When you first look at that question you might be thinking to yourselves “are you crazy?” But when you get down to it, who is one of the top grossing actresses of the past 5 years? It’s none other than Emma Watson. There’s only one other actress on the planet whose movies have brought in more money and that’s Scarlett Johansson. Both have brought in over $3 billion in their respective careers. So this begs the question, “shouldn’t Watson be paid more?” Emma Watson just got paid only $3 million up front for Beauty and the Beast and her total haul will come out to around $15 million.
I don’t know about you but to me that sounds pretty awful considering the film has already brought in over $1 billion. When you compare that to a Robert Downey Jr. or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson movie it’s peanuts. For the same gross numbers Downey Jr. would be getting close to $100 million. Johnson gets over $10 million up front for his films. So why is Watson getting stiffed? The answer is simple.
Emma Watson is rarely the draw behind the movies she’s in. When people go to see a movie starring Scarlett Johansson, they go to see Johannson. When people see a film starring Downey Jr. or Johnson, they go to see these guys. When people went to see Harry Potter it wasn’t just to see Emma Watson. When people saw Beauty and the Beast, it also wasn’t just to see Emma Watson. Despite her box office haul, Watson isn’t the primary reason for the haul so the answer is no, she shouldn’t be the highest paid actress.
Unless she can prove to carry a movie all on her own I don’t see her earning any more than she does anytime soon. Yeah, like $15 million is bad. Well, it is when you look at the total gross of the film.
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YES she is s talented actor who never rest on her laurels. Learning to sing ride a horse at speed. She also had input the production of Beauty and the Beast bringing her wealth of experience and intelligence to make it a critical and commercial success. Her star quality and celebrity status is the broadest of any in her generation. Highest earner because she is value for money.