Hollywood’s collective panic over consolidation, the rise of AI and declining theatrical ticket sales now includes another concern—the supposed death of movie stardom. Top musicians, athletes, internet creators, and even podcasters now regularly out-earn their counterparts in film and television. And the box office failure of Dwayne Johnson—last year’s highest-paid actor—in The Smashing Machine, Julia Roberts in After The Hunt or Glen Powell in The Running Man are further proof to many studio executives that an A-List name above the title is no longer enough to guarantee commercial success.

The trend was more pronounced in 2025, when fewer star-driven movies were released. The combined earnings of the 20 highest-paid actors in Hollywood is still impressive, but their collective $590 million haul is down 20% from last year’s $730 million, and this year’s top earner—Adam Sandler, who earned $48 million after fees paid to his agent and manager—fell well below last year’s No. 1 ($88 million).

Pay may not be rising, but it’s at little risk of falling too far, as studios still write eight-figure checks every year to actors who they believe can bring attention to a project. It’s why Universal attached Scarlett Johansson ($43 million) to its Jurassic franchise reboot and Apple put Brad Pitt ($41 million) in the driver’s seat for F1, two of the top 10 highest-grossing movies of the year. While One Battle After Another was the lowest-performing movie in nearly 15 years for Leonardo DiCaprio ($25 million), it’s hard to imagine the Best Picture favorite earning $210 million at the box office without him.

Even the once-bulletproof Marvel Cinematic Universe felt the need to bring back its longtime iron man, Robert Downey Jr., to ensure an Avengers: Doomsday windfall in 2026. For his role as Doctor Doom, Marvel is paying Downey a Tony Stark-worthy fortune estimated at more than $100 million guaranteed across its next two projects, plus hefty performance bonuses.

Actors crave a similar safety net and have increasingly found it on streaming services, where guaranteed fees and a buyout of future profit participation is still the standard, at least for stars with enough leverage. Sandler’s long-term deal with Netflix remains the richest of all, paying him handsomely each year no matter what movie he puts out. Denzel Washington ($38 million) and Daniel Craig ($27 million) also scored huge deals for streaming movies last year, and Mark Wahlberg ($44 million) became the king of the streaming-first stars after appearing in pair of projects or Amazon and Apple.

Netflix, in particular, has developed a stable of familiar faces on the platform. In addition to long-term deals for Sandler and Kevin Hart, who did not have a new movie out last year, the streamer signed a two-picture deal to bring Cameron Diaz ($20 million) out of retirement to star alongside another Netflix regular, Jamie Foxx. Meanwhile, Millie Bobby Brown ($26 million) is the first streaming-native star, having built her career almost entirely on Netflix and earned lucrative fees for Stranger Things and The Electric State that most Hollywood insiders don’t think she could match elsewhere.

At just 22, Brown is the youngest actor in the top 20 by nearly two decades, and the first member of the new generation to break into upper echelon of earners. Some emerging stars, like Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell—who earned an estimated $7 million and $10 million up-front, respectively, for their 2025 projects—have yet to prove consistent bankability, while others are soon to become mainstays.

The favorites for Best Actor at this weekend’s Oscars, Timothee Chalamet and Michael B. Jordan, did not make the 2025 list for Marty Supreme and Sinners but are set for estimated $20 million paychecks on their next projects, and will be almost certainly be joined next year by Zendaya, who has four movies and the HBO series Euphoria slated for release in 2026.

Ultimately, while negotiations have gotten more tense and prolonged between talent representatives and studios, both sides agree that premium talent remains........

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