$50M Payday: Robert Downey Jr. Set for Huge 'Avengers' Profits

The Avengers has set all kinds of records over the past two weeks, and it appears that Robert Downey Jr. plans to set a personal record of his own. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Downey stands to make as much as $50 million from his role as Tony Stark in Marvel's superhero megahit.

While costars Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans and Mark Ruffalo have deals that locked them in for between $2 million and $3 million, Downey negotiated his contract with Marvel before the company started getting stingy with its stars.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

According to multiple knowledgeable sources, Iron Man/Tony Stark is set for a highflying payday of about $50 million once box-office bonuses and backend compensation are factored in. (Two sources claim the number could go higher than $50 million once the ultimate box-office haul of Avengers is known, but another cautions that it could be years before the final number is known.) While on par with the upper echelon of franchise movie stars, that number blows away his superhero co-stars, all of whom will make a small fraction of Downey’s total, even as Avengers has a shot at topping the final Harry Potter film’s $1.32 billion global haul.  

As Marvel launched other hero pics that would lead up to Avengers, the studio struck hard bargains. Two sources say Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo all signed on for small upfront fees and ultimately will make about $2 million to $3 million on Avengers with bonuses. Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson, who signed deals to pop up in several Marvel movies, are said to be making about twice that for Avengers with bonuses.

$50 million for one movie. That's crazy. Downey owes his entire resurgence to 2008's Iron Man. That movie changed the actor's life, taking him from Hollywood footnote to one of the biggest stars in the movie business today.

I would have to imagine that Hemsworth, Evans and Ruffalo may try to renegotiate their deals with Disney and Marvel, but they should proceed carefully. Ask Edward Norton what happens when you start asking Marvel for more money.