The Rock revitalized the Fast & Furious franchise in 2011 and went on to feature in five more movies in the series, and he’s been rewarded with a fortune as a result. In the late 2000s, the Fast & Furious series had lost steam. Audiences were losing interest in the street-racing backdrop, and the movies were seeing diminishing returns with each consecutive release. That was until 2011’s Fast Five turned the low-stakes series into a high-octane heist movie with huge action set pieces. As a result, the movie made a monumental $629 million worldwide (via The Numbers), which is almost $300 million more than the previous release.
However, switching up the genre and implementing higher stakes wasn’t the only reason Fast Five was so successful. The movie also introduced Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Luke Hobbs, a DSS agent tasked with hunting down Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker). For years, the franchise had been criticized for being too melodramatic, and Dom and Brian rarely ever dropped their overly serious personas. That’s why Johnson’s smack-talking persona, Hobbs, became an instant hit with audiences. Johnson is partly to thank for the franchise’s success from Fast Five onward, and as a result, Universal has helped Johnson amass tens of millions of dollars.
The Rock Has Made At Least $65 Million For The Fast & Furious Franchise
Dwayne Johnson Likely Made More With Backend Points
The Rock has reportedly made a total of $65 million for his Fast & Furious movies (via Sportskeeda), and that’s just from the basic salaries, which don’t include anything earned from box office performance. Needless to say, that figure could be a lot more. For Fast Five, Johnson allegedly made $10 million, and that’s reportedly the same figure he earned for Fast & Furious 6. Sources suggest that Furious 7 earned the actor $15 million, which is even more impressive given that Johnson had considerably less screen time than in the previous two movies.
- Fast Five – $10 million
- Fast & Furious 6 – $10 million
- Furious 7 – $15 million
- Fate of the Furious – $10 million (plus backend points)
- Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw – $20 million
- Fast X – unknown
It’s rare for an actor to have a lower salary for a franchise movie than the previous film, but that’s seemingly what happened with Fate of the Furious, as Johnson’s salary was reportedly $10 million, $5 million less than his estimated Furious 7 salary. However, in lieu of an extra $5 million, Johnson had backend points negotiated into his contract. Backend points are a percentage of the movie’s gross. It hasn’t been disclosed what percentage Johnson negotiated, but even if it was 1%, the actor could have earned an extra $12.3 million given the movie’s $1.23 billion gross.
Johnson also starred in his own spinoff movie with Jason Statham, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, which earned him $20 million (via Variety). The actor didn’t return for F9 following his famous Fast & Furious feud with Vin Diesel, which means that the former wrestler likely left another $20 million on the table. However, The Rock did return in Fast X for a post-credits cameo. While he appeared for less than a minute, the performance was likely lucrative for the actor.
It hasn’t been disclosed how much Johnson was paid for the Fast X post-credits cameo, but it’s likely he earned a decent amount of money. While his cameo might be less than a minute long, similar high-profile appearances allegedly came with seven-figure paychecks, including Mark Hamill’s minute-long cameo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. (via Men’s Health). That, combined with Fast & Furious’ notoriously inflated budgets, make $1 million a possible figure for Johnson’s cameo.
Hobbs & Shaw 2: Confirmation, Dwayne Johnson’s Fast Saga Plans & Everything We Know
Hobbs & Shaw was a hit spinoff movie from the Fast & Furious franchise, but Hobbs & Shaw 2 hasn’t come to fruition. Will the sequel ever get made?
How The Rock Became One Of The Highest-Paid Actors In Hollywood
While Johnson tried and failed to become a movie star in the 2000s with a series of flops, in the 2010s, The Rock became one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood. The reason why isn’t so much his approach to acting but his approach to marketing and, ultimately, becoming a brand. Johnson has unrivaled charisma, which stems from his wrestling roots, and he has a relentless work ethic. The actor has an unwavering commitment to every project he’s in, and he’s intensely strategic when it comes to choosing his next role.
Johnson treats marketing a movie like promoting an upcoming wrestling event, and while it didn’t work for Black Adam, it has worked for just about everything else. Despite a series of setbacks like Doom and The Scorpion King, the actor briefly stole Vin Diesel’s thunder when it came to the Fast & Furious franchise. Since then, he has become a more than reliable movie star. Audiences know that any movie starring The Rock might not be a masterpiece, but it’ll still be wildly entertaining.
Sources: The Numbers, Sportskeeda, Variety, Men’s Health
