For the second successive year, Robert Downey Jr. has topped Forbes’ annual list of the highest paid actors, released today. What is even more impressive is that he is number one again despite only having had one film released in 2014 so far – his cameo in Jon Favreau’s hit indie comedy Chef.
It turns out that most (if not all) of Downey Jr.’s earnings this year have come from his back-end deals with Disney and Marvel for his work in last year’s highest grossing film Iron Man 3, which took a whopping $1.215 billion at the worldwide box office. In addition, he re-signed a contract with Disney for roles in next summer’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron (and its inevitable sequel), for which he is said to have had a hike in pay. In total, the actor earned $75 million between June 2013 and June 2014.
In second place was Dwayne Johnson with a huge $52 million in the past year. His work on the Fast & Furious films, Hercules (which is out this Friday in the UK), as well as his recent work as a producer, which has helped his total increase too. In third place was Guardians of the Galaxy star Bradley Cooper with $46 million for his work on such films as American Hustle and The Hangover: Part III, followed by Leonardo DiCaprio ($39 million), and Thor star Chris Hemsworth ($37 million).
The rest of the top 10 were Liam Neeson ($36 million), Ben Affleck and Christian Bale ($35 million), Will Smith ($32 million) and Mark Wahlberg ($32 million).
Originally published July 21, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
