Wonder Woman was released on June 2 and has already earned almost $573.5 million worldwide, putting it on pace to surpass all three other entries in Warner Bros.’ DC Extended Universe (Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad) at the box office. Throw in the universally positive reviews and there’s absolutely no doubt that Wonder Woman is the DCEU’s most successful installment to date. Sadly, none of this acclaim and profit is going to make things any easier for star Gal Gadot when she gets her paycheck.
Gadot’s salary to join WB’s DCEU was negotiated long before she ever appeared on screen as Princess Diana in last year’s BvS. Prior to that, she wasn’t exactly a household name, meaning she didn’t have much negotiating power. As a result, Gadot three-picture deal with the studio (BvS, Wonder Woman and Justice League) reportedly pays her a grand total of $900,000. Ouch.
Obviously a media member such as myself who is surviving on financial scraps would be ecstatic to be paid $300,000 per project for anything and it’s not as if Gadot was making that type of money beforehand. But still, when you’re movies are all threatening the $1 billion mark, a couple hundred grand really starts to sound light.
Barring an underworld interruption from Cthulhu (Ares may be the more appropriate example actually), there will be a sequel to Wonder Woman and Gadot will receive a hefty raise. Chris Evans received a base pay of “only” $300,000 for Captain America: The First Avenger before being bumped to between $2 and $6 million for the first Avengers flick. Given the steady rise in Superhero profits since then, we think she’ll top that figure.
For now, however, Gadot will just had to hold strong and pal around with her fellow six-figure plebeians. It’s a real tragedy if you ask me.