Is Will Ferrell the Worst Leading Man in Hollywood?

Forbes Magazine released its annual list of Hollywood's Most Overpaid Stars yesterday, with Will Ferrell supplanting Nicole Kidman as the list's "winner."

The list complied its rating by taking the 100 biggest stars in Hollywood, meaning they must have starred in three films that opened in 500 theaters or more over the last five years. They then took all of those actors' last three films, found the operating income of those films, and divided that by the stars' total compensation for their work, creating a return on investment number. Ferrell's return on investment was a paltry $3.29 for every dollar he earned, while second-place Ewan McGregor's was $3.75.

Ferrell's time as a comedy king is clearly coming to a rapid end, as the star has performed essentially the same role in all of his recent films, including box office clunker Land of the Lost, the disappointing Semi-Pro and the successful Stepbrothers. The actor is constantly reprising the role of the idiot guy who simply refuses to grow up.

At some point, though, that role stopped being funny, as people grew tired of paying between $6.50 and $10 to watch the same movie in a different locale. Some could even argue that the last truly funny Ferrell film was Talladega Nights, while his last great role was his guest appearance as a funeral crasher in Wedding Crashers.

America's audiences simply can't afford to laugh at the same joke over and over again and, at some point, Ferrell needs to realize that before audiences begin laughing at him instead of with him or, even worse, rendering him irrelevant.