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Depp, Affleck make overpriced actor list
By Mark Shanahan
Globe Staff

’Tis the season for lists, best-of and worst-of inventories that honor and indict. One of our favorites is Forbes .com’s list of most overpaid actors, which is topped this year by Johnny Depp. The website calculates that Depp (inset) returned just $1.20 for every $1 he was paid for the films “Mortdecai’’ and “Transcendence.’’ “Black Mass,’’ in which Depp played Whitey Bulger, was released too late in the year to be counted, which is fortunate for Depp because it did mediocre business at the box office ($94 million) relative to its budget ($53 million). The paltry return on investment puts Depp ahead of the second-most overpaid actor, Denzel Washington, who returned $6.50 for every $1 he was paid for his recent work, including the made-in-Massachusetts movie “The Equalizer.’’ The Forbes.com list includes several established stars, notably Will Ferrell, Will Smith, Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, and our very own Ben Affleck, who returned $12.30 for every $1 he was paid.