Forbes has unveiled Hollywood’s highest-paid actors, and Will Ferrell won’t be happy.
For reasons unexplained, this list is confined just to men — maybe the femmes will show up later? — and it leads off with Harrison Ford, who pocketed $65 million from his appearance in last year’s "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."
Though the movie came out before the eligibility period — June ’08-June ’09 — he supposedly pocketed his money months after the film’s release. All his earnings on the movie came from his share of the profits; "Jones" brought in $786 million wordwide.
Second was, surprisingly, Adam Sandler ($55 million), who released the ho-hum "You Don’t Mess With the Zohan" and "Bedtime Stories" during the year, and third was Will Smith ($50 million), with "Hancock" and "Seven Pounds."
Even more suprisingly, coming in fourth was Eddie Murphy ($40 million), who scored a big payday from the B.O. stinker "Meet Dave." Rounding out the top five was, not surprisingly, Nicolas Cage ($40 million), who didn’t have a blockbuster but who keeps busy and currently has six movies booked.
And the bottom of the Top 20? Will Ferrell, whose "Land of the Lost" coincidentally got lost at the box-office last weekend.
Earnings, the magazine said, were based on talks with agents, managers, producers and lawyers "to determine what the stars earned as upfront pay on movies they are currently shooting, as well as backend pay earned after a movie hit the theaters."
They also considered funds the actors pocketed for commercials.
The rest of the list:
Tom Hanks — $35 milion
Tom Cruise — $30 million
Jim Carrey — $28 million
Brad Pitt — $28 million
Johnny Depp — $27 million
George Clooney — $25 million
Russell Crowe — $20 million
Robert Downey Jr. — $20 million
Denzel Washington — $20 million
Vince Vaughn — $14 million
Ben Stiller — $14 million
Seth Rogen — $12 million
Matt Damon — $11 million
Christian Bale — $10 million
Will Ferrell — $10 million
