Hollywood's Highest-Paid Men
July 16th 2009 05:16
Looking at this list of the 15 most financially successful Hollywood Heroes over the last 12 months and you are sure to be surprised by the list. Unless you can combine acting writing and directing or can write and sing up one hell of a storm, dont even dream of getting on this list.
At the top of our list is George Lucas who topped a list of Hollywood's highest male earners on Wednesday, making an estimated $170 million in a year that saw the release of his fourth, blockbuster Indiana Jones movie.
Geoge Lucas (Courtesy IMDB)
Spielberg (Courtesy IMDB)
Second on the list is the man who worked with Lucas on his latest film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Steven Spielberg, who earned $150 million.
In order to get the two masters on board as well as grab the attention of leading man Harrison Ford Paramount agreed to give each man a significant cut of the film's profits once Paramount recouped its investment. The film earned $787 million at the worldwide box office, helping to make all of the players a bit richer. Ford, who had been out of the spotlight for years prior to the new Indy movie, ranks 11th .
Coming in third is Jerry Bruckheimer. Not only does he make a mint out of the CSI franchise, which is only part of his ever growing television empirehe can also thank Johnny Depp and the incredible success of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise (together the three movies have grossed $2.7 billion at the worldwide box office). He took in $100 million.
Jerry Seinfeld ranks fourth on our list and one could easily argue his money comes from his work producing and writing Seinfeld as much as it does for starring in the show that went off the air more than 10 years ago. Hefty syndication fees helped the comedian earn $85 million. Not bad for a funny man.
Rounding out the top five is Doctor Phil McGraw. The former Oprah protégé has created a media empire of his own, complete with his talk show, books, speeches and a spin-off show, The Doctors, produced by McGraw's oldest son, Jay. The Doctor earned a cool $80 million in consultation fees over the last 12 months
And now for the also rans........
Tyler Perry 75 million - The producer/writer/directors deal with LIONSGATE means he gets a big share from his movies. Medea really is a bad mofo.
Dick Wolf $75 million - Law & Order franchise. The original show is poised to tie Gunsmoke as the longest-running prime-time drama in television history.
Simon Cowell $75 million - Idol's meanest judge also rakes it in as the creator of both America and Britain's Got Talent and his record label reps all show winners.
Bruce Springsteen $70 million - At 59 the Boss still rocks. His latest tour earned $166 million from 1.6 million tickets sold.
Howard Stern $70 Million $100 million from his Sirius Satellite Radio deal minus show production costs.
Harrison Ford $65 million the fourth installment of Indiana Jones meant he was well compensated with a hefty chunk of the film's profits.
Kenny Chesney $65 million monster tour selling one million tickets in 2008. Endorsements deals with Corona and MasterCard don't hurt either.
James Patterson $60 million released nine new novels between June 2008 and June 2009 in addition to a videogame based on his Women's Murder Club series.
Adam Sandler $55 million His two most recent films, Bedtime Stories and You Don't Mess With The Zohan earned a collective $413 million at the worldwide box office.
Larry David $55 million He still gets the bulk of his money from Seinfeld syndication.
For more about the business of Hollywood, go to forbes.com/entertainment
Source: From articles in
Reuters.com (Edward McAllister)
Forbes.com (Dorothy Pomerantz)
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