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Wednesday
10Jun2009

Harrison Ford Named Highest Paid Actor by Forbes

DateWednesday, June 10, 2009 at 11:59PM
It was a good year for Harrison Ford. According to Forbes, the success of Indiana Jones and the Rest of the Awkward Title made him the best paid actor in show bidness in the year beginning June 1, 2008.

Because Ford's only other role during that time was in Crossing Over, a film that made $1 million around the world and probably didn't contribute much to his earnings, his $65 million haul over the 12-month span is just the truck backing up to his house with Indy Jones money. That's not all contract cash, and in fact, most of it is back-end points paid to him because of the film's near-$800 million global box office.

Adam Sandler won the silver medal with $55 million ane Will Smith was in third place, which isn't terribly surprising. However, Eddie Murphy still qualifies for a list like this? Uh-huh.

He somehow made it to fourth place on the list - with $40 million - based on the "strength" of Meet Dave, a movie that Murphy couldn't be bothered to support at its premiere. That movie lost money, but Murphy cleaned up anyway. Nic Cage rounded out the top five, apparently a few cents below Murphy.

One ranking I thought was strange was Ben Stiller somehow pocketing only $14 million in 2008. That's with two of the top 25 movies in theaters last year in Madagascar and Tropic Thunder. To look at it another way, Stiller made about as much as Vince Vaughn, who only appeared in Four Christmases, which didn't even beat Tropic Thunder in worldwide receipts. Like him or not, Stiller's been in a bunch of hits over the past five years. I can't believe he's not in the $20 million club, or at least, still in the $7 million club.

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment3 Comments |

Reader Comments (3)

Wow. I find that (re: Stiller) rather odd as well. Maybe it's just what he made as an actor. I imagine he made quite a bit of money as a director/producer on Tropic Thunder. Even if it is just the money he made as an actor he needs to get a new agent.

Thursday, June 11, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterJeremy

Murphy being up there really is surprising but then again he does make a lot of crappy movies that probably pay him a lot. I saw him on Conan the other night and he was actually kind of funny. He needs to revert back to his old school self and come out with some R rated movies.

Thursday, June 11, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterFrnkln0385

Very surprising! I suppose once an actor has reached a certain level, they can command whatever payment they want, whether or not the film does well.

Thursday, June 11, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterHeidi from Savory Tv

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