Avengers star tops annual Forbes list for the third year running, but Leonardo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp find themselves displaced by Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar
Robert Downey Jr has topped Forbes magazine’s annual list of the highest paid actors for the third year in a row. The Iron Man and Avengers star made an estimated $80m (£51m) over the past 12 months, beating out fellow Hollywood behemoths such as Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper and Tom Cruise.
However, in a startling development, four out of the top 10 wealthiest male film stars now hail from outside Hollywood, according to the latest edition of the annual survey. China’s Jackie Chan and Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar all finished ahead of established American actors such as Mark Wahlberg, Leonardo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp.
The surprise results came after the financial magazine featured actors from international film industry meccas beyond the Hollywood bubble for the first time ever. The prominence of Asian actors comes as something of a shock because Chinese and Indian movies rarely feature on annual lists of the highest-grossing films across the globe. The most successful Bollywood film of all time, last year’s PK, made just $120m globally, while the highest-grossing Chinese film, this year’s Monster Hunt, boasts $290m. Hollywood’s best effort, 2009’s Avatar, scored a staggering $2.78bn.
Downey Jr’s $80m earnings were thanks largely to a lucrative profit-share deal from the $1.39bn success of superhero epic Avengers: Age of Ultron, and a reported $40m payday for upcoming Marvel film Captain America: Civil War. “Downey Jr has been able to cut unique, favourable deals that ensure he is well compensated for his Tony Stark troubles,” Forbes’ Natalie Robehmed told The Guardian. “Movies featuring his Iron Man character still perform astronomically at the box office.”
The Hollywood star earned a full $30m more than second-placed Chan. The 61-year-old Hong Kong-based martial arts star, who is popular in the west but an unmatched megastar in east Asia, made his $50m from highly profitable franchises such as the upcoming historical action movie Dragon Blade, as well as merchandise tie-ins and a cinema chain which trades under his name.
Vin Diesel, star of the Fast & Furious movies, landed in third with earnings of $47m during the period recorded by Forbes (1 June, 2014 to 1 June, 2015) thanks largely to the box office success of the most recent instalment in the street racing saga. Fuelled by hype surrounding the death of star Paul Walker, Fast & Furious 7 scored $1.51bn globally earlier this year.
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