Will Smith, Dwayne Johnson & Denzel Washington at the Top of Highest Paid Movie Stars List

In a Variety list, Will Smith, Dwayne Johnson, Denzel Washington and Eddie Murphy are some of the highest paid movie stars, boasting multi-million dollar salaries.

Will Smith, Denzel Washington and Daniel Kaluuya are some of Hollywood's highest paid movie stars according to a new list from Variety. With Tom Cruise topping the list at $100 million for his starring role in recent action flick Top Gun: Maverick – with the film receiving nearly $1.2 billion at the box office – also listed as some of the most profitable actors in recent time include Vin Diesel (Fast X), Jason Momoa (Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom) and Eddie Murphy (Beverly Hills Cop 4).

Per Variety, Dwayne Johnson "asked for and received $22.5 million to play the lead in “Black Adam,” which releases to theaters on October 21.

"In addition, he will receive millions more for producing the film and earns a fee on top of that to promote the movie on his social media channels," the article read.

Kaluuya received $4 million for his role as OJ Haywood in Jordan-Peele directed horror Nope, which releases on July 22, although the Oscar-winning actor recently partnered with Paramount Pictures with his production company 59%.

Maintaining his A-lister status after winning Best Actor for his portrayal of Richard Williams in King Richard at the 94th Academy Awards, Smith was given a $35 upfront salary for upcoming slavery thriller Emancipation. Per the article, Smith boasts the highest upfront salary for a film this year.

It's been rumored that Joaquin Phoenix will return to the Joker franchise to portray the titular character, but if he signs on to reprise the role, Phoenix will receive a $20 million payout in comparison to earning $4.5 million for 2019's Joker.