Top Ten Highest-Paid Hollywood Actors as per Forbes

Forbes has released this year’s list of the highest-paid celebrities. In the report, each actor’s earnings are calculated based on the estimated income they receive after paying fees to their agents, managers, and attorneys.

The earnings estimates are based on data obtained from Box Office Mojo and IMDb.

According to the Forbes list of highest-paid celebrities of 2025, Adam Sandler secured the top spot, earning $48 million last year. Sandler, a veteran actor, recently produced and also starred in the second installment of the 1996 sports comedy Happy Gilmore. Aside from that, he also acted alongside George Clooney in Noah Baumbach’s latest film Jay Kelly, which was released on Netflix. Notably, the role also brought him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at this year’s Golden Globe Awards.

However, despite taking the top spot in 2025, Sandler earned significantly less than the previous year’s highest-paid actor, Dwayne Johnson, who made $88 million in 2024.

According to the Forbes report, the overall earnings of the top 20 highest-paid actors in Hollywood stood at $590 million, which is about 20 per cent lower than last year’s total of around $730 million.

Tom Cruise takes the second spot, reportedly earning $46 million from the eighth installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

Mark Wahlberg comes third with earnings of $44 million, thanks to projects such as The Family Plan 2, Amazon Prime Video’s Play Dirty, and his lead role in Mel Gibson’s film Flight Risk.

The fourth spot is taken by Scarlett Johansson, who earned from several productions, including Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme, Jurassic World: Rebirth, and her first directorial feature Eleanor the Great.

Brad Pitt earned $41 million by starring in and producing a film through his production company, Plan B Entertainment. The film also received a nomination for Best Motion Picture at the 2026 Oscars.

Denzel Washington ranks sixth with earnings of $38 million for Spike Lee’s adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s classic High and Low, retitled Highest 2 Lowest.

Jack Black follows with $28 million earned from projects such as Minecraft and Anaconda. He is followed by Jason Momoa ($28 million), who also starred alongside Black in Minecraft. Next is Daniel Craig ($27 million), who reprised his role as Detective Benoit Blanc in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out: Wake Up Dead Man.

Rounding out the top 10 is Millie Bobby Brown, who secured the tenth spot with earnings of $26 million.

This article is written by Nag Adithya, a student of Loyola Academy interning with Deccan Chronicle.