The World's Highest-Paid Actresses 2017: Emma Stone Leads With $26 Million
La La Land–the city and its celluloid namesake–has been very kind to
Emma Stone. At just 28 years old, the Hollywood star is this year’s highest-paid
actress, banking $26 million pretax in our 12 month scoring period.
Stone has her earnings from the movie-musical to thank for the bulk of her
payday, which also won her a Best Actress Oscar. Her portrayal of Mia, an
aspiring actress and barista, garnered rave reviews and goosed the film to
$445.3 million at the global box office.
“I moved here when I was 15 to start auditioning, I knew what it felt like to
go on audition after audition,” Stone said backstage after accepting her Academy
Award, speaking of the similarities between the role and her life. Those
auditions have officially paid off: she scored her largest ever annual take-home
and is the biggest dollar and percent gainer, year over year, of anyone on the
list.
She bests Jennifer Aniston (No. 2; $25.5 million) who continues to bank
millions more than a decade after Friends’ conclusion, thanks to
regular roles in movies such as The Yellow Birds. But Aniston, 48, makes most of her money by endorsing the likes of Emirates airlines,
Smartwater and Aveeno. Hair-care line Living Proof, which she owned a stake in,
was sold Unilever for an undisclosed amount in December 2016, adding to
Aniston’s bottom line.
Former top-ranked Jennifer Lawrence comes in at No. 3, notching just over
half her 2016 total. But don’t worry—she still made $24 million. Without a
Hunger Games movie, most of Lawrence’s paychecks came from forthcoming
Darren Aronofsky thriller Mother!, Red Sparrow and a
longstanding Dior endorsement. Melissa McCarthy (No. 4; $18 million) and Mila
Kunis (No. 5; $15.5 million) round out the top five.
Together, the world’s 10 highest-paid actresses tallied a combined $172.5
million between June 1, 2016, and June 1, 2017, before fees and taxes. Earnings
estimates are based on data from Nielsen, ComScore, Box Office Mojo and IMDB, as
well as interviews with industry insiders. All figures are pretax; fees for
agents, managers and lawyers are not deducted. The list examined actresses the
world over, but no stars from Asia made the cut, as Fan Bingbing and Deepika
Padukone dropped off due to quieter years.
Brit Emma Watson (No. 6) is this year’s sole newcomer after depositing her
paycheck for Beauty and the Beast, which grossed $1.26 billion to
become the top-grossing movie of the year so far. Though tech drama The
Circle flopped, she managed to make $14 million in our time frame, thanks
to the Mouse House.
“Every kid who grew up on Harry Potter felt instantly comfortable seeing Emma Watson on screen; even if she wasn’t Hermione Granger, she was Belle,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at industry tracker ComScore. ”[Disney] could have plugged in any actor into that role but it wouldn’t have had that magic.”
“Every kid who grew up on Harry Potter felt instantly comfortable seeing Emma Watson on screen; even if she wasn’t Hermione Granger, she was Belle,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at industry tracker ComScore. ”[Disney] could have plugged in any actor into that role but it wouldn’t have had that magic.”
This year, three women breached the $20 million mark, compared to four women
in 2016. Notably absent this year: Scarlett Johansson, who failed to earn above
the $11.5 million cut off for this year’s list. Overall, the cumulative total is
down 16% from $205 million in 2016.
Their success remains remarkable considering that female characters fill only
28.7% of all speaking roles in film according to a 2016
study. Roles for women above 40 are even fewer and farther between, which
makes it all the more notable that 60% of this year’s list members are over the
age of 40. These women have forged their own roles, such as Atomic
Blonde producer and star Charlize Theron, 42, (No. 6; $14 million) who
spent five years developing the spy project.
“We’ve had moments like this, where women really showcase themselves and
break glass ceilings,” Theron told Variety. “And then we don’t sustain it. Or there’s one movie
that doesn’t do well, and all of a sudden, no one wants to make a female-driven
film.”
As the ticketing receipts of Wonder Woman and Girls
Trip show, strong female characters have never been more bountiful at the
box office. Here’s hoping their success engenders more roles for a wider range
of actresses in years to come.
Source: Forbes
No comments
Your comments and Encouragement are welcome