Scarlett Johansson Awaits Big Avengers 2 Payday

Well, it's certainly great to be cast in a hit franchise that producers are itching to see the good times roll on. Scarlett Johansson's portrayal as the Black Widow in Marvel's The Avengers was one component in a half-dozen super-heroes that has brought in over $1.45 billion since its release in late Spring. With money like that rolling in, no point in jiggering with a winning formula. And to keep the good times going, the producers have offered up a record-breaking paycheck for Johansson to reprise her super-hero role.

The Hollywood star has been offered a cool $20 million in order to lure her back in the skin-tight black suit for more flips, punches and acrobatics for future adoring audiences in the franchise's next installment, according to the New York Post. That is "slightly" more than the $19 million Angelina Jolie reportedly received for her turn in The Tourist

If that pans out, that will be quite a pay raise from the current film, which is the biggest of the summer tentpoles so far. According to The Hollywood Reporter in May she made between $4 - 6 million plus bonuses, similar to Samuel L. Jackson, but much less than Robert Downey, Jr.'s reported take (Chris Hemsworth, Chis Evans, Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo made about half that).

Last month, Forbes magazine dubbed Kristen Stewart the highest paid actress in Hollywood between her Twilight and Snow White and the Huntsman gigs. The two made her a celestial $34.5 million between May 2011 and May 2012. If Johansson accepts the twenty mill. and adds in another pic for good measure, she could well be on her way in topping Stewart.

[Source: NY Post via The Huffington Post]