Reese Witherspoon is Highest Paid Actress
November 30, 2007

Have they seen the grosses for Rendition? Reese Witherspoon was officially the highest paid actress in Hollywood, according to the annual breakdown of actress salaries released today by The Hollywood Reporter. Reese Witherspoon who, all jokes aside, did take a paycut to make Rendition, barely edged out Angelina Jolie and other famous faces to take the top spot. According to THR, Reese gets paid $15-20 million a movie, a total that Cameron Diaz first claimed for Shrek back in 2001 and that appears to be a current ceiling for ladies in Hollywood (although some sources are claiming that Witherspoon may have gotten as much as $29 million for her next flick, Our Family Trouble). According to Reuters, Reese Witherspoon is returning to her roots, making the romantic comedy Four Christmases, which she is also producing, followed by the horror flick Our Family Trouble.

Angelina Jolie came in second with the same range as Witherspoon - $15-20 million - but Reuters notes that she hasn't exactly been bringing in the dough since Mr. and Mrs. Smith with this year's A Mighty Heart tumbling at the box office. Jolie did get $8 million for five weeks of work on the successful Beowulf. She will next tackle animation again with Kung Fu Panda and appear in next year's Wanted with Morgan Freeman and The Changeling with John Malkovich.

Cameron Diaz claimed third place with a salary just over $15 million a movie, although Reuters claims that Cam got more than $30 million for Shrek the Third. Diaz will return to the Shrek franchise for a fourth movie and will star with Ashton Kutcher in What Happens in Vegas before making a horror movie called The Box.

In fourth place, Nicole Kidman makes between $10 and $15 million a movie, even after the box office debacle that was The Invasion. Reuters even notes that Margot at the Wedding has failed to connect with critics or audiences, but that Nicole Kidman is likely to turn her year around with The Golden Compass, opening next week. She will then return to Australia and star with Ralph Fiennes in The Reader.

The rest of the annual Reuters list consists of Renee Zellweger ($10-15 million a movie), Sandra Bullock ($10-15 million), Julia Roberts ($10-15 million), Drew Barrymore ($10-12 million), Jodie Foster ($10-12 million), and Halle Berry ($10 million). Reuters also noted that a few young actresses are climbing the ladder and threatening this relatively consistent list of faces, including Katherine Heigl, Rachel McAdams, and Jennifer Garner.