Small-screen hits make Sandler Hollywood’s best-paid star
Actor’s Netflix successes show growing power of streaming services over traditional movie releases
ADAM SANDLER has become Hollywood’s highest-paid actor thanks to his deal with Netflix.
Sandler made $73 million (£57 million) last year, according to Forbes magazine.
Murder Mystery 2, in which he starred opposite Jennifer Aniston, was one of the streamer’s biggest comedy hits.
The Forbes list has traditionally been dominated by stars of cinema, from Kevin Costner and Harrison Ford to Tom Cruise and George Clooney.
Sandler’s position at the top of the list demonstrates the new power of streaming services. Neither Murder Mystery 2 nor Sandler’s other big film of 2023, Leo, were shown on the big screen.
Sandler signed a reported $250 million renewal deal with Netflix in 2020, claiming that subscribers had spent two billion hours watching his films since 2015.
“There’s no such thing as too much Sandler,” the company said then. The original Murder Mystery was the most-watched film on the streaming platform in 2019.
Murder Mystery 2 received lukewarm reviews from critics but 42 million views in its opening weekend, appearing in Netflix’s top 10 in 91 countries.
The deal also allows Sandler, 57, to make more serious fare. This year he released Spaceman, in which he plays a Czech astronaut mourning the breakdown of his marriage. Last year he also released the low-key coming-of-age story You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah, playing a Jewish father.
His 2023 earnings were boosted by a string of stand-up comedy dates.
Margot Robbie was second in the Forbes list with earnings of $59 million thanks to her star turn in Barbie, which she also co-produced. At 33, she is the youngest person in the top 10 by a decade.
Robbie’s own production company Luckychap produced the black comedy thriller Saltburn starring Oscar nominee Barry Keoghan.
She was followed by Tom Cruise, her Barbie co-star Ryan Gosling and Matt Damon.
Sandler’s Murder Mystery partner Jennifer Aniston was sixth in the list with $ 42 million. Anniston reportedly made as much as $2 million for acting in and producing the drama television series The Morning Show.
Promotion for health and wellness brands including Pvolve Fitness, Vital Proteins as well as her own haircare line, Lolavie also supplemented her income. She was followed by Leonardo Dicaprio who who earned $41 million for his performance in Martin Scorsese’s epic Killers of the Flower Moon.
Jason Statham was eighth in the liest earning $41 million for his roles in action blockbusters Fast X, Meg 2: The Trench and Expend4bles.
Ben Affleck, 51 who directed and co-starred in Air, a biographical sports drama about the line of basketball shoes Air Jordan, came ninth. He earned $38 million.
Finally Denzel Washinton earned $24 million, following the release of The Equalizer 3, which, combined with the series two other entities, made $190 million at the box office.