The 10 Highest Paid Movie Roles of All Time
8. Leonardo DiCaprio – Inception ($50 Million)
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The film Inception is arguably one of the best mind-bending science fiction action movies of the 2010s. Even though the film was released over a decade ago, it has remained one of the most memorable science fiction films to come out of Hollywood.
As the fourth highest-grossing film of 2010, it’s far from shocking that this film has one of the highest-paid movie roles. Inception was written and directed by the famed Christopher Nolan, well-known for his Hollywood blockbusters.
This film managed to win four Academy Awards for Best Sound Mixing, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, and Best Sound Editing. Inception had a budget of $160 million, but it far exceeded hopes with a gross box office profit of $836.8 million.
Yet, Inception would not have been the success it was without Leonardo Dicaprio playing the role of professional thief Dom Cobb. Dicaprio’s acting skills elevated the film’s storyline and made it the success it was. That’s probably why he earned $50 million for the role.
9. Cameron Diaz – Bad Teacher ($42 Million)
madeinatlantis.com
If you enjoy comedy films, you have likely seen the 2011 movie Bad Teacher. Even though this film received mostly negative reviews, it still made a profit on its budget and had one of the highest paying movie roles.
Bad Teacher was written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky and directed by Jake Kasdan. The film’s budget was a mere $20 million, but it managed to make a sizable $216.2 million at the global box office.
For her role as Elizabeth Halsey, Cameron Diaz made an incredible $42 million, one of the most legendary Hollywood deals of all time. Initially, Diaz agreed to earn $1 million but later decided to renegotiate her contract to include profits from the film’s total earnings. This turned out to be a genius business move as she took home quite the sum.
