The success of mainland box office has proven to be beneficial to not just the movie industry but also to the income of actors and actresses in China.
Martial arts star Wu Jing, from the series "A Time for Consequences," said that he has seen his earning increase by 10 times in the past years, reported Hong Kong-based media Southern Urban Daily.
"A Time for Consequences" generated 500 million yuan (about $80 million) in ticket sales, which prompted the producers to raise Wu's pay from 1 million yuan ($160,000) to 10 million yuan ($1,600,000) for every movie made, putting him in the billion-yuan category.
Same goes for other actors who have seen their fees go up, including actor Wi Xiubo, whose earnings rose from 4 million yuan ($644,000) to 25 million yuan ($4 million) per movie after he appeared in "Finding Mr. Right" with mainland actress Tang Wei.
Tony Leung from Hong Kong enjoyed a fee rise from 30 million yuan ($4.8 million) to 45 million yuan ($7.2 million) after winning at the Cannes Film Festival for his role in the "Mood for Love." The new salary rate will take effect once he starts shooting for his upcoming movie, "Bai Du Ren."
Included in the "more expensive list," Hong Kong actors Nick Cheung and Francis Ng's paychecks show the most dramatic increase, with Chueng enjoying a four-fold increase in his salary in two years, thanks to his role in "The Man from Macau" that increased his paycheck from 12 million yuan to 20 million yuan.
However, Cheung's agent said that money is not the only priority, and that Cheung would like to do more quality movies and "to increase the standard means less movies, but guarantees quality," the agent added.