Robert Downey Jr. may have starred in two films in 2009 ( The Soloist, Sherlock Holmes ); Matt Damon may also have starred in two films ( Invictus, The Informant ); George Clooney may have made three movies in 2009 ( Up in the Air, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Fantastic Mr. Fox ), but their $22 million in earnings apiece for the year paled in comparison with the $30 million earned by Rupert Grint and Emma Watson for their appearances in the two-part Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, according to Vanity Fair magazine. Nineteen-year-old Watson's earnings, in fact, topped those of any actress in Hollywood. And the highest paid actor in movies in 2009? Twenty-year-old Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter himself, who earned $40 million for the two films, plus an additional $1 million for the use of his image in Potter merchandise. (That merchandise fee put him slightly ahead of Ben Stiller, who earned a total of $40 million for the year.) But the two highest-paid creative figures in the movie business were producer-directors Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg with $125 million and $85 million respectively.
05/02/2010
