James Bond star Daniel Craig and some of his predecessors amassed a fortune starring in the popular 007 franchise. But when it comes to the very first film in each Bond franchise, which actor earned the most just starting out?
Which James Bond actor has the highest net worth?
The first James Bond still might have reigned supreme when it came down to overall net worth. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Connery had $350 million at the time of his death. Much of his net worth came from the salaries he’d earned during his prolific and long acting career.
Some of his earnings from the James Bond franchise included making $3 million for Never Say Never Again and $1.2 million for Diamonds Are Forever. Although it was reported that Connery gave up much of his earnings from Diamonds to charity.
Meanwhile, Brosnan is a close second to Connery with a net worth of $200 million. Craig isn’t too far behind Brosnan, as the Bond franchise helped increase his net worth to $160 million.
Roger Moore and David Niven made $110 million and $100 million over the course of their careers respectively. Meanwhile, Timothy Dalton and George Lazenby have the lowest net worth of their fellow James Bond actors with both worth $20 million.
Which James Bond actor had the highest salary for their first Bond movie?
Daniel Craig was given a handsome salary for his first time playing the MI6 agent. The actor was reportedly paid $3.2 million for his work in Casino Royale. But earlier on, Brosnan still managed to edge out Craig when he first played Bond in Goldeneye. The actor took home $4 million for starring in the movie.
Dalton wasn’t too far behind Craig. According to The Richest, Dalton made $3 million for his first time suiting up as Bond in The Living Daylights. Moore was paid $1 million for Live and Let Die.
Unlike the others, neither Lazenby or Connery became millionaires off the strength of their first Bond movies. TMC claims that Lazenby earned $50,000 for his first and only time as Bond. Connery was paid lower than that, earning $16,000 for his role in Dr. No. There has been no concrete insight into David Niven’s net worth, who played Bond in the 1967 parody version of Casino Royale. But The Things theorized that he, too, made $1 million from doing the film.
The James Bond actor who made the most money off of the franchise
Daniel Craig reportedly earned the most amount of money for his time as James Bond. The Tomb Raider star was able to make $85.4 million in total thanks to his Bond movies alone. Brosnan secured second place by making $41.1 million for his time as Bond. Moore and Dalton pulled in $24.3 million and $8 million respectively. Meanwhile, Dalton also earned $8 million for his work.
Despite having the highest net worth out of all the Bond actors, Connery earned the least from his Bond movies compared to the others. He reportedly earned $6.6 million over his long tenure as Bond.
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