Wrestler / Actor Dwayne Johnson topped Forbes magazine list of the world’s highest-paid actors on Thursday August 25 with an estimated earning of $64.5 million this year.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson elbowed out reigning top-ranked Robert Downey Jr. to become the world’s highest-paid actor–and scored his biggest ever annual paycheck in the process.
Johnson’s $64.5 million payday more than doubled his 2015 earnings, making him this year’s biggest dollar gainer. The erstwhile wrestler’s millions and millions came from upfront fees for movies including Central Intelligence and Fast 8, as well as the forthcoming Baywatch, an HBO series
Forbes said 18 actors banked more than $20 million in its June 2015-June 2016 scoring period, compared with four actresses.
He bested second-ranked Jackie Chan ($61 million), who mints money with movies in China, and Matt Damon, who tallied $55 million largely off the success of The Martian to boost his earnings 120% year over year.
“Iron Man” Downey tumbled from top spot, in spite of repeating his comic book hero role in “Captain America: Civil War.” He positioned eighth, tied with Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, with $33 million.
Bollywood’s superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar are in the highest-paid actors list with $33 million and $31 million respectively.
Matt Damon came in third with $55 million, largely due to the success of his 2015 space film “The Martian.”
The rest of the Top 10 were:
4. Tom Cruise $53 million
5. Johnny Depp $48 million
6. Ben Affleck $43 million
7. Vin Diesel $35 million
8. Shah Rukh Khan $33 million
8. Robert Downey Jr. $33 million
10. Kumar Akshay $31 million