Although the BDSM-themed romance was a box office hit, Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan made peanuts for appearing in it. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the stars of Fifty Shades of Grey were paid just $250,000 each plus an undisclosed piece of the box office pie. They didn't receive any backend compensation though, hence why, when the time came, both Johnson and Dornan renegotiated their salaries. At the time, insiders advised they were looking to take a leaf out of the books of franchise stars from Twilight and The Hunger Games to figure out a reasonable salary for the sequels.

Jennifer Lawrence, for example, renegotiated a $10 million payday for Catching Fire, a remarkable increase from her $500,000 salary for the first Hunger Games film. Of Johnson and Dornan's initial deal, an industry source reasoned, "It was a very basic franchise starter deal," per The Hollywood Reporter. Considering both Johnson's and Dornan's net worth is estimated to be around the $14 million mark, it's safe to say they managed to take home a decent amount for every subsequent Fifty Shades movie.