Movies

Top 10 Highest Paid Actors in 2016

1. KEVIN HART: $87.5 MILLION

 You see what we mean when we say Dwayne Johnson is the highest paid “pure actor” on this list. But we still think Kevin Hart does enough acting to count as an actor, despite a large chunk of his income streaming in from his wildly successful career as a stand-up comedian. While most top comics make their dough in soft-seat theaters and clubs, Hart is so popular he can sell out stadiums and arenas with his act.

Still, like we said, the 37-year-old Philadelphia native has definitely padded his bank account with his on-screen roles. As a testament to his burgeoning acting career, he starred this year for the first time in a sequel to one of his movies, Ride Along 2, with Ice Cube. More recently, he teamed up with the number two guy on this list, Johnson, to co-headline yet another action-comedy, Central Intelligence, which has grossed over $200 million worldwide. And, finally, he made his voice acting debut this year as a cranky bunny in The Secret Life of Pets.

2. DWAYNE JOHNSON: $64.5 MILLION

We can smell what The Rock is cooking – it’s the ex-professional wrestler’s sizzling-hot acting career. Sure, Dwayne Johnson was incredibly funny and charismatic during his WWE days, with the People’s Eyebrow and the People’s Elbow. But who would’ve thought when he made his film debut as the Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns back in 2000 that 16 years later he’d be the highest paid “pure actor” in Hollywood?

Of course, he’s been busy stirring up controversy on the Fast 8 set lately, a film he’s surely getting a healthy eight figures for. He also starred in the blockbuster disaster movie San Andreas last year. Then there’s still the occasional WWE paycheck, having appeared in this year’s WrestleMania. Plus, he’s a star on the small screen, too, with his HBO comedy Ballers, where he stars as an ex-NFL player who’s become a financial manager, and which was recently renewed for a third season.

3. JACKIE CHAN: $61 MILLION

Speaking of China… that’s right, even though Jackie Chan’s days as a bankable headlining Hollywood star (his last Rush Hour movie was released in 2007) appear to be behind him, he’s still way up on this list making mega millions. How? Back home in China, that’s how. Just as India has its thriving Bollywood scene, China has a big film industry of its own.

In the past year alone, the 62-year-old martial arts dynamo voiced a character in Monkey King: Hero is Back, starred in a couple of Chinese/American productions in Skiptrace with Johnny Knoxville and Dragon Blade with John Cusack, plus he voiced Monkey in Kung Fu Panda 3 on this side of the Pacific. But that’s not all. He has three Chinese films in post-production and three more currently filming (two of the latter are animated). But he’s not done over here, as he’s expected to reprise the role of Mr. Han in Karate Kid 2, he’ll be the voice of Sensei Wu in next year’s The Lego Ninjago Movie, and there may even be a Rush Hour 4 in the coming years.

4. MATT DAMON: $55 MILLION

We can imagine old Boston buddies, and Good Will Hunting co-stars/co-writers, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon getting together over coffee. Damon pulls this list up on his phone or iPad and taunts, “Suck on that, Batman!” That’s right, Damon out-earned his pal and didn’t even have to wedge himself into a superhero suit. Damon has a cool $10 million on Affleck, number eight on this list, over the past year.

A return to the character Jason Bourne in, well, Jason Bourne, this year, as both lead actor and producer, will go a long way. His salary alone for that sequel is believed to be around $25 million, which amounted to $1 million for every line he uttered in the movie. On top of that, coming out later this year is the period mystery/thriller/action flick The Great Wall, which takes place during the building of The Great Wall of China.

5. TOM CRUISE: $53 MILLION

Even at age 54, Tom Cruise can’t stop starring in blockbuster movies. So that’s why he takes home the big bucks. Way back in 1996 he stumbled upon a major cash cow with the first Mission: Impossible movie. With a sixth installment with Cruise blowing stuff up and doing crazy stunts currently in pre-production, when it’s released it’ll quickly bring the franchise’s global take to over $3 billion.

The diminutive superstar, of course, produces those movies as well, so part of his earnings over the past year included back end from the fifth MI film, last year’s, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. Also included here is his salary from Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, another sequel, which you can see in theaters starting October 21, 2016. It’ll come as a surprise to no one that he’ll most likely wind up high on this list again next year, as he stars in a new take on The Mummy and a new thriller in American Made. And if Top Gun 2 ever gets off the ground he’ll probably make a good $100 million for that when all is said and done.

