- Title: 007 Daniel Craig is world's highest paid star with salary of $100m - Variety
- Date: 19th August 2021
- Summary: OCHO RIOS, JAMAICA (FILE - APRIL 25, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** BRITISH ACTOR, DANIEL CRAIG WHO PLAYS 'JAMES BOND' POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS AT "NO TIME TO DIE" LAUNCH NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - JANUARY 08, 2020) (REUTERS) "KNIVES OUT" STAR, DANIEL CRAIG POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (FILE) (REUTERS) CRAIG SAT NEXT TO "KNIVES OUT" CO-STAR, JAMIE LEE CURTIS DURING INTERVIEW FOR 2019 FILM SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF NETFLIX OFFICES
- Embargoed: 2nd September 2021 12:27
- Keywords: Amazon Daniel Craig Denzel Washington Dwayne Johnson Jennifer Lawrence Julia Roberts Netflix Sandra Bullock Variety Will Smith salary
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- Country: Various
- Topics: Celebrities,Arts/Culture/Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA001EQY68UL
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Daniel '007' Craig is the world's highest paid screen star, taking home a whopping $100 million thanks to Netflix deals, according to a Variety salary list.
The "No Time to Die" actor's bumper paycheck is mainly due to the sale of two sequels of Rian Johnson's "Knives Out", a murder-mystery that stars Craig as eccentric sleuth Benoit Blanc, the entertainment site said.
The streaming giants "take into account the projected back-end box office participation they would reap if their movies were released exclusively in theaters", said Variety of the salaries.
James Bond beat Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson into second place, with the "Fast and Furious" and "Jumanji" star earning roughly $50 million, partly due to an agreed $30 million to star in holiday adventure "Red One" that was bought by Amazon Studios.
Parent company Amazon also owns MGM, the fabled U.S. movie studio home to the James Bond franchise that was bought for $8.45 billion in May this year, giving it a huge library of films and TV shows and ramping up competition with streaming rivals led by Netflix and Disney+.
In joint third place on the rich list are Will Smith and Denzel Washington who both earned $40 million for respective Warner Bros titles "King Richard" and "The Little Things", after the movie studio decided to "release its entire 2021 film slate on HBO Max and in cinemas concurrently", according to Variety.
Jennifer Lawrence topped the female high earners with $25 million for the Netflix-Adam McKay disaster comedy "Don't Look Up", sharing the spot with Julia Roberts for end-of-days thriller "Leave the World Behind" on Netflix.
"The Lost City of D" star Sandra Bullock came a close second at $20 million. The jungle adventure romcom that co-stars Channing Tatum, Brad Pitt and Daniel Radcliffe is slated for release next year on Netflix and sees Bullock co-producing it.
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