Dwayne Johnson Rakes in the Green for ‘Red One’

Dwayne Johnson’s new film “Red One” is set to debut this Christmas, but perhaps The Green One might be a more suitable title. Despite some recent box-office hiccups, Johnson is poised to be the highest-paying actor of all time. According to reporter Matthew Belloni in Puck, the Rock is being paid a whopping $50 million a day, the highest per diem salary ever earned by an actor for a single role. By contrast, Robert Downey Jr. earned only a measly $40 million for his appearance in “Captain America: Civil War,” as did Will Smith for “King Richard.”

The salary is in line with other fees earned by Johnson in recent films, including $23.5 million for “Jumanji: The Next Level” as well as for “Red Notice.” He also took home a cool $20 million plus for each of these three: “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw,” “Jungle Cruise,” and” Black Adam.”

All this after Johnson’s performance in “Black Adam” failed to fill the producers’ stockings, and after a TV series about his life, Young Rock, had been cancelled. Lots of Christmas cheer this time round, however.

In “Red One,” an Amazon Studios Original film, Johnson will play Santa Claus himself, starring alongside Chris Evans and J. K. Simmons. In the new Christmas flick, Bonnie Hunt will play the role of Mrs. Claus. Johnson will also appear with Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot in a Netflix sequel to Red Notice, which will start filming soon.

The 51-year-old Johnson had been a professional wrestler who helped the World Wrestling Federation achieve success during the 1990s and early 2000s. His films have grossed more than $10.5 billion worldwide. His first film role was in “The Mummy Returns” (2001), and his first starring role was in the 2002 action fantasy film, “The Scorpion King.” Beginning in 2011, he appeared as Luke Hobbs in the “Fast & Furious” franchise.

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