Oddly enough, now that the numbers have begun to flow in, it looks like the two highest-grossing actors of 2017 actually have quite a bit in common with one another. Not only are Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson two of Hollywood's most recognizable chrome-domed action heroes, but The Fate of the Furious co-stars have officially been crowned as the two biggest box office earners of the last year.
Taking the top spot is Vin Diesel, whose work on The Fate of the Furious and xXx: The Return of Xander Cage catapulted him to a worldwide box office haul of $1.6 billion (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was not counted, as it only featured Diesel's voice as Baby Groot). Coming in at second place is other Fate actor The Rock, who also underperformed with the release of Baywatch earlier this summer, but then more than made up for it with the opening weekend of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle -- and Jumanji is also expected to continue earning for him going into 2018. As of right now, it looks like Diesel's $1.6 billion for 2017 will just barely edge out The Rock's $1.5 billion. Let's just hope that doesn't ignite anymore Fast and Furious drama between them.
Going one spot down the Forbes list of highest-grossing actors, we come to one of the year's most successful superheroes. Wonder Woman helped Gal Gadot rake in $822 million worldwide, and while Zack Snyder's Justice League did not perform quite as well as many fans expected it to when it debuted back in November, the film's box office earnings still helped catapult Ms. Gadot to an annual haul of $1.4 billion.
On top of all of that, Gal Gadot is also a former star of the Fast and Furious franchise, having appeared alongside Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson as the endlessly badass Gisele Yashar before the death of her character at the end of Fast and Furious 6. Gadot did not appear in The Fate of the Furious with Diesel and Johnson this year, but the franchise did help launch her career as a solo act, so that is something worth pointing out.
So those are the top earners of 2017, and we will just have to wait and see what the next year brings. Between major 2018 premieres like Avengers: Infinity War for Marvel, DC's Aquaman, and Solo: A Star Wars Story, there are plenty of films that have the potential to bring in some serious money for a wide range of actors.
