r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/movies Contributor • Sep 13 '26
News Tom Holland ($15.5B) Becomes the Highest Grossing Actor of All Time, Passing Zoe Saldaña
https://www.bbntimes.com/society/tom-holland-tops-all-time-highest-grossing-actor-list-making-history-at-308.3k
u/micko319 Sep 13 '26
Basically a record of "who was in the most Disney IP".
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u/TBroomey Sep 13 '26
To really highlight this, the highest-grossing "actor" ever across all roles and not just leading parts...is Stan Lee.
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u/Shantotto11 Sep 13 '26
Come now. We all know he got paid massive amounts of money for being in Teen Titans Go to the Movies.
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u/Acceptable-Stick-688 Sep 13 '26
Unironically a fantastic movie
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u/JayJ9Nine Sep 13 '26
Its absolutely hilarious. Them retraumatizing the heroes and the ending telling kids to ask where babies come from
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u/TheMechanicusBob Sep 13 '26
I swear every US box office record nowadays is just Disney studios competing amongst themselves
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u/space_age_stuff Sep 13 '26
It’s been an issue for years, Disney makes up like a fourth of all box office revenue. There’s six media companies that comprise like 90% of all media revenue, and Disney is the biggest one.
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u/Fredidiah Sep 13 '26
Of the major studios, Disney generally seems to have the best quality control. (Admittedly less true over the last ~5 years than it has been through the 2010s)
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u/alinroc Sep 13 '26
Because Disney owns about half of the US entertainment industry.
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u/GenGaara25 Sep 13 '26
I'd be interested to see this statistic if they only took the highest grossing film per franchise. Feels like that makes a better metric for who's a bankable star. Rather than "do people show up for this person as this character" it actually becomes "do people show up for this person regardless of what they're in?"
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u/Driveshaft48 Sep 13 '26
Yeah like Avatar
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u/BaritBrit Sep 13 '26
You might be being sarcastic, but Avatar has been a Disney IP since they bought out 20th Century Fox in 2019.
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u/katikaboom Sep 13 '26
But even before that they must have had something to do with it. Disneyworld has an entire Pandora area in Animal Kingdom and it was well established by 2017
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u/BigSweatyYeti Sep 13 '26
Disney first secured licensing rights to build Avatar attractions in its theme parks on September 20, 2011, through an agreement with 20th Century Fox and James Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment.
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u/SteffanSpondulineux Sep 13 '26
I enjoy his history podcast with Dominic Sandbrook
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u/jamesbiff Sep 13 '26
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u/APiousCultist Sep 13 '26
Now we just need David Mitchell (author, comedian) to interview David Mitchell (author, not comedian).
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u/Bunraku_Master_2021 Sep 13 '26
There's also the director David Robert Mitchell as well.
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u/Llamalover1234567 Sep 13 '26
We need to get Thomas Holland from the Grand Tour on there as well
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u/reaner Sep 13 '26
I saw a history book in the library with Tom Holland on the cover and I was impressed he had enough time for research and writing while acting.
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u/Werewomble Sep 13 '26
Sacral
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u/Holderlin70 Sep 13 '26
Way too much welsh history on that podcast to be enjoyable to people other than those devious Valverdes
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u/Magda_Sophia Sep 13 '26
Yes, but he's so modest and never mentions it in any of his promotional interviews, what a gent
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u/11chaboi Sep 13 '26
I also like his new series of The Grand Tour
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u/46_and_2 Sep 13 '26
I didn't remember the ThrottleHouse guys names before, so I laughed hard in the beginning when another Tom (Thomas) Holland was unveiled upon the world.
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u/KianOfPersia Sep 13 '26
Hey, that’s Zendaya’s husband! Good for him!
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u/0ttoChriek Sep 13 '26
I'm starting to think this guy's life must be pretty swell.
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u/Hermiona1 Sep 13 '26
Watch a video on YT where he predicts everything that happens in his life. Guy won in life.
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u/AUGUST_BURNS_REDDIT Sep 13 '26
Which is kind of interesting because except for Civil War, all his top grossing movies have either Zendaya or Saldaña in them.
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u/Stefan988 Sep 13 '26
Those two living on cloud nine with the insane year they've had in their careers.
