It doesn’t seem like it was that long ago when people like Will Smith, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jim Carrey were among the swath of A-list movie stars demanding $20+ million per film. That was at a time when it didn’t matter what the film was about, or who was behind the camera. All that mattered was July 4th was coming soon and there was bound to be a new Will Smith movie in the multiplex.
Now, the film industry isn’t so reliant on A-list talent to sell a film. With so many options, such as streaming or the Golden Age of TV, audiences demand more from their films. No longer can an A-list name earn a guaranteed ticket sale.
That being said, there are plenty of big name stars that are getting huge paydays. According to a recent Variety report, we have some of those names and the astronomical amounts of money they earn for specific projects. And surprisingly, there are some names and films that might make you do a doubletake.
One of the names on the list isn’t a huge surprise – Leonardo DiCaprio. However, you aren’t going to find the actor near the top, as he might be if he was doing his next big-budget “Inception”-style film. No, the A-lister is “only” making $10 million for his next film, the Quentin Tarantino ‘60s-era film, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Apparently, the actor was so enamored by the script, he took a 50% pay cut just to be part of the film. Granted, his pay cut is more than most people will see in their entire lifetime.
Another not-so-surprising name making a shockingly-low number is Robert Downey Jr. While we don’t have the final total that he’ll make for this year’s “Avengers: Infinity War,” though odds are he has a significant back-end deal on the film, we do know how much the “Iron Man” actor made for his 15 minutes of work in “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” According to the report, RDJ pulled in a cool $10 million for his glorified cameo in the film. If you’re wondering, that’s the equivalent of over $11,000 per second of screen time. Damn.
The report also mentions that “Wonder Woman” helmer Patty Jenkins is getting a sizeable pay increase for the upcoming sequel. Variety says the director is seeing her salary almost triple to $9 million for “Wonder Woman 2.” Clearly, Warner Bros. was keen to make sure she came back to the franchise that she helped launch to huge box office dollars and critical acclaim.
For those wondering who’s leading the list, it’s not terribly interesting. Daniel Craig got a buttload (aka $25 million) to come back to Bond. The Rock has a huge payday coming for his next action/comedy film. And Vin Diesel still makes a ton for his ‘Fast and Furious’ movies.
We must end with the true sign that the days of the action star are coming to an end, with the news that Seth Rogen is making more for his upcoming film “Flarsky” than Tom Cruise made for “The Mummy” ($15 million vs. $11-$13 million, respectively).
$20m for Vin Diesel on Fate doesn’t sound right to me. Seems like he would be tied in the profit participation that would push that much higher, given it pulled in $1200m