Matt Damon is Hollywood’s best investment, says Forbes.com.

For every pound he was paid for his last three roles, Damon brought in $29 million of gross income, the site calculated.

That put the 36-year-old ‘Bourne’ star atop a Forbes list of 22 film heavyweights, ranked by the same financial formula. The ‘Ultimate Star Payback’ list.

The first two ‘Bourne’ movies grossed an estimated $850 million at the box office and in DVD sales, Forbes said.

The third installment, ‘The Bourne Ultimatum,’ opened last weekend and brought in $70 million at the U.S. box office. It was the biggest August film opening ever in the States.

Brad Pitt took second place on the list, with a gross income return of $24 millionof his pay, and Vince Vaughn tied with Johnny Depp for third with $21.

Pitt’s ex-wife, Jennifer Aniston, is the most profitable actress with a gross income return of$17 million.

Pitt’s companion, Angelina Jolie, ranked sixth with $15 million.

“The biggest stars in Hollywood are not the actors that deliver the biggest returns,” Forbes senior editor Michael Ozanian said.

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On being a “good guy”: I don’t hold myself to some higher standard of behavior. You don’t have to do a lot to be seen as nice. I guess some of these people must be such rampant pricks that people are amazed when you say hello. I don’t know why people like me, and I don’t know if I want to know. That might be the kiss of death. I’d rather people not know a lot about me and go see the movies.
On passing up “Brokeback Mountain”: Years ago, [Good Will Hunting director] Gus Van Sant wanted to do it with me and Joaquin Phoenix. But I was on my way to Italy to do The Talented Mr. Ripley and then All the Pretty Horses. And Gus wanted to do Brokeback right after. And I was like, ”Gus, I’m going to do a gay movie, then a cowboy movie. I can’t follow it up with a gay-cowboy movie!”

On who he prefers for the 2008 Presidential Election: If [Barack] was the face of America, it would mitigate a lot of problems in the world. [Clinton] so f***ing smart, isn’t she? I always liked her. But I’m just not interested in a leader who can’t admit that they even made a mistake in the first place. That’s what we’ve been dealing with for seven years now.

On how he and Ben [Affleck] decided to spend their first big paycheck’s: We both bought Jeep Grand Cherokees. It was funny, because Ben and I, we both always wanted a Jeep Grand Cherokee for some reason. That was the car. We always talked about it but never could afford one. So when we suddenly had the money, we each instantly started trying to convince each other to get a different car. We’d say, ‘Hey, have you seen the Explorer? The Ford Explorer is really cool.’ Because we knew it would just be so gay to get the same car.

On the characters Bond vs Bourne: Bond is part of the system. He’s an imperialist and a misogynist, and he laughs at killing people, and he sits there slugging martinis. It’ll never be the same thing as this, because Bourne is a guy who is against the establishment, who is paranoid and on the run. I just think fundamentally they’re just very different things.

On actors keeping their personal lives to themselves: The better the actor, the less you know about his life. “I mean, nobody’s better than De Niro, and you don’t know anything about him, right?” Look at Meryl. We don’t know sh*t about Meryl. Look at Clint. And Jack. And Brando. Marlon Brando—who f*ing knows, right?

*IMAGES REMOVED AT OWNERS REQUEST*

Here, we see Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner hanging out on the beach in Hawaii, having a little fun in the sun on the Fourth of July. They make such a cute couple.

Below, a picture of Ben, Jennifer, and Matt Damon, surfing. That guy in the background of this picture seriously needs a tan, don’t you think?

Check out the third photo of just Jennifer Garner. She looks great in a red bikini bottom and black top. Looks like they are having a blast!

Nearly 10 years after Ben Affleck, 34, and Matt Damon, 36, snagged Hollywood’s highest honor for cowriting Good Will Hunting, the wonder boys are working together on a new screenplay, an insider tells Us Weekly.

“They’re really excited about it,” says the source.

The childhood pals wrote GWH during the early ’90s.

And what a difference a decade makes!

Then, the struggling actors shared an apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Now the screen idols have spent two weeks getting their creative juices flowing in a $13,000-a-week house in Kauai, Hawaii.

“Ben and Matt keep taking breaks to go surfing and hang out with their families,” adds the source. “But for the most part, they’ve been writing together on this trip.”

For all the latest news on Hollywood’s biggest stars, check out the new issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands this week.

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