The celebs are at it again. Variety has revealed the amount of pay received by several celebrities in 2019 for thirteen different movies, only one of which (Triple Frontier) has been released. They also revealed that both Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt took a big pay cut to work on Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, with both actors earning $10 million each as opposed to their usual $20 million or so.
The list comes with a few caveats. The figures don’t include actors who probably made a killing with back-end deals (like Lupita Nyong’o in Us). Netflix movies pay higher salaries up front but don’t offer anything on the back end, which is why Ben Affleck and Ryan Reynolds both take well-heeled spots on the list for their Netflix deals on Triple Frontier and Michael Bay’s Six Underground. Next year’s list may include a huge payday (perhaps $35 million) for Will Smith to star in Netflix’s Bright 2. Finally, Margot Robbie’s salary on Birds of Prey may be, in part, for her work as a producer on the film as well.
Here’s the list, via Variety:
$2.5 million — Jessica Chastain (It: Chapter 2, opening September 6, 2019)
$4.5 million — Joaquin Phoenix (Joker, opening October 4, 2019)
$6 million — Martin Lawrence (Bad Boys For Life, opening January 17, 2020)
$7 million — Kristen Stewart (Charlie’s Angels, opening November 15, 2019)
$8 million — Ben Affleck (Triple Frontier, opened March 15, 2019)
$8 million —Idris Elba (Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, opening August 2, 2019)
$9-10 million — Margot Robbie (Birds of Prey, opening February 7, 2020)
$10 million — Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, opening July 26, 2019)
$10 million — Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman 1984, opening June 5, 2020)
$10 million — Brad Pitt (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, opening July 26, 2019)
$12-13 million — Emily Blunt (A Quiet Place 2, opening May 15, 2020)
$12-14 million — Tom Cruise (Top Gun: Maverick, opening June 26, 2020)
$13 million — Jason Statham (Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, opening August 2, 2019)
$17 million — Will Smith (Bad Boys For Life, opening January 17, 2020)
$20 million — Robert Downey, Jr. (The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle, opening January 17, 2020)
$20 million — Dwayne Johnson (Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, opening August 2, 2019)
$27 million — Ryan Reynolds (Six Underground, release date TBD)
Overall, A-lister salaries seem to be a little lower than they used to be, but still high enough to throw some great parties:
Wait, no, let’s go with something a little more current: