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From a hilarious five-year stint on Saturday Night Live, to perfectly embodying a string of truly ridiculous, but likable characters on the big screen, it's not hard to see why Adam Sandler has millions of adoring fans worldwide. Despite being an absolute fan-favorite, Sandler’s bankability in Hollywood has been called into question a couple of times.
The now 56-year-old actor has topped Forbes’ list of most overpaid actors twice in his career, a rare criticism reserved for Hollywood A-listers who command hefty salaries, but bring in very little in terms of box office returns. Following a rather lucrative deal with Netflix, recent years have seen Sandler transition from making slapstick comedies to showing off his dramatic chops in critically acclaimed films like Uncut Gems and Hustle, proving his versatility as an actor. So, has he also managed to shake off the label of being the most overpaid actor in Hollywood?
Adam Sandler Was Named The Most Overpaid Actor Twice
Adam Sandler is one of the many undeniably talented comedians who got their start on the long-running sketch show, Saturday Night Live. Bursting into the scene alongside comedy legends like Chris Farley and David Spade, Sandler quickly became a fan-favorite, beguiling the show’s avid viewership with a series of truly hilarious, but lovable characters. Unfortunately, Sandler’s tenure on SNL would lapse after just five years, when NBC fired him from the show for allegedly orchestrating one too many comedic shenanigans behind the scenes.
Though an utterly devastating development at the time, Sandler’s SNL ousting would usher in one of the most successful decades of his career. The father of two quickly parlayed his comedic chops to the big screen, starring in a series of films that, though not exactly the kind of material critics fawn over, turned out to be astronomical box office successes.
However, by the time the 2000s rolled on, Sandler’s popularity with audiences had started to wane, with some of his films barely recouping their budgets at the box office, and still getting heavily chastised by critics. By the early 2010s, the situation had gotten so dire that Sandler was declared Hollywood’s most overpaid actor two years in a row (2013 and 2014). According to Forbes magazine, the prolific actor had been bringing in $3.2 for each dollar he took home as compensation, putting his bankability as a movie star into serious doubt.
Adam Sandler’s Highest Salary
When it comes to commanding massive paychecks, Adam Sandler is truly in a league of his own. The now 56-year-old has consistently ranked among the highest paid actors in Hollywood since the 1990s. For his post-SNL big screen debut, Billy Madison, Sandler took home an impressive $1.7 million; a number that had grown almost ten-fold by the time he returned to the big screen as Sonny in the 1999 comedy, Big Daddy.
Riding off Big Daddy’s success, Sandler signed a lucrative production deal with Sony, which entitled him to a staggering $20 million base pay per movie, plus almost a third of gross profits. Owing to the deal, Sandler made a whopping $60 million off Anger Management, a critically panned buddy comedy that almost tripled it’s $75 million budget at the box office. Sandler astoundingly upped the ante in 2014, when he signed a $250 million production deal with Netflix, which saw his annual income grow to upwards of $40 million. By 2019, Sandler was ranking among the highest paid actors in Hollywood, taking home a staggering $57 million annually.
Just How Much Is Adam Sandler Worth?
Though still a long way from ranking him among the richest people in the world, Adam Sandler’s net worth is no laughing matter. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Sandler is currently worth about $440 million; an amount he accumulated primarily from making multiple box office phenomena.
Like many celebrities, Adam Sandler is not immune to splurging his massive fortune on rare luxuries. The father of two’s eye-watering net worth has afforded him the luxury of owning a fleet of fancy cars, including a hybrid SUV and a Dodger Challenger, splurging on expensive family vacations, throwing outrageously expensive parties for his friends, and owning one of the most expensive golf carts in the world. Sandler also boasts of a rather impressive real-estate portfolio, including a stunning 14-bedroom mansion in the Pacific Palisades, which he reportedly purchased from Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russel in 2017 for a whopping $12 million. Sandler has also spent a significant chunk of his fortune on making sure his friends are doing well too; famously overpaying just to make sure his friends can appear in his movies.
Is Adam Sandler Still Overpaid?
It’s no secret that Adam Sandler has made a few unmistakable box office flops in his lifetime. One top contender is the 2011 doozy, That’s My Boy, which made $58 million, a startlingly diminutive figure considering the film cost about $70 million to produce. Yet another box office disaster was the 2009 comedy, Funny People, which, despite performing fairly well on the critical front, failed to recoup its $75 million budget, making just $71 million in global box office sales.
However, the father of two has re-established his bankability in recent years, particularly with the 2018 threequel to the animated monster comedy, Hotel Transylvania, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, which made a whopping $528 million at the box office, against a production budget of $528 million. Sandler’s lucrative deal with Netflix has also panned out quite well for the streaming giant, as his films have reportedly racked up a staggering 2 billion streaming hours cumulatively. With such high returns, its no wonder Sandler hasn’t stopped raking it in, despite being crowned the most overpaid Hollywood actor for two consecutive years.