Harrison Ford's 'Star Wars 7' Salary Was Just Announced — And It's Out of This Galaxy
Star Wars veteran Harrison Ford pulled in an astronomical paycheck for his reprisal role in The Force Awakens, which opened globally Friday. Fortune reported that Ford stands to make more than $34 million for his return as Han Solo. Disney reportedly wanted him back so badly that they offered him a base salary of nearly $25 million, plus 0.5% of the film's gross profit, according to the Guardian.
"Harrison is the key to making this movie work," an unnamed source from Disney said, according to the Guardian. "He's the link between the old generation and the new. Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher were good to get, but the film could have lived without them. You couldn't make it without Harrison Ford."
Maybe a half a percent sounds like small stakes, but consider this: After one weekend in theaters, The Force Awakens has surpassed the previous record holder for ticket sales — Jurassic World — at nearly $240 million in North America alone. The film has netted some $517 million worldwide, which puts Ford's share of the profits above $2.5 million after just three days, a number that the Guardian projects could rise to some $9 million.
Fisher, according to the Daily Mail, was paid some $1.5 million to return as Princess Leia, while Hamill's salary has not yet been made public.
The film's up-and-coming actors, though, received much less lucrative deals. Both Daisy Ridley and John Boyega were paid just under $450,000, plus they'll receive a "small cut" of box office revenue after ticket sales have hit $1 billion, the Daily Mail reported.
Hamill fared better in salary negotiations for the first movie: He was allegedly paid something like $650,000 to play Luke Skywalker in A New Hope, plus .25% of profits and royalties. Fisher has never named her salary for the first installment, but has said she failed to secure royalties from the use of Princess Leia's likeness. She did receive the same percentage of the film's income as Hamill, though.
