Aniston tops Jolie in listing of most profitable studio stars

The rankings were decided by comparing actors’ paychecks with gross studio profits of last three leads.

NEW YORK — Revenge is a dish best served cold for Jennifer Aniston, who now tops love rival Angelina Jolie in a brand-new list of Hollywood’s most profitable stars.

After trailing a humiliating 30 places behind Jolie in Forbes magazine’s “Celebrity 100” power list, the ex-Mrs. Pitt comes in a healthy fifth in the inaugural Forbes.com payback list, which ranks actors based on the returns they offer studios for their megabucks salaries.

Proving that some stars really are worth their ludicrously large salaries, Aniston brings in $17 for every dollar in her $14 million paycheck, while Jolie trails behind in sixth, earning studios $15 for every buck in her whopping $20 million-a-movie salary.

“There were a lot of surprises,” says Forbes editor Leah Goldman, who worked out the rankings by comparing actors’ paychecks to the gross studio profits from their last three lead roles.

Crowe saves J.Lo

Russell Crowe saves flop-prone J.Lo from the bottom of the list thanks to the shrinking profits of the Oscar-winning Aussie’s last three flicks.

“The megamoney actors in Hollywood, like Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell and Jim Carrey were formally considered untouchable and getting the highest paychecks ... but their films just don’t bear that out,” she explains of their surprisingly low rankings at 17th, 18th and 19th.

Mild-mannered Matt Damon steals the top spot from heavy hitters such as Will Smith and Tom Cruise, who don’t even rank in the top 10. The whopping $850 million gross of Damon’s first two “Bourne” films make his $26 million paycheck a bargain for Universal.

And, with “The Bourne Ultimatum” breaking August opening weekend records with a $70.2 million gross, it doesn’t look like Damon will be toppled from his throne anytime soon.

“If I were [Damon’s] agent, I’d be on the phone right now,” laughs Goldman.