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    Sarah Jessica Parker Tied for Top Spot on Highest-Paid Actress List

    Angelina Jolie Shares Top Spot with 'Sex and the City' Star

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    Sarah Jessica Parker hasn't been in too many movies lately. Yet the latest Forbes list of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood has Parker tied as for the top spot. According to Forbes, the "Sex and the City" star made $30 million in the last 12 months alone, although she hasn't been seen on screen since "Sex and the City 2" was released last May. But being in movies, and even hit movies, doesn't count for everything on Forbes' list.

    Parker shares the top earner spot with Angelina Jolie, but while Jolie has appeared in several movies recently, most of Parker's earning came from reruns of the TV show and her lines of perfume and clothes. Jolie had a summer hit of her own last year with "Salt," and a winter bomb with "The Tourist" months later.

    Parker is starring in "I Don't Know How She Does It," due out this fall, and she'll also appear in the ensemble holiday movie "New Year's Eve." Could there be "Sex and the City 3" in her future?

    Several other actresses on Forbes' chart have also overcome recent flops, like Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Julia Roberts and Katherine Heigl. Aniston made $28 million last year with no small help from the "Friends" franchise, while Witherspoon made the same despite mixed performances from "How Do You Know" and "Water for Elephants." Roberts is enduring a flop at the moment with "Larry Crowne," and Heigl has gone through a string of critically panned comedies since "Knocked Up."

    But due to these actresses' star power, upfront paychecks, side projects and residuals, they are easily among the wealthiest females in the business. Pundits like to complain that no one is bankable, at least at the box office, yet these women find ways to rake it in anyway.

    Not everyone on the Forbes list has had to overcome disappointing movies: Kristen Stewart is still riding high from the "Twilight" series, Cameron Diaz is trying to turn "Bad Teacher" into a sleeper hit, Sandra Bullock has an Oscar, and Meryl Streep has become box-office gold over the years.

     

    25 comments

    • curious george  •  10 mths ago
      why does she have to be a ravishing beauty? Just because she is not as attractive as some of her peers doesn't mean she should be lambasted...I find that quite unfair.
    • jackyblue  •  10 mths ago
      Meryl Streep is the only one worth the $$$$$$$$$
    • Sara  •  10 mths ago
      How is this possible? Her face looks like a foot!
      • Claudia 10 mths ago
        she is so rich.looks not matter.she has somthing we dont have.
      • j 10 mths ago
        Well, she coulda been a sell-out and had a dozen plastic surgeries like many other actresses. She did not, and good for her! Guess you prefer fake/plastic beauty over someone genuine and secure enough not to change herself??
    • j  •  10 mths ago
      This isn't the highest paid beautiful woman, this is the highest paid actress! Duh, looks need not come into play here...
    • marias  •  10 mths ago
      SJP might not be the best actress and some of you are obviously better looking than she is, but I respect her. She has style, she is not afraid to take a risk. And she pulled it off in Hollywood with all those younger, prettier actresses walking around. And what did you do with your life?? To judge someone for a lousy performance is one thing, but calling her "horse face", e.t.c. is just brutal You won't dare to tell her that in her eyes, I'm sure of it.
    • TC  •  10 mths ago
      Ugh...that SJP sure is one homely looking broad! Bow wow.
      • Claudia 10 mths ago
        but she is so happy so rich ! and has a good husband and three kids. she has it all.
    • ceosmom  •  10 mths ago
      I loved her---for the most part--on SATC. But ARF!
    • William M  •  10 mths ago
      The Tourist was NOT a bomb financially. It was made for 100million and earned 261 million worldwide. thats not a bomb. U need to think globally.
      • A Yahoo! User 10 mths ago
        Not accurate. It cost $100 million to produce. Distribution and marketing costs (or P & A, as they call it) are separate, so as you said, thinking globally, you can safely assume at least another $100 million for that, since it played in almost 70 countries outside the U.S. Ad Age reported that Tom Cruise's Valkyrie spent about $60 million on pre-release marketing: http://adage.com/article/madisonvine-news/ua-execs-struggle-marketing-tom-cruise-valkyrie-film/132744/. So maybe we're a little less than $100 million all told, but not by much, considering how much worldwide press the stars did. That's expensive.

        Plus, Jolie and Depp get points, meaning they're paid a percentage of every dollar the movie makes over and above their salaries. I don't know their haul, but it's at least 10 cents on the dollar. So if The Tourist made $261 million (actually closer to $280m), at least $30 million of that goes to the stars. In this instance, however, both stars are probably far better compensated than that, but I'll leave it where it is for now.

        Just with those two factors, you've got, let's say, $115 million shaved off that $278 million worldwide gross, plus the production cost of $100 million, which may or may not be entirely accurate. So that's $60 million in profit before TV (10 - 12% of the US gross, or maybe $8 million) and DVD ($16 million in sales). $80 million might seem like a lot of money, but the studios aren't looking for dollar-for-dollar exchanges on films. They want to triple their money or more to assure that everyone gets paid, that they can afford to do the same thing again the next time, and that they cover losses from other films throughout the year.

        Maybe not a bomb in the Mars Needs Mom sense, but Sony took a big time hit on this. They easily expected to match their production budget in the US (they didn't), with another $300 million worldwide, based on how many markets they blitzed with the film. Neither of those happened and they still had two of the highest-paid actors in the world to compensate.
    • sam  •  10 mths ago
      She's Fugly!
    • jelise  •  10 mths ago
      SJP is one of the most talented, classy women around. She can act, design and be a hands on mom to three children. Love her.
    • j  •  10 mths ago
      Oh, and Ben Stiller, Jerry Seinfeld, Tom Hanks (who make the list or have made the list) are knock-outs?? Puleez
    • Kenneth S  •  10 mths ago
      That's pitiful. I wouldn't watch a movie with either one of them in it and they're they 2 highest paid? We're going to hell in a handbasket....
    • porpoiseboy  •  10 mths ago
      she looks like a female jay leno
    • michaela  •  10 mths ago
      Sarah Jessica Parker is so ugly!
    • Not Too Concerned  •  10 mths ago
      Kathrine Heigl is horrible. Don't know how long her TV fame can carry her on the big screen. Lot of other cuter and better actresses that can take the same roles.
    • Daniel  •  10 mths ago
      She got the big bucks by influencing a whole generation of nimrod females.
    • life is a challenge  •  10 mths ago
      She is one ugly female and really not a good actress. How in the world does she garner thiis much attention and money? Her husband is truly the good actor in the family.
    • Vertskate900  •  10 mths ago
      Sarah Jessica Parker... she makes me envious of Stevie Wonder.
    • Colleen  •  10 mths ago
      She's Matthew Broderick's wife!
    • Aaden  •  10 mths ago
      She's the ugliest cover girl on the stands, even with photoshop.
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