Remember earlier this year, when yet another phoned in performance from Samuel L. Jackson — this time in the trailer for the straight-to-DVD video-game-centered action flick Arena — inspired Flavorwire film editor Jason Bailey to write an entire post on actors who have made the unfortunate transition from once brilliant work to lazy, paycheck roles? Well, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, Jackson is now the highest grossing movie actor of all time. So congrats, Sam. It worked!
As Entertainment Weekly‘s Darren Franich is quick to point out, “The bulk of Jackson’s estimated $7.2 billion gross comes from big franchise films where he had, at best, a supporting role.” Also, the people at Guinness apparently did not adjust the numbers to reflect inflation. But still, are you at all surprised by this news, given how many bad movies Jackson — who averages a whopping four films a year — has been in of late?