According to Forbes magazine, Adam Sandler became the highest-earning actor in Hollywood with an annual salary of $73m (£57m) after his four film projects in 2023.
The actor who also started off in stand-up comedy, went on a tour showcasing his comedic talents. This helped add to his income from his roles as both actor and producer in Netflix’s Murder Mystery 2. He also worked on writing, producing, and voicing for Leo, a popular animation on the streaming platform.
Sandler also had a role in the lesser-known action comedy The Out-Laws and served as a producer and actor in the highly praised comedy You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, alongside his wife and daughters.
In 2002, the actor earned the top spot on the list with a total of $47 million (£37 million) from his roles in films such as Mr Deeds and Punch-Drunk Love.
Margot Robbie came in second place, even though she is only 33 years old, making her the youngest actor on the list by a decade. Her earnings in 2023 were estimated at $59 million (£46 million), mostly due to the overwhelming global success of Barbie, which she helped produce.
Although the most recent Mission: Impossible film did not meet expectations at the box office, partially due to its early release before Barbenheimer, profits from the movie and streaming residuals from 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick resulted in Tom Cruise ranking third on the list with $45 million (£35 million).
Robbie’s co-star in Barbie, Ryan Gosling, tied for fourth place with Matt Damon from Oppenheimer; both men made $43 million and £34 million. In the meantime, Ben Affleck, who also starred and directed the Nike sports film “Air” released in early 2019, ranked ninth with earnings of $38 million and £30 million.
Jennifer Aniston, Sandler’s co-star in the film Murder Mystery, ranked sixth on the list of highest paid entertainers with a total of $42 million. She was one of only two women to make it into the top 10. Despite only appearing in two films in the past five years – Murder Mystery and its sequel – Aniston likely received a significant boost in earnings from residuals from her hit show Friends (Forbes does not factor in income from endorsement deals).
Leonardo DiCaprio, who starred in Killers of the Flower Moon, earned $41 million (equivalent to £32 million), tying for seventh place with Jason Statham. Statham is the sole English actor featured on the list.
Statham starred in four 2023 releases: Fast X, Meg 2: The Trench, Expend4bles and Guy Ritchie’s Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre.
Denzel Washington, at the age of 69, was ranked 10th on the list, earning $24 million and starring in the third installment of the Equalizer series. He is not only the oldest actor on the list, but also the only Black actor.
According to Forbes, their estimates are determined by conducting interviews with agents and industry professionals, and also analyzing data from sources such as IMDbPro.
The financial publication reported that the numbers reflect the taxed profits for the year 2023, and exclusively encompass revenue from the entertainment industry.
In the year 2022, Tyler Perry claimed the number one spot on the Forbes list, after Dwayne Johnson held the top spot for three years in a row.
Source: theguardian.com
