When the world’s highest paid actor was a villain, charged $60 million, 12X as much as hero, out-earned Tom Cruise, Depp

The mantle of the world’s highest-paid actors has normally rested with leading men and women from Hollywood over the last eight decades.

On most occasions, the reigning superstar of the era or star of the biggest franchise has been the world’s highest-paid actor. The same can be said for the subject of this story. But there’s a twist – he was the film’s antagonist – the only villain who beat heroes even off-screen.

When a villain was the world’s highest-paid actor

In 1989, maverick filmmaker Tim Burton released his adaptation of Batman, the first time the character was seen on the big screen since the 60s. Partly influenced by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s The Killing Joke and Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, the film starred Michael Keaton as the titular superhero. This was a controversial choice as Keaton was known for his comedic roles and was not an established star. As a result, the actor had to settle for a less-than-extravagant paycheck of $5 million. Naturally, that did not make him the film’s top star.

That honour went to Oscar winner Jack Nicholson, who played the Joker in the film. Nicholson took an upfront fee of $6 million and a profit share. Batman ended up being a massive box-office success, earning over $400 million. This netted Nicholson an additional $54 million. The $60 million payday made Jack Nicholson the world’s highest-paid actor, beating the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, who were earning $20-30 million per film at the time.

How Jack Nicholson beat stars decades younger

When Batman was released, Jack Nicholson was 52 years old. He was far from a box office draw. Yet, Batman’s success and profit-sharing agreement catapulted him to the top. The top stars in Hollywood at the time were Tom Cruise and Bruce Willis, while Johnny Depp was also on his way to stardom. Tom Cruise earned $9 million for Days of Thunder the following year, while Bruce Willis earned $7.5 million for Die Hard 2 around the same time. The likes of Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp earned even less. Action stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone earned more, largely because of profit-sharing agreements. Yet, none of them could beat Jack Nicholson’s mark. That $60 million mark was breached seven years later when Tom Cruise earned $70 million for the first Mission Impossible film. Bruce Willis became the first star to earn $100 million after the success of The Sixth Sense in 1999.