And you thought CEOs were overpaid...

LAT reporter Glenn Bunting got access to the final production budget for the 2005 action adventure film "Sahara" and it's a hoot. Actually it's outrageous, but it's also Hollywood and over-the-top expenses are pretty routine. They're also normally held under wraps, which makes this sneak peek especially entertaining. "Sahara" generated more than $200 million in revenue, which is decent money for a relatively unheralded film, but expenses topped $280 million. Among the more insane line items were perks given to stars Matthew McConaughey, Penelope Cruz and Steve Zahn. Here's what McConaughey got:

Entourage travel - $179,262
Assistant - $114,000
Colorist - $72,800
Trainer - $67,977
Personal Chef - $48,893
Security - $29,296
Gym room at hotel - $3,488
Other - $9,375 (goodness knows what this includes)

Also in the Times is the revamped Sunday bidness section, which will focus on personal finance stuff (investment columns, money makeovers, etc.) There's nothing wrong with the execution, and it's certainly better than those yawners about the Polish economy. But the concept is retro 1970s and 1980s, when regular folks were just getting into the markets and didn't really know what to do. These days, there's like a zillion places on the Web where most of this information is readily available. Just out of curiosity, how is this supposed to attract new readers and satisfy existing ones?