Do you know that just one right choice in your lifetime can be enough for you to make it? They knew it, and made it! These are the stars who can now lay back and relax since they’ve found their gold mines.
“Everything I [l]earned I [l]earned from the movies.” ― Audrey Hepburn
Leonardo DiCaprio – Inception
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Earned – $59 million
Fantastic movie, based on a great idea – and Leo saw the opportunity and grabbed it. Many consider DiCaprio to be one of the best actors in Hollywood right now, and when you see this movie, you will understand why. Have you already seen it? Did you like it?
Jack Nicholson – Batman
Earned – $60 million
It’s a kind of hard to believe that a support role gets paid more than the lead one, but in this case, Jacks’ Joker got him this amazing amount. But, he was smart here, which is why he got away with $60 million. His initial paycheck for this movie was a mere $6 million, instead of his standard $10 million. However, he made a deal to receive a percentage of the sales, and this is what increased his earnings tenfold.
Harrison Ford – Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Earned – $65 million
Indiana Jones is a legendary film series, a must-see adventure. Therefore, it is no wonder Harrison had to be on this list. Although this movie got terrible critics, and it was a flop at the box office. Ford was certainly not disappointed because he got a pretty nice paycheck for his troubles.
Sandra Bullock – Gravity
Earned – $70million
At last, a lady on our list. This drama of a woman in space got insanely good critics, ten nominations at the 86th Academy Awards, and incredible seven wins. Even Bullock admitted that her role was very demanding and challenging, even “frustrating, painful and lonely.” We can freely say it paid off since she got a nice paycheck of $20 million, and another $50 million from the box office. Not bad, right?
Tom Hanks – Forest Gump
Earned – $70 million
This was a surprise at the time. Hanks’ initial paycheck was only $10 million, but, when the movie started exceeding its budget, Hanks gave half of the money back, and asked fo a percentage of sales in return. That was a smart move because he ended up with $70 million for one of the roles that marked cinematic history. Not to mention that he won an Academy Award for it!
Will Smith – Men in Black 3
Earned – $100million
The first two Men in Black movies were wildly popular, but no one expected the third part to reach their success – except for Will Smith, who seems to have a unique sense for box office hits. This role brought him a whopping $100 million, and an unmatched popularity for a comedy/fantasy genre role.
Bruce Willis – The Sixth Sense
Earned – $120 million
When the movie hit the cinemas around the world, many were surprised to see Willis in this kind of a role. Out of his entire career, this is the most unusual part he played, and it was apparently worth it. In the end, he made an astonishing $120 million, the highest amount of money paid to an actor for a single movie.
Johnny Depp – Pirates of the Caribbean (1-4)
Earned – $185 million
The role of beloved Jack Sparrow brought Johhny insane popularity, amazing profit, and a spot on our list. But, hold your horses; since we’ve heard that negotiations for the fifth film are in progress, his earnings might help him get even above Keanu Reeves.
Keanu Reeves – Matrix (1-3)
Earned – $262 million
The trilogy that got Keanu global popularity also made him filthy rich. Reeves did a smart thing here. He would not have made this much money if he just took the salary for the movies. He took a percentage of the sales for each movie. Thanks to that, he cashed $126 million for the second part of the trilogy alone!
Tom Cruise – Mission Impossible (1-4)
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Earned -$290 million
Agent Ethan Hunt made Tom Cruise the highest paid actor for a single role. Not to mention that Cruise said it was the most fun he ever had on a movie set and that if asked, he would keep making sequels of it until he was 90. Yes, this is a franchise, but still, only these four movies let him amass this impressive amount of money.
