Hollywood’s top talent can command some seriously high salaries, and you simply won’t believe how much the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt can make for starring in a single movie.
Read on to discover who the highest-paid movie stars of 2022 so far are, based on their salaries for upcoming or recently released projects according to Variety. There are some surprises on the list too. All dollar amounts are in US dollars.
Timothée Chalamet banked $9 million (£7.5m) for the title role in the upcoming Wonka musical which, in case you hadn’t gathered from the name, is the latest silver screen adaptation of Roald Dahl’s beloved Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Slated for a December 2023 release, the Willy Wonka origin story project is helmed by Paddington director Paul King, and its all-star cast includes Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman, and Matt Lucas.
At just 26 years old, Chalamet is already accustomed to high salaries. He reportedly earned around $2 million (£1.7m) for his leading role in the 2021 Oscar-winning sci-fi epic Dune.
Not only is Stranger Things alum Millie Bobby Brown the youngest star in our round-up at just 18 years old, she’s also one of only two women to be featured.
The teen starlet recently made history for receiving the highest upfront salary for an actor under 20 when she secured a whopping $10 million (£8.4m) for the lead role in Netflix’s mystery movie Enola Holmes 2.
Despite her tender age, Brown is far from a newbie when it comes to making serious money. She reportedly earned around $300,000 (£251.5k) per episode for season three of Stranger Things, or $2.4 million (£2m) in total.
The upcoming Barbie movie is already one of the most hotly anticipated releases of 2023, with recent on-set photographs of leading lady Margot Robbie practically breaking the Internet.
Since her breakout role in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street, the Australian actress has become one of Hollywood’s most sought-after stars.
While she earned just $347,000 (£290.2k) for that 2013 debut, she can now command premium prices. In fact, the healthy $12.5 million (£10.4m) Robbie received for Barbie reportedly makes her the highest-paid actress in Hollywood right now.
And what’s Barbie without her Ken? Ryan Gosling is also set to star in Barbie, and on-set pictures of the A-lister in costume – complete with bleached blonde hair and a spray tan – sent fans into meltdown.
Like Robbie, Gosling earned $12.5 million (£10.4m) for the role, which is his highest salary to date. Previously, his biggest payday was a cool $10 million (£8.4m) for his work on 2017 sci-fi blockbuster Blade Runner 2049.
Barbie's all-star cast also includes Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon, and Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa, who was also recently announced as the new leading man in the BBC's Doctor Who TV series.
The Office alum Steve Carell has certainly come a long way since starring in the hit sitcom that first made him a household name. In the show's heyday, he was taking home a cool $300,000 (£251.5k) per episode for his role as Michael Scott, and he's now one of Hollywood's highest-paid stars.
The comedy king received a $12.5 million (£10.4m) cheque for his vocal role as the dastardly Gru in Minions: The Rise of Gru. The family-friendly blockbuster was released this July and has already grossed a fortune at the global box office.
Carell also voiced everyone’s favourite anti-hero in the Despicable Me trilogy, earning just $500,000 (£418.2k) for his work on the first instalment of the now multibillion-dollar film franchise.
Chris Pine is set to star as the iconic Captain Kirk for the fourth time in an upcoming, and as yet untitled, Star Trek movie. What’s more, the star has been paid a hefty $13 million (£10.8m) to reprise the role.
Having earned just $600,000 (£501k) for 2009’s Star Trek, this is Pine’s biggest Trekkie payday by a long shot. His salary reportedly increased to $1.5 million (£1.2m) for 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness and to $6 million (£5m) for 2016’s Star Trek Beyond.
Not much is known about the upcoming project, which is still in the development stage, but Pine's co-stars Zoe Saldana and Zachary Quinto are also expected to return to the space saga with significant salary increases.
It’s been almost 30 years since Eddie Murphy last played Detective Axel Foley but he's finally back.
To the delight of fans, Netflix recently announced it was helming the fourth instalment of beloved comedy Beverly Hills Cop, rumoured to be titled Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.
