29 of the highest-paid film deals of all time, ranked: from Leonardo DiCaprio’s payday for Killers of the Flower Moon and Margot Robbie’s Barbie bonuses, to Robert Downey Jr becoming Marvel’s No 1

For instance, Carrey was paid US$20 million – a rarity today – for The Cable Guy in 1996, because it was expected he could deliver a huge opening weekend.

But some actors still command the recognition and leverage to strike gigantic deals, particularly Smith, Tom Cruise and Leonardo DiCaprio.

And with the rise of streaming services, actors find that the likes of Netflix and Apple aren’t afraid to shell out tens of millions of dollars too. Some movie stars in streaming films snag such big paydays because they’re granted a streaming back-end buyout, which aims to make up for box-office losses.

We ranked the highest-paid film roles of all time that earned actors more than US$25 million. Some actors – like Smith, DiCaprio, Cruise and Hanks – appear multiple times on this list.

Let’s take a look …

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29. Emma Stone in La La Land: US$26 million

Stone topped Forbes’ list of the world’s highest-paid actresses in 2017 with US$26 million, most of that coming from her Oscar-winning role in the 2016 film La La Land.

28. Ryan Reynolds in 6 Underground: US$27 million

Reynolds made US$27 million for the Michael Bay-directed Netflix action film, according to Variety, about six billionaires who turn into vigilantes.

27. Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines: US$29 million

Schwarzenegger promised that he’d be back for a third Terminator film under some pretty specific circumstances, including a US$29.25 million “pay or play” fee, according to Slate, which he would receive even if the film wasn’t made.

26. Brad Pitt in an untitled Formula One film: US$30 million

Variety reported that Pitt received a big payday from Apple with the actor starring as a former Formula One driver who returns to racing. We’re still waiting for the film, mind you …

25. Leonardo DiCaprio in Don’t Look Up: US$30 million

Variety reported that DiCaprio received US$30 million for his role in Netflix and director Adam McKay’s star-studded film Don’t Look Up, which includes a streaming back-end buyout.

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24. Mark Wahlberg as Spenser in Spenser Confidential: US$30 million

Wahlberg received US$30 million for Netflix’s action comedy Spenser Confidential, Variety reported, which was Netflix’s third biggest film of all time upon release with 85 million households watching in its first month.

23. Leonardo DiCaprio in Killers of the Flower Moon: US$30 million

DiCaprio is reportedly getting a big payday from Martin Scorsese’s latest film, says Variety, in which he plays a man who plots with his uncle to steal his wife’s family fortune by murdering them one by one.

22. Jim Carrey in Yes Man: US$30 million

Carrey reportedly exchanged his salary for Yes Man for an ownership stake in the romantic comedy film, which evidently paid off.

21. Will Smith in Emancipation: US$35 million

Apple TV+ is showing that it’s not afraid to shell out millions of dollars to actors that appear in its films as it paid US$35 million Smith for the drama Emancipation.

20. Will Smith in King Richard: US$40 million

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19. Denzel Washington in The Little Things: US$40 million

Washington snagged US$40 million for The Little Things after receiving a back-end buyout when the film streamed on HBO Max the same day it hit theatres.

18. Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan: US$40 million

Hanks has struck “act now, get paid later” deals on multiple films, in which he would receive a portion of the box-office earnings. That got him at least US$40 million for Saving Private Ryan, but it’s not his most lucrative deal.

17. Cameron Diaz in Bad Teacher: US$42 million

Diaz was paid a mere US$1 million to get Bad Teacher produced, but received a portion of box-office earnings, which secured her over US$40 million for the film. It’s known as one of the most “legendary” deals in Hollywood history.

16. Margot Robbie in Barbie: US$50 million

Robbie was paid a reported US$12.5 million for her starring role in the breakout hit of 2023, but her role as producer on the film and box-office bonuses boosted her payday to about US$50 million, according to Variety.

15. Dwayne Johnson in Red One: US$50 million

Johnson was paid US$50 million for the upcoming holiday action film Red One, which Amazon Studios won in a bidding war. The compensation includes a back-end buyout for the streaming film.

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14. Daniel Craig in the Knives Out sequels: US$100 million (US$50 million per film)

Netflix landed two Knives Out sequels in a deal worth US$469 million and its star Daniel Craig could earn “upward of US$100 million” for the sequels, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The first Knives Out, released by the studio Lionsgate, was a box-office hit with more than US$300 million worldwide off of a US$40 million budget.

13. Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception: US$50 million

12. Jack Nicholson in Batman: US$50 million

Though Nicholson was paid US$6 million up front for his role as the villainous Joker in the 1989 Batman film, he reportedly secured a lucrative deal that included box-office earnings and merchandise sales from its sequels – that he didn’t even appear in.

11. Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: US$55 million

Forbes reported in 2010 that the fourth Pirates film released in 2011 was one of the most expensive films ever made, with production costs of over US$410 million. A large portion of those costs were due to paying staff and actors. Depp alone made US$55 million, which he admitted he was “overpaid” in 2011. The Hollywood actor has reportedly made over US$300 million combined.

10. Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump: US$60 million

The box-office hit Forrest Gump is another case in which Hanks opted for performance-based pay, in which he received an estimated US$60 million.

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9. Adam Sandler in his Netflix films: US$250 million for four films (US$62.5 million each)

Sandler struck a deal with Netflix in 2014 for four exclusive films worth an estimated US$250 million or US$62.5 million per film, according to Forbes. Netflix renewed the deal in 2017 for four more films and again in 2020.

8. Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: US$65 million

To get Ford back for a fourth Indiana Jones film, Paramount agreed to a deal that split a large portion of the film’s earnings between him, director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas.

7. Johnny Depp in Alice in Wonderland: US$68 million

According to the Telegraph, Depp earned £50 million for Alice in Wonderland, which equates to about US$68 million in the US.

6. Sandra Bullock in Gravity: $70 million

Bullock was paid US$20 million up front for Gravity, which is an impressive number on its own. But her deal also included 15 per cent of box office revenue, which landed her at least US$70 million.

5. Robert Downey Jr in Avengers: Infinity War: US$75 million

Downey was the highest-paid actor of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, after negotiating a deal in which he received back end profits that resulted in US$75 million for 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War. He even made US$50 million for the first Avengers film in 2012, according to GQ.

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4. Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol: US$75 million

Cruise earned US$75 million from the fourth Mission: Impossible film, which allowed him to top Forbes’ most powerful actors list in 2012.

3. Keanu Reeves in The Matrix trilogy: US$250 million (US$83.3 million per film)

Between all three Matrix films, Keanu Reeves’ combined pay was US$250 million.

2. Will Smith in Men in Black 3: US$100 million

Will Smith’s performance-based pay for the third Men in Black film got him US$100 million of its US$624 million gross.

1. Tom Cruise as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick: over US$100 million

In 2022, Cruise took just US$13 million upfront for Maverick in exchange for a lucrative back end deal that is likely to nab the actor over US$100 million when accounting for his portion of box office and home-entertainment sales. The film earned nearly US$1.5 billion worldwide.