On March 18, 2000, a little-known WWE star named The Rock hosted “Saturday Night Live.” Though he had made a few guest appearances on non-wrestling TV shows, for example, Star Trek Voyager, The Rock had almost zero mainstream profile at this point.
He wasn’t even SNL’s original first choice to host. With WrestleMania 16 falling just two weeks away from the air date, SNL producers originally had their eyes on Steve Austin to host. Unfortunately, he was injured, so The Rock – the second most famous wrestler in WWE – was tapped to take his place. AC/DC was the musical guest.
Much to the surprise of anyone who wasn’t already a massive wrestling fan, The Rock’s SNL episode was an enormous success. The Rock’s charisma and natural comedic timing, which turned him into the star we love today, delivered 20 million viewers to SNL that night. It was the highest-rated episode of the season.
Side note. To illustrate just how much network television viewing habits have changed in the last two decades, consider this: Aubrey Plaza’s episode was the highest-rated of this most recent SNL season. Aubrey’s episode, with Sam Smith as musical guest, pulled in 4.8 million viewers.
But back to The Rock.
Watching along with 20 million other viewers on the evening of March 18, 2000, were the producers of an in-development film project called “The Mummy Returns.” These producers were so enthralled with his performance (and the subsequent ratings) that they quickly carved out a small role for The Rock in the film. The Mummy Returns went on to make $435 million at the box office, more than quadrupling its $100 million budget.
Upon that success, the producers approached WWE honcho Vince McMahon with a proposal. They wanted The Rock to star in “The Scorpion King,” which would be both a prequel and spin-off of “The Mummy Returns.”
The producers had to go through Vince McMahon because The Rock was under contract with the WWE. Vince basically owned The Rock’s time and name. A deal was struck. Vince McMahon was made one of the film’s producers, and The Rock was given a salary of…
$5.5 million
Even more than two decades later, The Rock’s $5.5 million Scorpion payday still stands as the largest salary paid to a first-time actor in a lead role. Earning $5.5 million in 2002 is the same as earning around $10 million today after adjusting for inflation.
The Scorpion King went on to earn $180 million on a budget of $60 million and launched The Rock’s career as an A-list film star.
Fast forward to the present, and The Rock, who today is also known simply as “Dwayne Johnson,” has set another extremely impressive film salary record…
