Starring in a franchise film is something many performers hope to do one day, as this can lead to some other huge opportunities and net them a massive paycheck in the process. Whether it is in the MCU, Star Wars, or with DC, these franchises find ways to domain the at the box office and reward their stars accordingly.
Mark Hamill has been an actor for several decades now, and while he has done many amazing things, he will always be best known for his time as Luke Skywalker. The young kid from Tatooine that saved the galaxy is one of the most iconic characters in history, and Hamill has built on this legacy through the years.
So, how much was Hamill paid to play Luke Skywalker? Let’s find out!
He Made $650,000 For A New Hope
To get the full picture on how much Mark Hamill made to star as Luke Skywalker, we need to head back to the very beginning of it all. It may be easy to look at what Star Wars has become and assume that Hamill netted himself a huge salary, but no one knew what the franchise was going to be before A New Hope came out and changed the game.
During this time, Hamill had yet to appear in a single movie. Instead, all of his credits to that point came on the small screen, meaning that A New Hope was, in fact, his first major film, according to IMDb. Even though he was not a film star, he was still able to secure the role of Luke Skywalker.
For his role in the film, Hamill scored himself a $650,000 payday. By today’s standards, that is quite a bit for a first franchise film, so he must have been thrilled to have landed that type of money. For comparison, Chris Hemsworth was paid $150,000 for the first Thor film, according to Hindustan Times. That seems like a shocking number, but he wound up making millions down the line for playing Thor.
Turns out, the investment in Hamill as the lead character wound up paying dividends for George Lucas and the folks making A New Hope. According to IMDb, that film would go on to gross $775 million during its time at the box office, making for an incredible success and genuinely changing the movie industry forever.
He Had A Nice Incentive In His Contract
As nice as it was that Hamill was given a pretty solid salary for his time in A New Hope, there was some that thought that he wound up being underpaid for the film. After all, that first film did start arguably the most important franchise in film history and it has been nothing short of iconic.
However, the base salary that has been reported for Hamill does not tell the full story. According to Men’s Health, the actor was also able to net himself a portion of the film’s profits, which was certainly in the millions. This, naturally, proved to be a huge boost to the actor’s base pay and certainly helped his net worth. At this time, there is no official number for what he made from the profits alone.
There would be two more films in the original trilogy of Star Wars flicks, and at this time, Hamill’s salary is unknown for those movies. It should be noted that Celebrity Net Worth does show an increase in pay from one movie to the next for Harrison Ford, so it is entirely possible that Hamill’s salary followed a similar pattern.
Hamill did not appear in the prequel trilogy, as his character wasn’t born during that time, but he did make a triumphant return in the modern sequel trilogy, making himself some stacks in the process.
He Made Seven Figures For The Sequel Films
In the modern sequel films, Hamill may not have been the lead like he was in the past, but he did make a contribution to each film. Fans were unbelievably excited to see him back in action, and you had better believe that he was compensated for his time.
According to Men’s Health, Hamill was paid somewhere between $1-3 million for his efforts in The Force Awakens alone. Keep in mind that in the film, he was essentially paid to stand there and remove his hood.
His salary for the other sequel films are not known, but he played a much bigger part in The Last Jedi, so it’s entirely possible that he was able to increase his salary from one film to the next.
Mark Hamill is as iconic as it gets in the world of film, and it’s nice to see that he has made a mint by playing Luke Skywalker.