Australian actress Nicole Kidman was named the most overpaid celebrity in Hollywood in the second annual list of least bankable stars by US magazine Forbes, taking the top slot from fellow Australian Russell Crowe.

Kidman's film were estimated to only earn $1 for every dollar the Oscar-winning actress was paid compared with $8 a year ago.

The Invasion, a remake of the 1956 classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers, even lost $2.68 for every dollar earned by Kidman who was reportedly paid $17 million for her role.

"Despite winning an Oscar for her performance in 2002's The Hours, Kidman has become the most overpaid celebrity in Hollywood," said Forbes, adding that her latest, highly-anticipated movie Australia could give her a boost.

Second in the list came Jennifer Garner, whose movies including The Kingdom and Catch and Release have underperformed at the box office. Her movies were calculated to earn $3.60 for every $1 she was paid.

Kidman's ex-husband, Tom Cruise, came third in the list with a $4 return for every dollar he was paid, mostly because of the failure of last year's movie Lions for Lambs. For every dollar the star earned the film returned only $1.88.

Forbes said the ranking was compiled by looking at a star's past three movies and dividing their total earnings by the films' gross income to get the actor's payback figure.

Making up the top 10 of overpaid Hollywood celebrities were Cameron Diaz, Jim Carrey, Nicolas Cage, Drew Barrymore, Will Ferrell and Cate Blanchett.

... contd.