' list.

Six of the top ten most overpaid stars are comedians because, according to the magazine, comedies get lost in translation, literally.

Drew Barrymore was the only woman to make Forbes' list of overpaid actors. (Getty)

For example, Ferrell's 2010 action comedy "The Other Guys" earned $119 million in the US but bombed abroad, earning a paltry $41 million overseas. By comparison, Angelina Jolie's spy thriller "Salt," perhaps propelled by the real-life Russian spy story of Anna Chapman, earned $118 in the US and an additional $173 million across the pond.

International intrigue obviously pays off.

Forbes calculated its list of overpaid celebs using the 36 highest-earning actors in Hollywood who had starred in at least three major movies in the past five years. Then, the financial magazine did what it does best: a little long division. Forbes combined each stars' accumulated income and split that number by their box-office returns, using the "return on investment" digits to compile their list.

Rounding out the top 10 was Drew Barrymore, Matt Damon, Vince Vaughn, Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey.

It's little surprise that Barrymore is the only actress to make the list considering a survey released by Forbes last month revealed TV's top earning men often make twice the amount of female stars. If that trend translates from the small to the silver screen, it could account for the lack of ladies on the list.

Comedian Eddie Murphy made number 2 on Forbes' list of most overpaid actors. (Kempin/Getty)

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