Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson was the first famous wrestler to build a successful career in Hollywood.
Others had tried before him but The Rock went one step further and became one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars.
The salary he received for starring in Fast and Furious Hobbs & Shaw proves it because he made more than both Idris Elba and Jason Statham.
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Hobbs & Shaw is a spin-off film in the Fast and Furious franchise, designed to further expand on the characters Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw.
Portrayed by Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham respectively, both are part of the Fast Saga as baddie-turned-allies.
By contrast, Idris Elba stars Brixton Lore, a cyber-enhanced baddie that wants to rule the world.
You couldn’t make this stuff up.
Hobbs & Shaw was a box office success, grossing over $760 million against a budget of $200 million.
With that in mind, one would argue that whatever fee Johnson demanded was worth it.
Still, it beggars belief that he somehow managed to walk home with a salary that’s (nearly) twice that of Jason Statham.
That’s right, even though the two actors are co-protagonist and share roughly the same amount of screen time, Johnson was paid $20 million upfront, while Statham ‘only’ received $13 million.
As for Idris Elba, he got $8 million.
It should be noted that both Statham and Johnson were also credited as executive producers, which means they also earned a percentage of the box office gross.
The one thing that’s certain is there’s a tremendous amount of money involved in the making of these films.
The Fast Saga is one of the best-performing franchises in Hollywood and it’s always profitable even though the budget seems to get bigger with every movie.
Even the latest movie Fast X managed to turn a profit despite costing a massive $340 million to make.
Ludacris, who plays Tej Parker in the series, was quite open and unapologetic about this in a recent episode of the ‘All The Smoke’ podcast.
“People ask why we keep making these movies,” Ludacris said.
“It’s because no matter what industry we [are] in, it’s all about a bottom line.
“If you spend $200 million and you make a billion, who is gonna tell you to stop shooting movies?”
Well, he has a point.
