Will Smith Is The Second Highest Paid Actor Despite The Slap

Will Smith’s fee for his upcoming film, Emancipation, cements him as the second highest paid actor for a recent film deal. 

Despite slapping Chris Rock across the face during this year’s Oscars, Smith has reportedly secured a $35 million payout for the forthcoming movie, a lump sum that’s second only to Tom Cruise’s $100 million paycheck for Top Gun: Maverick.

However, it’s worth noting that Smith signed onto the Antoine Fuqua-directed flick back in 2020, long before his and Rock’s now infamous Academy Awards clash. 

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Smith's handsome payout was revealed in a recent report by Variety, which went on to put Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt in third place for their paychecks on upcoming projects.

DiCaprio is set to star in Martin Scorsese’s historical drama Killers of the Flower Moon, while Pitt has scooped a part in an unnamed Formula 1 Drama from Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski. Both will earn $30 million.

Dwayne Johnson placed fourth on the list, earning $22.5 million for his upcoming DC blockbuster Black Adam, while Will Ferrell, Chris Hemsworth, Vin Diesel, Tom Hardy, Joaquin Phoenix, Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington came joint fifth for various upcoming films, for which they’ll each earn $20 million.

Following his run-in with Rock, Smith has pretty much disappeared from the spotlight, although it was revealed last month that his Hollywood return is being devised.

Although Smith won the Best Actor award for his performance in King Richard minutes after storming the stage to slap Rock, the star resigned from the Academy and was banned from all of its events for the next 10 years as punishment for his actions. 

But Smith is rumoured to be currently working on a sequel to 2007's popular post-apocalyptic movie I Am Legend, so we can expect the actor to be back with a bang.

According to The Sun, Smith's production company Westbrook Studios will be making the movie and Michael B Jordan will be joining the cast for the sequel.

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Jordan's own production company, Outlier Society, will also play a part in bringing the sequel to the big screen.

Deadline reported back in March that the sequel to I Am Legend was in the works and that details on the plot were being kept firmly under wraps to avoid any sort of spoilers leaking out ahead of time.

Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman is attached to pen the script, which has not yet been finished but is reportedly due to feature Smith's character playing a part.

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