John Boyega was paid significantly less than his co-stars but to say the actor was underpaid would be wrong.
The Star Wars franchise is among the biggest cinematic franchises in the world. Thanks to its unique mythos, unconventional settings, and intriguing characters, it has grossed close to $65 billion worldwide, enabling its numerous actors to amass a fortune in millions.
The Star Wars franchise
While some actors like Harrison Ford and Mark Hamil earned tens of millions, others like John Boyega have been barely able to scrap enough. Which brings us to the question, was Boyega really paid less than he deserved?
Was John Boyega Criminally Underpaid For Star Wars?
John Boyega in the Star Wars sequel trilogy
Star Wars has generated billions in ticket sales as well as earned millions in merchandise sales, making it one of the most successful franchises in the whole wide world. Its success has led the franchise’s creator and director, George Lucas, to become one of the most successful and rich personalities in the world of entertainment.
While actors like Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Alec Guinness have gone on to earn millions thanks to their titular roles in the franchise, actors like John Boyega have only earned low six-figure salaries. As per Variety, the actor only earned a a low six figure salary in the range of $100,000 to $300,000 for his Star Wars debut in the movie The Force Awakens.
Despite the movie being one of the highest grossing movies of all times and the highest grossing movie in the franchise at $2 billion (via Box Office Mojo), the lead surprisingly received a salary almost 50 times less than Ford, who as per Variety reportedly earned between $10-20 million for his role.
While the salary does look exteremely less, it must be noted that Boyega, as well as his co-star Daisy Ridley (who earned a similar salary) were relatively unknown and beginners in the film industry. Furthermore, since it was a franchise movie the actor would have signed up for far more in the later installments since as per Celebrity Net Worth, the actor is now worth $8 million.
John Boyega Isn’t The Only Actor Who Was Paid A Low Salary For Franchise Debut
Tom Holland as Spider-Man
John Boyega’s Star Wars debut salary might look a lot less but it is pretty much an established norm in Hollywood for beginners to earn a comparatively less amout when making their franchise debuts. Boyega’s co-star, Daisy Ridley too earned a similar salary as him because she too was a beginner.
Meanwhile, actors like Tom Holland was paid only $250k for his first appearence as Spider-Man, and went on to earn $500k for his first stand alone movie (via Cosmopolitan), while his Marvel co-star Chris Evans made only $300,000 for his first appearence as Captain Amaerica (via Screen Rant). Similarly, Orlando Bloom, when he first signed up for the Lord of the Rings franchise, was paid only $175k (via nzherald.co.nz).
Hence, John Boyega wasn’t criminally underpaid for his Star Wars debut for most actors in their franchise debut earn in the same salary range and go on to negotiate hgher salaries in subsequent movies. Furthermore, no franchise wants to take the risk of paying a high salary for new actors so to minimize their losses in case the series never takes off.
The Star Wars franchise can be streamed on Disney+.
