According to Forbes magazine, Adam Sandler became the highest-earning actor in Hollywood in 2023, with an annual salary of $73m (£57m), due to his four upcoming film projects.
The standup comedian also went on a tour of comedic performances, which added to his income from both acting and producing the film Murder Mystery 2 for Netflix. He also wrote, produced, and provided voice work for the popular animated show Leo on the streaming platform.
Sandler was also involved with little-seen action comedy The Out-Laws, and produced and starred – alongside his wife and daughters – in acclaimed comedy You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah.
In 2002, the actor was at the top of the list when he earned $47m (£37m) from his roles in films such as Mr Deeds and Punch-Drunk Love.
Coming in second place was Margot Robbie, who, at 33 years old, is the youngest actor on the list by ten years. The tremendous worldwide triumph of Barbie, which she co-produced, is primarily the reason for Robbie’s estimated earnings of $59 million in 2023.
Despite the underperformance of the most recent Mission: Impossible film at the box office, partially due to its release date being close to Barbenheimer, Tom Cruise earned third place on the list with $45 million (£35 million) thanks to the profits from that movie and streaming revenue from 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick.
Robbie’s Barbie co-star, Ryan Gosling, was joint fourth, alongside Oppenheimer’s Matt Damon; both men earned $43m (£34m). Meanwhile, Ben Affleck, Damon’s co-star – and director – on Air, the Nike sports film released early last year, was ninth, with $38m (£30m).
Jennifer Aniston, who co-starred alongside Sandler in Murder Mystery, ranked sixth on the list with a earning of $42 million. She is one of two women in the top 10 and has only appeared in two films in the last five years (Murder Mystery and its sequel). It is possible that her earnings were significantly boosted by her continued income from the TV show Friends, although this is not accounted for in Forbes’ list as it does not factor in advertising and sponsorship deals.
Leonardo DiCaprio, who starred in Killers of the Flower Moon, earned $41 million (£32 million) which puts him tied for seventh place with Jason Statham. Statham is the only English actor to make the list.
In 2023, Statham appeared in four movies: Fast X, Meg 2: The Trench, Expend4bles, and Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre directed by Guy Ritchie.
Denzel Washington, who received a salary of $24 million and starred in the third installment of The Equalizer, came in 10th place. At 69 years old, he is the oldest and the sole Black actor on the list.
According to Forbes, their estimates are determined by conducting interviews with agents and industry professionals, as well as analyzing data from sources such as IMDbPro.
The magazine for businesses reported that its data reflects the amount of taxed earnings for the year 2023 and only includes income associated with the entertainment industry.
In 2022, Tyler Perry was ranked first on the Forbes list, while Dwayne Johnson held the top spot for the three years prior.
Source: theguardian.com
