The 12 highest-earning films at the global box office in 2021, ranked

10. Vin Diesel – US$20 million

Having featured several times on Forbes’ “The Highest-Paid Actors” lists, Diesel surprisingly ranks a relatively lowly tenth this year thanks to the delay in F9’s release (it was first scheduled for 2020) which meant he made less from his cut of the profits. It’s also worth noting that he didn’t have any other releases this year. However, the 54-year-old star still received a handsome US$20 million salary upfront for the franchise’s ninth outing, reports Forbes. In contrast, Diesel only earned US$2 million for the original, The Fast and the Furious, back in 2001.

9. Ryan Reynolds – US$20 million

Reynolds has enjoyed immense success this year as three of his 2021 releases turned out to be massive hits. First, he starred in the action sequel The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, followed by Disney’s Free Guy – together the films have grossed over US$400 million as per writing. However, with no disclosed salaries from those films, we can only take into account his Red Notice pay cheque – which still amounts to a whopping US$20 million, according to Variety.

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8. Emily Blunt- US$23 million

With two massive films this year, British icon Emily Blunt stacked up a total of US$23 million. For her horror sequel A Quiet Place Part II, directed by husband John Krasinski, she reportedly earned US$12-13 million. This was followed by another whopping US$8-10 million pay cheque for Disney’s Jungle Cruise opposite Dwayne Johnson. While the numbers are undeniably decent, Blunt earned significantly less than Johnson’s US$22 million cut from the same film, despite a solid box-office record with titles like The Girl on the Train (2016), Mary Poppins Returns (2018) and A Quiet Place (2018).

7. Jennifer Lawrence – US$25 million

After a three-year hiatus, America’s sweetheart Jennifer Lawrence is set to return with Leonardo DiCaprio in Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up. She reportedly pocketed US$25 million for her role as astronomer Kate Dibiasky. No stranger to massive box office success, Lawrence’s previous films have grossed over US$1 billion with franchises like Hunger Games and X-Men leading the way.

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6. Daniel Craig – US$25 million

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5. Leonardo DiCaprio – US$30 million

Returning to our screens, albeit small ones, for Netflix’s dark comedy Don’t Look Up, DiCaprio reportedly banked US$30 million for starring opposite Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep and Jonah Hill, as reported by Variety. In 2019, the 47-year-old took a massive pay cut to appear in Quentin Tarantino’s feted Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, earning only US$10 million – a significant drop from his US$20 million norm. He will next be seen playing Theodore Roosevelt in a Martin Scorsese-directed film.

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4. Angelina Jolie – US$35.5 million

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3. Denzel Washington – US$40 million

With his incredible box-office track records, Washington could demand a US$40 million salary for playing the corrupt detective in Warner Bros’ The Little Things opposite Jared Leto. While the film performed poorly in the box office due to its early pandemic-era release, Washington still made history with the highest pay bump in his career (he usually takes US$20 million per film). He will also soon appear as Macbeth in Joel Coen’s new adaptation The Tragedy of Macbeth, although his salary for that is yet to be disclosed.

2. Will Smith – US$40 million

For his Oscar-contending film King Richard – where he played the father of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams – Smith reportedly earned US$40 million, per The Hollywood Reporter. While he banked a hefty amount, the actor/producer reportedly shelled out a significant sum to castmates, to compensate those who were “impacted financially by the lost theatrical returns” on top of what they already received as compensation from Warner Media. The publication also reports that Smith gifted his King Richard co-stars with iPhone 12 Pro Max and Polaroid cameras as “treats”.

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1. Dwayne Johnson – US$42 million

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This was followed by Netflix’s heist comedy Red Notice, for which he reportedly snagged another US$20 million and more as he also served as the film’s producer, according to Variety. The latter film racked up 328.8 million viewing hours and became the giant streamer’s most-watched film, beating out previous record holder Bird Box (2018), reports CNN.