Ferrell suffered box office disappointments including Semi-Pro

Hollywood star Will Ferrell has topped a list of luminaries whose returns offer the least value for money.

According to Forbes' list, the movie funnyman made just $3.29 (£1.97) for every dollar he was paid after a run of box office disappointments.

Ewan McGregor finished second, followed by Billy Bob Thornton, Eddie Murphy and rapper turned actor Ice Cube.

Forbes calculated stars' estimated earnings against the performance of their films to devise their list.

Poor performance

Box office performance, DVD and TV rights sales were all taken into account.

Tom Cruise finished sixth on the list due a series of deals in which he was not paid for movie roles, but was given a slice of box office returns.

Forbes said this meant he was paid even if a film failed to recoup its costs, bringing down his average return to just $7.18 (£4.31).

Eddie Murphy commanded a high salary after successes including The Nutty Professor, but his box office sheen has recently faded with the poor performance of recent films, which include the critically mauled Meet Dave.

The only female star to make it into the top 10 was Drew Barrymore at seven, whose average return amounted to $7.43 (£4.46).

Last month, Forbes published a list of the actresses who give the best value for money, in which Australian star Naomi Watts came out on top.