Clooney still Hollywood’s highest paid
Actor Dwayne Johnson ranked second on the Forbes’ list of highest-paid actors, at $124 million.
George Clooney may be taking a hiatus from the big screen, but he’s still cashing in.
The 57-year-old ranks as the highest-paid actor of the year, according to Forbes’ 2018 list of top male earners, which was released Wednesday.
Clooney took in $239 million (all figures U.S.) in pretax earnings, thanks to a lucrative business venture, endorsements and older movies. The extra money should come in handy taking care of his one-year-old twins, Ella and Alexander, with wife Amal Alamuddin Clooney.
The new dad claimed the top spot despite not starring in a hit movie during the 12-month period covered in the Forbes study. The annual ranking tallies on-screen and off-screen earnings.
Clooney sold his Casamigos Tequila company to British liquor giant Diageo last June for $700 million upfront with a potential to earn $300 million in the next decade, Forbes reported. Clooney took home $233 million during the sale.
Trailing closely behind at No. 2 is Dwayne Johnson. The 46year-old raked in $124 million pretax, “the largest ever acting take-home from front-of-camera roles in Celebrity 100 history,” Forbes said.
During that time, Johnson played a soldier turned primatologist in Rampage and an archeologist explorer in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which proved to be his biggest salary bump.
Johnson’s huge social media following (113 million on Instagram) helped him pad his wallet, allowing him to nearly double his earnings through promotion.
After the top two, the other highest earning actors are:
3. Robert Downey Jr., 53, scored $81million from his portrayal of snarky Iron Man in Spider-Man: Homecoming and Avengers: Infinity War. 4. Chris Hemsworth, 36, pocketed $64.5 million as Thor in Marvel movies, including Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War.
5. Jackie Chan, 64, earned $45.5 million after starring in six movies in 2017, including The Lego Ninjago Movie. His earnings also included money from endorsements and his own chain of movie theatres in China.
The Top 10 highest paid actors made $748.5 million combined last year. Despite equal pay becoming a pressing issue in Hollywood, Forbes’ 10 top-paid actresses only made $186 million in the same period, a whopping $562.5 million gap from their male counterparts.