Highest-Paid Actors of 2025: Adam Sandler Leads Hollywood at $48M

Adam Sandler tops Forbes' list of the highest paid actors 2025, earning $48 million after fees, according to the ranking Forbes published on March 13, 2026, as reported by People and Entertainment Now. Together, the 20 highest-paid actors in Hollywood earned $590 million, People reports, down 20% from $730 million the year before. Sandler's total is also well below the prior year's No. 1: Dwayne Johnson earned $88 million in 2024, according to People.

Forbes highest paid actors: the top five

1. Adam Sandler, $48 million ($60 million gross). Forbes calls Sandler one of the first big stars to leave movie theaters behind, for Netflix in 2014, and says he is “unquestionably the biggest draw on the platform,” Entertainment Now reports. In 2025 he produced and starred in Happy Gilmore 2 and got a second payday for co-starring in Netflix's Jay Kelly, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actor.

2. Tom Cruise, $46 million ($54 million gross). According to Forbes, as quoted by Entertainment Now, Cruise took less money up front for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning in exchange for an “ultra-rare, first-dollar gross participation” in the film's nearly $600 million in box office revenue.

3. Mark Wahlberg, $44 million ($58 million gross). Forbes says Wahlberg starred in Apple TV's The Family Plan 2 and Prime Video's Play Dirty, commanding an estimated $25 million for the latter. His year also included Mel Gibson's Flight Risk.

4. Scarlett Johansson, $43 million ($50 million gross). If you are searching for the highest paid actress, this is her: Forbes calls Johansson “Hollywood's highest-paid actress.” Universal offered her an estimated $20 million up front plus a significant share of profits for Jurassic World: Rebirth, according to Forbes. She also made her directorial debut in 2025 with Eleanor the Great.

5. Brad Pitt, $41 million ($54 million gross). Apple gave Pitt a traditional gross participation deal for F1, Forbes says, rather than the buyout that has become standard among the streamers. That let him share in the movie's more than $600 million in box office receipts. F1 also earned a Best Picture nomination.

Highest paid actors in Hollywood: the full top 20

Here is the full Forbes ranking with each star's earnings after fees, and gross earnings in parentheses, as listed by Entertainment Now. The Times of India lists the same gross figures.

1. Adam Sandler: $48 million ($60 million gross)
2. Tom Cruise: $46 million ($54 million gross)
3. Mark Wahlberg: $44 million ($58 million gross)
4. Scarlett Johansson: $43 million ($50 million gross)
5. Brad Pitt: $41 million ($54 million gross)
6. Denzel Washington: $38 million ($42 million gross)
7. Jack Black: $28 million ($33 million gross)
8. Jason Momoa: $28 million ($33 million gross)
9. Daniel Craig: $27 million ($32 million gross)
10. Millie Bobby Brown: $26 million ($35 million gross)
11. John Cena: $26 million ($35 million gross)
12. Reese Witherspoon: $26 million ($34 million gross)
13. George Clooney: $25 million ($30 million gross)
14. Leonardo DiCaprio: $25 million ($29 million gross)
15. Rob Mac: $23 million ($30 million gross)
16. Chris Pratt: $22 million ($29 million gross)
17. Tom Hardy: $21 million ($28 million gross)
18. Jennifer Aniston: $20 million ($26 million gross)
19. Cameron Diaz: $20 million ($23 million gross)
20. Jason Bateman: $19 million ($25 million gross)

Five women made the top 20: Johansson, Millie Bobby Brown, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston and Cameron Diaz. People reports that Brown, 22, is the youngest actor ever to appear on Forbes' highest-paid actors list. Along with the fifth and final season of Netflix's Stranger Things, she starred in The Electric State with Chris Pratt, who is No. 16.

Why streaming deals pay the most

Streaming offered the steadiest pay in 2025. The Times of India, summarizing Forbes, says streaming remains the safest home for many stars, with Sandler's long-running Netflix pact still setting the pace, while fewer actor-led films turned into reliable box office wins. It points to Denzel Washington's deal for Highest 2 Lowest, Daniel Craig's Knives Out films at Netflix and Mark Wahlberg's work for Amazon and Apple. People notes that Craig reprised his role as detective Benoit Blanc in Netflix's Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.

Big theatrical hits still paid well, though, when the star shared in the box office. Cruise's Mission: Impossible deal and Pitt's F1 deal both gave them a cut of ticket sales, according to Forbes.

Highest paid actors 2026: how to read these numbers

If you are looking for the highest paid actors 2026 list, the ranking Forbes published in March 2026 is the one above; it measures what stars earned in 2025. People says Forbes' estimates are based on data from Box Office Mojo and IMDb, plus interviews with industry insiders, and that the figures are after fees paid to the actors' agents, managers and lawyers. These are Forbes estimates, not figures the actors have published.