Yahoo Finance 
Tom Cruise Tops Our List Of Hollywood's Highest-Paid Actors
Weekend word that Katie Holmes has filed for divorce from her husband of five years, Tom Cruise, left many unanswered questions. Who will end up with Suri? Was Scientology to blame? Why did Holmes file in New York instead of California? And how much money will the actress walk away with?
Now add this to the mix: by our count Cruise earned $75 million between May 2011 and May 2012, making him the highest-paid actor in Hollywood.
That money is going to play a crucial role in the divorce proceedings. Especially considering Holmes is asking for sole custody of Suri.
[More from Forbes: Gallery: Tom Cruise And Katie Holmes Split]
Cruise and Holmes reportedly had a prenup that will cover alimony, but according to divorce attorney Jeff Landers, prenups almost never include the cost of child support. In New York, child support is based on a formula: 17% of the couple’s total income, with each person paying a proportionate amount. But that doesn’t mean that Holmes is going to earn $9 million in child support alone.
“There are caps,” says Landers. “After $400,000 in earnings it’s up to the judge’s discretion.”
Still, the divorce is likely to hurt Cruise financially, and possibly career-wise. Rumor has it that one of the causes of the divorce is that Holmes wants to distance herself and her daughter from Scientology. The religion has long been a passion for Cruise, and sometimes a P.R. problem. His career first started to falter back in 2005 not just because of his couch jumping antics but also because of a very awkward interview he did with Matt Lauer in which he talked about Scientology and his mistrust of psychiatry and psychiatric drugs.
If Cruise is once again forced to discuss Scientology in public, it could hurt him at the box office.
But for right now, the actor is (at least professionally) on top of the world. Last fall’s Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol earned a whopping $700 million at the box office worldwide. Cruise got a nice chunk of the film’s profits. He also got paid well for the upcoming sci-fi film Oblivion, which is scheduled to hit theaters in April. Expect Cruise to do all he can to keep the divorce as amicable and quiet as possible.
[Related: Honeymoon Like a Celeb -- On the Cheap!]
Cruise’s huge year puts him $38 million ahead of the two actors who tied for second place on our list: Leonardo DiCaprio and Adam Sandler. We estimate that each star earned $37 million between May 2011 and May 2012.
The two couldn’t be more different. DiCaprio now focuses exclusively on adult-themed movies, and he gets paid well to appear in them. When the films score, they score big, like 2010′s Inception, which grossed $825 million at the global box office. But not every DiCaprio film is a guaranteed hit. Last year’s J. Edgar, which was directed by Clint Eastwood, failed to impress financially or critically. The film earned $80 million globally and failed to score any big Oscar nominations.
DiCaprio is now taking a page from Brad Pitt‘s playbook with a showy, low-paid role in Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming film Django Unchained. If the movie is a big hit, DiCaprio will earn a bunch off of the movie’s profits.
Sandler, at the other extreme, delights in making movies that critics find painfully dumb but that a certain audience loves. Take Jack and Jill: The 2011 film earned terrible reviews and 10 Razzie awards for how bad it was.
[Related: Tom Cruise's three marriages: the rundown]
But it didn’t flop at the box office. The film earned $150 million on a budget of $80 million. That’s not enough for Sony to earn back the movie’s production budget from box office receipts, but include DVD money and TV sales, and the studio could break even on it.
To determine who the highest-paid actors in Hollywood are, we considered upfront pay, profit participation, residuals, endorsements and advertising work. We talked to manager, agents, lawyers and other in-the-know folks to come up with our estimates. We did not deduct for things like agent fees or the expenses related to being a celebrity.
[More from Forbes: The Movie Stars With The Most At Stake This Summer]
Mark Wahlberg failed to make out Celebrity 100 list due to a lack of press and social media buzz, but he does rank as one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood. We estimate he earned $27 million between May 2011 and May 2012.
Expect the star to make our list next year though. Wahlberg has been on fire recently. His January action film, Contraband, earned a healthy $100 million on a budget of $25 million. Now he’s shown that an R rating isn’t the kiss of death. The comedy Ted, topped the box office this weekend with $54 million, making it the eighth-best opening for an R movie of all time. Expect Wahlberg to see a big jump in his payday and for the press to start demanding more of the star.
Tom Cruise
$75 million
Recent news of Cruise's pending divorce is a blight on an otherwise stellar year for the star. The actor suffered a career setback five years ago when he married Katie Holmes thanks to his couch jumping antics, some embarrassing Scientology leaks and the relative failure of Mission: Impossible 3. Maybe without Holmes, his career resurgence, thanks to the $700 million box office of the latest Mission: Impossible movie, will continue in full force.
Leonardo DiCaprio
$37 million
DiCaprio's last film, J. Edgar, was neither a financial nor an Oscar success. The Clint Eastwood-directed film earned $80 million at the global box office and failed to win any major Oscar nods. No matter. DiCaprio is still one of the few actors who can demand a $20 million paycheck for serious, adult films. Up next for actor: a 3-D version of The Great Gatsby.
Adam Sandler
$37 million
Critics may hate his movies but a segment of the public usually loves them. His 2010 movie Grown Ups earned a 10 out of 100 on Rotten Tomatoes but was his highest-grossing of all time. Still, even Sandler falters sometimes. His 2011 movie Jack and Jill, in which he played a man and his twin sister, earned $180 million (not quite enough to cover the film's production budget and advertising costs) and ten Razzie awards.
Dwayne Johnson
$36 million
Johnson is the franchise saver. He helped 2011's Fast and Furious become the franchise's highest-grossing film. Thanks in large part to Johnson, the second Journey to the Center of the Earth out-earned its predecessor a few months later. We'll have to wait until spring to see if he can revive G.I. Joe. The sequel was pushed from a summer release so Paramount could retrofit it into 3-D.
Ben Stiller
$33 million
Stiller is one of the highest-paid comedians in Hollywood. His Meet the Parents and Night at the Museum films bring in tons of money and his animated franchise, Madagascar, has grossed $1.6 billion at the global box office. His next movie, The Watch, has suffered some promotional problems. Initially called Neighborhood Watch, Fox changed the title after teen Trayvon Martin was killed by a neighborhood watch member.
Click here to see the rest of Hollywood’s Highest-Earning Actors.
More from Forbes:
