Thanks to profit participation clauses and back end deals that see the stars of the biggest movies pocket bonuses if their latest project reaches certain box office milestones, a hefty salary is far from the only way to net a huge windfall in Hollywood. Robert Downey Jr. was famously paid just $500,000 to headline Iron Man, but after he renegotiated his contract several times and Avengers: Endgame became the highest-grossing movie ever, he walked away with $75 million for his final appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Gal Gadot, meanwhile, was recently awarded a $10 million bonus because that’s how much she’s expected to miss out on after Wonder Woman 1984 was given a simultaneous release on HBO Max and in theaters. Indeed, when you see the annual list of the highest paid stars in the industry, it isn’t a coincidence that the vast majority of them have appeared in the most commercially successful blockbusters.
With that in mind, insider Daniel Richtman is claiming that Spider-Man 3 will make Tom Holland the highest paid talent currently under contract with Sony. Unfortunately, he offers no further details to back up his intel and admittedly, this does seem a bit hard to believe. After all, with the utmost respect to the young actor, Spidey is the draw for these movies and not him, and audiences will turn up no matter who plays the role.
Also, Dwayne Johnson raked in a $20 million salary plus profit participation for $800 million hit Jumanji: The Next Level, and unlike Holland, he is the draw and main selling point for his films. Not to mention that the studio also has No Time to Die coming up, with Daniel Craig pocketing a flat rate of $25 million for starring in the 25th installment in the Bond franchise that Sony are co-producing.
Is Tom Holland going to make a lot of money for Spider-Man 3? Yes. Is he going to be the studio’s highest paid actor ever for the pic? It seems unlikely, but then again, Richtman has a decent track record when it comes to inside intel.
