Forbes: Sandler makes big money, not worth it

IF YOU FOLLOW the Twitterverse, you might think that the most overpaid actor of 2013 was Carrie Underwood for her role as Maria in NBC's "The Sound of Music."

But stop hatin', heathens.

Forbes magazine actually uses data to compile its "Overpaid" list, and the money mag has determined that the most overpaid actor of the past year is . . .

Adam Sandler.

Then again, this list doesn't include Sandler's "Grown Ups 2," which was a hit, because the list's fiscal year ended in June. Without "GU2," Sandler's critically lambasted duds returned even less per salaried dollar than Katherine Heigl's duds, which performed minimally worse than Reese Witherspoon's duds.

In fourth place, Forbes cited Nicolas Cage, followed by Kevin James, who last year was on the mag's Best Actors for the Buck list. But fans are fickle, and bad scripts can sink you fast.

"Here Comes the Boom"?

Make that "Here Comes the Bomb."

Rounding out the Forbes top 10: Denzel Washington, Steve Carell, Jennifer Aniston, Matt Damon and Ryan Reynolds.

* The head of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Deborah F. Rutter, was named the next president of the Kennedy Center and will become the first woman to lead the performing-arts center since it opened in 1971.

Rutter, 57, will join the Kennedy Center next September. She will succeed Michael Kaiser, who is stepping down in August after 13 years at the helm.

Rutter, who agreed to a three-year contract, said she was drawn to the position because it presents an opportunity to use the arts "to impact the rest of the world."

* Oprah Winfrey has a new book-club pick.

It's Sue Monk Kidd's The Invention of Wings, coming out Jan. 7. Kidd's novel, a 19th-century narrative featuring real and fictional characters, weaves together the stories of a slave girl and a slave-owner's daughter. Like Kidd's million-selling The Secret Life of Bees, the book is set in South Carolina, where the 65-year-old author lived for many years.

"The moment I finished The Invention of Wings, I knew this had to be the next book-club selection," Winfrey said in a statement released yesterday. "These strong female characters represent the women that have shaped our history and, through Sue's imaginative storytelling, give us a new perspective on slavery, injustice and the search for freedom."

* The makers of "The Bible" on TV will create a four-hour CBS miniseries based on Alice Hoffman's historical novel The Dovekeepers, sometime in 2015. Actress Roma Downey and her husband, veteran television producer Mark Burnett, will make it. The couple scored a major hit with "The Bible" on the History channel earlier this year.

It was, however, another case of the original being an even bigger hit.

The Dovekeepers is about four women who work to save 900 Jews being attacked by Romans in a fortress in Masada.

Downey called the book "an amazing story of heroism and hope."

* On the other end of the spectrum, NBC is planning a four-hour remake of Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby, to be directed by Agnieszka Holland ("In Darkness," and a lot of good episodic TV).

The new miniseries will take place in Paris, instead of New York.

* Pink says that while she's excited that her ballad "Just Give Me a Reason" is nominated for a Grammy for song of the year, she believes that husband Carey Hart deserves some credit for its success.

"At the end of the day, I crawl onto his lap and complain," Pink said, "so if someone wants to award me for that, they should give him the award."

The No. 1 hit features Nate Ruess of fun. and is about holding on to a troubled relationship. Says Pink: "It's a conversation between lovers fighting the good fight, and that's been our life."

Philly gal Pink was honored as Billboard's woman of the year yesterday in New York City.

* Lea Michele, of "Glee," is prepping to launch her solo music career.

She will release her debut album, "Louder," on March 4.

In a news release, Michele says the album is a reflection of her "experiences over this past year" and her "journey as an artist up to this point."

The first single, "Cannonball," written by Sia, is available for download.

* The estate of Johnny Cash is releasing "Out Among the Stars," an album Cash recorded with Billy Sherrill in the early 1980s that was never released by Columbia Records, then disappeared when the company dropped Cash in 1986. Turns out Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, stashed the tapes - along with just about everything else that came into their possession.

See, sometimes it's good to be a hoarder.

- Daily News wire services contributed to this report.

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