Robert Pattinson reportedly earned only $3 million from The New Batman, a relatively low amount for such an important blockbuster, so how is his salary calculated?
Robert Pattinson earned a low salary of just $3 million in The New Batman, and there's a reason for that. After the list of Hollywood's highest-paid movie stars in 2021 was revealed, we were surprised to find that Pattinson was at the bottom of the list.
Matt Reeves' The New Batman premiered in theaters on March 4, 2022, and was released on HBO Max on April 18. The New Batman is Warner Bros. 's highest-budgetED DC film since Task Force X: The Whole Crew," featuring robert Pattinson (Batman), Zoe Kravitz (Catwoman), and Paul Dano (Riddle Man).
Set in Batman's second year of fighting crime, The New Batman pits Pattinson's Dark Knight against the Riddle Man, the Romans, and the Penguins. It fulfills Reeves' promise of a dark-centered detective story that puts Batman's skills to the ultimate test. After clearly being in a good position, the film, which had a relatively small budget, was a huge success. After all, The New Batman's $185 million budget is a far cry from Warner Bros. 's $300 million Justice League.
While the relatively low budget of The New Batman may have been a factor in Pattinson's low pay, it is unlikely to be the main reason for the moment. So there must be a bigger reason why Pattinson's salary is lower than other high-paying actors in 2021, such as Ryan Gosling or Keanu Reeves. After all, The New Batman is far better at the box office than The Matrix 4, and can even compete with Gosling's Grey Man, which premiered on Netflix on July 15, 2022.
Robert Pattinson is not an A-list star
Pattinson's relatively low salary in The New Batman is most likely because, despite robert Pattinson being a highly recognizable name, he is not a first-line movie star at all.
Robert Pattinson is best known for playing Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Edward in The Twilight Zone. However, after Pattinson starred in these explosive film series, he starred in obscure independent films for nearly a decade, such as "Sand Drifter" and "Lighthouse".
Of course, these projects are still worth it because they allow Pattinson to work with great directors and hone him to become a truly talented actor. Unfortunately, however, despite Pattinson's recent performances, he is not recognized as someone who is attractive to the box office.
The list of the highest-paid actors in 2021 is dominated by good box office stars such as Tom Cruise ($13 million) who starred in the upcoming "Top Gun: The Lone Ranger" and Brad Pitt ($20 million) in "Killer Storm", as well as the aforementioned Gosling ($20 million) and Reeves ($12-14 million). Content is king, and the era of relying on well-known movie stars to support the scene is coming to an end, but in general, these names do offer greater chances of success and box office guarantees. Pattinson, on the other hand, doesn't have enough fan base or blockbuster experience to get the same salary. So that's why Hollywood doesn't always pick the perfect actor for a character. Usually, studios prioritize actors' popularity and box office appeal.
How much do other Batman actors pay?
Robert Pattinson is just the latest in a long and legendary cast list of actors who play Bruce Wayne and Batman on screen, starting with Lewis Wilson in 1943 and including famous figures such as Adam West, Michael Keaton, Fang Kimmer, and George Clooney. Of course, Christian Bell and Ben Affleck are also important candidates for the 21st century Batman role, playing Batman in the Dark Knight trilogy and DC's Justice League series, respectively.
Bell, Affleck, and Pattinson all have different batman images and receive different salaries. Affleck was paid up to $10 million for each major performance in Batman, while Bale was paid a total of $54 million for the entire Dark Knight series, averaging about $18 million per film. George Clooney made nearly $18 million as Batman in 1997's Batman and Robin, while Michael Keaton was paid $10 million in Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), which is the equivalent of $23 million today.
In contrast, Robert Pattinson's "The New Batman" paid a lot less than $3 million. Still, there's one factor to consider about this seemingly low-paying film.
Many high-paying actors in 2021 will factor streaming platform revenue into their paycheck, such as $100 million for Daniel Craig's "Sharp Blade 2 and 3" with Netflix and Dawn Johnson's "Red One" with Amazon for $50 million.
When a movie is released in streaming rather than the theater, the actor's salary is usually reflected in the final box office share and streaming platform share. In practice, Pattinson's final salary will probably be much higher than this initial prepaid salary. That's why Pattinson was "only" paid $3 million after putting on his cape and cape in The New Batman, as he probably earned more than that number after the film's release.