Is the "talent" of an actor so great they deserve 20 million or more to make a movie?

We ALL know that figure is based on potential sales etc bla bla usual "free trade diatribe", so no one wants yet another "free world" economics lesson, but the actual worth of their skill. Is what they actually do, so much superior than say a nurse that they should be paid 644 times as much? Is what they do actually 644 times as good?
Personally I wouldn鈥檛 pay them anything as its something many people do for fun, and is the only "profession" where 11 year children have won the top award and 5 year olds, dogs and orang-utans do regularly so how hard can it be?
I would pay them nothing, and I bet they would still be lining up like they do for big brother etc and they would be clinging to their 15 minutes even harder, so what kind of idiot pays someone like that 20 million? No brain No pain.

As stated no economics lessons please. Everyone knows the excuse to justify their obscene payments is popularity and the popular myth it will boost sales, for those that havent seen star wars or Howard the duck. Even if this were true, it would still happen wether they were paid that much or not. Since big brother etc attracts many people it shows that there are more than enough people that would do it for free and yes we know there is a prize for big brother. The quesion is, is their technical ability worth that much? Is what they do so unique or incredible that you pay more for it like you pay more for a brain surgeon than a factory worker?

There are very few top-draw actors, but there are lots and lots of excellent nurses. And since one top-draw actor can pull a small amount of money from millions of people, they're worth it.

I don't think anyone deserves that much money.

IMO, no.

Only if people keep going to their opening nights and weekend box office receipts are in the 20 million range. Hey one weekend and you paid for your top star, not bad, next weekend all the other stars, next weekend the crew, next weekend the sets, next weekend the ads, next weekend all the odds and ends, and then the next bunch of weekends, profit baby,profit for the makers. Not bad, not bad at all, one movie 145 million, then release it to video and make another 15 million. If you keep going they will keep making them, and most of them are junk!

Nobody is worth that amount of money, and that includes prima donna footballers as well as actors...

It's not his talent, it's his marketing value. The movie studios don't pay that much for a good actor but for a famous one. It's important for them that the media writes about the movie and that they get publicity for free.

It's the fact they hope to make loads of money with a start leading it

i think there are VERY significant downsides to their jobs, but not enough to warrant 20 million a movie... although, the amount of actors who make that much are extremely few when compared to the amount of actors out there... i feel the same way about pro athletes, there are downsides, but our society seems to pay big bucks for celebrity and entertainment value... and we hardly pay people according to skill or actual labor here, sadly..

having said that, for someone like Michael Jackson, or Britney Spears, was it worth giving up their private lives forever to have the money... they will never be able to go in public without being photographed, judged, put under a microscope that critiques their clothing, bodies, makeup, hair, relationships etc...

Apparently so, but you can enjoy their work for a few bucks. So they make 20 million and it cost you a few bucks for 2 hrs of their time. I'd bet a nurse would cost you alot more than that for 2hrs.

Aslo the actor serves all the people that go to the movie plus rent the video ect. How much would a nurse charge for the same thing.

The reason why they get paid so much, is because everyone in the film industry want to be loaded. The film directors know that if they have a famous star in their film, more people will go and see their film. ie: they get more money. Therefore if the actor that they want, wants to get paid $20 million for pratically doing nothing, then the film director would pay that much because they would make more than $20 million because that person is in the film.

I agree that people who help others should really get the extra money, but most of those are never in the limelite.

Yes if someone wants to pay you 20 million are you going to say no thanks i only want 30 grand

Actors aren't unique in this regard- it's no different than for pro athletes or rock stars. Gretzky made gazillions pushing a puck around the ice. Shaq for shuffling his size 29 feet and dunking- oh, and being unable to hit a free throw. How about Barry Bonds and A-Rod? Eminem? Kobe? Britney Spears?

The compensation isn't based upon the intrinsic value of the work itself, so just have a coke and a tall glass of perspective. What do elementary and junior-high school teachers make? Hah.

And yeah, CEOs aren't worth 600x the salary of employees in their companies who make, market & support the products they sell worldwide, either...

Its not the talent...
its the exposure that will bring the movie if that actor/actress is in it