Being a Hollywood A-lister is a life unlike any other. With the film industry recently shifting towards franchises instead of individual actors, it’s difficult to measure how much one’s acting job is worth.
However, these top ten acting jobs – by many recognizable fan-favorites – set new heights to the Hollywood strata.
10. Johnny Depp for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
This is not the only appearance Depp will have on this list. However, for the fourth sequel of the Pirates series, Depp was paid a total $55 million (£39.7m).
The total revenue that this film earned continuing the amazing sagas of Captain Jack Sparrow came in at $1 billion (£700m) worldwide. A box-office extravaganza.
Fair enough, since it had to cover the total production costs of reportedly $410 million (£296m)…
9. Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump
No surprise here: a movie list and someone mentions Gump again…
But Hanks really made it big with his role as the loveable Forrest. In fact, I am certain he loved what he made when he earned $60 million (£43m) for it. An impressive number, especially considering it was released in 1994, when Hollywood’s numbers were still not as high as today’s.
The huge sum comes thanks to a deal Hanks struck with the production team, offering to pay hefty sums of money for certain scenes when the crew went over-budget. Call it a smart investment.
8. Adam Sandler in Murder Mystery
You might think the real mystery is how Sandler is under Hanks, but it was his recent $250 million (£180m) four-movie deal with Netflix in 2014 that landed him a place in the top 10. Murder Mystery struck him a total of $62.5 million (£45m) per movie. And, it has allegedly been extended!
7. Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Ford needed a little bit of persuading to come back for a fourth film playing the world’s sexiest archeologist with director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas. However, after making a deal on a share of the box office receipts with Spielberg and Lucas, his whopping $65 million (£47m) revenue came to be. Not bad, Harrison, not bad.
6. Johnny Depp in Alice in Wonderland
Ah, Depp returns! But this time, as the Mad Hatter in the very odd live-action remake of Alice in Wonderland.
He earned a humble $68 million (£49m) working for his long time friend director Tim Burton.
5. Sandra Bullock in Gravity
Not only did Bullock bust out the Best Actress Oscar Award for this space thriller back in 2014, but she also hit sums out of this world on the revenue she earned! Since it was a commercial hit, she earned a total of $70 million (£50m). $20 million (£14m) of it was her fee paid up front, and the rest was 15% (only 15%…) of the total box office receipts. Astronomical.
4. Robert Downey Jr. in Avengers: Infinity War
“Finally!”, you might be exclaiming right now, “finally, an Avengers film!!!”
Why yes, and Robert takes the cake on this one. Earning a massive $75 million thanks to taking a share of the box office receipts he became the highest paid actor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
As if Iron Man wasn’t already the richest character in the Marvel Universe, now they have Robert Downey Jr. to match him.
3. Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible, Ghost Protocol
Exactly at Robert Downey Jr.’s level, we find Tom cruising by with his deal on the Mission: Impossible series. The fourth film, Ghost Protocol, saw him earn $75 million playing Ethan Hunt for the final time.
2. Keanu Reeves in The Matrix Trilogy
The well-adored Reeves beat all these actors out of the park with his role as Neo in The Matrix. A film that was unlike any other seen before when it was firstly released. Reeves earned a whopping total of $250 million (£180m) for the trilogy, and $83.3 million (£60m) per movie. Truly insane numbers.
1. Will Smith in Men In Black
Another sci-fi thriller, here comes the fan-favorite Agent J to top off the charts. Considering the time it was made and that many box office films have since beat these numbers, it is hard to forget how big of a deal Will Smith’s work for the Men in Black franchise really was. It sent his career straight to the top.
By the third installment, Smith earned a total $100 million (£72m). Almost a sixth of the film’s total $624 million (£450m) earnings.
Alien numbers for most of us!
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