Although he hasn’t exactly left the headlines in what feels like forever, Tom Cruise has once again captured mainstream attention after last week’s reports indicated he’ll be pocketing over $100 million from Top Gun: Maverick (sacrificing upfront salary for a percentage of the box office revenue). Unsurprisingly, this savvy bit of contract judo has secured Tom Cruise’s status as king among the highest-paid actors of 2022.
While the 60-year-old action star behind Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell hasn’t a single comparable peer in sight right about now – nor is this the first time TC has cashed an insane payday with such an agreement, hence why he’s a recurring fixture within the list of history’s highest-paid actors period (see: below) – there are still plenty of hefty paycheques being cut by Hollywood. At least according to data recently published by Variety.
Sequels are clearly where you’ll find the big(gest) bucks. Top Gun: Maverick dir. by Joseph Kosinski aside, Variety’s list confirmed another 12 of the 26 most notable sums currently being doled out by studios involve franchise follow-ups. If you include DC’s franchise expansion flick in Black Adam starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, that brings the total to more than half (14).
From Netflix’s Extraction 2 starring our very own Chris Hemsworth – who has been steadily raking it in with his gig as Marvel’s Thor – to Antoine Fuqua’s trilogy completer The Equalizer 3, which hails the return of the OG himself Denzel Washington… the major lesson here? Never bet against an established cinematic property. Or Tom Cruise, for that matter.
“I would never bet against Tom Cruise,” an unnamed studio executive told Variety, noting his “superhuman” ability to crisscross the globe and promote.
“Most actors aren’t worth what you pay them, but Cruise and maybe Dwayne Johnson justify their salaries.”
Check out the highest-paid actors right now and the highest-paid actors of all time (from a single role).
The Highest-Paid Actors From A Single Role (2022)
Note: All sums = USD
- Tom Cruise (Top Gun: Maverick) – $100 million+
- Will Smith (Emancipation) – $35 million
- Leonardo DiCaprio (Killers of the Flower Moon) – $30 million
- Brad Pitt (Formula One) – $30 million
- Dwayne Johnson (Black Adam) – $22.5 million
- Will Ferrell (Spirited) – $20 million
- Chris Hemsworth (Extraction 2) – $20 million
- Vin Diesel (Fast X) – $20 million
- Tom Hardy (Venom 3) – $20 million
- Joaquin Phoenix (Joker 2) – $20 million
- Ryan Reynolds (Spirited) – $20 million
- Denzel Washington (The Equalizer 3) – $20 million
- Jason Momoa (Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom) – $15 million
- Eddie Murphy (Beverly Hills Cop 4) – $15 million
- Chris Pine (Star Trek sequel) – $13 million
- Steve Carell (Minions: The Rise of Gru) – $12.5 million
- Ryan Gosling (Barbie) – $12.5 million
- Margot Robbie (Barbie) – $12.5 million
- Millie Bobby Brown (Enola Holmes 2) – $10 million
- Timothee Chalamet (Wonka) – $9 million
- Matt Damon (Oppenheimer) – $4 million
- Robert Downey Jr (Oppenheimer) – $4 million
- Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer) – $4 million
- Daniel Kaluuya (Nope) – $4 million
- Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween Ends) – $3.5 million
- Anya-Taylor Joy (Furiosa) – $1.8 million
The Highest-Paid Actors From A Single Role (All-Time)
Note: All sums = USD
- Keanu Reeves (The Matrix sequels) – $156 million
- Bruce Willis (The Sixth Sense) – $100 million
- Tom Cruise (Top Gun: Maverick, War of the Worlds, Mission: Impossible 2) – $100 million each
- Will Smith (Men In Black 3) – $100 million
- Robert Downey Jr (Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, Iron Man 3) – $75 million+ each
- Sandra Bullock (Gravity) – $70 million+
- Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump) – $70 million
- Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible) – $70 million
- Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) – $65 million
- Jack Nicholson (Batman) – $60 million
- Leonardo DiCaprio (Inception) – $59 million
- Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) – $55 million
- Jackie Chan (Rush Hour 3) – $50 million
- Robert Downey Jr (The Avengers) – $50 million+ each
- Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic) – $40 million
- Tom Hanks (Saving Private Ryan) – $40 million
- Johnny Depp (Alice in Wonderland) – $40 million
- Will Smith (King Richard) – $40 million
- Amir Khan (Dangal) – $35 million
- Jim Carrey (Yes Man) – $35 million
