2021’s highest-paid movie roles, ranked: Dwayne Johnson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Angelia Jolie, Jennifer Lawrence and Will Smith all made the cut – but which actor earned the most millions?

Dec 26 , 2021

Which stars made the most from roles in film on the big or small screen in 2021? Will Smith, Ryan Reynolds, Angelina Jolie and Dwayne Johnson all made the top 10. Photos: TNS, Netflix, Marvel Studios, Disney Enterprises, Inc.

Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home is already the fourth-biggest film after a December release, and looks set to top Daniel Craig’s last outing as Bond in No Time to Die

Netflix’s Don’t Look Up features Jennifer Lawrence alongside DiCaprio but Angelina Jolie was the year’s highest-earning woman thanks to Marvel’s Eternals

After a slump in 2020’s box office returns, 2021 saw a recovery, with big-budget films competing to max out their ticket sales on the big screen, as well as their streaming time on the small screen. According to Box Office Mojo, at the time of writing, Marvel and DC’s superhero flicks made up no less than four of the year’s top 10 highest-earning films, mostly thanks to Andrew Garfield/Tom Holland/Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Its US$751 million haul – and counting – makes it the third-biggest opening of all time, beaten only by two Avengers films. It looks likely to supplant James Bond’s latest outing in third place on the annual list and may climb higher yet. No 5 on the list was F9, the ninth instalment in the Fast and Furious saga.

While the global box office will fully recover only in 2023, according to Variety, there’s no denying that our A-listers are still taking home some fat pay cheques for their roles in these blockbusters. So, how does our list of the top 10 earners, based on multiple media reports of known salaries, of the year shake down?

10. Vin Diesel – US$20 million

Vin Diesel in Fast & Furious 9. Photo: Original Film

Having featured several times on Forbes’ “The Highest-Paid Actors” lists, Diesel surprisingly ranks a relatively lowly tenth this year thanks to the delay in F9’s release (it was first scheduled for 2020) which meant he made less from his cut of the profits. It’s also worth noting that he didn’t have any other releases this year. However, the 54-year-old star still received a handsome US$20 million salary upfront for the franchise’s ninth outing, reports Forbes. In contrast, Diesel only earned US$2 million for the original, The Fast and the Furious, back in 2001.

9. Ryan Reynolds – US$20 million

Ryan Reynolds is Nolan Booth and Dwayne Johnson is John Hartley in Netflix’s Red Notice. Photo: Netflix

Reynolds has enjoyed immense success this year as three of his 2021 releases turned out to be massive hits. First, he starred in the action sequel The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, followed by Disney’s Free Guy – together the films have grossed over US$400 million as per writing. However, with no disclosed salaries from those films, we can only take into account his Red Notice pay cheque – which still amounts to a whopping US$20 million, according to Variety.

8. Emily Blunt- US$23 million

Evelyn (Emily Blunt) braves the unknown in A Quiet Place Part II. Photo: Paramount Pictures

With two massive films this year, British icon Emily Blunt stacked up a total of US$23 million. For her horror sequel A Quiet Place Part II, directed by husband John Krasinski, she reportedly earned US$12-13 million. This was followed by another whopping US$8-10 million pay cheque for Disney’s Jungle Cruise opposite Dwayne Johnson. While the numbers are undeniably decent, Blunt earned significantly less than Johnson’s US$22 million cut from the same film, despite a solid box-office record with titles like The Girl on the Train (2016), Mary Poppins Returns (2018) and A Quiet Place (2018).