By Taryn Ryder, Yahoo News
Dwayne Johnson claims top spot in Forbes highest paid actors in the world 2020 for the second year in a row. Forbes released its annual list on Tuesday, which featured usual suspects like Johnson, Mark Wahlberg and Vin Diesel. And it’s interesting to note that six of the top 10 actors had one interesting thing common: Netflix.
Ryan Reynolds, Wahlberg, Ben Affleck and Diesel round out the top 5 thanks to Netflix, while Adam Sandler benefited the most from the streaming giant. Sandler, who came in at No. 9, was paid $31 million — 75 percent of what he made all year, according to Forbes — as part of his four-film, $250 million deal signed in 2014. It’s why he has popped up the list in recent years. Although some may not think of Sanders as the box office draw he was a decade ago, his Netflix film Murder Mystery is one of the company’s most-popular original films of all time.
Johnson, one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars, even got a boost from Netflix. Forbes estimates the actor earned $87.5 million in 2020, with $23.5 million being paid out by Netflix for the upcoming film Red Notice. The company spent more than any individual studio on Hollywood’s leading men, according to Forbes, and Netflix really invested in Reynolds.
Reynolds, who appears alongside Johnson in Red Notice, starred in this year’s Six Underground and he reportedly raked in more than $20 million a piece for both films. Netflix announced they are teaming up with the Deadpool star for a third film.
Netflix isn’t the only streamer that shelled out big bucks. Akshay Kumar, the only Bollywood star to make the list, helped earn his spot with Amazon Prime’s upcoming television series The End. Lin-Manuel Miranda made his debut thanks to Disney acquiring the movie rights to the original Broadway production of Hamilton.
Forbes — which will release its list of highest-paid female actors next month — takes into account more than just acting gigs, as all of the leading men have business ventures that help catapult them to the top. Here’s a breakdown:
1. Dwayne Johnson: $87.5 million
2. Ryan Reynolds: $71.5 million
3. Mark Wahlberg: $58 million
4. Ben Affleck: $55 million
5. Vin Diesel: $54 million
6. Akshay Kumar: $48.5 million
7. Lin-Manuel Miranda: $45.5 million
8. Will Smith: $44.5 million
9. Adam Sandler: $41 million
10. Jackie Chan: $40 million