Getting paid $100 million for a single movie is a dream for even some of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood. With the focus of modern cinema primarily centered on franchises, actors like Robert Downey Jr., Vin Diesel, Daniel Craig, and Scarlett Johansson have made millions from a single role. Craig recently shocked the audience with his $100 million deal with Netflix for two Knives Out movies.
Only a few made it to this coveted list of actors who made $100 million from a single movie role. While some of these actors are expected inclusions, others may surprise you with their huge salaries.
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Sam Worthington – Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Sam Worthington was a relatively unknown actor when he starred in the first Avatar movie. While his salary did not reach the $100 million mark for this film, James Cameron was willing to pay a humongous salary to another actor to take on the role. Cameron first had Matt Damon in mind to play Jake Sully and offered him a 10% cut from the film’s earnings, meaning he would have made nearly $300 million for the role. However, he turned down the role in favor of the Bourne franchise.
Worthington was offered a 5% deal for the second Avatar film. Avatar: The Way of Water grossed more than $2 billion at the box office and earned the actor $100 million in salary, according to GQ India. With three more Avatar films coming up, Worthington is looking at a payday for life.
Will Smith – Men in Black 3 (2012)
Will Smith commands a salary in the range of $40-$80 million for his movies. Even for his Oscar-winning role in the low-budget 2021 film, King Richard, Smith earned $40 million. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Focus actor made $100 million for his role in the third installment of Men In Black. Most of his salary came from a backend deal that earned him a significant cut from the film’s $654.2 million box office collection.
Smith’s first appearance as Agent J earned him $5 million while his second outing earned him a total of $64 million, including 10% of the film’s collection. Considering his standard base salary of $40 million and his 10% deal, he would have easily reached the $100 million mark for MIB3.
Also Read: Daniel Craig’s Biggest Payday of More Than $100 Million Did Not Come From James Bond Franchise
Tom Cruise – Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Tom Cruise’s surprise blockbuster would have never made it to this list, considering he was paid lower than his standard upfront salary. Business Insider reported that Cruise received an upfront salary of $13 million for this legacy sequel, but he had negotiated a good percentage deal with the producers. The movie grossed $1.5 billion at the box office, becoming the top-grosser among Tom Cruise movies.
While the 1986 film had a separate fan base for depicting the United States Navy in a heroic way, Top Gun: Maverick far outperformed the predecessor in terms of numbers as well as critical reception.
Keanu Reeves – The Matrix Reloaded (2003), The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
Even Keanu Reeves may find it difficult to break his record of the highest payday for a film. Reeves was one of the highest-paid actors at the time before his career started slowly declining. The Knock Knock actor relaunched his career with John Wick and rose in popularity as ‘the internet’s boyfriend’. For the 2003 Matrix sequels that were shot back to back, Reeves was paid a staggering amount of $205 million.
The Constantine actor made an average of $100 million for each of these films. Interestingly, he was paid $45 million for the first film in The Matrix franchise. Reeves donated 70% of his $200 million salary from The Matrix sequels to cancer research.
