How much do actors make? Hollywood’s top-paid performers are about 20 percent less maddening than they used to be.
Variety released its latest rundown of star salaries, and they’re a bit of a comedown from the runaway pay of the ’90s and ’00s. In that era, stars like Julia Roberts could get $20 million just for showing up, and Johnny Depp reached a peak with $35 million for a “Pirates of the Caribbean” sequel.
Times have changed, and stars are finding themselves to be relatively unimportant — just like us! “Part of the problem is that costumed superheroes and Jedi knights became the big attraction at movie theaters,” says Variety. “The size of a film’s opening weekend no longer hinges on the popularity of the actors who grace its poster. Special effects are the stars these days and the place where studios are spending the bulk of their money.”
How much do actors make now?
But Hollywood’s top earners won’t exactly go hungry. Daniel Craig occupies the No. 1 slot with $25 million for the next Bond film in 2019, and Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel will earn $22 million and $25 million for walking toward the camera away from an exploding car.
The industry’s top-earning women include Anne Hathaway, who’s getting $15 million for 2020’s “Barbie,” and Jennifer Lawrence, who got the same for 2018’s “Red Sparrow.” Sandra Bullock has sufficient clout to pull in $10 million for a mere voiceover role, as she did in 2015’s “Minions.”
Some surprises: Seth Rogen is pulling in $15 million for his next film, 2019’s “Flarsky,” while Leonardo DiCaprio is getting “only” $10 million for Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” and Tom Cruise earned between $11 and $13 million for 2017’s “The Mummy.”
A hopeful note for stars anxiously checking their 401(k)s: They can command a bonus for promoting a film to their social-media followers. Dwayne Johnson tacked $1 million onto his salary for 2020’s “Red Notice” to plug it on his Facebook and Twitter feeds.
