Robert Downey Jr. Made Tony Stark Cash This Year, Tops Hollywood Earners List

image

Avengers: Age of Ultron fell just short of reaching the box-office heights of its predecessor — but star Robert Downey, Jr. is making even more bank than ever before.

The 50-year-old actor, who made his fifth appearance as Iron Man in the Joss Whedon-directed film, took in a cool $80 million between June of 2014 and 2015, according to Forbes, making him the highest-earning actor in that time period (his earnings for the drama The Judge also contributed to the total). Like his character, Tony Stark, Downey, Jr. is a shrewd businessman, and has cashed in on the massive success of the Disney-owned franchise by negotiating a generous cut of the profits made on sales of movie tickets, merchandise, and home video (he famously made $50 million for the first Avengers). His cut for the franchise is so high, in fact, that Marvel famously limited the salaries of its other stars, like Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth, as they entered the fray.

According to Forbes, Downey, Jr.’s fellow Avenger Scarlett Johansson made $35.5 million overall, though that was in part thanks to her leading role in the hit action film Lucy, as well as her many endorsement deals.

The second highest-earning actor on Forbes’ list is Jennifer Lawrence, who finished with 34th overall, with $52 million, placing her right behind Kim Kardashian. She can thank her role in The Hunger Games for most of that cash, and the film franchise’s final installment — due in November — ensures that she’ll be back on this list next year. 

At number three for actors is Jackie Chan, which may come as a surprise to American fans, as he hasn’t done many movies stateside in a long while. But the 61-year-old is still a superstar in China, and earned a mint overseas with Dragon Blade, his film with Adrien Brody and John Cusack, Dragon Blade (the movie will be released in the U.S. on September 4). Chan also owns a Segway dealership and movie theater chain.

Following Chan is Vin Diesel, who flexed his way to a $47 million payday, mostly for Furious 7. Fun fact: If Diesel made $1 for every one of his Facebook fans, he’d make just about the same amount of dough.

Diesel’s Furious co-star, The Rock, meanwhile, made $31.5 million, which is probably really embarrassing when the two hang out and lift together.

Other high earners include Bradley Cooper ($41.5 million, thanks to the unending success of American Sniper, for which he served as both and actor and producer); Adam Sandler ($41 million); Mark Wahlberg ($32 million, thanks to Ted 2 and his producing stint on such projects as HBO’s Entourage and Ballers); Johnny Depp ($30 million, no thanks to Mortdecai); Channing Tatum and Leonardo DiCaprio ($29 million apiece); and Sofia Vergara and Kevin Hart ($28.5 million each).

Another fun fact: Their names might not be familiar to American fans, but a trio of Bollywood actors — Amitabh Bachchan ($35.5), Salman Khan ($33.5), and Ashkay Kumar ($32.5) — each made enough to buy everything you’ve ever owned 20 times over.

For the entire list, click over to Forbes.