“Downey reigns as the highest paid man in Hollywood because at this point, it would be incredibly difficult for Marvel to continue making “Iron Man” and “Avengers” films without him,” the report from Forbes said.
Marvel movies, which are owned by Disney, have earned almost $4 billion at the global box office and millions more on home video, not to mention the millions the movies have generated in merchandise.
Downey starred in movie franchises of Iron Man and Avengers.
But his good fortune won’t probably stop there. Forbes reported that Downey held out the negotiations for the avengers sequel “Age of Ultron “and secure more money than ever upfront for the film.” The movie is expected to be a hit which will allow him to earn more.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, meanwhile, placed second with $52 million. He is the only other actor from last year’s Forbes top five to make it again this year, and this is credited to the “Fast & Furious” franchise. He will star in “Hercules,” as well as “Fast & Furious 7” and disaster film “San Andreas” next year.
Bradley Cooper of the “Hangover” franchise ranked third with $46 million. He made money from other huge films like “American Hustle,” where he also received his second Academy Award nomination. He will voice Rocket Raccoon in Marvel’s next feature “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
Placing fourth is Leonardo di Caprio with $39 million for his successes in “The Great Gatsby” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.” In fifth place is Downey’s fellow Avenger Chris Hemworth with $37 million which he earned from the film “Thor: The Dark World.”
The following is the complete list of the top 10:
1. Robert Downey Jr. – $75 million
2. Dwayne Johnson – $52 million
3. Bradley Cooper – $46 million
4. Leonardo DiCaprio – $39 million
5. Chris Hemsworth – $37 million
6. Liam Neeson – $36 million
7. Ben Affleck – $35 million
8. Christian Bale – $35 million
9. Will Smith – $32 million
10. Mark Wahlberg – $32 million
Forbes said it compiled salary figures based on talks with agents, producers, lawyers and other in-the know personalities in order to calculate how much each actor earned from entertainment-related work from June 2013 to 2014.
source: entertainment.inquirer.net
