Everyone knows that people in Hollywood make a metric ton of cash, but that doesn’t mean we don’t love hearing who made the most and how much.
Vanity Fair released its list of the top 40 “creative” earners in the Hollywood film industry in 2010. The problem with such lists is that you quickly realize how much money people who are lucky enough to star in big franchises make. At least there are a fair number of film directors and producers who earned their salaries and bonuses the hard way: by being the driving force behind creating a piece of art. On the other hand there are people like Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart whose only claim to fame is starring in those movies about sparkly vampires.
James Cameron certainly earned his $257 million by producing and directing the Avatar craze, and most of that cash was made by how much that movie made at the box office in 2010. Johnny Depp was the only other figure in Hollywood to reportedly earn seven figures by grossing $100 million for starring in Alice in Wonderland, the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and that movie with Angelina Jolie.
I guess I’m just bitter that Lautner somehow grossed $33.5 million for those silly Twilight movies.
Here’s the list of the top ten earners from 2010, feel free to head to Vanity Fair for the full list:
10. Robert Downey Jr.
ACTOR (CAA)
ESTIMATED 2010 EARNINGS: $31.5 MILLION (2009 rank: 28)
$15 million: Fee for starring in upcoming untitled Sherlock Holmes sequel
$12 million: Iron Man 2 (back-end, based on worldwide gross of $627 million, and share of DVD and pay-TV revenue)
$3.5 million: Sherlock Holmes (back-end, based on worldwide gross of $523 million, and share of DVD and pay-TV revenue)
$1 million: Older film revenue
9. Taylor Lautner
ACTOR (WME)
ESTIMATED 2010 EARNINGS: $33.5 million (2009 rank: -)
$12.5 million: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn-Part 1 (fee for co-starring in upcoming penultimate Twilight film)
$12.5 million: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn-Part 2 (fee for co-starring in upcoming final Twilight film)
$7.5 million: Abduction (fee for starring in upcoming John Singleton thriller)
$1 million: Older film revenue, mostly from Twilight franchise
8. Todd Phillips
WRITER, DIRECTOR, PRODUCER (CAA)
ESTIMATED 2010 EARNINGS: $34 MILLION (2009 rank: 5)
$15 million: The Hangover Part II (fee for writing, producing, and directing)
$13 million: The Hangover (back-end for producing and directing; excludes $39 million earned in 2009)
$3 million: Due Date (back-end for producing and directing, based on worldwide gross of $200 million, as of December 31, 2010)
$2 million: Older film revenue
$1 million: Project X (fee for producing upcoming low-budget comedy)
7. Adam Sandler
ACTOR, PRODUCER, WRITER (WME)
ESTIMATED 2010 EARNINGS: $50 MILLION (2009 rank: 12)
$25 million: Just Go with It (fee for producing and starring in upcoming comedy opposite Jennifer Aniston)
$20 million: Jack and Jill (fee for producing and starring in upcoming comedy with Katie Holmes and Al Pacino)
$3 million: Grown Ups (back-end for starring and writing, based on worldwide gross of $271 million, plus share of DVD and pay-TV revenue)
$2 million: Older film revenue
6. Tim Burton
DIRECTOR (William Morris Endeavor)
ESTIMATED 2010 EARNINGS: $53 MILLION (2009 rank: -)
$50 million: Alice in Wonderland (back-end for directing, based on worldwide gross of $1.02 billion, and share of DVD and pay-TV revenue)
$3 million: Older film revenue
5. Leonardo DiCaprio
ACTOR (Special Artists Agency)
ESTIMATED 2010 EARNINGS: $62 MILLION (2009 rank: -)
$59 million: Inception (back-end for starring in somewhat convoluted Christopher Nolan film)
$3 million: Back-end for starring in somewhat convoluted Martin Scorsese film Shutter Island, older film revenue
4. Christopher Nolan
WRITER, DIRECTOR, PRODUCER (CAA)
ESTIMATED 2010 EARNINGS: $71.5 MILLION (2009 rank: -)
$69 million: Inception (back-end for writing, producing, and directing, based on worldwide gross of $823 million, and share of DVD and pay-TV revenue)
$2.5 million: Older film revenue
3. Steven Spielberg
DIRECTOR, PRODUCER (CAA)
ESTIMATED 2010 EARNINGS: $80 MILLION (2009 rank: 2)
$50 million: Universal-theme-park royalties and consulting fees
$20 million: War Horse (fee for directing and producing upcoming World War I drama)
$10 million: Older film revenue
2. Johnny Depp
ACTOR (United Talent Agency)
ESTIMATED 2010 EARNINGS: $100 MILLION (2009 rank: 21)
$40 million: Alice in Wonderland (back-end for starring in Tim Burton film, based on worldwide gross of $1.02 billion)
$35 million: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (up-front money for starring in next installment of Jerry Bruckheimer’s waterlogged but ludicrously profitable franchise)
$20 million: The Tourist (fee for co-starring in one of the year’s bigger flops alongside Angelina Jolie)
$5 million: Older film revenue
1. James Cameron
WRITER, DIRECTOR, PRODUCER (Creative Artists Agency)
ESTIMATED 2010 EARNINGS: $257 MILLION (2009 rank: 4)
$248 million: Avatar (back-end for writing, producing, and directing, based on 2010 worldwide box-office gross of $1.95 billion, and share of DVD and pay-television revenue; excludes $50 million earned in 2009)
$5 million: Avatar (share of toy licensing, other revenue)
$4 million: Older film revenue (e.g., back-end and royalties from earlier projects, other payments)
Source: Vanity Fair
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