Robert Pattinson has been making headlines for quite some time now. The Scottish actor has become a household name all over the world as he portrayed the famous Harry Potter character. He got his start in the movie industry at the age of 21 and over the past few years, he has played a variety of roles including Batman and Lord Voldemort. He has also been part of several movie productions that have gone on to become cult classics. As a result of his starring role in the Harry Potter series, he has become a brand name in his own right. Since the films have gone on to become such huge successes, it is not hard to believe that he will continue to reap the financial benefits of this role for the remainder of his career. In this article, we will analyze how much he actually made off of playing Harry Potter and whether or not he will continue to profit financially from this newfound fame.

The Harry Potter Franchise

If you’re not familiar, Harry Potter is a series of juvenile fiction books that was first published in the late 1990s by author J.K. Rowling. The books revolved around the adventures of Harry Potter, a young wizard who lived with his aunt and uncle, Dudley and Meghan. In 1997, the first film adaptation of one of the books was released and became a worldwide phenomenon. Due to its box office success, a sequel was released in 2001, followed by a third film in 2007. Warner Bros. has also produced several direct-to-video sequels and a prequel that were released after the trilogy ended.

The Harry Potter franchise is now one of the most successful movie series of all time. It is the second highest-grossing series of all time, right after the James Bond series. It currently stands at number five on the all-time rankings with $11.66 billion in global ticket sales (as of June 2021). To put this into perspective, the other four films in the Harry Potter series grossed a combined total of $5.79 billion at the box office. Adjusted for inflation, the combined global receipts of the first four Harry Potter films would now be equal to almost $16 billion (nearly $30 million per film).

Robert Pattinson’s Career

Prior to playing Harry Potter, Pattinson had appeared in several British films including X-Men, the Gucci movie and the comedy My Best Friend’s Wedding. He also had a small role in the sci-fi flick, Children of Men. Most notably, he portrayed author, DH Lawrence in the movie adaptation of the controversial 1924 novel, Women in Love, which was directed by Julian Jarrold. This was a huge break for Pattinson as it was his first major role in a Hollywood movie, which came at the age of 21. He has since gone on to appear in several more feature films including 2014’s The Rum Diary and The Martian.

One of the most interesting parts of Pattinson’s career is the trajectory that he took after playing Harry Potter. He immediately began to rise as a leading man in Hollywood and in 2019, he was even nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role. While it is certainly exciting to see him succeed in his career, it is also worth noting that much of his success was likely due to his association with the Potter brand. This brings us to our next question…

How Much Did Robert Pattinson Get Paid to Play Harry Potter?

When it comes to the monetary awards that Pattinson has received for portraying Harry Potter, it is quite difficult to know exactly how much he was paid. He has never publicly discussed his compensation for playing the role and in many cases, the contracts that he signed have been sealed under legal duress. The closest we can get to an answer is by looking at his IMDb page and comparing it to the published budgets for each film in the series. These figures were compiled by film finance website, Movie Budget, which estimates the earnings of the main cast members based on reported income and overseas sales.

The first two Harry Potter installments were released in 1997 and 2001. The 1997 film, Philosopher’s Stone, which is often cited as the first true installment of the Harry Potter series, was originally budgeted at $17 million but the final budget was $22 million. The 2001 movie, Chamber of Secrets, was budgeted at $26 million but actually cost $32 million to make. We can estimate that Pattinson was paid somewhere between $17,500 and $32,500 for each of his appearances as Harry Potter.

The franchise’s largest box office and global success may have had something to do with the fact that it was the first time that American audiences had heard of Richard Simmons, the infamous founder of the Hormone Zone gym chain whose catchphrase was “more muscle, less fat.” American Express released a commercial during the height of the Richard Simmons phenomenon that featured a spoof of the iconic “more muscle, less fat” slogan.

Pattinson’s Financial Future

It’s quite difficult to say how much money Robert Pattinson will actually make off of playing Harry Potter. Despite his massive success, he still has a long way to go before he can even think about retiring. The actor is currently in talks to star in the adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches. If completed, this will be his first major role after playing the magical boy for more than a decade. Not only does it offer him the opportunity to work with some of Hollywood’s top talent, but it also means that he will finally get to work alongside his fellow Scottish native, Sir Alec Guiness. The famed explorer, balloonist, and author passed away in 2019 and a biography written in his honor will be published this year. It’s been a long time coming for Pattinson as he was first inspired to play the part after reading a biography of Roald Dahl in primary school.

Dahl was a master of magic realism whose stories often feature fantastical creatures and situations. One of the major themes in these works is the contrast between children’s innocence and the cruelty of adults. Given that the actor will be playing a child-saving man-eating witch, it will certainly be fascinating to see how he handles that part. We will have to wait and see whether or not Pattinson continues to profit from his involvement with the Harry Potter franchise.