Will Smith is well known for blockbusters like Independence Day, Men in Black, and the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Over the course of his career, he manages to build a remarkably large amount of wealth. He did not just get well paid for his roles in 66 movies. He also invested his capital in business ventures and real estate.

On average Will earns around 20 million per movie. But what are his best-paid roles? And what is his net-worth today? Let’s find out in this article!

Men in Black 3, 2012: $100 million

After Will Smiths’ success on Independence day in 1996, Will starred in the sci-fi action and comedy series Men in Black. Based on a comic series created by Lowell Cunningham and Sandy Carruthers, the movie would turn out to become a hit. Will Smith plays an agent called J, he is from a secret organization that monitors extraterrestrial lifeforms who live on Earth and hide their existence from ordinary humans.

The first movie was released in 1997 and earned Will 5 million dollars, after its success a second movie was made, Will, this time more popular than ever, made 20 million + 10% of gross. 

The franchise was so popular that it would see multiple sequels. Will would star in one more, namely the third installments from 2012. This time he would make 100 million, while the movie itself made around 620 million dollars. Which was his highest-paying role to date.

King Richard, 2021: $40 million 

King Richard is one of Wills’s latest movies and was released in 2021. The movie is based on the true story of Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams. Richard created an 84-page plan to make his daughter a tennis superstar. From a very young age He trains them how to play professional tennis, this impresses a few coaches and gives both daughters the chance to prove themselves. In the end, both daughters turn out to become world champion tennis players.

Will Smith made around 40 million playing as Richard Williams and is considered one of his best movies. At the 94th 2022 academy awards, Will won the Oscar for best actor in ‘King Richard’. There are a lot of controversies about the fact that Will slapped Chris Rock live on camera after making a joke about his wife Jada. Will did apologize and a few days after the incident Will Resigned From Academy. Meaning he has no voting right for future events.

Netflix Bright 1 (2017) + Bright 2 (?) $20 + $35 million

In 2017 Will played a police officer who lives in an alternative reality in which humans, orcs, elves, and fairies have always been coexisting since the beginning of time. This Netflix movie turned out to be a hit and helped Netflix grow its subscribers substantially. It was so popular that Netflix announced it would start working on a sequel.

Will, who is known for playing roles in action and sci-fi movies, is said to have earned 20 million dollars for the first movies. For the second movie, he is yet to earn even more and was offered 35 million dollars. However, Bright 2 has been delayed, and there is no official release date as of April 2022. So Will still has to do his part before he can bank this cash.

I Am Legend, 2007: $25 million

In December 2007 the movie I Am Legend was released, in it, Will plays the main character Robert Neville who seems to be the sole human survivor on Earth. Neville, who is a scientist, tries to reverse the effects of a virus that turns people into vampire-like creatures that hide in the shadows during the day and hunt for food at night. If he succeeds he hopes to save humankind from total extinction.

I Am Legend broke Box Office records and made a whopping 77 million in its first opening weekend. Will made $25 million from his acting performances in this movie. One of the movies at the time.

I, Robot, 2004: $28 million

In I, Robot, Will plays a detective called Del Spooner, Spooner lives in a futuristic world where Ai and humanoid robot assistants are common, just like cars or bicycles. Spooner cant stand robots but is soon keen to investigate the murder of his friend Dr. Alfred. Spooner is now on a mission to find out if a robot has violated the 3 laws of robotics and killed him. Soon he discovered that his old friend created a self-conscious robot together with a much more dangerous secret.

With Wills Smith’s help, the movie managed to earn 353 million dollars at the box office, with a total of 120 million in production costs. Will got 28 million out of his performance.

Suicide Squad, 2016: $20 million

Suicide Squad which is set in the DC universe is an action-comedy movie about a group of villains that are forced to fight together against an evil power. Will Smith plays the marksman and assassin Floyd Lawton AKA Deadshot. He tries everything he can to give his daughter a better life. 

Before filming the Suicide squad, Will was also offered a role in the Independence Day sequel: Independence Day: Resurgence. Will refused and played his role as Deadshot instead. Will said this decision had nothing to do with quality, and more with wanting to move forward. 

The movie made 746 million USD at the box office, and playing Deadshot made Will 20 million, which is a common pay rate for the actor nowadays.

Disney’s Aladdin, 2019: $20 million

Disney is well known for its fairytale and princess stories. But Disney does much more than that, it creates movies and franchises that attract a lot of attention and money. And so does the movie Aladdin from 2019, which made a stunning $1.051 billion USD at the box office. 

In this movie, Will plays the magical Genie who grants Aladdin multiple wishes. Over time they become friends and together with the princess Jasmin they have to face an evil enemy.

Disney knows how to make good and successful movies, from Marvel to Star Wars. They always seem to have the golden touch. In total WIll made 20 million from this movie, 12.5 million upfront, and the rest as a backend cut. If you consider that the movie made 1 billion, it’s rather few, but it’s what they agreed to.

Gemini man, 2019: $12.5 million

In this action movie, WIll plays one of the best assassins in the world called Henry, who has to fight his own clone and simultaneously try to figure out his origin. To stop whoever is behind this from chasing him ever again.

Gemini man, in which Will stars as the protagonist together with a digitalized younger version of himself wasn’t a huge box office success. The movie had a budget of around 138 dollars and made only $173,5 million at the box office. $12.5 million was paid to Will smith.

Independence Day, 1996: $5 million

Will Smith played in a ton of movies, and one for which he is certainly well remembered is Independence Day. In this sci-fi action movie, he plays a US fighter pilot that dreams of becoming an astronaut one day. His dream becomes true after an alien invasion forces him to save earth from annihilation. 

Will plays his character well, and together with Jeff Goldblum, they are the perfect duo. And although the movie was one of the most successful movies in WIlls career. Will “only” got 5 million dollars out of it. Considering he wasn’t the main protagonist I guess that wasn’t a bad deal, still, if you compare it with later movies he made, it’s at the lower end.

Enemy of the State, 1998: $14 million.

Enemy of the State is an action-packed thriller Where Will plays the lawyer Robert Dean. The plot surrounds a lawyer that somehow got involved in the murder of a congressman. He has to. The movie made 251 million at the box office and Will earned 14 million dollars. After this movie Will started to earn more per movie, mostly around 20 million.

Will Smith on social media

Will Smith understands the importance of building an audience. Nowadays it’s a lot easier to build a large following on social media, especially if you are already famous. Still, it’s remarkable to see how large of a following Will has built over the years.

On Instagram, he has nearly 63 million followers, nearly 10 million on youtube, and more than 70 million on TikTok. All of these channels can help him earn even more money. Not just by selling things like his book “Will”. But he can also update his audience about new movies, and upcoming events. I guess this shows that Will is not just an actor, but an entrepreneur as well.

Will Smith Net Worth: $350 Million

Finally, now that we know Will is a high achiever, we can take a look at his net worth. Will Smith has starred in many roles, slowly growing his reputation as an actor and investor over time. And to this day is still making royalties from his time on the popular sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Besides that, it is said that he owns 100 million dollars worth of real estate.

As of the year 2022, Will Smith is to be estimated at $350 Million and earns around 3 million per month. Most of his earnings come from movies.