How Much Money Does John Boyega Make?

John Boyega is a hard working, formerly low-paid actor who earned an estimated $15 million for his role as Finn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The relatively unknown British actor will likely earn a total of $20 million based on the movie’s future box office earnings. After taxes, Boyega now has a net worth of $5 million.

Before J.J. Abrams cast him as a black stormtrooper in the new Star Wars movie, John Boyega’s biggest acting credit was for his role as Moses in the 2011 sci fi horror comedy Attack the Block. Since then, the star has appeared in a number of smaller TV shows and films, earning about the same as most U.S. high school math teachers.

Boyega’s earnings by year are listed in the table below. Scroll down to see how much the actor has earned for each film and TV role since 2011.

Also see: How Much Money Has Every Star Wars Movie Made?

John Boyega Earnings

John Boyega EarningsJohn Boyega got his start in acting at the National Theatre in London. His first screen acting role was in the British 2011 TV show Becoming Human. His earnings took a jump when he starred in the cult hit movie Attack the Block that same year. Since then, Boyega has worked hard, racking up credits for several small but critically acclaimed appearances.

Boyega’s estimated annual earnings are listed below.

John Boyega Earnings 2011$90,000
John Boyega Earnings 2012$64,000
John Boyega Earnings 2013$64,000
John Boyega Earnings 2014$72,000
John Boyega Earnings 2015$15,086,000
Totals$15,376,000

Also see: How Much Money Has Every Marvel Movie Made?

So how does a relative unknown feel about seeing himself for the first time in a big-budget action movie? See his reaction to the official trailer in a split screen below.

John Boyega Net Worth

John Boyega Net WorthJohn Boyega’s net worth as of 12/15/15 is $5.1 million.

Unfortunately for Boyega, earnings and net worth are two very different wookies. While Boyega has been paid a total of $15.4 million for acting work since 2011, that doesn’t mean the star is worth $15.4 million. In fact, since the actor lives in London, he paid a 40% tax rate from 2011 through 2014. Taxes and expenses likely ate up most of Boyega’s pay in that time, leaving him with a net worth of $0 at the end of 2014.

Even with an estimated $15 million dollar payday in 2015, the tax man still takes an empire-sized bite out of Boyega’s net worth. The star’s recent Disney paycheck bumped him into Great Britain’s highest tax bracket of 56%. After agent fees and other expenses, Boyega walks with only about $5.1 million.

Also see: How Much Money Do NBA Players Make?

John Boyega Star Wars Earnings

John Boyega Star Wars EarningsSo far, Boyega has earned an estimated $15 million for appearing in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The star also likely has a deal with Disney for some small percentage of the box office take.

Boyega hasn’t shared how much he earned for his Star Wars role, but other actors have. It’s known that Robert Downey Jr. was paid $30 million for Iron Man 3 and $50 million for The Avengers. Disney has been in the news for paying other actors a lot less. Estimates place earnings for top actors in The Avengers as low as $200,000 and as high as $4 million. That includes top names like Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner and Scarlett Johansson.

Even though Disney is getting a rep for paying big actors low money, that only seems true in movies like Avengers and its sequel Age of Ultron. In those movies, the heavy hitters are all jostling for elbow room and presumably pay. There’s some evidence that in their standalone films the actors rate earnings of $20 million to $30 million each.

Since Boyega is a relative newcomer, we’re betting his pay is based more on a percentage of earnings than on up-front money. Even so, $15 million in guaranteed money seems like a reasonable best guess, based on earnings reports from Disney’s stable of Marvel stars.

John Boyega Pay Per Role

John Boyega Star Wars MoneyAs a private figure, Boyega doesn’t release his pay information to the media. However, we can estimate based on actor contracts we do know about. For example, Boyega’s 2011 cult hit film Attack the Block earned only about $6 million at the worldwide box office, but a total of about $30 million including DVD sales and rentals. Boyega likely earned about 1% of that or $300,000.

Estimates for Boyega’s earnings for other roles are listed below by year.

John Boyega Acting CreditsYearEstimated John Boyega Earnings
Becoming Human (TV, Boyega in 4 Episodes)2011$10,000
Attack the Block (Boyega in major role)2011$300,000
Law & Order: UK (TV)2011$2,000
Junkhearts2011$15,000
Da Brick (TV movie, Boyega in major role)2011$3,000
My Murder (TV)2012$4,000
Half of a Yellow Sun (Boyega in lead role)2013$2,000
The Whale (TV)2013$2,000
Imperial Dreams2014$2,000
24: Live Another Day (TV, Boyega in 4 episodes)2014$10,000
Major Lazer (TV, Boyega in 10 episodes)2015$20,000
Disney Infinity 3.0 (Video Game, Boyega voice uncredited)2015$3,000
Saturday Night Live (TV)2015$3,000
Star Wars: The Force Awakens2015$15,000,000
The Circle2016N/A
Star Wars: Episode VIII2017N/A

Also see: Kanye West Net Worth

John Boyega’s Earnings in the Future

Star Wars John Boyega EarningsBoyega’s earnings and net worth will likely skyrocket in the next few years, for three reasons:

  1. Disney has traditionally given lead franchise actors deals that include a percentage of profits. Even if Star Wars: The Force Awakens somehow turns out to be a stinker, its box office take will likely be high.
  2. Boyega is contracted to appear in at least one more Star Wars movie (Episode VIII). He will probably appear in more. As a necessary part of the franchise, he’ll be able to negotiate higher pay.
  3. Boyega has been catapulted into fame. Whatever his future holds, it’s definitely not a return to earning a few thousand dollars for hard-won TV roles.

Giving Credit Where it’s Due

Boyega doesn’t hoard the credit for his sudden earnings leap all to himself. On 12/23/15, the actor gave props to a former teacher: Sir Ian McKellen. The wizardly lessons apparently came as part of an acting class at London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Boyega posted the throwback pic on Twitter.

John Boyega Earnings Source Could be Magical

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