LOS ANGELES • Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr was named the world's top-earning actor on Tuesday by Forbes, taking first place on a list that featured Bollywood leading men from Amitabh Bachchan to Akshay Kumar for the first time.
Downey, 50, earned an estimated US$80 million (S$110 million) between June last year and June this year, spurred by the success of this year's superhero ensemble Avengers: Age Of Ultron, which grossed more than US$1.3 billion worldwide.
Second place went to Hong Kong martial arts star Jackie Chan, 61, who Forbes said had earned US$50 million in the past year from the action adventure Dragon Blade as well as merchandise.
He came in ahead of Hollywood stars Vin Diesel, who grabbed third place with US$47 million mainly due to his stake in the Fast & Furious franchise, as well as Bradley Cooper (US$41.5 million), Adam Sandler (US$41 million) and Tom Cruise (US$40 million).
-
TOP 10 EARNING ACTORS
-
1. Robert Downey, Jr
- US$80 million
2. Jackie Chan
- US$50 million
3. Vin Diesel
- US$47 million
4. Bradley Cooper
- US$41.5 million
5. Adam Sandler
- US$41 million
6. Tom Cruise
- US$40 million
7. Amitabh Bachchan
- US$33.5 million
7. Salman Khan
- US$33.5 million
9. Akshay Kumar
- US$32.5 million
10. Mark Wahlberg
- US$32 million
Cooper, 40, produced and starred in the Oscar-worthy box-office hit American Sniper.
Sandler, 48, whose most recent big-budget sci-fi movie Pixels performed poorly at the global box office, still took fifth place in part due to his production deal with video streaming service Netflix.
Bollywood stars Bachchan, Salman Khan and Kumar also featured in the top 10, with Bachchan, 72, and Khan, 49, tying for No. 7 with US$33.5 million each.
Kumar, 47, came in at No. 9 with US$32.5 million.
Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg, 44, was at No. 10 with US$32 million.
A few other Asian stars made the list: Shah Rukh Khan (tying with Will Smith for No. 18 with US$26 million), Chow Yun Fat (tying with Russell Crowe for No. 24 with US$18 million), Ranbir Kapoor (tying with Will Ferrell for No. 30 with US$15 million) and Andy Lau (tying with Chris Pratt for No. 33, with US$13 million).
Besides Pratt, Hollywood actors Seth Rogen (US$17 million), Jonah Hill (US$16 million) and Chris Evans (US$13.5 million) are also newcomers on the list, Forbes said.
Forbes collates its earnings lists using figures from sources such as Nielsen, Box Office Mojo and IMDb, and calculates earnings by deducting estimated taxes and management fees.
It will publish a list of the world's highest-paid actresses at a later date.
REUTERS