Murphy, who's also a producer on the project, received a $15 million (£12.4m) upfront salary but this impressive payday is only a quarter of what he's commanded before.
Thanks to a backend profit deal, the comedy legend reportedly pulled in an eye-watering $60 million (£49.8m) for the 2000 comedy Nutty Professor II: The Klumps.
Jason Momoa's career-making role as Dothraki leader Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones has certainly helped him land some seriously lucrative acting gigs. That said, the part that has made the biggest splash in the star's bank account is undoubtedly that of Aquaman.
Momoa was paid $15 million (£12.4m) to return as the seafaring superhero in the upcoming Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which is reportedly double his salary for the first instalment of the DC comic book adaptation.
And that's not all. When the action man isn’t busy starring on the silver screen, he’s also the leading man in the Apple TV+ sci-fi drama See, reportedly receiving $600,000 (£498.8k) per episode.
Slated for a 2023 release, the much-hyped The Equalizer 3 will see Denzel Washington return once again as moralistic mercenary Robert McCall.
The veteran actor banked $20 million (£16.7m) for reprising his role in the action-packed epic, and reportedly pulled in the same figure for both the first and second instalments of the franchise, which were released in 2014 and 2018.
However, these colossal sums are likely little more than pocket change to Washington, who reportedly takes home upwards of $60 million (£50m) a year thanks to his various acting and producing projects.
As for his highest-paid film role of all time, that was an incredible $40 million (£33.3m) for the 2021 detective drama The Little Things, which co-starred Jared Leto and Rami Malek.
With pulse-racing flicks like Deadpool, Red Notice, and 6 Underground under his belt, Ryan Reynolds is one of Hollywood’s most sought-after action stars – so his latest role has surprised a lot of people.
Reynolds stars as Ebenezer Scrooge in Spirited, a musical retelling of Charles Dickens' festive classic A Christmas Carol.
Reynolds received $20 million (£16.7m) for the Apple TV+ movie, which was released in November. However, this astounding sum isn’t even close to his biggest payday.
Factoring in backend profit deals, it’s thought that the leading man earned between $30 million (£24.9m) and $40 million (£33.2m) for 2018’s Deadpool 2. That’s a vast increase from the $2 million (£1.7m) upfront fee he received for the first instalment of the R-rated superhero franchise back in 2016.
Ryan Reynolds isn’t the only A-lister who stars in Spirited. Will Ferrell plays a ghostly character named Present in the Christmas musical.
Like Reynolds, the comedy legend banked $20 million (£16.7m) for his role. This impressive sum is nothing out of the ordinary for the sought-after Ferrell, who can easily command eight-figure sums for a single film.
Apple TV+ won a tough bidding war for the rights to stream Spirited, beating competition from the likes of Netflix, Warner Bros., and Paramount for the privilege.
Joaquin Phoenix took home a cool $4.5 million (£3.7m) for 2019’s Joker.
The comic book-inspired psychological thriller raked in over $1 billion (£831m) at the box office and won two Oscars, with Phoenix scooping up the coveted Best Actor gong.
Now a sequel titled Joker: Folie à Deux is in the development stage. This time round, Phoenix has secured himself a staggering $20 million (£16.7m) for stepping into the shoes of the iconic anti-hero.
Another A-lister set to make a fortune for reprising his role as a comic book anti-hero is Tom Hardy, who has reportedly received $20 million (£16.7m) for the upcoming Venom 3.
That's a substantial increase from the $7 million (£5.8m) he was paid for 2018’s Venom, while his salary for the 2021 sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, was never in the public domain.
The British actor, who is best known for films like The Dark Knight Rises and Dunkirk, has an estimated net worth of $45 million (£37.4m), so it’s probably safe to assume that Venom 3 is his most lucrative gig to date.
Action man Vin Diesel received $20 million (£16.7m) upfront to return as street racer Dom Toretto in the upcoming Fast X, which is tipped to be released in 2023.
