Quote:Dwayne Johnson is the highest-paid actor in Hollywood for the second year in a row. Forbes released its annual list on Tuesday, which featured usual suspects like Johnson, Mark Wahlberg and Vin Diesel. And it’s interesting to note that six of the top 10 actors had one interesting thing common: Netflix.
Ryan Reynolds, Wahlberg, Ben Affleck and Diesel round out the top 5 thanks to Netflix, while Adam Sandler benefited the most from the streaming giant. Sandler, who came in at No. 9, was paid $31 million — 75 percent of what he made all year, according to Forbes — as part of his four-film, $250 million deal signed in 2014. It’s why he has popped up the list in recent years. Although some may not think of Sanders as the box office draw he was a decade ago, his Netflix film Murder Mystery is one of the company’s most-popular original films of all time.
Johnson, one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars, even got a boost from Netflix. Forbes estimates the actor earned $87.5 million in 2020, with $23.5 million being paid out by Netflix for the upcoming film Red Notice. The company spent more than any individual studio on Hollywood’s leading men, according to Forbes, and Netflix really invested in Reynolds.
Reynolds, who appears alongside Johnson in Red Notice, starred in this year’s Six Underground and he reportedly raked in more than $20 million a piece for both films. Netflix announced they are teaming up with the Deadpool star for a third film.
Netflix isn’t the only streamer that shelled out big bucks. Akshay Kumar, the only Bollywood star to make the list, helped earn his spot with Amazon Prime’s upcoming television series The End. Lin-Manuel Miranda made his debut thanks to Disney acquiring the movie rights to the original Broadway production of Hamilton.
Forbes — which will release its list of highest-paid female actors next month — takes into account more than just acting gigs, as all of the leading men have business ventures that help catapult them to the top. Here’s a breakdown:
1. Dwayne Johnson: $87.5 million
2. Ryan Reynolds: $71.5 million
3. Mark Wahlberg: $58 million
4. Ben Affleck: $55 million
5. Vin Diesel: $54 million
6. Akshay Kumar: $48.5 million
7. Lin-Manuel Miranda: $45.5 million
8. Will Smith: $44.5 million
9. Adam Sandler: $41 million
10. Jackie Chan: $40 million

(11-04-2010, 02:10 PM)Drunk Monk Wrote: So I was supposed to interview Akshay for the last issue.  His agents (yes, three actually) contacted me.  They sent me pics and asked for questions.  I submitted questions, but Akki never answered.  Meanwhile, I figured I'd catch up on his films and this was reputed to be one of his best.  Honestly, I'd only seen Chandhi Chowk, which was very enjoyable.  When I saw that flick, in a theater no less, others in the audience told me I had to see this one.  Why not?  Snoop Dogg is in it.  Seriously.  

I wonder if Akki will ever get back to me with those interview answers...

(08-13-2020, 05:47 AM)Greg Wrote: He's obviously too big for you.

Quote:Sep 15, 2021 1:08pm PT
New Jackie Chan Film ‘Ride On’ Starts Shooting Amid Early Musings of Box Office Trouble

By Rebecca Davis
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Courtesy of Gravitas Ventures
[url=https://variety.com/t/jackie-chan/]Jackie Chan has begun shooting his next film, a martial arts-based comedy about a man and his horse, entitled “Ride On.”
The 67-year-old superstar remains as prolific as ever, churning out a movie a year since 2019, despite the pandemic. While the presence of his name on a marquee continues to sell tickets, a number of his latest works have been critical bombs. On the Chinese Douban review platform, viewers rated last year’s “Vanguard” with a 4.5 out of 10, 2019’s “Mystery of the Dragon Seal: Journey to China” 3.6 out of 10, and “The Knight of Shadows: Between Yin and Yang” a 3.8.
His latest could break the streak. In “Ride On,” Chan will play a down-and-out, washed-up martial artist named Lao Luo, who is very attached to his beloved horse. When he becomes mired in a dispute over debt, however, it seems that the horse may be taken away from him, leading him to ask for help from his daughter Xiaobao (Liu) and her boyfriend (Guo), who embark on a road trip together to resolve the crisis.
Currently scheduled to release in 2022, the film is written and directed by Yang Zi, who helmed the light-hearted pet-themed film “Adoring,” released last New Year’s Eve.
“Ride On” is produced by Alibaba Pictures, Beijing Hairun Pictures and HG Entertainment Film Company. The film’s Chinese title roughly translates to “Dragon Horse Spirit,” with the dragon referring to Chan’s martial arts history and the horse being his beloved mount.
Alongside Chan, it stars “Adoring” actor Guo Qilin (the 25-year-old son of Guo Degang, one of China’s most recognizable crosstalk comedians) and Liu Haocun, the new young muse of Zhang Yimou whose star has risen rapidly after appearing in his “One Second” and “Cliff Walkers.”
Liu’s acting chops have been widely praised, with Zhang himself calling her the next Zhou Dongyu and even comparisons of her to a young Gong Li. But she has run into a measure of trouble with her public image online for an incident involving her parents’ dance training school. After a young student there became partially paralyzed after a spinal injury at the school, Liu’s parents tussled in court with the girl’s family over compensation issues, inciting criticism of the family for fighting the payment.
While the issue was settled, online detractors remain critical of Liu for not, as a public figure, offering a public statement or apology about the incident, which received a large amount of local press.
The incident may be tabloid-esque, but in China’s recent political climate, any whiff of scandal around an entertainer can quickly spiral out into calls for boycotts and even the erasure of past works — leaving some online questioning the film’s casting choice and whether it could have an impact on its future box office prospects.
Last year, Chan’s “Vanguard” made $44 million in China.