Standing amid the stars of “Thunderbolts,” “Fantastic Four” and some of the OG “Avengers” as they posed for a massive group shot during Marvel’s super-sized Hall H panel on Saturday at Comic-Con,
was Robert Downey Jr. in the middle. It was a visceral reminder that the man who launched the MCU is once again its center of gravity — this time trading Tony Stark’s armor for Doctor Doom’s mask and cloak.
After all, he will be the highest paid of the “Avengers” cast. Sources tell Page Six Hollywood that Downey will earn $100 million for the Russo brothers’ two films that kick off on Dec. 18 with “Avengers: Doomsday.” (He’s also starring as Doom in “Avengers: Secret Wars,” out next year.)
One source says that Downey’s colossal payday covers something more than just the two films, perhaps a cameo in another Marvel offering (Ryan Gosling’s just-announced “Ghost Rider,” anyone?).
After Downey, the next two top earners are the Chrises: Hemsworth (Thor) and Evans (Captain America) who negotiated about $40 million each for the two films.
Between Downey, Hemsworth and Evans, that’s $180 million or roughly 30 percent of the two films’ budgets.
We hear that the combined budget of “Doomsday” and “Secret Wars” is $600 million. (The films are being shot concurrently.)
While that’s a mighty large sum, it’s actually less than the cost of the last two “Avengers” films, “Infinity War” and “Endgame.” Those two films also had Scarlett Johansson and the late Chadwick Boseman making major salaries, behind only Downey.
Disney and Marvel declined to comment. Reps for Downey Jr., Hemsworth and Evans didn’t comment.
Over the years, Downey has been the highest-paid member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe by a long shot and earned more than $500 million over the course of four “Avengers” movies, three “Iron Man” outings, a co-starring role in “Captain America: Civil War,” and additional cameos in “The Incredible Hulk,” and “Spider-Man: Homecoming.”
The others who are rounding out the mega-wattage cast — including Pedro Pascal, Paul Rudd, Anthony Mackie, Simu Liu, James Marsden, David Harbour, Letitia Wright, Lewis Pullman, Kelsey Grammer, Danny Ramirez, Winston Duke, Hannah John-Kamen, Rebecca Romijn, Tenoch Huerta Mejia and Hayley Atwell — won’t be making peanuts.
But none of those cast members are in the Hemsworth/Evans league, never mind the Downey stratosphere.
— Peter Kiefer contributed to this report.
Credit: Source link