Diesel, who also serves as a producer on the multibillion-dollar Fast and Furious franchise, took home $20 million for 2021’s F9: The Fast Saga.
The action-packed franchise is now a major moneymaker for the star, so you might be surprised to learn that Diesel earned just $2 million (£1.7m) for the first film in the series, 2001’s The Fast and the Furious.
Gripping thriller Extraction was a huge hit for Netflix. After all, the action-packed epic had 99 million views within the first four weeks of its release in 2020, so it's little surprise that a sequel is now in the works.
It’s estimated that Extraction’s leading man Chris Hemsworth made upwards of $5 million (£4.1m) for the first instalment. This time round, however, the action hero will take home a hefty $20 million (£16.7m).
Thanks to his money-spinning contract with Marvel, the Australian actor is now accustomed to huge salaries. He reportedly earned another $20 million for the title role in superhero blockbuster Thor: Love and Thunder.
Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is the latest A-lister to join the DC Extended Universe. He stars as the eponymous anti-hero in Black Adam, which hit the silver screen in October.
Johnson didn’t come cheap and was paid a staggering $22.5 million (£18.6m) for his role.
In a typical year, the former WWE wrestler, who is estimated to be worth an eye-watering $800 million (£662.7m), pulls in around $100 million (£82.8m) from acting roles and endorsement deals, as well as via his Tequila company Teremana.
Apple TV+ recently snapped up an untitled Formula One drama starring Hollywood icon Brad Pitt, with racing legend Lewis Hamilton on board as a producer.
While it’s unknown how much the streaming giant shelled out for the rights, the film boasts a budget of $140 million (£116m), with Pitt alone paid a huge $30 million (£24.8m) upfront.
The racing car movie is still in the early development phase, so a release date is a way off yet. However, fans of Pitt needn’t fret: you can catch the actor in wacky action comedy Bullet Train in cinemas this summer. His salary for that particular project was a hefty $20 million (£16.7m), in case you were wondering.
Brad Pitt isn’t the only top talent that Apple TV+ is forking out the big bucks for. The video-on-demand service has also snapped up the rights to Killers of the Flower Moon, which is being directed by the legendary Martin Scorsese and stars Leonardo DiCaprio.
The Western crime drama will be released simultaneously in cinemas and on the streaming platform in 2023. While it’s unknown how much Apple paid for the streaming rights, DiCaprio’s salary alone was $30 million (£24.8m), with the total budget clocking in at a jaw-dropping $200 million (£166.1m).
DiCaprio’s most recent role was in Netflix's Oscar-nominated satirical comedy Don’t Look Up, for which he reportedly pocketed another $30 million.
Evidently gunning for its streaming rivals, Apple TV+ has also scooped up the rights to Emancipation, a historical action thriller starring Will Smith.
Smith is set to receive a staggering $35 million (£29m) for his leading role, which will see him play an escaped enslaved man who is trying to escape from plantation owners.
At the start of 2022, the actor starred in biopic King Richard, earning the Academy Award for Best Actor for his efforts. However, the awards ceremony was marred by controversy due to the now infamous incident where Smith slapped event host Chris Rock.
According to reports, Smith received a $40 million (£33.2m) payment for King Richard, although some sources claim that, thanks to backend profit deals, his actual salary was closer to $60 million (£49.8m).
Taking the top spot as the highest-paid movie star of 2022 is Tom Cruise.
His latest film Top Gun: Maverick, grossed more than $1.4 billion (£1.2bn) at the box office. Thanks to backend profit deals, Cruise has reportedly walked away with an estimated $100 million (£83m) for reprising his role as fighter pilot Pete "Maverick" Mitchell.
This isn't the first time that the 80s icon has massively benefited from backend profit deals. He also earned an incredible $75 million (£62.3m) for 2011's Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.
Now discover which celebrities turned down multimillion-dollar paydays, and why