--- description: Sandler was followed by Johnny Depp, Ben Stiller, Ryan Reynolds, and Tom Hanks title: Adam Sandler Named Most Overpaid Hollywood Actor image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4791d364201a723c/698777358e0601a7694596d0/456510380-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Adam Sandler Named Most Overpaid Hollywood Actor by [Jonathon Dornbush / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Jonathon Dornbush / Entertainment Weekly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 24, 2014 4:34 PM CUT  Actor Adam Sandler at the premiere of "Men, Women and Children" in Los Angeles, Ca. on Sep. 30, 2014. Actor Adam Sandler at the premiere of "Men, Women and Children" in Los Angeles, Ca. on Sep. 30, 2014.Jason LaVeris—FilmMagic by [Jonathon Dornbush / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Jonathon Dornbush / Entertainment Weekly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 24, 2014 4:34 PM CUT The bigger the flop, the more overpaid the actor or actress, according to _Forbes_. And this year’s actor who earned the biggest salary for the smallest box office returns is a repeat winner—or loser, depending on how you look at it. _Forbes_ has deduced the ten stars who are taking in the most money personally while making the smallest comparative dent at the box office. For the second year in a row, Adam Sandler is the most overpaid actor according to _Forbes_‘ annual “[Most Overpaid Actors in Hollywood](http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mfl45emhhh/the-most-overpaid-actors/ "undefined")” list. Sandler ranked as the most overpaid actor. According to _Forbes_‘ metrics, for every $1 he was paid, his films [brought in an average of $3.20](http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorothypomerantz/2014/12/23/adam-sandler-tops-the-most-overpaid-actor-list-for-the-second-year-in-a-row/ "undefined"). For its list, _Forbes_ compared earning estimates from the outlet’s [“Celebrity 100″ list](http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorothypomerantz/2014/06/30/beyonce-knowles-tops-the-forbes-celebrity-100-list/ "undefined"), taking into account the last three major films made by each actor before the cutoff date (June 2014, in this case), as well as the production budget and revenue for those films as tallied by [_Box Office Mojo_](http://popwatch.ew.com/2014/12/23/forbes-most-overpaid-hollywood-actors-list-sandler-depp-stiller/boxofficemojo.com "undefined"). _Forbes_ then divided the star’s total haul by the operating income of each film to come up with each one’s determining number. Animated films, as well as small cameos or films released on less than 2,000 screens, were not taken into account—so don’t expect to find out whether the raccoon that served as the inspiration for Rocket in _Guardians of the Galaxy_ is the most overpaid animal in Hollywood. Sandler was followed by Johnny Depp, who, despite his general success over the last decade in franchises like _Pirates of the Caribbean_ and _Alice in Wonderland_, has recently starred in a number of underwhelming films, like _The Lone Ranger_ and _Dark Shadows_. Depp’s movies brought in $4.10 for every $1 he earned. Ben Stiller, Ryan Reynolds, and Tom Hanks filled out the top five. [The list](http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mfl45emhhh/the-most-overpaid-actors/ "undefined") is almost entirely made up of male actors, with Sandra Bullock coming in at #10 as the only woman to appear. _Forbes_ makes a note of Bullock, and Channing Tatum’s placement on the list, saying that, traditionally, the two would not be considered overpaid. It’s due to _Forbes_‘ specific calculations that they show up. Bullock and Tatum earned huge paydays because of the profits garnered by well-performing films like _Gravity_ and _Magic Mike_, respectively. Their upfront payments were not nearly as large as those of other actors on the list—but because of deals that allow Bullock and Tatum to profit off films’ box office hauls, _Forbes_‘ method earned them spots on the list. [_This article originally appeared on EW.com_](http://www.popwatch.ew.com/2014/12/23/forbes-most-overpaid-hollywood-actors-list-sandler-depp-stiller/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3646814/most-overpaid-hollywood-actors/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3646814/most-overpaid-hollywood-actors/"},"headline":"Adam Sandler Named Most Overpaid Hollywood Actor","datePublished":"2014-12-24T16:34:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:07:30.124Z","description":"Sandler was followed by Johnny Depp, Ben Stiller, Ryan Reynolds, and Tom Hanks","url":"https://time.com/3646814/most-overpaid-hollywood-actors/","keywords":["celebrities","movies","Adam Sandler","Johnny Depp","guardians of the galaxy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4791d364201a723c/698777358e0601a7694596d0/456510380-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jonathon Dornbush / Entertainment Weekly"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4791d364201a723c/698777358e0601a7694596d0/456510380-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Actor Adam Sandler at the premiere of \"Men, Women and Children\" in Los Angeles, Ca. on Sep. 30, 2014.","caption":"Actor Adam Sandler at the premiere of \"Men, Women and Children\" in Los Angeles, Ca. on Sep. 30, 2014.","creditText":"Jason LaVeris—FilmMagic","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3646814/most-overpaid-hollywood-actors/","name":"Adam Sandler Named Most Overpaid Hollywood Actor"}}]}] ```