1. MEL GIBSON

"Mel Gibson is among the highest paid people in Hollywood this year, and probably will be for the next few years," Forbes magazine staff writer PETER KAFKA tells ET. "He's rivaling Oprah, rivaling Steven Spielberg. Among most producers and most directors this year, he'll probably be the best paid."

Mel's haul this year was a whopping $200-million-plus just from the phenomenal success of 'The Passion of the Christ.' In addition to domestic and foreign box office, he can count merchandising, video and DVD sales -- and he can expect the money to continue pouring in.


2. OPRAH WINFREY

~$200m:

Oprah does have to get out of bed to make her money, but she still manages to make approximately $200 million every year, mostly from her talk show.

3. STEVEN SPIELBERG

$100-$200m?? I'm not sure what the article says:

As for Spielberg, "If [he] doesn't get out of bed, he makes about $60-70 million dollars a year," says Kafka. "That's just residuals; money from theme parks; money from movies he's made in the past. He made a movie this year, 'The Terminal,' that didn't do great -- he's still going to make money from that. When he has a hit, though, he can easily make $100-$200 million."


others:


Spielberg pal and collaborator TOM HANKS made $20 million from 'The Terminal' and put another $20 million in his Christmas stocking for 'The Polar Express.' And MARY-KATE and ASHLEY OLSEN made about $20-$30 million a year between the two of them, in addition to selling about a billion bucks of merchandise through their worldwide name brand.

'Pirates of the Caribbean' star JOHNNY DEPP made about $28 million for the year, and he'll probably do the same next year. "Some fans liked him, some critics liked him, but he was never considered a box office matinee idol," says Kafka. "He was never paid like that. The 'Pirates' movie changed all that, so now he's going to get $17-and-a-half million for the next Willy Wonka film. He'll get $17-and-a-half or $20 million for the sequel to the 'Pirates' movie. And meanwhile, he could do some arty critic's favorites like 'Finding Neverland,' which don't pay him that much, but, who knows, could get him an Oscar®."

JULIA ROBERTS still commands $20 million a picture and collected on 'Closer,' although she took a pay cut to be part of the high-salary cast of 'Ocean's Twelve.' BRAD PITT did the same thing, making approximately $7-and-a-half million for that film, but earned considerably more for 'Troy' and 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith' (more than $17 million for each film), his upcoming action flick with ANGELINA JOLIE.

"I don't know if anyone's the new Julia Roberts yet, but Angelina Jolie's got to be up for hardest working woman in Hollywood," says Kafka. "She's doing three to four movies a year. She's not making Julia Roberts money yet -- she's only making $8-10 million per movie -- but she is working on it." Angelina's body of work this year alone includes 'Shark Tale' (for which she earned about $1 million for her voice), 'Alexander,' 'Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow' and the upcoming 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith.'

TOM CRUISE is a star who does so well that he doesn't even need to get a paycheck up front. He gets a percentage of the back end gross and if the movie does well, he does well. He made about $45 million from 'The Last Samurai,' which performed well worldwide, and 'Collateral' earned him less money but more accolades.




Sheesh :?

http://et.tv.yahoo.com/celebrities/2004 ... starsof04/

So much money! Natalie Portman may be joining the 20 million club in the future. Especially if she can manage blockbusters and "oscar" type movies.