'The Rock' Has a New Reason to Smile

Dwayne Johnson is highest-earning male actor yet again, thanks in part to Netflix
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 12, 2020 10:03 AM CDT
'The Rock' Has a New Reason to Smile
Dwayne Johnson attends the premiere of "Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw" on July 13, 2019, in Los Angeles.   (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

The box office isn't what it used to be since the coronavirus pandemic took hold. But thanks to Netflix, actors are still raking in the big bucks. A quarter of the $545.5 million in combined earnings for the 10 male actors that make up Forbes' highest earners ranking came from Netflix, which paid $140.5 million to six actors. Some $23.5 million went to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, star of Netflix's Red Notice. He tops the list for the second year in a row and third year out of five, per the BBC. Johnson earned $87.5 million in the year beginning June 1, 2019, with compensation also coming from Project Rock, his Under Armour clothing line. Johnson's Red Notice co-star Ryan Reynolds is second on the list, with $71.5 million in earnings. He received $20 million for Red Notice and the same amount for Netflix's Six Underground.

Rounding out the top five are Mark Wahlberg, star of Netflix comedy Spenser Confidential ($58 million); Ben Affleck of Netflix's The Last Thing He Wanted ($55 million); and Vin Diesel, a producer on Netflix's animated series Fast and Furious Spy Races ($54 million), per Variety. Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar is sixth with $48.5 million, followed by Broadway star Lin-Manuel Miranda ($45.5 million), who benefited from Disney's acquisition of the worldwide movie rights to Hamilton, and Will Smith ($44.5 million). Adam Sandler, in ninth place, earned $41 million, with $31 million of that coming from Netflix deals. He stars in Murder Mystery, which Forbes describes as "one of the streamer's most-popular films of all time." Last on the list is Jackie Chan with $40 million. The list of top-earning actresses is to be released at a later date. (More Dwayne Johnson stories.)

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