When looking for an actor to bring in big money at the box office, Adam Sandler isn’t the first name on the list. In 1998, the former Saturday Night Live comedian achieved his highest domestic film office gross of $240 million.
His trajectory has been downward ever since: Sandler made around $5 million off of his sole box office release last year, the critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful Uncut Gems.
The yearly Forbes list of highest-paid actors still placed him at No. 9. How do they do it? Netflix. As part of a four-film, $250 million agreement negotiated in 2014, the streaming behemoth paid Sandler $31 million, or 75% of what he made all year.
More than 2 billion hours of his comedy have been consumed on Netflix, leading to a new deal in January, apparently for more than the original.
Although Sandler reaped the most financial reward from Netflix, many others benefited as well. Overall, the top ten actors of 2018 made $545.5 million, with Netflix paying out more than a fifth of that total.
In fact, the streaming juggernaut paid out $140.5 million to six of the top ten. For the second year in a row, Dwayne Johnson has earned the most (a total of $87.5 million), with $23.5 million coming from his upcoming role as an Interpol investigator pursuing an art thief in the Netflix original film Red Notice.
Ryan Reynolds, Mark Wahlberg, Ben Affleck, and Vin Diesel each received an extra $85 million from Netflix.
The world’s top 10 highest-paid actors in 2022
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Pay for Number One, Daniel Craig: $100 Million
British actor Daniel Craig will become the highest-paid actor in the world in 2021, thanks to a lucrative contract he signed with online video service Netflix. Netflix will debut the next two instalments of his 2019 mystery comedic smash “Knives Out.”
Netflix, which bought the rights to the film’s sequels, will pay him $100 million. His salary as an actor in the James Bond film is not included in this total.
It’s more than double what Craig made for his part as James Bond in “No Time to Die,” on a per-film basis. In the upcoming Knives Out sequel, Daniel will assume the character of Detective Benoit Blanc.
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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson makes $50 million per year, ranking #2.
An A-list American actor, businessman, and former professional wrestler, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is also known for his ring moniker.
He earns more than any other actor in Hollywood. Playing the character of a steamboat captain in Disney’s high-end action-adventure film “Jungle Cruise,” he made a cool $22 million.
In 2021, Dwayne made another staggering $20 million as an actor for his role in the heist comedy “Red Notice,” which he also produced for streaming service Netflix.
The film Red Notice was the most viewed item on the streaming service, with a total of 328.8 million hours of viewing time.
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Will Smith makes $40 million a year in salary.
American actor, rapper, and producer Willard Carroll Smith Jr. is better known by his stage name, Will Smith. He’s the type of actor who generates talk about Oscar nominations. With his most recent feature, “King Richard,” he made $40 million.
Smith portrayed Richard Williams, the doting father of Venus and Serena Williams, two of the greatest tennis players of all time.
One of Smith’s many accolades from 2013 was being named by Forbes as the most bankable star in the world. In 2007, he was also dubbed “Hollywood’s most influential actor” by Newsweek.
In addition to being nominated for five Golden Globes and two Oscars, Will Smith has won four Grammys. He entered himself into the Guinness Book of World Records for having attended three premieres in 24 hours.
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Denzel Washington’s Annual Income: $40 Million
Denzel Washington is a well-known American actor, director, and producer who has won the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. He’s appeared in over 50 films, and he’s won a slew of acting honours, including two Oscars, a Tony, and two Golden Globes.
His role as the crooked detective Joe Deacon in the neo-noir crime thriller “The Little Things” earned him $40 million. Unfortunately, the pandemic had a negative impact on the film’s performance at the box office.
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Leonardo DiCaprio, Number Five: $30 Million a Year
In preparation for his upcoming part in “Don’t Look Up,” Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio raked in $30 million. He won multiple accolades, including an Oscar, a BAFTA, and three Golden Globes.
Throughout his lengthy, award-winning career, Leonardo DiCaprio has played a wide variety of historical figures on screen, from politicians (J. Edgar Hoover in J. Edgar) and legendary moguls (Howard Hughes in The Aviator) to criminal forgers (Frank Abagnale Jr. in Catch Me If You Can) and corrupt stockbrokers (Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street).
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30 million dollars is Mark Wahlberg’s annual salary.
Mark Wahlberg, a multi-talented American, made his acting debut in 1993. He is also a producer, businessman, and former rapper.
Over the past 29 years, he has appeared in more than 53 films. Mark Wahlberg’s “Spenser Confidential,” an action comedy aired on Netflix in the year 2020, was an enormous success.
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Seventh is the $20 million salary of Ryan Gosling.
In 2020, Ryan co-starred with Chris Evans in the spy action-thriller “The Gray Man,” which was available on Netflix. This is one of the most expensive movies ever made, coming in at a whopping $200 million and directed by the Russo brothers.
He became a household name after starring in the 2004 American romantic drama film “The Notebook.” His yearly salary was close to $20 million.
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Salary for number eight, Chris Hemsworth: $20 million
Chris Hemsworth is a well-known Australian actor best known for his role as Kim Hyde on the popular TV show Home and Away.
He wanted a lot of money for Thor: Ragnarok, but he ended up with a bit less than Robert Downey Jr., another Avenger. His working life spanned more than a decade, and throughout that time he was honoured with a number of accolades.
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Salary for Brad Pitt, Actor: $20 Million, Number Nine
One of the most prominent figures in Hollywood is William Bradley Pitt, an American actor and film producer. Numerous publications have noted him as one of the most gorgeous guys alive.
He has been nominated for and won a number of accolades for his work in the film industry. Soon, he’ll be seen in Bullet Train, an upcoming action thriller co-starring Sandra Bullock.
This next thriller picture (from Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts) will reunite the Oscar-winning actor with George Clooney and pay him an estimated $20 million.
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Michael B. Jordan earns $15 million each year.
Michael B. Jordan is an Academy Award-winning American actor and film producer whose career spans over two decades. Time magazine included him in their 2020 list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Playing a Navy SEAL in “Without Remorse” netted Jordan a reported $15 million.
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