Tom Hanks’s Total Net Worth Is Staggering After Starring in All of Your Favorite Movies
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With a long-spanning career that's stood the test of time for well over four decades, Tom Hanks is one of the Hollywood legends whose massive bank account is reflective of his equally massive star power.
Basically, name a movie that's routinely quoted in pop culture and there's a 10/10 chance Tom has acted in it. But on top of his full-time job in front of the camera, the celeb has also dabbled in projects behind it, too; has founded a production company; *and* has amassed a pretty impressive real estate portfolio that puts my StreetEasy searches to shame.
So exactly how much cash does all of this translate to? Let's get into it!
^A Cosmo Editor Eager to Present Her Findings (2023)
But first! A bit of backstory...
Tom's journey to acting (and financial $$$) superstardom didn't happen overnight, which is a huge comfort to me, who occasionally feels like I could win an Oscar when I fake cry to get my boyfriend to watch Bravo with me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. But I digress! In the early days of his acting career, the celeb def wasn't raking in millions for each role—in fact, his breakthrough in Bosom Buddies, a TV series in the early '80s, was hardly a financial windfall. "You know, I was not an overnight sensation," Tom even confessed in a July 2022 New York Times interview.
Yet, it was his unwavering commitment to his craft that led him from one role to the next, and finally resulted in his highly-lauded, Oscar-nominated performance in the 1988 movie Big. Soon thereafter, his subsequent years in Hollywood marked a turning point that resulted in Tom emerging as a full-on leading man, with movie after movie striking box office gold. Case in point? Legit this *entire* list below lol.
Let's get into Tom's movie highlights
According to Celebrity Net Worth, between 1988 and 2010 alone, Tom earned around a whopping $300 million (or $450 million adjusting for inflation) in movie salaries before going on to making "at least another $100 million in the next decade." Legit me contemplating all of my life choices up until now:
Oh, and btw, his total movie money doesn't account for his producing and directing payments or residuals. So, yah, now would definitely be the time to break out a box of chocolates (heh) and/or Kleenex if you have one nearby, especially since we're about to get into tons of other notable paychecks the actor has cashed in over the years...
Splash (1984): $70,000, which is the same as around $172,000 today, per Celebrity Net Worth
Big (1988): $1.75 million, which is the same as around $4 million today, per Celebrity Net Worth
Punchline (1988): $5 million, which is the same as $11 million today, per Celebrity Net Worth
Saving Private Ryan (1998): $40 million
You've Got Mail (1998): $20 million
The Green Mile (1999): $20 million
Cast Away (2000): $20 million
The Polar Express (2004): $40 million plus 20 percent of the movie's first-dollar gross earnings, which adds up to an estimated $100 million total, per the Los Angeles Times
Captain Phillips (2013): $15 million
Elvis (2022): $8 million
And not only has the actor been loved by moviegoers and fans alike over the years, leading to massive blockbuster successes, but he's also been recognized a buncha times by ~the Academy~. Case in point? Back in 1993 and 1994, Tom became the second actor in history right behind Spencer Tracy to win back-to-back Academy Awards for Best Actor (he won in 1993 for Philadelphia and again in 1994 for Forrest Gump). Plus, he's been nominated for another four awards. The more you know!
But wait! There's more. Like, a lot more...
Take Tom's whole Forrest Gump era, for example, in which he could buy a whole lot more than a box of chocolates (i.e. a whole chocolate factory) with his earnings. Originally, the 1993 film was supposed to result in a $7 million paycheck for the actor. However, at some point during its production, it had gone significantly over budget. Enter: Tom, who offered to give up his salary in exchange for "first dollar" backend points, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
And it was thanks to this deal that the actor earned A LOT more than what he'd originally anticipated. Like, in the movie's first year alone, Tom's backend points translated to around a $70 million, or $120 million today, payday—the actor's biggest acting check by far and "one of the largest acting paychecks in Hollywood history," according to the outlet. To this day, the film is still an overwhelming success, grossing over $678 million worldwide. Additionally, Tom's role in the movie earned him his second Academy Award for Best Actor, which fully established him as a Hollywood heavyweight.
Another project that resulted in the actor raking in a ton of moolah? His work in the Da Vinci Code movies. Reportedly, Tom earned a total of $18 million to star in the trilogy's original 2006 film and then went on to make $25 million in its 2009 sequel, Angel's & Demons, and yet another $25 million for the 2016 final installment, Inferno.
It's also impossible to discuss Tom's jaw-dropping earnings without talking about *the* cultural standout that is the Toy Story movies. Arguably the actor's most well-known foray into the world of animation, which gave life to a character cherished by literal generations, the films also just so happened to significantly contribute to his overall wealth. After all, the combined earnings of all four films in the franchise (try saying that four times fast) have crossed the *checks notes* *checks notes again* *cries* $3 billion mark.
^The whole vibe of Tom's salary.
According to the Los Angeles Times, both Tom and fellow actor Tim Allen (who played Buzz Lightyear) each made around $50,000 for the first Pixar film. However, Tom reportedly received a pretty significant pay bump for reprising his role as Woody in the second and third films, with rumored salaries of $5 million and $15 million, respectively.
Unfortunately for us nosy people, it remains unclear exactly how much he made for the fourth film in the franchise—which btw won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature!—, but we can definitely guesstimate that it was more than a pretty penny.
He has his own production company
Previously, actors may have depended heavily on their per-film salaries to finance their lives, but today's stars have often leveraged their status into other opportunities such as producing and directing—and Tom is no exception. Way back in 1998 (!!) the celeb was arguably one of the first to take this approach with the founding of his production company Playtone, which he co-owns with Gary Goetzman.
A cute side note: The company is actually named after Play-Tone Records in the 1996 movie That Thing You Do!, which was Tom's first foray into writing and directing in addition to acting. Currently, the 67-year-old has 24 producing credits to date, per his IMDb, including Cast Away, The Polar Express, A Man Called Otto, and Charlie Wilson’s War (all projects he starred in) in addition Mamma Mia!, Evan Almighty, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (projects he only worked on behind the scenes). P.S. Over the years, Playtone has also dabbled into the world of streaming, and in April 2022, the company signed an exclusive multi-year deal with Apple TV+, which no doubt resulted in some major $$$ for the actor.
And his real estate game is beyond impressive
Let's just put it this way: Tom could not see another dollar in his life, but will still be b-e-y-o-n-d rich should he choose to sell his properties. Take, for instance, the massive, oceanfront Malibu Colony mansion that he purchased in April 1991 with his wife Rita Wilson for $2.95 million—a home that is likely currently worth around $20 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Additionally, in January 2010, the couple spent $26 million to acquire what would become their primary residence in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles. Plus, the two stars also reportedly own "at least five other homes in the Pacific Palisades," which...W-O-W.
^The faces of two very happy, VERY RICH people.
Oh, and outside of Los Angeles, Tom and Rita call a ski house in Sun Valley, Idaho one of their many properties, bringing their real estate asset portfolio to *at least* $150 million. Must! Be! Nice!
So, what's the total?!
Oh, just a not-at-all-casual $400 million according to Celebrity Net Worth. No thoughts, just:
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