A new report reveals how much Ireland’s top movie stars rake in per movie
Liam Neeson comes out as Hollywood’s richest Irish movie star (Image: Dave J Hogan/Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
Liam Neeson has been named the highest-grossing Irish movie star.
Films in which Neeson starred in a leading role have grossed nearly €6 billion in total, data from Irish casino Slotbox.com found.
The research analysed the box office figures for the top Irish movie stars to see who has grossed the most in total from their leading roles.
It found that acting veteran Liam Neeson has grossed an eye-watering €5,913,868,915 worldwide in total across his 52 leading roles, with each film grossing €113,728,248 on average.
Some of Neeson’s most well-known roles include Bryan Mills in the Taken series, Qui-Gon Jinn in the Star Wars Prequels, and Ra’s al Ghu in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Trilogy.
Kerry star Michael Fassbender takes second on the list, grossing a worldwide total of €2,338,804,571 across his 21 leading roles, averaging his paychecks at €111,371,646 per movie.
Fassbender’s most iconic roles include his portrayal of Magneto in the X-Men franchise, his role as Bobby Sands in Hunger, and his role as Steve Jobs in the 2015 biopic.
Coming in third place is Pierce Brosnan, who has seen a total gross of €2,234,116,046 worldwide across his 26 leading roles averaging €85,927,540 per title. Some of his most popular roles include his four-instalment run as James Bond, Sam in 2008’s Mamma Mia movie, and as Thomas Crown in the Thomas Crown Affair.
Colin Farrell takes fourth place with a total worldwide gross of €2,232,384,576 over his 27 leading roles, averaging €82,680,910 a movie. Some of his most prominent roles come from his frequent inclusion in the movies of Martin McDonagh, such as In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths and 2022’s The Banshees of Inisherin opposite Brendan Gleeson.
Rounding out the top five is Jamie Dornan, who has grossed €1,356,194,945 in total worldwide across his eight leading roles. He has the highest average gross per film on the list with €169,524,368. Some of his most prominent leading roles include as Pa in 2021’s Belfast and Christian Grey in the Fifty Shades of Grey book-to-film adaptations.
Also among the top 10 highest-grossing Irish movie stars is Kenneth Branagh, with eight leading roles.
Branagh, 61, who starred in 2022’s Death on the Nile, is the last celebrity to rake in billions with a worldwide gross of over €1.1billion.
Daniel Day-Lewis, Cillian Murphy, Domhnall Gleeson and Saoirse Ronan are the remaining top earners, with Ronan the only woman in the top 10 Irish movie stars rich list, worth €598,013,997.
She trump’s Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy who is reportedly worth € 355,625,576, while Domhanll Gleeson is said to be worth €191,295,906.
