Forbes: The Highest-Paid Actors Of 2025

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Hollywood’s collective panic over consolidation, the rise of AI and declining theatrical ticket sales now includes another concern—the supposed death of movie stardom. Top musicians, athletes, internet creators, and even podcasters now regularly out-earn their counterparts in film and television. And the box office failure of Dwayne Johnson—last year’s highest-paid actor—in The Smashing Machine, Julia Roberts in After The Hunt or Glen Powell in The Running Man are further proof to many studio executives that an A-List name above the title is no longer enough to guarantee commercial success.

The trend was more pronounced in 2025, when fewer star-driven movies were released. The combined earnings of the 20 highest-paid actors in Hollywood is still impressive, but their collective $590 million haul is down 20% from last year’s $730 million, and this year’s top earner—Adam Sandler, who earned $48 million after fees paid to his agent and manager—fell well below last year’s No. 1 ($88 million).

Pay may not be rising, but it’s at little risk of falling too far, as studios still write eight-figure checks every year to actors who they believe can bring attention to a project. It’s why Universal attached Scarlett Johansson ($43 million) to its Jurassic franchise reboot and Apple put Brad Pitt ($41 million) in the driver’s seat for F1, two of the top 10 highest-grossing movies of the year. While One Battle After Another was the lowest-performing movie in nearly 15 years for Leonardo DiCaprio ($25 million), it’s hard to imagine the Best Picture favorite earning $210 million at the box office without him.

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1. Adam Sandler

$48 million ($60 million gross)

The 59-year-old Sandler was one of the first big stars to leave movie theaters behind in 2014, finding a cushy home at Netflix, where he is unquestionably the biggest draw on the platform. Recently seen sitting next to Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos at the Super Bowl, Sandler earns huge annual guarantees regardless of the commercial appeal of his projects. In 2025 he produced and starred in the long-awaited Happy Gilmore 2, and got a second payday for co-starring in Netflix’s Jay Kelly, earning a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Golden Globes and a several critics’ awards along the way.

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2. Tom Cruise

$46 million ($54 million gross)

3. Mark Wahlberg

$44 million ($58 million gross)

4. Scarlett Johansson

$43 million ($50 million gross)

5. Brad Pitt

$41 million ($54 million gross)

6. Denzel Washington

$38 million ($42 million gross)

7. Jack Black

$28 million ($33 million gross)

8. Jason Momoa

$28 million ($33 million gross)

9. Daniel Craig

$27 million ($32 million gross)

10. Millie Bobby Brown

$26 million ($35 million gross)

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