Iron Man Downey Jr and Bollywood stars dominate best-paid list

Robert Downey Jr has been revealed as the world’s top-earning actor by Forbes, in a list that also features some of Bollywood’s top names for the first time. The Iron Man star, 50, earned an estimated $80m (£51m) in the past year, helped by the success of his superhero film Avengers: Age Of Ultron, which saw box office success to the tune of more than $1.3bn worldwide. Chinese actor and martial arts veteran Jackie Chan grabbed second place, earning around $50m from films including Dragon Blade and its associated merchandise.

The first truly global earnings tally of leading men…

Forbes on its earnings list

Daniel Craig is the highest paid British actor according to Forbes. The list has Craig in joint 15th place alongside Australian actor Chris Hemsworth. He is the only British actor on the list and his earnings are estimated to be about £17.3m ($27m). But the new names on the list came from the growing cinematic powerhouse of Bollywood, with Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan both tying for seventh place. Bachchan, 72, and Khan, 49, earned $33.5m each. The top earning women will be revealed later in the year.

Entertainment Forbes earnings