These days, Hugh Jackman is one of the biggest actors in Hollywood, having amassed an astounding $180 million net worth, but did you know that most of his earnings as an actor have come from his role as Wolverine in the X-Men films?
When he first auditioned for the part, the Aussie actor said he was certain that he wasn’t going to land the part while another agent had told him that even if he gets to play the character, it would be unlikely that the movie could potentially turn into a longstanding franchise.
Well, those people were wrong as Jackman not only got the part but he’s also made the most money out of playing Wolverine, having reprised the character for eight movies, but how much money has he made in the process and where did the rest of his fortune come from?
Hugh Jackman’s Earnings
When Jackman signed on to star in 2000’s X-Men, alongside Halle Berry and Famke Janssen, the 51-year-old was reportedly paid $500,000, which was still impressive given that producing superhero films hadn’t been all that successful for Hollywood studios at the time.
It was a risk that certainly paid off though as the blockbuster flick pulled in close to $300 million at the box office with a budget of $75 million.
By 2003, Jackman’s salary had increased by the double the amount: He was offered $1 million to reprise the character for X2: X-Men United, which brought in even more money, surging past $407 million at the box office and ultimately making its distributor 20th Century Fox realize that they had successfully established a lucrative franchise.
Turning comic books into live-action films wasn’t unheard of at the time, but it certainly wasn’t profitable. Well, at least until X-Men came about.
And considering how successful these movies were, Jackman received another salary increase for the third installment, X-Men: The Last Stand, when he was paid $5 million in 2006.
There’s a gradual increase with each movie, but nothing could’ve compared to the big bucks he earned when signing on for his standalone film X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
The project was announced in 2008 and entered cinemas the following year, with Jackman making a whopping $20 million from the motion picture.
It was his highest-earning salary at the time and ultimately put the actor on the same caliber as fellow actors Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Will Smith, who were all earning between $15-20 million per picture.
Of course, it should also be noted that Jackman also earned a substantial amount from other films including Real Steel where he was paid $9 million and $10 million for the Nicole Kidman-assisted 2008 flick Australia.
The father-of-two would reprise his role as Wolverine for another three films before closing out with 2017’s Logan, with reports claiming that by that time, Jackman had earned a combined total of $100 million from the franchise.
The total sum was based on upfront salaries, press appearances, and promotional payments, according to GQ, and when considering how much money these movies made for 20th Century Fox, it’s not hard to believe that Jackman really made a fortune from playing Wolverine.
Never in a million years would he have thought that the X-Men franchise would have taken him this far when he first auditioned for the part in 1999.
In an interview on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, the Oscar nominee said he was sure he wasn’t going to land the role for several reasons.
"When I walked into that room, I was pretty sure that I wasn't playing the role. It was a weird audition because Dougray Scott had the role and then he got caught up in Mission: Impossible 2 but everyone thought that would get sorted.”
He also highlighted a comment one of his friends made during the time he was auditioning for the movie, who insisted that he better have a backup plan as films based on comic books supposedly weren’t in-demand.
Jackman took the risk of listening to his heart, which is probably the best decision he’s made in his career as turning down an opportunity like this would have cost him the reported $100 million he earned from the popular X-Men films.
“[…] In Hollywood, a mate of mine said to me, who was quite high up in the business, he said, 'Dude, the word on the street is not good about the movie.
“No one watches comic-book movies, they're like dead, that things gone forever. Book another movie before it comes out, just so you're the lead in a big movie...' No one understood it was the beginning of, like, Comic-Con was a 50,000-person thing.
“The internet was really just beginning. No one really understood. What they thought was like, a subculture. Comic books was actually mainstream, but no one knew that.”