[WARNING – SPOILER ALERT: If you have not seen “Stars Wars: The Force Awakens” do not read any further because of plot details below.]
With its global bow now at a record $529 million, “Star Wars'” box office success will undoubtedly afford its cast members heftier pay cuts on their next projects. But just how much money did “The Force Awakens” actors earn to join a galaxy far, far away?
Sources tell Variety Harrison Ford came away the big winner on Disney and Lucasfilm’s sequel with a paycheck upwards of $10 million and as high as $20 million to reprise his role of Han Solo.
On Monday, the Daily Mail issued a report saying that Ford earned a staggering $25 million to return to the “Star Wars” franchise. A Disney insider tells Variety the story is completely false and way too high but other sources did confirm that the 73-year-old actor earned a substantially larger cut than his co-stars.
Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher took home salaries in the low-seven-figure range, according to sources. Newcomers John Boyega and Daisy Ridley were paid in the low-six-figure range ($100k-$300k).
Adam Driver and Oscar Isaac, meanwhile, received offers of mid- to high-six figures. Because Driver and Isaac had fixed quotes from previous film and TV work, sources say their deals were negotiated higher compared to Boyega and Ridley, who, for the most part, had never appeared in a large-scale film before.
Insiders tell Variety that Disney made a decision in 2014 prior to casting the new roles to create a “legacy pay scale” intended for talent like Ford, Fisher and Hamill, who had previously been a part of the “Star Wars” universe, and general pay scale for actors that would be appearing for the first time.
Hamill and Fisher’s salaries are expected to rise in upcoming installments as their parts grow with each film.
The salaries don’t include back-end bonuses from the pic’s box office haul that in a rare case doesn’t even kick in till the film crosses $1 billion worldwide, and following the success of “The Force Awakens,” deals are expected to be renegotiated before the next films get underway.
While Ford is considered the biggest star in the ensemble, the No. 1 reason the actor walked away with the most money had to do with the fact that this would be a one-off situation for him (MAJOR SPOILER), since his character dies in “The Force Awakens.”
As for the younger talent receiving lower salaries — it’s a fairly common practice in today’s market for newer actors, especially with so many negotiations involving back-end box office bonuses. For the first “Fifty Shades of Grey,” stars Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan received offers in the six-figure range and have since renegotiated multimillion-dollar deals for future installments.
well it would have been garbage without him lol ;)
Speaking on behalf of all the trees and wildlife the charitable Ford will save with all the extra $$$, “THANK YOU!”
I feel like the spoiler warning came a little late in that paragraph. It’s already spoiled at the point that the warning is placed. Maybe move it up to the beginning of the sentence.
Dude it was literally the first sentence in the artical,
Dude, high five.
He had the most screen-time of all the original cast (meaning Mark Hummel got paid at least $1m for the one minute he was on the screen much more than Ford’s $10-20m for at least 40-60 minutes on-screen so $0.16-0.5m per minute)
As for the new cast being paid less they were probably chosen from a wide selection of actors and actresses meaning if the studio had all the power in the salary negotiations compared to the original cast who could practically only be plaid by the original actors.
He earned it… he was the only one of the original cast to do any real acting or action scenes…
For being “industry publication”, it’s amazing how many folks responding here have a superficial, non-business, “equal pay for all” People Magazine mentality. It all seems wonderful now, but let’s not forget making a new Star Wars movie by a Disney and its chosen director, JJ Abrams, was a controversial to a suspicious many within the fan base.
Ford’s salary was worth its weight in gold well before he stepped onto the first soundstage. His presence (along with Hamill and Fisher) gave the movie instant credidibilty and an anticipation buzz that was worth ten times the cost. Was it Ford’s young costars who made grown men weep at the conclusion of the first trailer when “We’re home Chewie?” came on screen?
“Selling” this movie to the fan base well before opening day was critical as it’s the springboard to so much more Star Wars coming being planned and created simultaneously by Disney, from movies and games to theme park lands, and the success A Force Awakens was critical.
So, if you can break your minds from the shackles of a salary envy mentality, in retrospect, Ford’s pay day was clearly a bargain. As for the new kids, have no concern for them. They will be greatly compensated for the sequels (not to mention any box office bonuse they are receiving now) and will maybe have their own chance for 8 figure salaries to reprise their roles 40 years from now…
Well this is kind of expected really if you think about it logically.