6. JOHNNY DEPP: $48 MILLION

Just a year ago, Forbes ranked Johnny Depp the most overpaid actor in Hollywood, with lackluster films like Transcendence and Mortdecai making just $1.20 for every $1.00 he was paid for them. This past year has only been slightly different. At least he has the Alice in Wonderland sequel Alice Through the Looking Glass under his belt, where he reprised his role as the Mad Hatter. While it failed to really catch on on this side of the pond, it’s grossed over $212 million at the foreign box office, for a total of about $290 million.

So the bulk of his massive earnings for this past year come from two big sequels: the second go-round of Alice and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. The return of Captain Jack Sparrow is slated to hit theaters on May 26, 2017, but has already finished filming. He could wind up making more on the back end of both films – that is, unless his recent troubles with domestic violence accusations catch up with him and his box-office prowess.

7. JENNIFER LAWRENCE: $46 MILLION

And, following the Caped Crusader, we have the third and final superhero actor on this list. Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook), of course, plays Raven/Mystique in the X-Men franchise, appearing in X-Men: Apocalypse earlier this year to contribute a good chunk to her 2015-16 fortune.

J-Law’s starring role in huge franchises like that, plus The Hunger Games, which finished up last year with Mockingjay – Part 2, plus seemingly annual Oscar-caliber roles in more serious films, have made the 27-year-old (who coincidentally shares an August 15 birthday with Affleck) the highest-paid actress in the world. She reportedly made a whopping $20 million alone for her role in this December’s sci-fi adventure Passengers, about a troubled space journey, co-starring Chris Pratt. And yet she’s still all the way down at number seven on this list. It’s no wonder that she’s been so vocal about Hollywood’s wage gap.

8. BEN AFFLECK: $43 MILLION

Ben Affleck is the second of three actors on this list who made part of their millions from playing a superhero. The 44-year-old two-time Oscar winner (neither for acting) made his controversial debut as Batman this year in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and that alone will pad the old wallet. Of course, he also cameo’d as Bats in this summer’s Suicide Squad and will parlay his somewhat surprising success in the role into directing a new solo Batman movie in the not-too-distant future, plus two Justice League movies, in 2017 and 2019.

Despite all of his past success, Forbes says that his Batman payday, which includes not just his salary, but a back-end deal, has resulted in Affleck’s most lucrative year to date. Also contributing is his starring role in the crime thriller The Accountant, which is slated for release in October. Just imagine the power couple he and J-Lo, number 10 on this list, would be if they hadn’t split up years ago.

9. SOFIA VERGARA: $43 MILLION

For us, this was the most surprising entertainer on the list, and she cracked the top 10. On the surface, most of us know Sofia Vergara as Gloria, the fiery Colombian trophy wife on the uber-popular ABC sitcom Modern Family. She’s great on the show, but she couldn’t possibly make $43 million in one calendar year from a sitcom, could she, even if it is the number two sitcom on TV?

Well, she and the other main cast members reportedly worked out a new deal for the coming eighth season that will bring in $350,000 each per episode, plus a cut of the back end. Assuming 22 episodes, that’ll come to $7.7 million for the season before the back-end bonus. Clearly, even with this raise it won’t get her to $43 million. So, of course, it’s endorsements with the likes of Cover Girl, Head & Shoulders and others, plus her own talent management company, that brings home the bacon.

10. JENNIFER LOPEZ: $39.5 MILLION

It’s got to be hard to maintain your humble status as “Jenny from the block,” as her song goes, when you’ve pocketed nearly $40 million in the past year alone. You’ve got to admit, J-Lo is versatile, starting her career off as a Fly Girl dancer on In Living Color and moving on to become not just a movie star, but a star of both reality and scripted TV, plus a wildly successful singer. When you’ve got all that going on at such a high level, it’s almost surprising she’s not higher on this list.

Let’s look back at exactly what she’s done in the past year. Her judging gig on the final season of American Idol reportedly brought home $17.5 million alone. The 47-year-old Bronx native also starred in the NBC crime drama Shades of Blue, which was renewed for a second season. Then there was her voice work as the saber-tooth tiger Shira in Ice Age: Collision Course, her Vegas song and dance show, her fragrance line, and various endorsement deals. We’re exhausted just writing about it.