12 METRO Friday, November 20, 2009 D ing up front in return for a portion of the box-office gross. The deal resulted in him getting paid for films like Li- ons For Lambs even if the studio did not recoup its money. Eddie Murphy commanded a high salary after the success of family comedies such as The Nutty Profes- sor. But his most recent films Meet Dave and Imagine That were box of- fice duds, taking Murphy to fourth place for earning an average $4.43 for each dollar he was paid. Ten Most Overpaid Stars: 1. Will Ferrell ($3.29) 2. Ewan McGregor ($3.75) 3. Billy Bob Thornton ($4) 4. Eddie Murphy ($4.43) 5. Ice Cube ($4.77) 6. Tom Cruise ($7.18) 7. Drew Barrymore ($7.43) 8. Leonardo DiCaprio ($7.52) 9. Samuel Jackson ($8.59) 10. Jim Carrey ($8.62) 60% turn sex chat into a joke, study findsMORE than one in ten people (11 per cent) believe a woman cannot get pregnant if she has sex standing up, according to a poll highlighting the misconceptions around safe sex. It found 19 per cent were unaware a woman can get pregnant during her period and the same number were unaware she can get pregnant if the man withdraws before ejaculation. The survey of 2,000 people aged 16 to 50 found 26 per cent never discuss contraception and almost one in three (31 per cent) never talk about sexual health with their partner, while 17 per cent are unaware that some sexually-transmitted infections, such as herpes and genital warts, cannot be cleared up with antibiotics. About one in five (21 per cent) people say they chat about sex without saying what is on their mind and 62 per cent turn the discussion into a joke. More than a quarter (27 per cent) are too embarrassed to ask the questions they would like to while 25 per cent wish they could talk more openly about sex and relationships. Almost half (47 per cent) of people questioned for the study commissioned by the UKs departments of health and children, schools and families said they never discuss their sex lives with their friends and 37 per cent never talk about contraception. highest paid actors but has recently proved a poor investment, according to the website, averaging a return of $3.75 per dollar paid. Cruise, considered one of the big- gest players in Hollywood, came sixth on the list with a return on investment of $7.18. Forbes said Cruise had ben- efited from deals where he took noth- Funnyman Ferrell finds he is top overpaid actorBy JILL SERJEANT FuNNyMaN Will Ferrell and Scots actor Ewan McGregor are top of a Forbes.com list of Hollywoods most overpaid stars when the financial re- turns of their movies are examined. Billy Bob Thornton, Tom Cruise and Jim Carrey also made the Top 10 tally of actors who cost more to hire than they appear to be worth at box offices. Ferrell took first place largely be- cause of the flop of his summer 2009 movie Land Of The Lost, which cost an estimated $100million (67m) to make but earned just $65million (43m) worldwide for movie studio universal Pictures. The movie followed a disappointing $43million box office for Ferrells 2008 outing Semi-Pro, and $128mil- lion for Step Brothers. using a formula that calculated the actors estimated salary on each film, including DVD and TV sales, Forbes. com said that his films earned an av- erage of $3.29 for every dollar Ferrell was paid. To create the list, the finan- cial news website looked at Holly- woods 100 biggest stars who had lead performances in at least three widely distributed movies in the last five years. McGregor, best known for Trains- potting and his work in the Star Wars franchise, is not among Hollywoods Top of the list: Will Ferrell In second place: Ewan McGregor Irishman clinches US literary prize TRIBuTES were paid to Irish writer Colum McCann yesterday for scooping a top prize for fiction at the prestigious uS National Book awards. The Dublin author won the accolade for his latest novel, Let The Great World Spin, an affecting metaphor for post-9/11 america telling the stories of a handful of seemingly disconnected individuals in 1970s New york. The book was described by judges as an indelibly hallucinatory portrait of a decaying city. McCann, who previously won the Hennessy award and Rooney Prize is also the author of the novels Zoli, Dancer, This Side Of Brightness and Songdogs. arts minister Martin Cullen said the award recognised McCanns immense talent. McCann: Literary award Anyone for breakfast: Kelly Brook takes up the Audrey Hepburn look Kelly gets cracking for ChristmasKELLy BROOK became Kelly Golightly as she re-enacted a famous scene from Breakfast at Tiffanys. Complete with pearls and cigarette holder, Brook strikes a pose as audrey Hepburn from the classic 60s rom-com, but she makes a slightly less convincing Harrison Ford as a whip-wielding Indiana Jones. The 29-year-old model became a raider of the lost dressing-up box to become Dr Jones as she promoted Sky Movies Christmas schedule, which is allowing viewers to choose their favourite festive flicks for the channel to screen this year. and Brook, currently starring in the West End production of Calendar Girls, proved she is no novice by donning a blonde bob and spinning on an alpine meadow as Julie andrews in The Sound of Music. Film fans can vote for their ultimate Christmas Day line-up to watch in high- definition on the Sky Movies Christmas Channel HD including The Dark Knight and Back to the Future. Sky Movies is also screening a host of festive favourites on its Christmas Channel throughout December, including The Muppet Christmas Carol, The Grinch and Home alone. Brook said: Im voting for Breakfast at Tiffanys to be included in the Christmas Day line-up, as Id get everyone round to watch it. Viewers can vote at www.sky.com/vote.Whip it up: Brook adopts her Indiana Jones pose Pictures: PA New spray that keeps you going MEN who suffer from premature ejaculation could be helped by a new anaesthetic spray. a study of men in the uS, Canada and Poland showed that applying the spray, PSD502, five minutes before intercourse delayed ejaculation up to five-fold. The men had improved levels of control and sexual satisfaction and reduced stress, according to findings presented to a meeting of the Sexual Medicine Society of North america in San Diego, California. index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html