Timothée Chalamet has been unstoppable. The actor took home a whopping $8 million for Wonka, as per a report by Variety, and his growing star power has led to a recent ‘salary bump.’ Timothée played the world-famous chocolatier Willy Wonka in the prequel film released in December 2023, which raked in over $600 million at the worldwide box office. Also read: Dune Part Two box office collection: Timothée Chalamet film mints over $367 million worldwide
Timothée could be the next Leonardo, Tom Cruise
Within months of Wonka‘s release, Timothée Chalamet produced another box office hit – Dune: Part Two ($369 million and counting). Dune: Part Two, which also sees Timothée in a lead role, hit theaters on March 1. Per the Variety report, Timothée is shaping up to be the next big Hollywood ‘leading man’, much like Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Cruise.
Salary bump
His recent box office success will see Timothée getting a salary bump and ‘looking at paydays in the double digits for leading roles in studio films’, per the report. Warner Bros. doesn’t have a contract yet for Dune: Part Three, but director Denis Villeneuve has been vocal about wanting to make it, so ‘Timothée’s salary could surge for future installments after the success of the sequel’.
Timothée Chalamet’s recent box office hits
Although Dune 2 and Wonka are projects with built-in fanbases, Hollywood producers believe that Timothée Chalamet’s star power is responsible for the films’ successes. “We can count on one or two hands, in any age range, the people who are legitimate movie stars. Timothée is absolutely that,” says Dune producer Mary Parent.
The actor, 28, earned critical acclaim for his portrayal as well as his singing and dancing abilities in Wonka. It also earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Actor in a Musical or Comedy Film, though he lost out to The Holdovers’ Paul Giamatti.
“I can’t imagine any other actor on the planet who could have played Willy Wonka and have the success that Wonka had. You need everything to work in today’s world. IP alone is not sufficient,” says Josh Goldstine, Warner Bros. president of worldwide marketing, who led the campaigns for Wonka and Dune.
Films Timothée was in before he became famous
In 2014, Timothée Chalamet’ made his film debut in the comedy-drama Men, Women and Children and also appeared in Christopher Nolan’s science fiction film Interstellar.
His true rise to stardom began with 2017’s Call Me by Your Name, with his phenomenal portrayal of Elio serving as a breakout performance that earned him an Oscar nomination. He was also seen as Kyle Scheible in Lady Bird, Nic Sheff in Beautiful Boy, and perhaps most notably, as Paul Atreides in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (2021).
Entertainment! Entertainment! Entertainment! 🎞️🍿💃 Click to follow our Whatsapp Channel 📲 Your daily dose of gossip, films, shows, celebrities updates all in one place