Emma Watson locked in her box-office legacy before most actors finish high school, anchoring the Harry Potter franchise from start to finish. Eight films later, Deathly Hallows: Part 2 capped off one of the most profitable runs in movie history. A second wind came through Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, proving her earning power wasn’t tied to just one world. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Dave Bautista turned a supporting Marvel role into a steady run of massive paydays by sticking close to the MCU’s biggest chapters. Drax appearances across Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers films put him squarely inside some of the highest-grossing movies ever made. Add franchise turns in Dune, Blade Runner 2049, and Spectre, and his value looks built on smart positioning, not just muscle. | © Walt Disney Pictures
Will Smith crossed over from TV stardom into one of Hollywood’s most durable box-office careers. Big hits like Independence Day, I Am Legend, and Bad Boys made him a global draw long before franchises ruled everything. An Oscar win for King Richard and massive returns from Aladdin show why his name still carries real financial weight. | © Columbia Pictures
Tom Holland became a box-office heavyweight faster than almost anyone, stepping into the MCU as Spider-Man before he turned 20. Three solo Spidey films plus two Avengers appearances turned him into a generational draw almost overnight. Add hits like Uncharted and an upcoming role in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, and it’s clear studios are betting on him for the long run. | © Walt Disney Pictures
Johnny Depp made a career out of playing characters no one else would touch, then turned one of them into a box-office phenomenon. Captain Jack Sparrow carried the Pirates of the Caribbean series into billion-dollar territory, while frequent collaborations with Tim Burton kept him commercially relevant outside straight blockbusters. Throw in animated hits like Rango and a detour into Fantastic Beasts, and his earning power starts to make perfect sense. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Tom Hanks built his reputation the slow way, moving from crowd-pleasing comedies into performances that defined an era of American cinema. Two Oscars later, his name alone became shorthand for trust, both creatively and commercially. The real financial engine, though, is Toy Story, where voicing Woody across four films turned prestige into long-term, generation-spanning box office power. | © Paramount Pictures
Bradley Cooper quietly earns Marvel money without ever taking off his mask, voicing Rocket across the Guardians of the Galaxy films that fed into Avengers: Endgame. Before that, he proved his commercial instincts in comedies like The Hangover, which turned him into a mainstream star almost overnight. What really boosts his long-term value, though, is the multiple Oscar nominations show studios that he can chase awards and box office at the same time. | © Walt Disney Pictures
Chris Evans became a financial pillar of the MCU by anchoring the Avengers saga as Captain America across a decade of record-breaking releases. That run alone puts him in elite company, but his value didn’t vanish once the shield came down. Smart pivots into films like Snowpiercer, Knives Out, and Materialists show why studios still see him as a safe bet, not a retired superhero. | © Walt Disney Pictures
Dwayne Johnson turned his WWE fame into a blockbuster career by becoming a reliable draw across wildly different franchises. The Fast & Furious films, Jumanji, and his voice work as Maui in Moana made him a global brand, not just a movie star. Even as the box office rolls in, he keeps reshaping his image, stepping into heavier territory with The Smashing Machine to prove the money hasn’t boxed him in. | © Netflix
Chris Hemsworth turned Thor into a four-film franchise of his own, then doubled down by showing up in every Avengers event that mattered. That Marvel run alone explains most of the money, but he didn’t stop there. Jumping between Mad Max, Star Trek, Men in Black, and Extraction keeps him valuable to studios that want both scale and reliability. | © Walt Disney Pictures
Zoe Saldaña has built a career almost entirely inside Hollywood’s biggest money-makers, often at the center of them. Playing Neytiri in Avatar and Gamora across multiple Marvel films puts her in a rare club of actors whose franchises alone define box-office eras. Add Star Trek and an Oscar win for Emilia Pérez, and her value starts to look less like hype and more like hard math. | © Paramount Pictures
Chris Pratt made one of the cleanest pivots in recent Hollywood history, jumping from sitcom comedy to leading two massive franchises in the same year. Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World turned him into a global box-office fixture, while Avengers: Endgame pushed those numbers into another stratosphere. On top of that, his voice work in hits like The Lego Movie and The Super Mario Bros. Movie keeps his earning power rolling even when he’s not on screen. | © Walt Disney Pictures
Robert Downey Jr. pulled off one of Hollywood’s great second acts by launching the MCU as Iron Man and turning that role into a decade-long money engine. Ten Marvel films later, his exit in Avengers: Endgame felt less like a goodbye and more like a victory lap for a franchise-defining performance. Winning his first Oscar for Oppenheimer only confirmed what studios already knew: Downey isn’t just a face of billion-dollar movies, he’s a power behind them. | © Walt Disney Pictures
Samuel L. Jackson has quietly stacked one of the most profitable résumés in movie history by jumping between the biggest franchises without ever feeling like a side player. Eleven appearances as Nick Fury anchor the Marvel universe, while Star Wars and Jurassic Park pad out a box-office run most actors can’t touch. Then there’s Pulp Fiction, the Oscar-nominated performance that proved he wasn’t just valuable to studios, but essential to film culture itself. | © Walt Disney Pictures
Scarlett Johansson has been in front of the camera since her teens, but the real money machine kicked in once Black Widow became a cornerstone of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Eight MCU appearances, including every Avengers film, turned her into one of the most bankable faces in modern blockbuster history. Add Oscar-nominated turns in Marriage Story and Jojo Rabbit, and you get an actor who prints cash without being boxed into one lane. | © Walt Disney Pictures
Some actors don’t just star in big movies, they are the reason those movies make money. These are the names studios build franchises around. Here are 15 actors who’ve turned fame into serious box-office power.
