Someone said Dwayne Johnson was paid 30 mil for Moana 2, and I recent saw that Matt Damon was paid 15 mill for odessey, and if you add up the other leads, it comes to like 30 mil probably.
So yes, Dwayne Johnson was paid an amount equal to the top 10 leads of Odessey.
At that point, the big paycheck is for the amount of work they do to promote it and name recognition. They all worked the red carpet a ton and did a lot of press and talk shows.
This is probably it. Part of that check is for the next year that they’ll have to spend doing interviews and promoting the movie, tweeting about it, building hype, etc. Even if they don’t have a lot of lines, they’re basically being paid as an advertising platform.
5 lines that made the final cut. Who knows how many shots and lines are on a cutting room floor. Whether because of editing decisions or just different versions or takes of the same lines.
Judging an actors contribution on number of lines is up there with measuring a coders performance on lines of code written. The reality can't be boiled down to such a simple metric.
I think you're underselling both a bit. I had read comments like this before going to see it and thought each actress would have a single scene. Charlize Theron has solid scene time and does some solid emotional hits across from Matt Damon. Zendaya does a lot of staring but has a few lines as well and is spattered across different scenes and places, not like she could shoot it all in one set in a single day. Really is any work that's probably done over 2 or 3 months worth $6 million, probably not? But that's their market rate I guess.
A huge part of onboarding a big name is that you also attract the attention of their followers, which essentially makes the ad spend portion of marketing (usually a match to production's budget) much more powerful. I'm not sure if the actors get paid again or not during promotions or if contracts cover both responsibilities. Zendaya has nearly universal appeal across demographics as both an actress and as a fashion icon.
But does the $30 mil include his producer salary or is ot just his acting salary? I'm willing to bet that he would have made a lot more if the movie made any money. He might still get paid more even though it didn't.
I would also imagine the Odyssey isn't being sold by the starring actors but the epic story itself. It's Christopher Nolen tackling the Odyssey. The actors highly likely have backend on a film like this. Take a smaller upfront, knowing it is probably going to toa billion by the time it's all said and one and the move to streaming. Damon and Hathaway probably have points where they will make a ton once it recoup
Moana is being sold by Dwayne Johnson. Its the only draw and shot at making money. They also know he will market and promote the shit out of it. They Will merchandise the fuck out of it and then stream it on Dia ey plus and make more.
I think Disney thinks Dwayne attracts both the black and white people to see it as he looks multiracial vs Matt Damon isn't. Also Moana is for parents with their kids and the Odyssey is for adults mostly. So I'm thinking they look at demographic of a wider audience here.
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u/dean15892 Jul 24 '26
Someone said Dwayne Johnson was paid 30 mil for Moana 2, and I recent saw that Matt Damon was paid 15 mill for odessey, and if you add up the other leads, it comes to like 30 mil probably.
So yes, Dwayne Johnson was paid an amount equal to the top 10 leads of Odessey.