Leonardo DiCaprio Is Highest Grossing Actor of 2010

He may have been shamefully overlooked by the awards galas so far (as per his fans), but Leonardo DiCaprio is laughing all the way to the bank. Forbes magazine has just named him the highest grossing actor of 2010.

As we also noted on several previous occasions, while fans believe he was “robbed” of at least one Golden Globe nomination, here is confirmation that he remains one of the most bankable stars of today.

Not only did his “Inception” shatter records at the box office (without the inflated price of 3D tickets, Forbes duly notes) and bode really well with critics, but it also consolidated Leo as a sure-hit with audiences.

“Inception” and the previously released “Shutter Island” made of him the highest grossing star at the box office for the year that’s about to end, with sales of $1.1 billion globally.

Being a savvy businessman will help Leo get a share of this amount, since he agreed to do both films for a lower salary than his customary $20 million paycheck, in exchange for a share of final profits, as we also informed you a while back.

“Those box office riches will also line the actor’s pockets. DiCaprio will earn at least $50 million for his work on Inception alone (and likely more now that the film is selling on DVD) courtesy of a deal he struck for a share of first-dollar gross points,” Forbes writes.

For the present list, though, the mag takes into account only box office gross, without DVD sales.

The rest of the list looks as follows: newcomer Mia Wasikowska is second for her role in Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland,” which made $1.03 billion at the global box office.

Her “Alice” co-star, Johnny Depp, landed in third place, while Robert Downey Jr. comes in fourth. Daniel Radcliffe is at number 5, for his role in the latest “Harry Potter” film, “Death Hallows Part 1.”

Robert Pattinson beat his “Twilight” co-star Kristen Stewart to the punch, landing in at number 6, while she got the 7th position. Sam Worthington makes the cut at number 8 for “Avatar,” while the top ten is rounded up by the “Karate Kid” stars Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan.

For more on this, see the Forbes piece here.