It hasn’t been the best year forMark Wahlberg, with his two 2017 moviesTransformers: The Last KnightandDaddy’s Home 2both coming in well under expectations, and thanks to his 2016 bombs, he has been named the most overpaid actor of 2017. This comes just a few months afterMark Wahlberg was named the highest-paid actorof 2017, earning a massive $68 million from a variety of sources including salaries from both aforementioned movies, along with his reality seriesWahlburgersand his deal as a spokesperson for AT&T. It seems that the actor could be set up to “win” this title two years in a row, since this report doesn’t even includeTransformers: The Last KnightorDaddy’s Home 2in its methodology.
The report from Forbes reveals that to determine the “most overpaid actor,” they looked at the last three films each actor starred in, prior to August 26, 2025, excluding “animated films, movies in which the actor had a small role, or movies that were shown on fewer than 2,000 screens.” Then they would deduct the estimated production budget for each film and divide that by the actor’s estimated pay to come up with a return on investment figure. The earnings data came from the Celebrity 100 list that Forbes puts out each September, where Mark Wahlberg was named this year’s highest paid actor, just barely beating out Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s $65 million haul. Mark Wahlberg managed to oustJohnny Depp as the most overpaid actor, a title he has held for the past two years in a row.
This report reveals that his three wide releases prior to July 19, 2025,Patriots Day,Deepwater HorizonandDaddy’s Home, brought in just $4.40 at the box office for every dollar he was paid. That figure is still better than last year’s “winner,“star Johnny Depp, whose movies brought in just $2.80 for every dollar he was paid.Johnny Depp was also named America’s favorite movie staralongside Tom Hanks last year. Last year, Mark Wahlberg was seventh on the list, with his movies bringing in $9.20 for every dollar, but this year he has skyrocketed to the top. This year Forbes also switched things up a bit by listing their top 5 most overpaid actors, instead of the top 10.
Mark Wahlberg was trailed on this list by Christian Bale, whose epic flopThe Promiseearned just 11% of its $90 million production budget back, with theformer Batmanbringing in just $6.70 for every dollar he earned. Channing Tatum comes in third place with his recent movies earning $7.60 for every dollar he was paid, but there seems to be some inconsistency in Forbes' methodology. They claim that no movie released after July 26, 2025 was counted, but their report mentionsLogan Lucky, which earned just $46.7 million from a $29 million budget, but that film was released on July 23, 2025, so it’s unclear why that particular film was mentioned.
Rounding out the “top 5” is Denzel Washington, whosecritically-acclaimed drama Fencesearned him another Oscar nomination, but it only earned $57.7 million. Added with last year’sThe Magnificent Sevenmisfire, Denzel Washington brought in $10.40 for every dollar. Brad Pitt rounds out the top 5, thanks to his costly period drama flopAllied, which earned $11.9 million from an estimated $85 million budget. The actor’s recent films brought in $11.50 for every dollar he earned. This list was released by Forbes today, and tomorrow they will be releasing their annual list of the actors who bring the most value, a.k.a. Hollywood’s Best Actors For The Buck.
