10. Sandra Bullock – Gravity (2013) – $70,000,000+
2013’s ‘Gravity‘ was a marvelous achievement by Alfonso Cuaron, with him also bagging the Best Director award at the Oscars. The lead actress of the film, Sandra Bullock, blew everyone’s minds away with her performance, and even bagged a Best Actress nomination. But what surely blew her mind was her earnings of $70 million from the film.
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9. Tom Hanks – Forrest Gump (1995) – $70,000,000
‘Forrest Gump‘ might not be one of the greatest movies ever made, but it’s so endearing that we keep going back to it over and over again. Hanks plays a character in this film who, though dim-witted, is far superior to normal humans in some aspects. The film became a phenomenal success and even helped Hanks bag the Academy Award for Best Actor. But his paycheck of $70 million from the film is another marvel in itself.
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8. Tom Cruise – Mission Impossible (1996) – $70,000,000
The ‘Mission Impossible‘ series of films has been one of the most iconic franchises in the last 30 years. Fans still flock around the theatres to catch Tom Cruise doing what he does best – unbelievable action and stunts. All this happened because the first film proved to be a major success and skyrocketed Cruise’s popularity. Cruise surely had a nice back-end deal in place to ensure he can gain something if the film manages to hit the mark. The film’s success helped him pocket a whopping $70 million.
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7. Robert Downey Jr. – Avengers: Infinity War (2018) – $75,000,000
When you’re the biggest star of the biggest franchise of all time, you are bound to frequently appear on such a list. So here we go again. RDJ managed to pocket an unbelievable $75 million with his performance in ‘Avengers: Infinity War‘. This was the franchise with which he wanted to make a comeback into Hollywood after some life choices saw the actor falling behind in his career. ‘Avengers’ picked him up and how!
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6. Robert Downey Jr. – Iron Man 3 (2013) – $75,000,000
RDJ played Tony Stark in three ‘Iron Man’ films, with all of them performing phenomenally at the box office. However, it is ‘Iron Man 3’ which is the most successful in the ‘Iron Man’ trilogy, having earned around $1.215 billion at the box office. RDJ yet again pocketed $75 million from the film.
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5. Bruce Willis – The Sixth Sense (1999) – $100,000,000
This M. Night Shyamalan film helped launch the director in a big way, and credit must be given to Bruce Willis for agreeing to do this film. It was his presence that helped ‘The Sixth Sense‘ gain more pre-release attention than it would have done otherwise. But Willis was more than compensated at the end, as he walked out of the project a $100 million richer. Interestingly, his salary was only $14 million with all the rest coming from a back-end deal.
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4. Tom Cruise – Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) – $100,000,000
The second installment of the ‘Mission: Impossible‘ franchise, which released in 2000, was a major success once again. The film yet again proved the box office powerhouse that Tom Cruise was and still is. His good looks, style, and the ability to pull off any stunt under the sun has made him one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood. And it is only people like him who can earn $100 million from a single film.
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3. Tom Cruise – War of The Worlds (2005) – $100,000,000
The second collaboration between Cruise and Steven Spielberg, ‘The War of The Worlds’ became a major success and gained close to $591.7 million at the box office. Cruise here plays the character of a dockworker who desperately tries to protect his children from an invading alien spaceship. Cruise earned $100 from this film as well.
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2. Will Smith – Men In Black 3 (2012) – $100,000,000
One of the highest-grossing movie stars of all time, it is no wonder that Will Smith finds himself on this list. The third installment of this science fiction action comedy film series continued the franchise’s popularity and became a major performer at the box office. Will’s final appearance in the series gave him a sweet parting gift in the form of his $100 million paycheck.
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1. Keanu Reeves – The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions (2003) – $156,000,000
The last two films of the ‘Matrix’ trilogy were shot together and earned the franchise’s star an unbelievable amount of $156 million. Keanu Reeves is one of the most humble Hollywood stars of all time; he is soft-spoken, sweet, and extremely philanthropic. It is surely an amazing sight to see him at the top of this list.
