Akshay, Salman among Forbes’ highest-paid

Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan have made it to the top 10 of the annual Forbes’ list of the world’s best-paid male actors of 2018. The Gold actor ranks at number seven with earnings of 40.5 million dollars, while Salman, by earning 38.5 million dollars, has scored the ninth position. The list is topped by Hollywood star George Clooney who has earned an estimated 239 million dollars between June 2017 and June 2018, marking the highest earnings of his 35-year long career in film and television, Forbes said.

Akshay had two releases this year – Padman and Gold. Both were declared hits minting a lot of money at the box office. While Padman earned a total amount of Rs 104.90 crore in the domestic market, Gold, which released on August 15, is still enjoying a successful run at the theaters. It has pocketed Rs 71.30 crore in its kitty so far. Salman Khan’s Race 3 also entered the 100-crore club with a collection of Rs 166.40 crore.

Forbes describes Salman as, “This Bollywood mainstay continues to produce and star in hits such as Tiger Zinda Hai, cashing in on backend profits. Coupled with a slew of endorsements from Suzuki motorcycles to Chlormint gum, he remains one of India’s top earners.” For Akshay, the magazine writes, “One of Bollywood’s leading men has transitioned to socially-conscious roles, such as Toilet, a comedy supporting government campaigns to improve sanitation, and Padman, about a guy hoping to provide inexpensive sanitary pads to rural communities. He still mints millions from backend profits and endorsing some 20 brands, including Tata and Eveready.”

George Clooney, who hasn’t starred in a Hollywood movie since 2016 crime thriller Money Monster, sold the Casamigos tequila company he co-founded to British spirits company Diageo in June 2017. His on-and-off screen earnings eclipsed Dwayne The Rock Johnson, who came in at No.2 with an estimated $124 million thanks to Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and other projects. Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. was third on the list, with an estimated $81 million, followed by Avengers: Infinity War actor Chris Hemsworth with $64.5 million.

The top 10 actors earned some $784 million collectively, according to Forbes, once again dwarfing the top 10 women who earned a cumulative $186 million in the same period. Scarlett Johansson topped the annual list with $40.5 million in pre-tax earnings.

Forbes attributed part of the gender gap to the dominance of superhero and action movies that tend to have more parts for men and earn hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office. PTI

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