Your Highest-Paid Movie Person Is … Tyler Perry

Will Leitch
·Editor

Steven Spielberg has given us E.T., and Indiana Jones, and the shark in "Jaws," and "Schindler's List," and even "War of the Worlds," a movie we love more than everyone else. That's fantastic. Jerry Bruckheimer has given us four "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies and "The Rock" and "Veronica Guerin," weirdly. That's less fantastic. And then you have Tyler Perry. Tyler Perry has given us this. The joke is on us. He's now making more money than all of them.

Forbes has released its yearly -- though it seems like these lists pop up every six months or so -- list of the highest-paid men in entertainment, and No. 1 is Tyler Perry himself. Whatever your thoughts about his movies -- and they are well-meaning and earnest and good-hearted and absolutely terrible -- that is truly impressive. Fortune tallies his winnings:

Thanks to five movies he has cranked out over the past two years and two TV series, Perry earned $130 million between May 2010 and May 2011, which ranks him as the highest-earning man in entertainment for that time period.

In case you were wondering whether it was about quality or quantity: It's about quantity. Perry's next film is one he didn't produce or direct, which means it might be halfway decent; he's playing Alex Cross in "I, Alex Cross," the film adaptation of a book by James Patterson, who is No. 6 on the list. In the film, Perry runs.

There are far, far more evil people on the list than Perry, that's for sure. Try Dr. Phil, at No. 7, for example. And how the heck is Tiger Woods still on this list? What does that guy have to do to get off it?

Here's the top 10:

1. Tyler Perry, $130 million
2. Jerry Bruckheimer, $113 million
3. Steven Spielberg, $107 million
4. Elton John, $100 million
5. Simon Cowell, $90 million
6. James Patterson, $84 million
7. Dr. Phil McGraw, $80 million
8. Leonardo DiCaprio, $77 million
9. Howard Stern, $76 million
10. Tiger Woods, $75 million

The list of the highest-paid women in entertainment comes out next week, so DON'T GO ANYWHERE.

Entertainment's Highest Paid Men [Forbes]