38 Of The Highest-Paid Actors Of All Time

When Bruce Willis decided to take the lead character role in "The Sixth Sense," the actor secured a very lucrative contract. He agreed to a $20 million payment for the role of Dr. Malcolm Crowe as well as 17% of the movie's worldwide box office revenue and additional rights to its home video sales. These numbers sum up to $115 million in earnings for Willis from just one movie.

The total pay for Keanu Reeves' three "Matrix" movies was $250 million.

The sequel to Top Gun released more than three decades after the original, surpassed US$1.37 billion at the global box office in August. Tom Cruise's actual remuneration was US$13 million when he first signed on. That sum increased by agreeing to a deal guaranteeing the actor/producer receives a portion of the blockbuster's overall proceeds from ticket sales and streaming earnings.

For the 2018 film "Avengers: Infinity War," Downey secured a deal in which he received backend earnings totaling $75 million, making him the highest-paid actor in the MCU. In 2012, he earned $50 million for the first "Avengers" film.

Will Smith received $100 million of the third "Men in Black" film's $624 million worldwide gross as part of his performance-based compensation.

Please refrain from yelling into the nearest abyss, but RDJ reportedly earned $75 million for Iron Man 3.

For "Gravity," Bullock received a $20 million advance payment, which is a significant sum in itself. She received at least $70 million from her agreement, which also included a 15% share of box office earnings.

The fourth "Mission: Impossible" film, "Ghost Protocol," brought Cruise $75 million in revenue, propelling him to the top of Forbes' list of the year's most prominent performers.

Depp reportedly made $68 million for playing Mad Hatter "Alice in Wonderland."

Hanks chose performance-based pay for "Forrest Gump." All in all, he received an estimated $60 million.

Daniel Craig might get "upward of $100 million" for the "Knives Out" sequels that Netflix acquired in a $469 million transaction. With a $40 million budget, Lionsgate's first "Knives Out" was a box office success, grossing more than $300 million globally.

The fourth "Pirates" film, "On Stranger Tides," which came out in 2011, was one of the most costly films ever filmed, with a production budget of nearly $410 million. Paying employees and performers accounted for a sizable amount of those expenses. For the movie, Depp brought in $55 million alone.

Despite receiving a $6 million advance for his portrayal of the evil Joker in the 1989 "Batman" movie, Nicholson reportedly negotiated a lucrative contract that included box office receipts and merchandise sales from its follow-ups, which he didn't even appear in.

Ford, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas all received a sizable percentage of the proceeds from the fourth "Indiana Jones" movie, thanks to a contract Ford and Paramount reached.

Sandler signed a deal with Netflix in 2014 for four exclusive movies valued at an estimated $250 million, or $62.5 million for each film. The agreement was once again extended to Netflix last year for an additional four films.

DiCaprio made at least $50 million from box office receipts for Christopher Nolan's 2010 movie "Inception," but his contract also covered home video and television sales. Because the film was so "risky," he reportedly took a pay reduction, but he and Nolan agreed to divide the first dollar gross points.

The "Bad Teacher" production cost Diaz just $1 million, but she received a cut of the box office receipts, giving her approximately $40 million for the film. It is known as one of Hollywood's most "legendary" agreements.

Hanks has signed "act now, get paid later" contracts for a number of movies, wherein he will receive a percentage of the box office receipts. Although "Saving Private Ryan" brought him at least $40 million, this wasn't his most lucrative contract.

Johnson will receive $50 million for the upcoming action holiday film "Red One," which Amazon Studios recently acquired after a competitive bidding process. 

After receiving a back-end buyout when "The Little Things" aired on HBO Max the same day it opened in theaters, Washington earned $40 million.

MBB earned $10 million for Enola Holmes 2, which is less than some of the stars on this list but more than any other actor under the age of 20 has ever received up front.

The "Fast and Furious" franchise's leading man will earn a cool $20 million for his starring and producing roles in the upcoming film.

With $26 million, Stone came out on top of Forbes' list of the world's highest-paid actresses in 2017. The majority of that money came from her Oscar-winning performance in the 2016 movie "La La Land."

For his part as Richard Williams, the father of tennis phenoms Venus and Serena Williams, Smith will receive $40 million. Because the film will be released in cinemas and streamed on HBO Max at the same time later this year, it contains a back-end buyout.

DiCaprio received $30 million for his part in the star-studded film "Don't Look Up" from Netflix and director Adam McKay, which also includes a streaming back-end buyout.

A very nice deal, if you were to ask us!

In 1996, Jim Carrey earned $20 million for his performance in The Cable Guy, which "stunned Hollywood".

The two comedians earned handsomely for this updated version of "A Christmas Carol."

The "Thor" actor will switch over to his Netflix franchise to work on the follow-up to the wildly successful action film from 2020 in which he portrays a mercenary.

The upcoming Martin Scorsese movie, which is scheduled for release by Apple in 2023, will pay DiCaprio handsomely.

With 85 million households viewing "Spenser Confidential," the third-largest movie ever released on Netflix, Wahlberg received $30 million for the action comedy (the streamer counts a view if an account watches at least two minutes of a movie).

In order to keep his word, Schwarzenegger stipulated a number of conditions, including a $29.25 million "pay or play" fee that would be paid even if the third Terminator movie didn't materialize.

Ryan Gosling received $20 million from Netflix for The Gray Man, which is far more than the $12.5 million he will receive for Barbie.

Hardy receives a high salary for being the face of the Marvel franchise.

Apple demonstrated its willingness to pay actors who feature in its films millions of dollars when it agreed to pay $35 million to Smith for the slave drama "Emancipation," which was released this month.

According to rumors, Carrey traded his "Yes Man" salary for a profit-sharing interest in the film.

Simply put, The Rock can't stop making money. For Black Adam, he also made a MASSIVE sum of $22.5 million.

Brad Pitt continues to earn star-level salaries. He is reportedly earning $30 million for his next Formula One film, which is one of the biggest salaries of 2022.