Leonardo DiCaprio Took a Lower Salary For ‘Inception’ — Which Led to a $50 Million Pay Day
Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the biggest stars of a generation. The actor who became famous worldwide due to Titanic has been able to hold onto his fame and bankability throughout the years and has delivered some seriously impressive performances. However, he has had to make a few gambles for some projects, and his Inception risk ended up in a $50 million payday.
Leonardo DiCaprio took a pay cut for ‘Inception,’ but it paid off
Christopher Nolan is a directorial genius. Most of his works are classics, and his work on the Batman films is exceptional. However, when Nolan took on Inception, Warner Brothers was worried. The movie came out in the summer, which was a huge risk on their part, given it wasn’t a remake, animation, or sequel.
Inception was an original idea, and its concept might have been confusing to some. The movie follows the life of a professional thief who acquires information about his targets by entering their subconscious. Inception had been in the works for years, with Nolan choosing to shelf the project and focusing his efforts on the Batman projects.
Forbes notes that since Inception was too risky, DiCaprio and Nolan agreed that the star would take a massive pay cut that was well below his usual $20 million asking price. In return, they would split the box office earnings meaning he would earn money directly off the ticket sales.
The studio wanted to make back their money after promotions and marketing; if Inception had flopped, DiCaprio would have lost out. However, the movie was a massive success earning $836.8 million at the box office on a $160 million budget. This resulted in a massive payday for DiCaprio, who ended up earning $50 million for the film.
Other times Leonardo DiCaprio has earned big
DiCaprio’s A-list status means he is a box office draw and studios know that when hiring him. Cosmopolitan reports that the star usually gets paid $20 million for a role. However, as in Inception, the star has had to take pay cuts to make a few movies, such as when he took half of his usual asking salary to make Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood. DiCaprio reportedly took home $10 million for the role.
For his prolific role in The Wolf of Wall Street, Men’s Health states that the A-lister was paid $25 million upfront, which shadows his co-star Jonah Hill’s $60,000 paycheck. Although he had to defer some of that money, he still left with a good chunk of it.
For Titanic, DiCaprio got paid $2.5 million but managed to negotiate a 1.8% share of the film’s backend profits. Given that the movie grossed more than $2 billion, DiCaprio left with nearly $40 million.
His salary in Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up also brought controversy. For his role as Randall Mindy, DiCaprio bagged a whopping $30 million while his co-star Jennifer Lawrence left with $5 million less. According to Variety, DiCaprio is looking at yet another major payday with Killers of the Flower Moon. The outlet notes that Apple has agreed to pay the actor $30 million.
What is Leonardo DiCaprio’s net worth?
Celebrity Net Worth estimates that DiCaprio is worth $260 million. DiCaprio’s ability to negotiate for backend points has made him more than $300 million. His brand partnerships and other investments have also contributed significantly to his wealth.
The outlet points out that DiCaprio owns $100 million in real estate and is also an early investor in Beyond Meat, valued at $4 billion in 2019. Additionally, DiCaprio has been the face of the watch brand Tag Heuer for some time now.
