Movie star salaries are being explored in the wake of the financial success of Top Gun: Maverick. Tom Cruise was paid a base salary of $12-14 million for the film, but Cruise commands a certain percentage of the box office, which leads to a massive payday for the actor, given the fact that the film has grossed nearly $1.2 billion at the global box office. He’s expected to earn $100 million or more from ticket sales, and now a report from Variety is revealing star salaries for films such as Black Adam, the upcoming Venom sequel, Barbie, and more!
According to the report, Dwayne Johnson reportedly earned $22.5 million for Black Adam, and he’s likely to earn much more once the film’s box office is factored in because I’m sure he’s an actor that commands a percentage of the profits. He also earns millions more for producing the project and even gets a fee for promoting the movie on his social media platforms Tom Hardy is expected to pocket $20 million for the third Venom installment before box office percentages are factored in, while Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling are earning the same $12.5 million for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. You can check out the chart of some upcoming star salaries HERE!
The report also goes into how some contracts are renegotiated. Jason Momoa has an option to appear in a sequel to Aquaman as a part of his initial deal, but it became clear that something new would need to be worked out when the first movie topped $1 billion at the global box office. Momoa renegotiated to double his salary, and he will now command $15 million for the sequel. A similar matter occurred with Joaquin Phoenix and Joker. Phoenix was paid $4.5 million for the film, which went on to earn more than $1 billion globally and garnered him his first Oscar. While it hasn’t been officially announced that he’s signed for the Joker sequel, Variety reports Warner Bros. will hand over at least $20 million to Phoenix for him to do it.
Variety also indicates that the payouts that Netflix, Apple, and other streaming services are shelling out have made studio executives raise their quotes to secure talent. Apple paid Leonardo DiCaprio $30 million for his reteam with Martin Scorsese on Killers of the Flower Moon. At the same time, they also gave Brad Pitt the same amount for his currently untitled Formula One drama from Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski. Netflix is paying up $20 million to Chris Hemsworth for Extraction 2, while the young Millie Bobby Brown is also minting a sweet $10 million for the Enola Holmes sequel. The paydays given out by streaming services do come with caveats. Apple, for instance, includes clauses in their contracts that make bonuses contingent on films coming in on time and on budget. The streamers are basically paying out all the actors’ backends. This makes deals with these platforms even more appealing for performers.
What are YOUR thoughts on this latest report about movie star salaries?