Considering just how popular the Marvel Cinematic Universe has proven this year, you might think that the world’s highest-paid actor would be Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr., or Chris Evans. Oddly enough, if you guessed any of those three, you’d be totally wrong. Turns out, Hollywood’s most successful figure has yet to play a traditional comic book superhero.
As detailed by Forbes, the man who earned the most money as an actor was, in fact, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Between June 1st, 2018, and June 1st, 2019, he banked a whopping $89.4 million. This isn’t entirely shocking, either, considering some of Johnson’s movies have gone on to gross well over (or close to) $1 billion, including The Fate of the Furious and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.
To help maximize his paycheck, Dwayne (and, presumably, his team of managers and lawyers) have hammered out a formula that capitalizes on his stardom. Not only does he get an upfront salary on many of the projects he’s working on (he’ll collect $23.5 million for Jumanji: The Next Level, for instance), but he also gets a cut of the total gross, which is sure to balloon his net worth significantly. Other than the $700,000 per episode he gets from appearing on HBO’s Ballers, Johnson also has numerous endorsement and royalty deals with Under Armour.
If you’re wondering what other names made the list, we’ve included the top 10 highest-paid actors below.
- Dwayne Johnson, $89.4 million
- Chris Hemsworth, $76.4 million
- Robert Downey Jr., $66 million
- Akshay Kumar, $65 million
- Jackie Chan, $58 million
- Bradley Cooper (tied), $57 million
- Adam Sandler (tied), $57 million
- Chris Evans, $43.5 million
- Paul Rudd, $41 million
- Will Smith, $35 million
Impressively, Dwayne Johnson beat out a few MCU heavy-hitters, though it’s easy to see why. Aside from his ability to handle comedic and action movies (which tend to dominate during the summer blockbuster season), The Rock also has a large social media following, which helps to build a rapport with fans and promote upcoming films. To date, he’s accrued over 154 million followers on Instagram, outranking the likes of Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner and Beyonce.
Unsurprisingly, you don’t even have to wait to see him on the big screen. Johnson’s latest film, Hobbs & Shaw, is currently playing in theaters and has already raked in $440 million.