Comparing to Fisher and Hamill, Ford is in the movie a heck of a lot more. Fisher I’d class as supporting actor, Hamill is pretty much a cameo whereas Ford is virtually one of the main characters.
Comparing to the new leads, well, they were relative unknowns, so their pay is going to be quite a bit lower. That’s normal and I suspect their pay will go up considerably for the next movie.
I understand paying Ford more because he’s a legend and so is his Han Solo character but 50 times more? Isn’t that a bit ridiculous?
This movie would have been a mere shadow of what it turned out to be, had Ford not been in it. Harrison Ford put in one of his best performances in years in this film, perfect as a world weary Solo re-energized by the events of the film. He and Ridley carried the entire movie. As for the pay differential, remember that Ford got $10,000 for the original Star Wars. He has worked his way to this pinnacle and the newcomers, all of whom got many many multiples over what Ford got for his first Star Wars movie, will similarly work their way up the pay scale.
Holy crap, that’s a lot of money for Ford to sleepwalk through his role. Boyega and Ridley, I dunno. Mary Sue characters are apparently popular, but I didn’t see much in them. Isaac of course is another story. He’s got enough screen presence to spare and needs a bigger role in the next movie (with Boyega, who works well in scenes with him).
But the real find is Adam Driver. He’s got a tough role, easily the most challenging assignment of them all: take an emo whiny pathetic overgrown teenager and turn him into someone who won’t turn our stomachs. And he pulls if off! Anakin Skywalker, eat your heart out.
He deserves it. Harrison is 50x more talented than the new leads for the film that can’t even hold my attention through an interview or commercial.
D’oh.. I missed the “spoiler alert”.. no point going to see it now…
Good Lord. Hamill got over a million bucks for putting on a bathrobe and doing the “dramatic squirrel”?
And deserved every cent of it…..
Maybe because all the other actors were nobodies, duh.
I find article like this that project salary envy a bit annoying.
Did grown men weep with joy when the new stars appeared on screen in the first trailer? I think not. Those were 10 to 15 million dollar tears. Money well spent for Ford, if you ask me.
The kids most likely have box office performance bonus in store and will renegotiate their contracts for upcoming episodes based on TFA’s success. Everyone will be happy in the end.
Uh-oh, that sounds racist and sexist Hollywood!
And don’t forget age-ism. How dare Ford’s legacy and age allow him more money than young newcomers? Where are the politicians on this? Hillary?
What big surprise? He is 50x the actor of anyone else in the cast! He opens -box offices.. none of the other talent can make that claim. Pay the man…
Why is this a story? Han Solo is a major character in the mythology of Star Wars. Ford is well known actor who played the roll well. These are two newcomers and their characters are not necessarily the draw to the film.
Plus, he didn’t make that much money the first time around. He deserves to get get paid.
Harrison Ford still has the draw when he plays his most famous characters, namely Hans Solo and Indiana Jones. The last Indiana Jones was a huge hit in spite of being a mess (especially the inter- dimensional aliens crap ending) and the new Star Wars might go on to become the biggest grosser in history! The newcomers bring nothing except fresh faces and good potential actors. And Fisher and Hamill never went on to anything much outside of Star wars unfortunately.
Nothing unusual about ths…Harrison Ford is a major plus to SWVII. I loved the movie & I did not expect it to be as good as the 1977 SW. I stood 2 1/2 hours in line to see that one back in ’77. And I was not happy that Lucas sold out to Disney. I love Disney, but I thought they may have pushed for a different kinds of SW movie. I WAS WRONG. JJ Abrams and Disney did as good a job as any. I enjoyed SWVII from the beginning to the end and felt the same kinds of emotions that I did in ’77. Yep, I sure did. So I definitely look forward to the next installments. I hope they come out every year!
Who could forget the massive lines you had to wait in, just to get into the theater back in those days! haha
Justin Kroll and the Variety staff offerd the caveat to not read the article with a SPOILER alert, but some ignored the warning , and now upset. Suggest that Variety put spoiler alerts in 36 point type et on two lines and repeated…in tandem. Make that 42 point.
