--- title: 'Hollywood’s Most Overpaid Movie Stars Have One Thing in Common: They’re All Men' description: Forbes considers Brad Pitt, Mark Wahlberg and Channing Tatum to be among the most overpaid actors in Hollywood authors: - name: Jennifer Calfas url: https://money.com/author/jennifer-calfas/ at_money_since: 2017 articles: 339 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Personal Finance - Pets - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://x.com/jencalfas former_staff: true published: '2017-12-14T21:29:32.000Z' modified: '2024-04-17T07:27:18.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - celebrities - onetime word_count: 310 canonical: https://money.com/hollywood-overpaid-actors-mark-wahlberg-christian-bale/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Premiere Of Paramount Pictures' "Daddy's Home 2" - Arrivals](https://img.money.com/2017/12/mark-wahlberg.jpg) *Actor Mark Wahlberg attends the premiere of Paramount Pictures' "Daddy's Home 2" at The Regency Village Theatre on November 5, 2017 in Westwood, California.* For women, being overpaid is [not necessarily an issue](https://money.com/gender-wage-gap-best-worst-cities/). But for men in Hollywood, oftentimes their high-earning gigs don't make substantial returns at the box office. Indeed, [*Forbes*](https://www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobehmed/2017/12/13/mark-wahlberg-is-the-most-overpaid-actor-of-2017/#7ab89a4d264a) considers these men to be the most overpaid actors in Hollywood — a title earned through a combination of star power and disappointing performances. [Mark Wahlberg](https://time.com/4519443/patriots-day-trailer-mark-wahlberg-boston-marathon-bombing/) topped [*Forbes*'s list this year](https://www.forbes.com/pictures/5a3070064bbe6f703b4b0bf2/1-mark-wahlberg/#4081955c7d44). Measuring film releases and his respective pay day for his latest three films before June 1, 2017, *Forbes* found Wahlberg earned $1 for every $4.40 made at the box office for each of his three films during that period. In fact, Wahlberg's pre-tax income for 2016's [*Patriots Day*](https://time.com/4632947/review-patriots-day/) was more than the film's worldwide gross. Focusing on films where these actors had staring roles, *Forbes* developed an investment figure based on each film's estimated production budget, box office figures and the actor's pretax payday for it. Though these films do not fare well at the box office, that does not mean they didn't receive good reviews. Channing Tatum, who landed as the third-most overpaid actor on this year's list, received rave reviews for his staring role in 2017's *Logan Lucky*. Still, the film earned $7.60 at the box office for every $1 he made starring in it. Here's *Forbes*'s full ranking: ## 1\. Mark Wahlberg ![Patriots Day](https://img.money.com/2017/01/patriots-day.jpg) His films earned $4.40 at the box office for every $1 he made. ## 2\. Christian Bale !["The Promise" New York Screening](https://img.money.com/2017/12/christian-bale.jpg) *NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 18: Actor Christian Bale attends "The Promise" New York Screening at Paris Theatre on April 18, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Paul Zimmerman/WireImage)* The actor starred in *The Promise*, which earned just 11 percent of its production costs at the box office, *Forbes* reports. ## 3\. Channing Tatum !['Kingsman: The Golden Circle' World Premiere - Red Carpet Arrivals](https://img.money.com/2017/11/channing-tatum-halloween-candy-prank.jpg) *Channing Tatum attends the 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle' World Premiere held at Odeon Leicester Square on September 18, 2017 in London, England.* Despite good reviews, Tatum's *Logan Lucky* had a weak performance at the box office. ## 4\. Denzel Washington ![](https://img.money.com/2016/09/viola-davis-denzel-washington-fences.png) Yes, he earned an Academy Award nomination for 2016's *Fences*, but his 2016's *The Magnificent Seven* performed poorly at the box office. ## 5\. Brad Pitt ![Premiere Of Amazon Studios' "The Lost City Of Z" - Arrivals](https://img.money.com/2017/05/brad-pitt-children-angelina-jolie.jpg) *HOLLYWOOD, CA - APRIL 05: Executive producer Brad Pitt attends the premiere of Amazon Studios' 'The Lost City Of Z' at ArcLight Hollywood on April 5, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images)* The star's films earned $11.50 at the box office for every $1 he was paid. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/hollywood-overpaid-actors-mark-wahlberg-christian-bale/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://money.com/lifestyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Movies", "item": "https://money.com/movies/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Hollywood’s Most Overpaid Movie Stars Have One Thing in Common: They’re All Men" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/hollywood-overpaid-actors-mark-wahlberg-christian-bale/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/hollywood-overpaid-actors-mark-wahlberg-christian-bale/", "name": "Hollywood’s Most Overpaid Movie Stars Have One Thing in Common: They’re All Men", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2017-12-14T21:29:32.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/hollywood-overpaid-actors-mark-wahlberg-christian-bale/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/hollywood-overpaid-actors-mark-wahlberg-christian-bale/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-17T07:27:18.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Hollywood’s Most Overpaid Movie Stars Have One Thing in Common: They’re All Men", "articleSection": "Lifestyle", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2017/12/mark-wahlberg.jpg", "width": 4500, "height": 2990, "caption": "Premiere Of Paramount Pictures' \"Daddy's Home 2\" - Arrivals" }, { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2017/01/patriots-day.jpg", "width": 800, "height": 351 }, { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2017/12/christian-bale.jpg", "width": 800, "height": 485 }, { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2017/11/channing-tatum-halloween-candy-prank.jpg", "width": 800, "height": 398 }, { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2016/09/viola-davis-denzel-washington-fences.png", "width": 800, "height": 374 }, { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2017/05/brad-pitt-children-angelina-jolie.jpg", "width": 800, "height": 373 } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jennifer Calfas", "url": "https://money.com/author/jennifer-calfas/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/jennifer-calfas/#author", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/jencalfas" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2017-12-14T21:29:32.000Z", "description": "Forbes considers Brad Pitt, Mark Wahlberg and Channing Tatum to be among the most overpaid actors in Hollywood", "abstract": "Forbes considers Brad Pitt, Mark Wahlberg and Channing Tatum to be among the most overpaid actors in Hollywood", "@id": "https://money.com/hollywood-overpaid-actors-mark-wahlberg-christian-bale/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-04-17T07:27:18.000Z", "wordCount": 310, "keywords": [ "celebrities", "onetime" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Lifestyle", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Film", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film" ] } ] } ] } ```