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u/SlowCrates Sep 13 '26
Every year for the past decade for these two has been insane. Every single year they're like, "Holy shit, can you believe this?" Some (famous) people only get that once or twice in their lives, but this couple is riding a perpetually growing wave. It's insane.
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u/doktor-frequentist Sep 13 '26
At last. At long last. He can make ends meet.
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u/laxusdreyarligh Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26
It's insane to me that Spider-Man alone is more popular than all the Avengers combined xd.
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u/NoctiferPrime Sep 13 '26
Always has been.
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u/xanas263 Sep 13 '26
Spiderman is arguably the most popular super hero in the world and has been for a very long time.
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u/Arinvar Sep 13 '26
People are all like "Sony kept making spiderman movies to keep the license", but 3 spiderman trilogies were all crazy popular. They didn't need to make them trilogies either.
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u/lynchcontraideal Sep 13 '26
Sam Raimi's 'Spider-Man' films in the early 00s really cemented how popular the character was. Before that it was Batman and Superman who were the top dogs.
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u/Jonny_HYDRA Sep 13 '26
Spiderman was huge in the 60s and 70's. The cartoon from the 60s was and still is amazing and so was the live action Spiderman bits in the variety showThe Electric Company. They look corny now, but they were mind blowing back then for kids like me and my friends
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u/thesirblondie Sep 13 '26
For several decades, the best selling marvel heroes have been Spider-Man and Wolverine. The movie helped, but Spider-Man was already top dog.
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u/TheHabro Sep 13 '26
I'd argue it's not movies, but cartoons that made both Spiderman and Batman popular.
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u/rhdkcnrj Sep 13 '26
It’s not arguable, he is indisputably the most popular superhero
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u/Big_al_big_bed Sep 13 '26
Superman was for a while I think
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u/rhdkcnrj Sep 13 '26
Oh definitely. He’s been around a lot longer. I just meant the last 30 years or so
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u/healthywenis Sep 13 '26
When I was a kid in the 80s, Spider-Man was the Marvel flagship, no question. Amazing Spider-Man and Peter Parker, spectacular Spider-Man. We were so desperate for a Spider-Man movie, especially when Michael Keatons Batman was released.
Edit: in case it wasn’t clear, those were Spider-Man comic books.
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u/HawkBoth8539 Sep 13 '26
It makes sense to me. Almost all of the Avengers are basically professional heroes - kings, gods, soldiers, warriors, leaders.
Spidey is typically a down-to-earth dude with a day job that barely pays his bills, while going to school, and saving the day on top of that.
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u/apistograma Sep 13 '26
It's a generational think I believe. If you were a teen before the MCU became a thing, it's not as surprising.
Before Disney started making superhero movies, nobody cared about the Avengers. It always was spiderman, batman and superman. The X-Men were also popular I think.
Disney had to work with B-tier superheroes because the big hero IPs were already taken. Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, etc am were pretty much ignored by the people who were not into superhero comics.
Now that superhero fatigue is a thing, it feels like it's going to be this way again.
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u/thesirblondie Sep 13 '26
Just fyi, Iron Man was made before Disney bought Marvel. Feige was already working on making the Avengers films and building up to Avengers before Disney came into the picture.
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u/ozzyfox Sep 13 '26
Hulk was probably the 2nd or 3rd most popular Marvel character.
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u/Seraphayel Sep 13 '26
Kinda funny how all of the Hulk movies are box office bombs though
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u/WILLLSMITHH Sep 13 '26
Almost like there hasn’t been a hulk movie in 20 years
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u/WickedHopeful Sep 13 '26
Iirc marvel has this weird deal worked out with Hulk where he can appear in any film as a secondary character, but not the main character
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u/bscott9999 Sep 13 '26
Sounds like they negotiated this deal with Hulk, the actor. He is fully method.