The spoiler alert that is now at the beginning of the article was added subsequently by Variety, so not at all helpful for early readers- when this article was originally posted there was no spoiler alert.
If you haven’t seen the movie that came out a week ago, and are reading articles about it, ya takes yer chances
Spoiler alert was stated about four words before the actual spoiler given so visually no way to avoid reading the spoiler. That is why all the upset.
Maybe not the world’s greatest idea to insert the spoiler-alert after the spoiler!
Well he is the only box office name in the movie. What do you expect? Plus they needed him for plot reasons. What next? An outraged “expose” to tell us that Meryl Streep was paid more in her latest movie than some random extra?
Thanks for spoiling it you bastards. Seriously. Pretty much never clicking on a link for Variety every again. I have no words to describe how much I hate you.
Wow! What an incredibly poor way of inserting a spoiler alert (for a very BIG spoiler) been very careful at avoiding all articles as they typically have spoiler alert at the very beginning of the article. I thought I was simply reading an article about pay and as I continued to read have now ruined the experience I was looking forward to having for Star Wars. Having the alert mid sentence when there is no way to not see the next few words is now way to alert readers. I can’t unsee what I just read so now I simply have to go into the film knowing this very major spoiler – this wasn’t some small point that purists would want to avoid knowing.
For the record….if you write “Spoiler alert” in the middle of the spoiler, it does nothing, and you’re still a jerk. Never coming here again…..
Just another click bait story. Hamill and Fisher are nowhere near the box office draw of Ford, and everybody knows that….except apparently, Variety.
Simply put they did not pay that money for Harrison Ford, they paid it for Han Solo. Even in the last Indiana Jones movie he still seemed like Harrison Ford doing an Indy shtick; in this, he firmly (re)established himself as Han Solo.
Not sure why this is news… Harrison Ford’s movies have made 100 times more than the entire younger cast’s films combined. (Note: I have not done the math. My figure may be a lie) Either way, the man earned his money :-)
Nothing new here.
Chris Evans was paid $300.000 for the first Captain America film.
You take whatever they’re willing to pay you, when the role you’re cast in is a career maker.
Once you get the career going, you get more.
If you get the career going.
Now while I agree with Jennifer Lawrence about her and other A list Actresses, I had never heard of this girl before this movie. And he’s freakin’ Harrison Ford. So yes, he was paid a hell of a lot more. Duh. And he’s gone a LOT further than Mark Hamill & Carrie Fisher in his movie career. No matter how awesome I think Hamill is as the Joker’s voice. Lol.
He was the party. I went to see him and he delivered a great performance. BTW, if he only sttod there and curled his lip when he smiled, I would have still paid to see it.
And worth every penny.
Quick, somebody call the agents for Patricia Arquette and Jennifer Lawrence.
Of course he did: It only makes sense. He’s the only actor in the franchise who is a certifiable movie star. Harrison Ford has made twenty million on previous films, and is used to big pay days. Sure he might be looking a little grayer, but he can still rock it. IMO seeing Han Solo and Chewbacca together again was the highlight. All in all I’m just thrilled that the film is good, and I can look forward to the future installments.
Actually, he’s not a “certifiable” movie star anymore. His last hit was Indiana Jones which was another legacy role. Beyond that, nearly every one of movies he’s appeared in over the past 15 years (with the exception of 42 IN 2013 and maybe Firewall in 2006) have performed poorly at the box office and received poor reviews. There’s a reason why the usually reluctant Ford suddenly became a Star Wars fan with this film just like he’s become a huge fan of Blade Runner 2 (and the paycheck that he’ll get for that film of course).
Blah, blah, blah… He’s Harrison Fking Ford!! Get outta here with your rationalizing.
Thanks for letting us know your major spoiler three words before you reveal the major spoiler. Are you kidding?
You’re obviously still illiterate, though.
How about the part that read:
[WARNING – SPOILER ALERT: If you have not seen “Stars Wars: the Force Awakens” do not read any further because of plot details below.]
But I guess you didn’t read that because you’re…illiterate? Stupid?
