The Forbes ranking of the highest paid actors in 2020
Adam Sandler is not the star that studio executives call when they are looking for an actor who can deliver box office results. The former Saturday Night Live comedian peaked in 1998 when he sold tickets for $ 240 million at the US box office. Since then, it has fallen lower and lower: last year, the only Sandler film released in theaters was Uncut Gems, a pearl for critics, which however only grossed $ 51 million; Sandler made about $ 5 million. It doesn't matter: it still came in ninth place on Forbes' annual ranking of highest paid actors. The secret? Netflix. The streaming giant paid Sandler $ 31 million, 75 percent of what it earned over the year, as part of its $ 250 million deal signed in 2014 for four films. Netflix users have streamed more than 2 billion hours of the comedian's film, which reportedly led to a new deal signed in January that is even worth more than the first.
While no one got more money from Netflix than Sandler in percentage terms, many others benefited from streaming. The 10 highest-paid actors this year raised a total of $ 545.5 million, more than a quarter of which was paid by Netflix. The streaming giant, in fact, broke $ 140.5 million in checks to six of the top 10 on the chart. Dwayne Johnson tops the list for the second consecutive year with $ 87.5 million, raising $ 23.5 million for his role as an Interpol agent chasing an art thief in the upcoming Netflix original film Red Notice. Netflix paid another $ 85 million to Ryan Reynolds, Mark Wahlberg, Ben Affleck and Vin Diesel.
The star economy is the same for Netflix as it was for traditional film studios: if you attract a crowd, you get the most dollars. For Netflix, however, the secret isn't in the box office hit results, but in the number of monthly subscriptions it will register and maintain accordingly. This is a figure that is calculated using Netflix's proprietary data, including the number of times a movie is streamed and the number of repeated views, as well as some of an actor's social following.
The influence of streaming companies is accelerating. Netflix, which has spent more than any single house on Hollywood stars, is expected to invest more than $ 17 billion in content this year. Apple TV + is reportedly planning to invest more than $ 30 million to contract Reynolds (# 2, $ 71.5 million) for A Christmas Carol, and Amazon is paying Bollywood's Akshay Kumar (# 6. $ 48.5 million) $ 10 million for his role in an upcoming television series.
"It's no longer entirely art or entirely science," says Mike Bloxham, an entertainment analyst at research firm Magid, referring to the strategies that studios and streamers use to determine salaries. "It's a real alchemy, and it gets more and more alchemical the further we go and more data becomes available."
1. Dwayne Johnson - $ 87.6 million
The Rock tops the list for the second consecutive year thanks to a $ 23.5 million check from Netflix for the upcoming Red Notice movie and its hit clothing line with Under Armor called Project Rock.
2. Ryan Reynolds - $ 71.5 million
Current Netflix golden boy Reynolds has grossed more than $ 20 million per film for both Six Underground and Red Notice. In July, Netflix announced it was working on a third Reynolds movie, which will no doubt mean another eight-figure check.
3. Mark Walhberg - $ 58 million
Wahlberg's action comedy Spenser Confidential became the third most-watched original film on Netflix after debuting in March. He also made millions producing the McMillions and Wahl Street docuseries.
4. Ben Affleck - $ 55 million
After a brief hiatus, Affleck returned to the big screen this year, starring in Netflix's The Way Back and The Last Thing He Wanted.
5. Vin Diesel - $ 54 million
The F9 star missed an opportunity to raise a huge salary this year after the film's release was pushed to April 2021. He still kept his income as a producer on the Netflix animated series Fast & Furious Spy Races.
6. Akshay Kumar - $ 48.5 million
The only Bollywood star on the list, Kumar is working on his first television series The End for Amazon Prime. Most of his money, however, comes from sponsorship deals; sponsors everything from multivitamins to toilet cleaners.
7. Lin-Manuel Miranda - $ 45.5 million
Disney acquired the worldwide film rights to the original Broadway production Hamilton for $ 75 million this year, putting Miranda on the list for the first time. Even with Broadway closed for the remainder of 2020, he can expect another big gross next year when the theatrical version of In The Heights comes out.
8. Will Smith - $ 44.5 million
The Prince of Bel-Air can still earn big bucks for starring parts, like his upcoming role in King Richard, in which he plays Richard Williams, father of tennis greats Serena and Venus. He adds to his earnings smartphone hits, including a Snapchat series and his popular Instagram account.
9. Adam Sadler - $ 41 million
The comedian has found his home on Netflix. In January, he signed another deal to create four more films for the platform after his Murder Mystery film became one of the streaming platform's most popular films of all time.
10. Jackie Chan - $ 40 million
Sixty years into his career, the martial arts star is more active than ever, having made five films in the past year. Its millionaire proceeds come from sponsorship and licensing deals.
Methodology: Earnings estimates are based on data from Nielsen, ComScore, Box Office Mojo and IMDB, as well as interviews with industry experts. All figures are pre-tax and reflect earnings between June 1, 2019 and June 1, 2020; charges for agents, managers and lawyers (generally 10%, 15% and 5% respectively) are not deducted. The list of the highest paid female actresses will be released next month.
