Highlights
- Star Wars is arguably the most important film franchise ever, surpassing even the highly successful Marvel Cinematic Universe in terms of cultural significance.
- Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and the late Carrie Fisher's portrayals of Star Wars characters have forever linked them to the franchise's ongoing popularity.
- Harrison Ford's costly divorce settlement in 2004 made a huge dent to his net worth.
Over the last decade and a half, the entertainment world has been absolutely dominated by the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After all, the MCU is so popular that it has become the highest-grossing film franchise of all time. Despite that though, there is a pretty strong argument that Star Wars remains the most important film franchise to ever exist.
Decades before the MCU first took the world by storm, Star Wars became an overnight sensation upon the first film’s release. More importantly, in the decades since fans first went to a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Stars Wars has remained among the most popular franchises in the world. Until the MCU remains successful for decades on end, it arguably will still pale in comparison to Star Wars in terms of importance to pop culture history.
Of course, there are a lot of people who have played a pivotal role in Star Wars' ongoing popularity. For example, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher's portrayal of the franchise’s original core characters means they will forever be linked to the franchise. Sadly, Fisher passed away in 2016 after a truly incredible career. As a result, that makes it natural to compare Ford and Hamill’s ongoing careers and net worths to one another.
Updated September 2023: While both Hamill and Ford returned to the 'Star Wars' franchise, it did not do anything to change the fact that Ford is worth substantially more than Hamill. After all, Ford was involved in the last installment of the 'Indiana Jones' franchise, where he earned another $25 million.
Add in the fact that Ford is going to be joining the MCU as Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, despite the fact that Hamill has several projects in various stages of production, Ford will continue to have more money in the bank than Hamill will likely ever earn.
Mark Hamill's Ongoing Success
From the moment Luke Skywalker first appeared on the big screen, it was clear that he was supposed to be the character that viewers could relate to. As a result, it was incredibly easy to get wrapped up in the character’s story as he went from a naïve young man to an embattled young warrior who was forced to face off against his father. Brilliantly brought to life by Hamill, the actor’s ability to portray Luke as he underwent that change played a huge role in the character’s ongoing popularity.
Throughout Hollywood history, there are endless examples of actors who’ve become so closely related to a single character that their careers hit the skids. For a long time, it seemed like Hamill was in danger of finding himself in that situation. Thankfully, Hamill is such a talented performer that he became one of the top voice actors of his generation.
After starring in the original Star Wars trilogy, Hamill spent decades putting together one of the most impressive filmographies around. For that reason, when he was approached about starring in the sequel trilogy, he was far from desperate to make a big payday. In an amusing twist, that meant that Hamill was in a position to negotiate a massive deal for himself. As a result of his lengthy career and that big-money deal, Hamill is worth $20 million.
Harrison Ford's $300 Million Net Worth Makes Him The Richest
Due to the extreme popularity that Star Wars enjoys, the franchise has been able to attract several of the top actors of every generation. Despite that, there is little doubt that Ford is the most legendary actor to ever appear in the franchise.
Cast as Han Solo, Ford’s ability to be effortlessly cool is the biggest reason why he arguably portrays the most popular Star Wars character of all time. Of course, lightning rarely strikes the same place twice. With that in mind, it would have made perfect sense if Ford was never able to enjoy that level of success throughout the rest of his career. Instead, Ford would go on to be one of the top movie stars in the world for decades.
On top of portraying Han Solo, Ford also brought another one of cinema’s most beloved characters to life, Indiana Jones. Still not willing to rest on his laurels, Ford has starred in a slew of other films that were massively successful including Blade Runner, The Fugitive, and Air Force One.
After all of that success, Ford was convinced to return to the Star Wars universe for the sequel trilogy. Given all the beloved movies Ford has starred in, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that he is worth $300 million.
Harrison Ford Took A Major Financial Hit
Even though Ford is worth a lot more than Hamill, it turns out that the margin could have been even more extreme. After all, Ford was married to Melissa Mathison from 1983 until 2004 and when they got divorced, the former couple had to negotiate a settlement.
Of course, when most people get divorced, their split isn’t covered in the press. However, since Ford is such a big star, the press was interested in every detail when he and Mathison got divorced.
For example, according to reports, Mathison and Ford’s settlement resulted in her walking away from their marriage with over $85 million since she was by his side during most of his success. If you added that figure to Ford’s reported $300 million fortune, he blows Hamill out of the water financially even more.