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u/TheLordofthething Sep 13 '26
Recognisable maybe, popular I wouldn't be so sure. I'd put the X-Men Infront of him as a 90s kid
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u/poshbritishaccent Sep 13 '26
The only superhero that could’ve competed with spider-man has always been Batman only, and even that there’s quite a significant gap after how DC flunked their cinematic universe
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u/ManiDany Sep 13 '26
In this economy more people relate to spiderman than batman
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u/askyourmom469 Sep 13 '26
Is it really that surprising? I feel like he's always been Marvel's most popular character, even before the MCU
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u/snoozbooty Sep 13 '26
Super Man, Batman, Spider-Man, the Hulk, and Wolverine were really the only super heroes in the public consciousness/ part of the monoculture before superhero movies were a thing
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u/BiliousGreen Sep 13 '26
I think there was some cultural awareness of Wonder Woman as a character due to the old tv show.
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u/snoozbooty Sep 13 '26
Yeah, I was waffling back and forth on whether or not to include her, but she was definitely next on the list
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u/BilbosBagEnd Sep 13 '26
Holland household is eating good this year
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u/SonofBeckett Sep 13 '26
They're getting those good Heinz beans and the big box of chocolates from M&S
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u/D2WilliamU Sep 13 '26
And the nice m&s cookies
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u/taway9925881 Sep 13 '26
These numbers are so stupid.
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u/ChanceVance Sep 13 '26
It's also prone to change so often, what's the prestige to it. Downey Jr. will take top spot once Doomsday releases anyway.
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u/FartingBob Sep 13 '26
Is Tom Holland not going to make any appearance in doomsday?
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u/SuperMajesticMan Sep 13 '26
I don't believe he's confirmed
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u/9159 Sep 13 '26
He’s more or less confirmed for the movie after doomsday. Doesn’t look like he’ll make any appear in doomsday itself
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u/Quantum_Corvid Sep 13 '26
I’m so happy for these rich actors it really makes my day knowing they are safe and secure.
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u/What_a_fat_one Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26
Definitely helps me feel just a bit better about not having healthcare. I can't afford an EpiPen so I could just die suddenly from anaphylaxis, but that doesn't really matter to me so long as Disney is raking in dump trucks full of cash.
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u/ZooAreYou Sep 13 '26
I wondered how far Id have to scroll until someone remembered how we feel about billionaires.
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u/Lord_Emperor Sep 13 '26
Actors are wayyyyy down the list of problems.
Like, I doubt Tom Holland is leveraging his wealth to bribe politicians to remove environmental regulations to make his oil business more profitable.
Actors are more likely to blow it all on cocaine which is at least returning the money to circulation.
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u/footsnax Sep 13 '26
Meanwhile a third of the games industry has been laid off in the past two years, some people multiple times, myself included, despite video games being significantly more profitable than film.
Why aren't we making that kind of money? I've been in the industry 20 years and I still buy store brand milk.
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u/Jazzlike-_-Growth Sep 13 '26
The hundreds of people doing the special effects aren't earning millions either.
Anyone whose name doesn't show up in the Wikipedia sidebar is not making extraordinary money.Unless people know your name, you're not worth much.
(Also this isn't what these actors earned. It's the box office sum of the movies they are in and says nothing about what they got.)
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u/Odoaiden Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26
Because your face isn’t shown when people play the game
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u/Chrisgpresents Sep 13 '26
I’d like to see the real number. Being the 5th name on avengers 10 times will get you there. Mark ruffalo must be close behind.
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u/Believeland-OH Sep 13 '26
Zoe is in the same Avengers films. A majority of hers were Avatar, Avengers, and GotG.
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u/juicejug Sep 13 '26
Zoe was also in Pirates of the Carribean which made a ton of money
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u/Drmarcher42 Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26
Yeah but she’s only in 2 of the avengers films. Mark has all 4
(Not counting Civil War, which is basically an Avengers film)
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u/TailorFestival Sep 13 '26
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_actors
That has the list as of Aug 23. Mark Ruffalo is not in the top 10:
- Zoe Saldaña ($15,470,006,200)
- Scarlett Johansson ($15,401,507,141)
- Tom Holland ($15,197,879,832)
- Chris Pratt ($15,158,303,567)
- Samuel L. Jackson ($14,613,700,731)
- Robert Downey Jr. ($14,315,110,840)
- Tom Cruise ($13,369,366,862)
- Chris Hemsworth ($12,189,865,785)
- Vin Diesel ($12,043,063,424)
- Chris Evans ($11,489,026,787)
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u/FartingBob Sep 13 '26
That list is ridiculous, giving Samuel L Jackson credit for Endgame in the "lead role" category.
