Cruise, Smith, DiCaprio Score Big Paydays

A new feature piece in Variety has gone into the salaries some of the world’s biggest movie stars are earning for their most recent projects – and they are considerable sums.

Unshockingly Tom Cruise is way out in front of everyone else. The actor/producer takes a lower fee upfront in exchange for a significant percentage of the movie’s first-dollar gross.

In the case of “Top Gun: Maverick,” that’s a number expected to be in the range of $100 million or more across the film’s film, rental and streaming revenue. Cruise has a similar arrangement for the next two “Mission: Impossible” films.

Apple Studios are proving to be a big payer. Will Smith will earn $35 million for “Emancipation,” while Leonardo DiCaprio will get $30 million for Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon”. Also at Apple, Brad Pitt gets $30 million for a currently untitled Joseph Kosinski-directed Formula One drama while both Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell will land $20 million each for the holiday comedy “Spirited”.

Netflix is also a big payer, handing out $20 million to Chris Hemsworth for the “Extraction” sequel and $10 million to Millie Bobby Brown for the “Enola Holmes” sequel. The same goes for Sony with Tom Hardy and Denzel Washington poised to earn $20 million each for their participation in third entries in the “Venom” and “The Equalizer” franchises respectively.

Finally, at Warners, Jason Momoa is reportedly pulling in $15 million for the “Aquaman” sequel while Joaquin Phoenix is likely to get $20 million for the “Joker” sequel. Timothée Chalamet is getting $9 million for “Wonka,” while Dwayne Johnson is scoring $22.5 million for “Black Adam” along with millions more for producing the film.

Source: Variety