The US magazine Forbes has compiled a list of the highest-paid movie stars in the 2023 season, featuring some of Hollywood’s most beloved faces. Here are the top ten earners from last year. Scroll to the end to find out who holds the number one position.
#10 DENZEL WASHINGTON – Denzel Washington ranks tenth on Forbes’ list of the highest-paid Hollywood stars in 2023. The American actor, who turns seventy in December, managed to draw audiences to theaters last year with the third installment of the Equalizer franchise, released in Italy at the end of August. His personal earnings amounted to twenty-four million dollars net.
#9 BEN AFFLECK – The Oscar-winning actor and director was at the forefront of the 2023 movie season with “Air – La storia del grande salto,” his fifth directorial venture. Affleck, also the founder of the production company Artists Equity, earned forty-five million dollars net last year.
#8 JASON STATHAM – 2023 was a golden year for Statham, as his personal earnings soared thanks to a series of successful titles, notably the widely acclaimed “The Beekeeper.” In just one year, the actor participated in four high-budget projects: “Fast X,” “Shark 2 – L’abisso,” “I Mercenari 4 – Expendables,” and “Operation Fortune: Rose de Guerre,” adding forty-one million dollars net to his wealth.
#7 LEONARDO DICAPRIO – Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” brought in good earnings for the Hollywood icon, whose deal also included a percentage of the film’s theatrical releases, soon available for streaming on AppleTV+. However, awards season didn’t go very well for DiCaprio, as he only received nominations (at the Golden Globes, Satellite Awards, and SAG Awards) for his role. His earnings for 2023 amounted to forty-one million dollars (net).
#6 JENNIFER ANISTON – “The Morning Show” continues to bring both recognition and earnings to Jennifer Aniston, who earns up to two million dollars per episode for acting and executive producing. In 2023, the actress also starred in “Murder Mystery 2” alongside Adam Sandler and secured many brand contracts, including Uber Eats and Vital Proteins, in addition to her haircare line, LolaVie, launched in 2021. Her earnings for the year totaled fifty-six million dollars.
#4 MATT DAMON (tied)– Forty-three million dollars is the amount that ties Matt Damon with another Hollywood star (in the next entry). In the past year, the profits from “Air” (in which he acted and produced) went to the actor of “Good Will Hunting,” as well as those from Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” a film in which Damon took a lower-than-usual salary, accepting a percentage of the box office earnings, making it one of the most-watched titles of the season.
#4 RYAN GOSLING (tied)– Ryan Gosling’s role as Ken in the box office hit “Barbie” has opened new doors for the cinema star, who has also launched onto Spotify with the hit “I’m Just Ken.” While awaiting the Oscars, Gosling enjoys his high position on the list, which he shares with Matt Damon, both earning forty-three million dollars in 2023.
#3 TOM CRUISE – Hollywood’s Midas, Tom Cruise, fresh from the triumphant season of “Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning – Part 1,” continued to receive profits throughout 2023 from the on-demand views of the 2022 blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick.” The forty-five million dollars earned in the past year provide a solid foundation for future earnings secured by the contract signed with Warner Bros. in January 2024.
#2 MARGOT ROBBIE – The star of “Barbie,” both the face and driving force behind a global pop phenomenon, continues to rake in earnings due to her role as a producer of Greta Gerwig’s record-breaking film. Forbes estimates her back-end profits to have nearly touched sixty million dollars in 2023. Her production company, LuckyChap (which produced “Saltburn” in 2023), signed a deal with Warner Bros. in February for an increasingly close collaboration, propelling Robbie further up the Hollywood ranks.
#1 ADAM SANDLER – American comedian Adam Sandler has secured the top spot in the list of highest-paid stars of 2023, with earnings of seventy-three million dollars. His success primarily stems from his contract with Netflix, where he stars in films and has licensed a portion of his comedies, among the most-watched streaming titles of the entire season. In addition to the proceeds from “Murder Mystery 2,” he also earned from his stand-up comedy tour, which saw him perform in forty dates.
