Scarlett Johansson is Forbes’ highest paid actress, Deepika Padukone falls off list

Scarlett Johansson has topped Forbes magazine’s annual list of the world’s highest paid actresses’ 2018 list. Johansson made over $40 million (Rs 280 crore) and starred in three films between June 2017 and June 2018 - a voice role in Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs, the R-rated comedy Rough Night and as Black Widow in Avengers: Infinity War. Johansson starred in the box office bomb Ghost in the Shell in March, 2017. There is no Indian on the list with Deepika Padukone falling off the list too.

She toppled Emma Stone off the number one spot on the list, quadrupling her 2017 earnings. Her being a part of the record-breaking third Avengers film, and the upcoming Avengers 4 is the biggest contributor to her rise up the ranks. “The percent of budget cost have certainly skewed heavy, particularly on the Avengers movies, to cast now, whereas maybe in the early ones it was more visual effects or below the line,” the Forbes report quotes Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios President and producer, as saying last year. “But that’s okay because [the actors] are the best effects.”

Angelina Jolie arrives at the British Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA) at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

At the number two spot is Angelina Jolie, who didn’t appear in a film in the eligible time frame, and won’t return to the screens till 2020. But she received a hefty upfront paycheck for Maleficent 2. Her earnings were $28 million (Rs 196 crore). Jennifer Aniston’s Friends residuals and lucrative endorsement deals put her at the number three spot ($19.5 million, Rs 133 crore). Forbes predicts Aniston will jump up the rankings next year after she’s made $1.25 million per episode of her upcoming Apple series with Reese Witherspoon (number 5, $16 million, Rs 112 crore).

At number four is Jennifer Lawrence, whose two movies - Mother! and Red Sparrow - underperformed at the box office, but she continues to make big bucks thanks to the X-Men series and a Dior contract.

Notable absentees were Amy Adams, Emma Watson, Charlize Theron and last year’s top-ranked Emma Stone, none of whom breached the $10 million mark.

Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone gives measurements for a wax statue to be displayed at Madame Tussauds. ( PTI )

Also worth noting is that there is no Indian on the list. Priyanka Chopra was among the highest paid TV actors in 2017, with her $10 million earnings equal to this year’s number 10, Gal Gadot. However, last year’s number six, Deepika Padukone, also fell off the list. Thanks to her many endorsement deals, her Hollywood debut in xXx and record-breaking paycheck for Padmaavat, Deepika had made $11 million in 2017.

Here’s the top 10

1. Scarlett Johansson - $40.5 million
2. Angelina Jolie - $28 million
3. Jennifer Aniston - $19.5 million
4. Jennifer Lawrence - $18 million
5. Reese Witherspoon - $16.5 million
6. Mila Kunis - $16 million
7. Julia Roberts - $13 million
8. Cate Blanchett - $12.5 million
9. Melissa McCarthy - $12 million
10. Gal Gadot - $10 million