Skip to main content

Harrison Ford’s Star Wars paycheck in a galaxy far, far away from fellow actors

In one of his many cheeky TV moments leading up to the premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Harrison Ford offered a very simple answer to Jimmy Fallon when asked why he returned to the franchise: “They paid me,” Harris said blithely. And he wasn’t kidding.

Harrison Ford’s payday for his role as Han Solo in the The Force Awakens was massive, far outpacing the other actors in the new installment of the franchise. The 73-year-old actor received somewhere between $15 to $20 million for his role, according to Variety. The sum is substantially higher than co-stars Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), and Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), and it’s in another league when compared to John Boyega (Finn), Daisy Ridley (Rey), and even Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), and Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron).

Recommended Videos

(Note that the linked Variety piece reveals significant Star Wars spoilers.)

According to the report, before the movie even got underway Disney decided to make a “legacy pay scale” for actors who had previously been part of Star Wars, and a different pay scale for first-time Star Wars cast members. Hamill and Fisher, both longtime stars in the storied franchise, received salaries in the “low-seven figure range.” Driver and Isaac, both of whom have had their share of small-time fame leading up to the movie, received “mid to high six-figures.”

At the low end of the scale were relative unknowns John Boyega and Daisey Ridley, who were paid “low-six figure” salaries.

Considering Star Wars: The Force Awakensunparalleled $238 million opening weekend, it looks like Disney’s significant investment in Ford reprising his role as Han Solo was an easy one to make. The seventh installment of the epic saga now has the most successful debut of all-time stateside. Jurassic World ($208.8 million), released in May of this year, previously held the record.

The cited salaries are prior to box office bonuses, but those won’t kick in until the film crosses the hallowed $1 billion line worldwide, according to Variety. In previous releases, the $1 billion watermark might’ve sounded almost absurd, but this is Star Wars: The film grossed $517 million globally in its first weekend.

Given his box office track record throughout the years, it’s easy to see why Ford made so much more than Hamill and Fischer (neither of whom have done much in the world of cinema as of late), but some may be surprised the film’s bright young stars got such a low fee in comparison. However, as Variety explains, getting pennies on the dollar to your superstar co-workers is “a fairly common practice in today’s market for newer actors.”

Give it time, kids. You’re all going to be rolling in it soon enough.

Chris Leo Palermino
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Chris Leo Palermino is a music, tech, business, and culture journalist based between New York and Boston. He also contributes…
Harrison Ford’s 7 best movies, ranked by Rotten Tomatoes score
A man points a gun in Blade Runner.

Few movie stars have received as much acclaim, attention, or adoration as Harrison Ford. The legendary actor’s roles in not just one but several beloved film franchises have turned him into one of the most iconic stars in the history of Hollywood. To his credit, Ford hasn’t just rested on his various sci-fi and fantasy laurels, either. Over the course of his career, he’s padded out his filmography with roles in some of the most seminal dramas, romantic comedies, and blockbusters of all time.

With Ford’s supposedly final outing as Indiana Jones currently playing in theaters, now seems like as good a time as any to see what Rotten Tomatoes claims are his seven best movies. Before we begin, though, it’s worth noting that Ford’s three highest-rated scripted films on RT are Apocalypse Now, The Conversation, and American Graffiti. While all of those films are undeniably great, too, they aren’t necessarily showcases of Ford’s talent and star power. So, with the actual purposes of this list in mind, we’ve chosen not to include them.

Read more
All the Indiana Jones movies, ranked from worst to best
Harrison Ford sits next to Sean Connery in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

It's the final countdown for Harrison Ford and his portrayal as a master adventurer and professor of archaeology, Indiana Jones. Ford will reprise his role as Indy one final time in the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Directed by Logan's James Mangold, Indy squares off against the Nazis again, but this time, it's 1969 amid the space race between the United States and Russia. His mission: retrieve the Archimedes Dial, a time travel device, before it gets into the hands of Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), a former Nazi working for NASA.

It has yet to be seen if Dial of Destiny will be a worthy swan song for Ford. However, the previous four films, especially the original trilogy, will live on forever. There's a timeless aspect to Indiana Jones movies where the Raiders, Temple of Doom, and Last Crusade still look great and don't feel dated despite being filmed in the 1980s and set in the 1930s. Before we add Dial of Destiny to the rankings, here are the previous four Indiana Jones movies ranked from worst to best.

Read more
Han Solo vs. Indiana Jones: Which one is Harrison Ford’s greatest role?
Han Solo and Indiana Jones side by side.

Few actors have given more to popular culture than Harrison Ford. Over the course of his decades in Hollywood, Ford has starred in everything from high-minded prestige movies to some of the most well-known blockbusters in the history of movies. In that career, Harrison has given us two different all-time great blockbuster characters.

First, he was Han Solo in the Star Wars films, and then, a few years later, he introduced us to Indiana Jones. Both franchises have had long legacies that extended all the way into the present, but the question of which character is Ford's greatest role is still hotly debated. Thankfully, we've come up with a foolproof way to arrive at an answer.
Which character is more central to the franchise?

Read more