Few actors in the history of the entertainment industry come close to matching what Tom Hanks has been able to achieve in the business. His legacy was forged thanks to starring in countless hit films and taking home the most impressive awards in the industry. All these years later, and Hanks is still one of the best around.
During the 90s, he was at the top of his game, and he pulled down some gigantic paychecks which boosted his net worth. Saving Private Ryan, for instance, netted Hanks a staggering amount of money.
Let’s see how much Tom Hanks made for Saving Private Ryan.
He Made $40 Million For The Movie
When looking through the impressive list of movies that Tom Hanks has starred in during his illustrious career, few are able to stand out from the pack quite like Saving Private Ryan. Because of the power that he had in the business, Tom Hanks was able to command a $40 million salary to star in the film.
Prior to the 1998 release of Saving Private Ryan, Tom Hanks had long since established himself as a premier talent in the entertainment industry. Not only had comedies like Big and Turner & Hooch made him a star, but other massive hits like Sleepless in Seattle, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, and a Toy Story allowed the actor to flex his abilities on the big screen in a variety of roles.
Only the top talent in Hollywood can command somewhere around $20 million to star in a film, so the fact that Hanks was able to double this number for Saving Private Ryan just goes to show how valuable he is considered as a performer. This, of course, is not the only time that the actor has commanded a massive salary, and through the years, he has earned a staggering amount of money.
While some people may be blown away to learn that he made $40 million for Saving Private Ryan, the truth is that this does not come close to matching the largest salary that he has been paid for a film. In fact, the largest salary that he has ever pulled it down is nearly double what he made for Saving Private Ryan.
This Isn’t Even His Biggest Salary
As we stated earlier, $20 million seems to be the top end of salaries in the entertainment industry, but there are occasions when actors can exceed this number in an attempt to raise the bar for everyone else. For Tom Hanks, his biggest payday would come thanks to his starring role in Forrest Gump. For that film, the acclaimed actor wound up taking home a whopping $70 million.
Now, it should be noted that Tom Hanks was not handed a $70 million check simply to star in the movie. Instead, the actor negotiated into his contract that he be paid a portion of the film’s profits. Thanks to the monumental success of Forrest Gump at the box office, Hanks was able to take home one of the largest salaries in movie history.
Rare is it to see a performer exceed the $30 million mark, and it is even rarer to see someone eclipse $50 million for a single project. Tom Hanks made a brilliant move by negotiating for a portion of the film’s profits, and we can only imagine what it was like to get a paycheck of that size.
With the $40 million that he was paid for Saving Private Ryan, it is clear that the studio was banking on him leading the film to box office glory. Thankfully, the film became a massive success.
’Saving Private Ryan’ Became A Huge Hit
Prior to hitting theaters in 1998, there was a ton of hype around Saving Private Ryan things to its immensely talented cast and the fact that Steven Spielberg was the director in charge of bringing it to life. Low and behold, all of the hype was right on the money, as Saving Private Ryan would go onto gross over $481 million at the box office.
During awards season, Saving Private Ryan would receive a number of impressive nominations and subsequent wins. At the Academy Awards, the film took home Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and more. It was even nominated for Best Picture and Hanks was nominated for Best Actor.
All these years later, Saving Private Ryan is considered one of the best movies of its era, and it is one that film fans should consider watching at least once. War films are notoriously difficult to pull off, with few actually leaving a mark on the industry. This just goes to show how great Saving Private Ryan is.
$40 million is a giant salary for any performer, but thanks to the film’s success, Tom Hanks was clearly worth every single penny.