God Lord do you consider …
( SPOILER ALERT) since his character…
…. Adequate warning unless you are reading at a first grade level or less your eyes have already scanned ahead . It’s like driving down the interstate and a sign suddenly appears saying stop brick wall in 20 feet …you are going to hit that wall . The beginning of article or at the very least the beginning of the paragraph would have been the professional…non dick thing to do.
Im certainly not stupid enough to argue with a person I don’t know on social media named Johnnie. This was directed at the writer of the article and response to a warning just prior to the reveal.
The movie is a complete remake of Episode 4 A New Hope. A droid has plans to the evil base and ends up on a desert world with Stormtroopers in tow. The plans get flown back to the good guys who find a weakness to the evil base and blow it up…….lame.
That’s not what the droid has. Did you see the movie?… Lame.
There were no plans to a secret weapon in this movie. Maybe it’s the drugs again Chad; you should probably check your prescription.
With all respect, maybe this article will entice Ford to donate a slice of his proceeds to a newsdesk editor. “Do not read any further because of plot details that are made to be known?” Here.
With its global bow at a record $529 million, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” has surely boosted the market rates of its cast. But how much did the actors earn before soaring to a galaxy far, far away?
Harrison Ford appears the big winner. On Monday, the Daily Mail reported he received a staggering $25 million for reprising the role of Han Solo, and although Variety’s sources call that number far too high – they quote a figure between $15 to $20 million – they confirm the 73 year-old earned a substantially bigger cut than his co-stars.
Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher drew low-seven-figure salaries for the Disney and Lucasfilm sequel. Newcomers John Boyega and Daisy Ridley were paid $100k-$300k, while Adam Driver and Oscar Isaac, fresh to the franchise but not to the industry, negotiated higher fees.
During the film’s development in 2014, Disney created a “legacy pay scale” for returning stars. First-timers would be compensated according to a general pay scale.
[SPOILER ALERT: If you have not seen “Stars Wars: The Force Awakens,” stop reading. This article reveals plot details.]
Hamill and Fisher’s salaries are expected to swell in upcoming installments along with their roles.
Back-end bonuses from the pic’s box office haul aren’t included in salaries and, significantly, won’t kick in until the film crosses $1 billion worldwide. Deals are expected to be renegotiated before the next installments get underway.
Ford is considered the biggest star in the ensemble, but his compensation derives from a storyline that confines him to a single film. His character dies in “The Force Awakens.”
Lower pay for young talent is commonplace in today’s market, where bonuses offset salaries. Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan made six-figure salaries for “Fifty Shades of Grey,” but sequels will bring them multi-million dollar deals.
Congratulations on your copy & paste skills. We already read the article, buddy.
He got paid more because his name is Harrison Ford and he played Han Solo. Don’t really know much about the younger cast or their characters at least not yet. am sure Ford was not paid much for the first Star Wars but he is the only one to become a bonified Star afterwards, so I would say he earned it.
Actually both MAx von Sydow and HArrison ford are signed on for minor roles in Episode 8, confirmed by Kathleen Kennedy, most likely as flashbacks.
And worth every damn penny!
👍🏼👍🏼
Yea but Disney then laid him off then made him train his replacement.
Lol amen
May the force be with Harrison Ford especially when flying small planes & helicters.
If they weren’t desperate to get a big payday on the back of a great memory they would never have paid him that kind of money.The movie is the worst movie I have ever seen and in fact I left 45 minutes into the film.
Oh what bad timing. The film turns into the best one I’ve ever seen 46 minutes in.
Wow… you’re an idiot.
Professional level trolling! 8/10 troll dicks.
Clown.
If you left 45 min in you can’t bitch or review the movie cause you didn’t see the whole thing. Dumbass!
Please don’t reference the Daily Mail. Please? Please!
Glad Mark Hamill did not get paid by the spoken line.
File this under the No Shite! Header. Of course Ford got paid a ton. The younger actors are nobody. They will now get their big bumps for the following chapters PLUS their quote for other film/tv work just jumped big time. We have to stop this pay inequity crap. The reason Ford and Jennifer Lawrence (Hunger Games)make these huge paychecks are because they fill seats and make the parent company Billions, so yes they are worth it and the younger no name actors are only worth a $100 k (if that and fact should work for scale honestly).
And it goes without saying that Ford received a free Ankle Repair and Care Kit™ (Disney’s generous like that).