The installments of Jumanji featuring Jack Black have grossed close to $2 billion dollars. But what was Black compensated for his time on set?
Jack Black was reportedly paid $5 million for his role in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and $3 million for the sequel Jumanji: The Next Level.
Now let’s take a look at a few of Jack Black’s starring roles, and how much the actor earned from each feature.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
Jack Black was reported to earn a hefty $5 million from this installment of Jumanji.
Coming 21 years after the last Jumanji film was released, the standalone sequel is set in the present day and focuses on a group of teens that find an old video game and are sucked into the 2005 movie’s setting.
Jack Black plays the video game character of Professor Shelly Oberon—a cartographer and paleontologist who is the avatar of Bethany, a shallow teenage girl.
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praised Jack Black as being hilarious and for finding the “vulnerable heart” of the character.
Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)
Jack Black reprises his role as Professor Shelly Oberon, who this time is the avatar for three different characters.
Black is reported to have earned a salary of $3 million in this 2019 sequel.
Set three years after the last installment, the teenagers have gone their separate ways but plan to reunite for bruch. After one of them doesn’t show up, they realise he has reentered the game and follow him inside.
One critic noted that Black is “chameleon-like in his ability to find the laughs in whatever form he can.”
The film is reported to have grossed a total of $800.1 million worldwide.
Jack Black and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on the set of Jumanji: The Next Level
High Fidelity (2000)
Widely considered Jack Black’s breakout role, the actor was reportedly paid a respectable $250,000 back in 2000.
Black plays an employee at a record store with an encyclopedic knowledge of all things musical.
The film was generally well received, as was Jack Black’s performance. Desson Howe of the Washington Post, praised Jack Black as “a bundle of verbally ferocious energy.”
High Fidelity is reported to have grossed $47.1 million worldwide.
Shallow Hal (2001)
As you might be able to guess from this title, Black plays a shallow character named Hal. Hal falls in love with a plus-sized woman, forcing him to rethink his judgemental ways.
The film received mixed reviews but was still a commercial success, grossing $141.1 million worldwide.
The Rotten Tomatoes consensus for the film reads:
While surprisingly sweeter and warm-hearted than previous Farrelly [the director] outings, Shallow Hal is also less funny and more bland.
Jack Black was paid well for his time on the set of Shallow Hal—a reported $2 million.
School of Rock (2002)
Heralded as one of Jack Black’s best performances, the actor plays a deadbeat musician who impersonates a supply teacher.
The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics, with Nell Minow of Common Sense Media commenting, “If there was ever someone born to portray the true spirit of rock ‘n’ roll, it’s Jack Black. That is what School of Rock needed, and that is just what he does.”
It’s unclear how much Black was compensated for his starring role, but since the film grossed $131 million worldwide, one can imagine he was comfortably reimbursed.
What is Jack Black’s net worth?
It’s estimated that Jack Black’s net worth is around $40 million. His successful Hollywood career has surely earned a big chunk of his substantial wealth but Black also earns money from his work as a musician and television roles.
Watch the video for “Tribute” by Jack Black’s band Tenacious D, which made it to the top spot on the UK Rock chart back in 2002: