Bruce Willis' career began in the 1980s television series Moonlighting, when he starred as detective David Addison. He established himself as a legitimate cinema star in 1988, with the triumph of the action thriller Die Hard. Willis's subsequent success, including roles in Pulp Fiction, The Sixth Sense, along with his wedding to starlet Demi Moore, guaranteed that he stayed one of the most recognizable performers of his generation. The Expendables, Red, and Moonrise Kingdom are among his latest features.

Bruce Willis found playing dead to be rather painless. When he went on to feature in "The Sixth Sense," the actor secured an enormously lucrative contract for himself. Along with a $20 million compensation, he bargained for 18% of the movie's worldwide box office income and extra rights to the film's home video sales, according to Thrillist. These values total $115 million for Willis from just one picture.

_

Movie: The Sixth Sense

Salary: $115 million

Will Smith was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 25, 1968, to Caroline, and Willard C. Smith, a refrigerant business owner. Despite his family's Baptist beliefs, he attended the stringent Lourdes Catholic School throughout his middle-class childhood. He continued his education at Overbrook High School.

His area in West Philadelphia was a cultural melting pot, where Orthodox Jews coexisted with a sizable Muslim community. Smith was an excellent student whose endearing nature and quick mouth were known for keeping him out of mischief, earning him the moniker "Prince." Will Smith evolved from a popular rapper to a Hollywood A-lister, first appearing in 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' and then starring in blockbusters such as 'Ali' 'Independence Day,' and 'Men in Black'. Will Smith sculpted nine figures for the third installment of the iconic "Men in Black" film series.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Smith received 100 million dollars from the picture, which accounts for a sizable portion of the film's $624 million ticket sales total.

_

Movie: Men in Black

Salary: $100 million

The credit for turning the Pirates of the Caribbean movies into a billion-dollar brand surely belongs to Johnny Depp, whose hero Jack Sparrow is the heart and soul of the series' five installments. Even though Depp's films have grossed over $4.5 billion at the box office and are among the highest-grossing series, Disney has shelved all plans to bring the actor back to reprise his famous role due to his continuing legal battles with ex-wife Amber Heard. However, although the studio has shown no interest in permitting Depp to rejoin, the actor is apparently hoping for a reunion with the property.

This is reasonable, given that Disney gave Johnny Depp a reputed $90 million for each of Caribbean films. With five films in the franchise, it equates to a $450 million payoff.

Depp himself has said that he was compensated for the role of Captain Jack Sparrow. "It's absurd," Depp said of his "Pirates" salary to Vanity Fair. Johnny Deep was the only actor who has two roles that appeared in our list. Another famous role of his will come up in the later parts of this article.

_

Movie: Pirates of The Caribbean

Salary: $90 million

At the decade's end, Keanu Reeves appeared in a science fiction picture that would redefine the genre – The Matrix. The 1999 film, directed by Lana and Andy Wachowski, starred Reeves as Neo, a prophetic figure tasked with leading mankind out of an all-consuming synthetic reality.

The Matrix was a global smash sensation because of its groundbreaking battle scenes, avant-garde special effects, and stunning apparel. Two sequels were shot concurrently and debuted in 2003 to mixed reviews, however the second chapter, The Matrix Reloaded, became a commercial smash on a larger scale than the first.

In summer 2019, sixteen years after the launch of The Matrix Reloaded, media revealed that a fourth Matrix film was in development, with Reeves reprising his role as Neo. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Keanu Reeves made over 250 million dollars from the previous three "Matrix" films, which equates to approximately $83 million each picture. Reeves received $15 million upfront for each picture, in addition to a percentage of the box office receipts.

_

Movie: The Matrix

Salary: $83 million

Robert Downey Jr. was born in New York on 4 April, 1965. He started performing as a kid. In the 1980s, he had his first movie appearances and joined the cast of Saturday Night Live, but his burgeoning career was stymied by years of drug misuse. He eventually turned his life around and won a renaissance of critical and public acclaim, and is now regarded as an A-list actor in Hollywood.

As per Hollywood Reporter, the actor negotiated a novel compensation agreement with [Marvel] studio head Kevin Feige that resulted in big paydays for the actor over the years." Downey earns backside from all the Avenger films as part of his agreement to play Iron Man. According to sources, he received at least 75 million dollars from the 2018 film "Avengers: Infinity War," as it had made more than $2 billion.

After five years of acting only in Marvel-branded films, Robert Downey Jr. resurfaced in late 2019 as the presenter of the Youtube show The Age of AI. In January 2020, he featured as a veterinarian who communicates with animals in Dolittle, a film adaptation of the British author Hugh Lofting's iconic children's book series.

