With a huge difference, star Tom Cruise topped the list of Hollywood's highest-paid celebrities for 2022, although he received only 13 million dollars for his role in his latest movie, "Top Gun: Maverick" - according to Variety magazine ( Variety) — That falls under Cruise's smart contract, choosing to sacrifice a hefty upfront pay for a percentage of gross ticket revenue.
The film - which began showing on May 27 and is still available in some theaters - has so far earned nearly $1.5 billion, which allowed Cruise to earn up to $100 million, subject to increase.
#TomCruise will earn over 100 Million Dollar for #TopGunMaverick 💥
“I would never bet against Tom Cruise,” says one studio executive, noting that Cruise is superhuman when it comes to crisscrossing the globe promoting his movies (though he doesn't do print interviews).
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— Tom Cruise News (@TCNews62) July 20, 2022
A man who does not know the impossible
Tracking Tom Cruise's career over the years, he can be considered one of the richest Hollywood celebrities, with his fortune exceeding half a billion dollars;
From the beginning, Cruz used to star in films that were often among the highest-grossing, which allowed him to raise his wages one job after another.
According to what was published by Celebrity Net Worth - which reports on estimates of the total assets and financial activities of celebrities - in 1983 Cruz earned $75,000 for "Risky Business", while He earned half a million dollars in 1985 for the movie Legend.
In 1986, he earned $2 million for the first part of the movie "Top Gun", before his wage doubled to 13 million for his movie "Far and Away" in 1992, and 70 million in 1996 for the first part of the movie "Far and Away" in 1992. Mission: Impossible.
Life returns to the box office
"Top Gun: Maverick" wasn't the first time that Cruz had earned $100 million. He had already done so twice due to indirect deals as well;
The first in 2000 with the second part of the movie "Mission Impossible", and the second in 2005 with the movie "War of the Worlds".
Cruz's total career earnings between 1983 and 2019 amounted to about $745 million, and he ranks third in the list of the highest-paid Hollywood stars in history, after Keanu Reeves, with a salary of $156 million in 2003 for the second part of the "The Matrix" series, and Bruce Willis earned $100 million in 1999 for The Sixth Sense.
Although the Hollywood movie market is accustomed to these numbers in terms of the profits of Cruise films, the cinema owes him gratitude this particular time, as he revived the box office after a long period of stagnation due to the repercussions of the outbreak of the Corona virus.
temporary success
In second place for the highest-earning stars for 2022 comes Will Smith, despite what has been going on with him since the beginning of the year and the famous Oscar slap incident, and the subsequent exclusion and anger at him, whether from the academy, platforms, producers, and even the audience, he received $ 35 million for his role in the movie Emancipation.
The film was completed before the accident, so that the “Apple TV +” platform had already bought the rights to distribute it for $ 130 million, and was intending to compete with it during the awards season, as it fits the new Academy nomination laws, as it tells about a runaway slave wandering in the swamps of Louisiana during An arduous journey to escape the owners of farms who want to kill him, but after what happened, its launch on the platform was postponed from 2022 to 2023.
It is worth noting that Will Smith previously earned an even higher salary in 2012 for "Men In Black 3), reaching fourth place on the overall list after Tom Cruise.
“Most actors aren't worth what you pay them, but Cruise justify his salaries.”
via @Variety pic.twitter.com/JaSdUuMDiM
— Tom Cruise News (@TCNews62) July 20, 2022
DiCaprio and Pete are equal
As for the third and fourth place, with a salary of $30 million, the third went to star Leonardo DiCaprio for "Killers of the Flower Moon", co-starring Robert De Niro, a historical drama that revolves around a murder. It is a mystery set in the 1920s, and the film is expected to be released in 2023.
BREAKING: Apple Believes Martin Scorsese's KILLER OF THE FLOWER MOON Will Release This December
Scorsese.
De Niro.
DiCaprio.
Who's Ready?
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 pic.twitter.com/0cDW6XlfFN
— Cinema Tweets (@CinemaTweets1) June 27, 2022
And the fourth went to Brad Pitt for his new movie “Formula 1”, which will be produced by “Apple” after its victory in the fierce competition for the film with the rest of the platforms, while it will be directed by Joseph Kosinsky after the impressive success of his latest movie “Top Gun: Maverick".
Pete plays the role of a retired Formula Racing star, who decides to return from his retirement to teach a new driver the basics of the game, in the hope that they both reach glory together.
Superheroes are at the bottom of the list
Finally, in fifth place is star Dwayne Johnson, who was described by producers as the man who justifies his salary, with a total income of $ 22.5 million for his movie "Black Adam" due to be released this October, the only superhero movie on this list.
The action events begin in Egypt, specifically after nearly 5,000 years of Black Adam's imprisonment underground and his obtaining the supernatural powers of the ancient Egyptian gods, Black Adam is finally freed;
Here he finds himself between two fires: either he stands with good and becomes a hero, or he harnesses his enormous energy for evil out of revenge against the world that stole his freedom for years.