14 DAY TRIAL // Forbes magazine has just released its annual list of the industry’s most successful couples and, not quite surprisingly, it is topped by singer Beyonce Knowles and rapper Jay-Z. Recession has clearly taken a toll on the joint finances of the two, as they’re down about $40 million from the previous year, when they made a profit estimated at $162 million. Nevertheless, the $122 million in profit allows them to stand at the top of highest earning celebrity couples.
On the second place, we find Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart, with $69 million in profit between the two. Both stars have kept a very low profile in recent years, but Ford’s return to the “Indiana Jones” franchise, which earned him $65 million for “Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull,” enables them to be the runners-up. Flockhart, on the other hand, has been keeping busy on the ABC drama “Brothers and Sisters.”
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are the third most powerful couple in the industry, with a revenue of $55 million. “Pitt and Jolie have always gotten plenty of attention, but now they’re making plenty of money too. ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ was one of Pitt’s highest grossing films, earning $334 million at the worldwide box office. Jolie is profiting by embracing her inner action hero. ‘Wanted’ earned $341 million at the worldwide box office. Later this year she’ll appear in ‘Salt’ as a disgraced CIA agent,” Forbes says.
Will Smith and wife Jada Pinkett Smith come fourth, with $48 million. “Smith is without a doubt the biggest movie star in the world. His films have earned a total $5.7 billion at the worldwide box office and studio heads say he earns every penny of his $20 million paycheck. Most of the couple’s earnings come from Smith, but Pinkett Smith has a growing career of her own. She’s been writing and producing films as well as voicing Gloria the hippo in the ‘Madagascar’ films,” the aforementioned publication adds.
The other couples who’ve made the cut (and the big money this year) are: David and Victoria Beckham ($46 million), Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi ($36 million), Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson ($35.5 million), Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy ($34 million), Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes ($33.5 million) and Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow ($33 million).