_

Movie: Avengers: Infinity War

Salary: $75 million

Thomas Cruise IV, a.k.a. Tom Cruise was born in New York, on July 3, 1962, to Marie and Thomas Mapother. Cruise's mom was a part-time actor and teacher, while his dad was an electronics engineer. In his childhood years, his family relocated often to suit his father's profession.

Cruise's parents split when he was 11 years old, and the children relocated to Kentucky, and later to New Jersey, when their mother remarried. Cruise, like his mom and three sisters, struggled with dyslexia, which hampered his academic achievement. He excelled in sports, though, and explored a future in pro wrestling until a high school knee injury disabled him. The man decided to pursue an acting career.

Cruise became a worldwide celebrity as a result of the Mission: Impossible series. Despite the fact that "Mission: Impossible 3" had been a (relatively) box office flop, Forbes stated that Tom Cruise was compensated handsomely to return to the series for the fourth feature, "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol." Cruise's revenues from the film propelled him to the No. 9 spot on Forbes' 2012 Celebrity 100 list.

_

Movie: Mission: Impossible 3

Salary: $75 million

Sandra Bullock was born in Arlington, Virginia, on July 26, 1964, to a German singer and a vocal instructor. Bullock spent most of his childhood on the road. While traveling across Europe, she learned music and dancing and had her theatrical debut at the age of four in a tiny part for an orchestra in Nuremberg, Germany. The performance instilled in her a passion for the stage, and she started performing frequently with the Nuremberg children's chorus.

Bullock made her film debut with The Blind Side in 2009, which is based on the actual tale of African football star Michael Oher. Bullock received an Academy Award for her performance in the moving drama, as well as a Golden Globe.

Sandra Bullock signed a deal with Warner Bros. for her role as cosmonaut Ryan Stone in "Gravity" that included a $20 million upfront payment, 15% of the studio's total gross, 15% of the studio's film rental gross, and a percentage of TV and ancillary revenue, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Her total salary is around $70 million. Bullock is the only woman on this list because of her outlandish earnings.

_

Movie: Gravity

Salary: $70 million

Johnny Depp made his second appearance in this list, a feat no other actors have achieved. The famous actor was born on June 9, 1963 in Owensboro, Kentucky, to John and Betty Sue Depp. Depp's father was a civil engineer, and his mother was a waitress and a housewife. Depp was the youngest child and a self-admitted outlier.

Depp and his parents relocated frequently due to his father's work, eventually settling in Florida, when he was only seven years old. The family spent nearly a year in a motel until his father was able to secure employment. Depp despised his new home and started smoking, experimenting with drugs, and self-harming at the age of 12 in response to stressful family problems.

In 1990, Depp starred in John Waters' 1950s-kitsch musical Cry-Baby, which became a cult classic and significantly altered his image. Johnny Depp earned millions more than a decade later for his portrayal of the Mad Hatter in the movie "Alice in Wonderland" – and he did not even have to work seriously for it. According to 24/7 Wall Street's analysis, Depp just spoke 600 words in total in the film, and this put Depp among the highest-paid performers in history.

_

Movie: Alice in Wonderland

Salary: $68 million

Harrison Ford is a leading man in Hollywood, with a career spanning more than three decades and featuring starring roles such as Hans Solo and Indiana Jones.

Harrison Ford struggled as an actor for years before he was cast in 1974's American Graffiti by George Lucas. Ford then became a superstar as Hans Solo during the first 3 Star Wars movies and as Indiana Jones of Raiders of the Lost Ark, all of which were box office smashes. He has starred in a number of Hollywood films, including Witness, Blade Runner, Patriot Games, Working Girl, 42, and The Fugitive. Ford later returned to several of his most beloved roles in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Indiana Jones and Blade Runner 2049.

Harrison Ford was already semi-retired when he agreed to star in the fourth Indiana Jones film, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." As a result, the film studio made him an offer he could not really refuse: Paramount decided to divide almost all of the film's profits (after deducting manufacturing and marketing expenses) between Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Ford, investigations revealed. This deal increased Ford's wealth by $65 million.

_

Movie: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Salary: $65 million

Adam Sandler, full name Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966 in Brooklyn, New York, United States), is an American comedian best known for portraying childlike but endearing characters.

Sandler was brought up in the New Hampshire town of Manchester as the youngest of 4 kids. Academically challenged, he was frequently suspended from school for his comedic antics. At the prodding of his brother, he made his debut at the age of 17 in a Boston stand-up comedy club. After graduating from high school, Sandler studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Film Academy in New York City, as well as at New York University's School Of art, earning a bachelor's degree in 1988.

Adam Sandler agreed to sign a four-movie bargain with Netflix worth approximately $250 million in 2017, according to Forbes. This equates to a $62.5 million investment in each film. Although the first film in the contract, "The Ridiculous Six," has a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the millions are a nice parting compensation for some negative reviews.

_

Movie: The Ridiculous Six

Salary: $62.5 million