Beyoncé Earned $446,429 for Every Line She Spoke in ‘The Lion King’
Beyoncé is one of the biggest entertainers in the world, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that she gets paid large sums to headline concerts, make public appearances, and take on major blockbuster movie roles.
In 2019, the singer was named one of the highest-paid women of the year after earning an eye-watering amount of money for her work on the live-action adaption of the Disney classic The Lion King. While she earned millions just for being part of the film, Bey also made a staggering amount for every line she spoke in the film, placing her in the top rankings on the highest-earning actors in the world list.
Beyoncé stars as Nala in the 2019 adaption of Disney’s The Lion King
Twenty-five years after the original Lion King film graced the big screen, director Jon Favreau took us back to Pride Rock in July 2019 by giving us a live-action adaptation of the beloved film.
Though James Earl Jones reprised his role as Mufasa in the live-action film, this time around, he was joined by a new A-list cast, including Donald Glover, Billy Eichner, Seth Rogan, and the Queen B herself, Beyoncé, who voiced the grown-up version of the film’s main lioness, Nala.
Right before the film was released, Bey opened up about her experience working on the movie with Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts.
Since the film has always been near and dear to her heart, playing the part of Nala was very special to Beyoncé. She even noted that voicing a fearless and bold female character is what made the entire experience worthwhile.
“It was important to the director [Jon Favreau] that Nala and that the females in this film were heroes,” the singer told Roberts during ABC’s The Lion King: Can You Feel The Love Tonight special. “And he put Nala right alongside Simba. I thought that was very interesting and very real, because the women are, you know, we’re the fighters.”
“The movie has an incredible spirit,” Bey continued. “It opens you up, it talks about the struggle of standing up and fighting for what you love. And it takes you on so many emotional rides.”
Disney reportedly paid Beyoncé millions of dollars to voice Nala
After The Lion King hit theaters on July 19, 2019, it brought home a whopping $1,656,943,394 at the box office.
And seeing as though the Disney flick was the second highest-grossing film of 2019, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the movie’s lead stars, especially Beyoncé, earned a hefty salary for their work.
While it’s unclear exactly how much the singer made from voicing the lead lioness, The Hollywood Reporter speculated in 2019 that she raked in $15 million for her role. Vibe, on the other hand, reported that Disney had agreed to pay the singer $25 million for her involvement in the film.
Since then, experts have looked into Beyoncé’s earnings from the film more in-depth and have found that she made well over the latter for her work in The Lion King.
According to a new report, Beyoncé made close to $450,000 per line spoken in ‘The Lion King’
In a new study created by Slotwise, experts looked into the highest-grossing films of 2019 and analyzed their scripts to find out how much actors earned per line spoken.
While Robert Downey Jr. came in first place, earning an astonishing $683,060 per the 183 lines he spoke in Avengers: End Game, the Queen Bey captured the no.2 spot on the list.
According to the outlet, the singer made an eye-watering $446,429 for the 56 lines she spoke in The Lion King, which averages out to be about $25 million.
Now, this isn’t even including the money she earned from lending her musical talents to The Lion King: The Gift album, so it’s likely Bey earned another few million from that.
All in all, the singer racked in some big buck from her work on The Lion King. But however many millions of dollars Bey was paid for her involvement in the project– she was clearly worth every penny!
