Eddie Murphy: Most Overpaid Actor

Eddie Murphy has been named the most overpaid actor in Hollywood, according to Forbes magazine.

The 51-year-old actor - whose recent films Imagine That, A Thousand Words and Meet Dave were all labelled flops - is reportedly no longer popular at the box office, despite being paid a huge amount of money to star in huge number of movies.

According to Forbes magazine, for every $1 Eddie was paid for his last three movies, they returned an estimated average about $2.

His movie Tower Heist which was released last year, also failed to wow audiences and earned just over double its budget of $75m.

Earlier this year, Eddie revealed he is in talks to make a Beverly Hills Cop TV show.

Other surprising entries on list

One of the comedian and actor's best loved roles was as wise cracking detective Axel Foley in the three films of the late 80's and Eddie is currently working on bringing them back.

"What I'm trying to do with Beverly Hills Cop now is produce a TV show starring Axel Foley's son, and Axel is the chief of police now in Detroit," Eddie said. "I'd do the pilot, show up here and there."

According to the magazine, a movie has to earn twice its production budget in ticket sales, plus the millions spent on marketing, to be considered a financial success.

Katherine Heigl came second in the list of most overpaid stars as her most recent film One For The Money earned just $37m and cost $40m to make.

Reese Witherspoon also failed to lure audiences to the cinema this year. Other surprising actors on the list include Sandra Bullock and Jack Black.

The 10 most overpaid actors in Hollywood of 2012 - according to Forbes:

1. Eddie Murphy

2. Katherine Heigl

3. Reese Witherspoon

4. Sandra Bullock

5. Jack Black

6. Nicolas Cage

7. Adam Sandler

8. Denzel Washington

9. Ben Stiller

10. Sarah Jessica Parker

December 05, 2012