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u/Public_Effective_957 Sep 13 '26
All this tells me is that Tom cruise is the fucking goat
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u/Threadheads Sep 13 '26
The only actor on that list who isn’t there (at least in part) because of Marvel movies.
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u/portablefan Sep 13 '26
For a second there I was like what about Vin Diesel? That's all Fast & Fur- then I remembered he voices Groot
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u/KRIEGLERR Sep 13 '26
I was about to point out Sam Jackson because I thought he wasn't in that many MCU movies but turned out he appeared in 12 of them lmao
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u/TravelerSearcher Sep 13 '26
Probably a notable bump for him is the Star Wars prequels.
Similar Zoe Saldana is likely ahead because while she was only in five (?) Marvel movies and the four Avatar films, she was also in the Star Trek (2009) trilogy and the very first Pirates of the Caribbean.
I'm curious how this list is going to change after December as Downey, Evans and Hemsworth are all back for Doomsday. I suppose the Digger movie with Cruise might keep him up there but I doubt that movie will do Marvel numbers.
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u/Edgefactor Sep 13 '26
It's so crazy to me that Fantastic Four (2005) was so good that Chris Evans has been able to coast as the 10th highest paid actor since then
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u/reality_hijacker Sep 13 '26
The 4 Spiderman movies alone have grossed 6.3+ billion.
Spiderman wasn't even in the first 2 avengers movies.
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u/lzwzli Sep 13 '26
Is he bankable or he was just lucky in getting into well known movies.
Like if you swapped out Tom Holland for some other actor, are those two movies going to gross less?
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u/Varekai79 Sep 13 '26
A bit of A & B. Holland on his own without IP is a non-factor at the box office. That being said, audiences are clearly responding to him far more than they did to Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man.
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u/WilliamEmmerson Sep 13 '26
Thanks to the overreliance of IP in Hollywood, its a stat that really means nothing anymore.
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u/Significant_Gap1570 Sep 13 '26
Why are these always framed like it's the actor and not the movies that made that much money? I'm more interested in the highest grossing actor based on their salaries
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u/Nulono Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26
I'd like to see these numbers adjusted for how much screentime each actor had in each movie.
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u/sum_dude44 Sep 13 '26
These have gotten stupid b/c of inflation & superhero movies. Holland made all his money off of Avenger/spiderman movies
Saldana made all her money off Avatar/Guardians
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u/chaoticbiguy Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26
Good for him, but I'm sorry, I can never take these lists seriously bc most of the actors here are mostly flops as solo leads in movies that aren't established IPs. On top of that, a major part of their box office comes from ensembles, and like, how fair is it to give them credit for that? I mean the list has Zoe Saldana, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Holland, RDJ, Chris Pratt, Hemsworth and Evans.
I've said this before, Tom Cruise is the only one from this list who "deserves" any recognition for box office.
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u/TheSearchForMars Sep 13 '26
That's because Tom Cruise is one of the only ones on that list that is actually a movie star.
Very few of those actors listed have the star power to make someone see the film for them like Cruise does.
For example, Holland and Downey Jr. aren't the stars, Iron Man and Spiderman are. People go to see those movies for the characters, not the actors.
Easiest way to see this is in the box office response to Dolittle which had both Downey and Holland in it yet ended with a 250mil global box office with an estimated 50-100 million dollar loss.
I'd argue that Timothee Chalamet is a much more marketable actor than Holland.
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u/wkavinsky Sep 13 '26
With the rise of massive franchises, with 10+ $1b+ films, this statistic is irrelevant.
Back when most everything was a standalone film, or (at most) a single sequel, it had some relevance.
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u/Plekuz Sep 13 '26
Passing Saldana? I must have been living under a rock, because I never would have guessed she was, up until now.
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u/Sauronxx Sep 13 '26
She was in both the Avengers and Avatar. Those 2 IPs alone puts her above the basically everything else lol
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u/user_account_deleted Sep 13 '26
Marvel movies have made this number meaningless.
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u/Asha_Brea Sep 13 '26
It must have been for that Uncharted movie.