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The number crunchers over at Forbes have an announcement: Robert Downey Jr. is the top grossing actor of the year.
The Avengers was the only film Downey starred in this year, but its box office take, 1.5 billion worldwide, was high enough to propel him to the number one spot. But the Forbes crown comes with a few stipulations: For the box office money to count toward an actor’s total for the year, they must have had a leading role in the film — that Johnny Depp cameo in 21 Jump Street doesn’t count! — and for The Avengers, the Forbes team deemed Downey the star over his co-actors. “Yes, The Avengers are a group but Downey is clearly the main star,” Forbes explained. “Much of the film relied on Downey’s charm and humor.”
Other people raking in the box office cash this year were usual suspects like the Twilight trio. Kristen Stewart came in at number two combining her Twilight box office with Snow White and the Huntsman. Franchise-starrers such as Christian Bale, Daniel Craig, and Jennifer Lawrence also did well. Interestingly, the article states that they gave leading role status to Stewart’s co-stars Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, allowing all three credit for Breaking Dawn – Part 2’s massive haul. But for other franchise movies it was just the lead, which explains why Emma Stone, who co-starred in The Amazing Spider-Man, isn’t on this list, but Andrew Garfield ranks number seven.
Check out the top ten below: READ FULL STORY »
