Six decades ago, actors in Hollywood were first flirting with the million-dollar paycheck. Stars like Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, and Elizabeth Taylor were among the first to charge the amount for a single film. Less than two generations later, one star earned over a hundred times more, setting a record that had not been broken for over two decades. This is the story of the actor who earned a $156 million paycheck for a single film production. (Also read: World’s richest actor has only one hit but $1.4 billion net worth, is richer than Tom Cruise and Shah Rukh Khan)

The world’s highest-paid actor

Keanu Reeves broke the bank after the success of The Matrix in the late 90s. Suddenly, he was the most in-demand actor in Hollywood. Warner Bros immediately signed him for the joint production of the two sequels – Reloaded and Revolutions. For the two films (shot and produced simultaneously), Keanu received an upfront salary of $30 million, along with a share in profits and residual income promise. Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions were released in 2003, and had a combined box office haul of $1.2 billion. The two films have streamed on OTT and aired on TV multiple times. All this has taken Keanu’s earnings from the two to a staggering $156 million, the highest ever for any actor in a single production.

Keanu Reeves as Neo in The Matrix Reloaded

How Keanu beat other superstars

The fact that the Matrix sequels were released as two films instead of one helped them earn more at the box office, which meant that Keanu Reeves could earn over $100 million in profits. Until then, the record was the $94 million Alec Guinness earned for Star Wars, and even that included multiple re-releases. The $156 million mark is so high that no actor has come close in the 21 years since. For instance, Tom Cruise’s highest salary ever is $100 million. Back home, Shah Rukh Khan’s paycheck for Jawan was even lower at $40 million.

However, the record does have an asterisk in the entry as Keanu’s earnings were spread over two films. The record for a single film belongs to Bruce Willis, Tom Cruise, and Will Smith, all of whom have earned $100 million for one film. Bruce Willis did this for The Sixth Sense, Will Smith for Men In Black 3, and Tom Cruise for three films—Mission Impossible 2, War of the Worlds, and Top Gun: Maverick.

Incidentally, Keanu Reeves never again commanded such a huge salary. For the John Wick series, which re-catapulted him to global stardom, the actor charged between $15-30 million per film.