Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan have made it to the top 10 of the annual Forbes’ list of the world’s best-paid male actors of 2018. The Gold lead actor Akshay Kumar ranks at number seven with earnings of 40.5 million dollars, while Salman, by earning 38.5 million dollars, has scored the ninth position. The list is topped by Hollywood star George Clooney, who has earned an estimated 239 million dollars between June 2017 and June 2018, marking the highest earnings of his 35-year long career in the film and television industry, Forbes mentioned.
https://twitter.com/Forbes/status/1032315220134453256
Akshay had two releases this year, Padman and Gold as both the films were declared super hits, minting a lot of money at the box office. While Padman earned a total amount of Rs 104.90 crores in the domestic market, Gold, which released on August 15, is still enjoying a successful run at the theatres. It has pocketed Rs 71.30 crores in its kitty so far. Salman Khan’s “Race 3” also entered the 100-crore club with a collection of Rs 166.40 crore.
Adding another landmark to the achievements; Akshay Kumar has become the first male Bollywood actor to have scored 20 million followers on his Instagram page and the superstar received an Instagram memento for this milestone.
Forbes describes Salman Khan as, “This Bollywood mainstay continues to produce and star in hits such as Tiger Zinda Hai, cashing in on back-end profits. Coupled with a slew of endorsements from Suzuki motorcycles to Chlormint gum, he remains one of India’s top earners.” For Akshay, the magazine writes, “One of the Bollywood’s leading men has transitioned to socially-conscious roles, such as Toilet, a comedy supporting government campaigns to improve sanitation, and Padman, about a guy hoping to provide inexpensive sanitary pads to rural communities. He still mints millions from backend profits and endorsing some 20 brands, including Tata and Eveready.”
George Clooney, who hasn’t starred in a Hollywood movie since 2016 crime thriller Money Monster, sold the Casamigos tequila company he co-founded to British spirits company Diageo in June 2017. His on-screen and off-screen earnings eclipsed Dwayne the Rock Johnson, who came in at No.2 with an estimated $124 million thanks to Jumanji, Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. was third on the list, with an estimated $81 million, followed by Avengers: Infinity War actor Chris Hemsworth with $64.5 million.
Forbes compiled its 2018 list estimating pre-tax earnings from June 2017-June 2018, before deducting fees for managers, based on data from Nielsen, movie database IMDB, and interviews with industry experts and celebrities themselves. Forbes associated part of the gender gap with the dominance of superhero and the action movies that tend to have more parts for men and earn hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office.