Remember the beginning of the 2000 era, when big blockbuster movies like Transformers were carving out a new niche in popular culture for action and fantasy movies? At the time, those movies broke the box office and introduced breakout stars like Shia Lebeouf and Megan Fox into the main stage of Hollywood. Like all actors, those same breakout stars would move on from their iconic roles to other projects. Unfortunately, for some, their time in the spotlight only goes so far, and they somewhat disappear from the big stage. For Shia Lebouf, once viewed as a major player on that stage, his fall from grace and previous controversial comments has slowed his ascension to Hollywood greatness to a crawl. Fortunately, his Transformers co-star Meghan Fox hasn’t had too many issues and has managed to keep herself busy with various low-budget projects. However, just like Lebeouf, Meghan Fox has also fallen from the level of stardom that made her household name, which could mean that she’s not as rich as some people may think. So what is Meghan Fox’s net worth?
Megan Fox actually started her career in 2001 with several minor roles in television and film. According to Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Fox made her acting debut in the 2001 video Holiday in the Sun starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen before taking recurring roles on TV shows like Hope & Faith.
But it wouldn’t be until 2004 that Fox would make her major film debut when she would appear as Carla in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen with fellow mega teen star Lindsay Lohan. After that, it didn’t take long for Megan Fox to attain a megastar status herself. Her good looks and charismatic personality soon became a sex symbol among the teen demographic. Her popularity would then land her one of her biggest roles as Mikela Barnes in 2004’s Transformers and its sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, in 2009.
Both movies made an enormous amount of money– with the first film bringing in $709 million and the second making $836 million–that was well over a billion dollars. With that much money, you would think Megan Fox was pretty financially comfortable after her time as Mikela Barnes. But truth be told, she didn’t receive as much for her role in the billion-dollar franchise.
Though it hasn’t been reported what Megan Fox actually made for the first Transformers, it has been stated that the actress only made $800,000 for the sequel, according to Cinemaholic. Considering she was only second to Shia Lebeouf’s top billing in the series, that figure actually seems pretty low. For that reason, Fox demanded more money for the third installment, Transformers: Dark Side of The Moon. Unfortunately, Paramount Pictures–the studio behind Transformers–disagreed with Fox’s request, and following a few controversial comments about Transformers director Michael Bay, Fox was dropped from the film. She was then replaced by English model and fellow actress Rosie Huntington as Sam Witwicky’s love interest.
However, Transformers wasn’t the only project to cement Fox’s status and popularity as a sex symbol. In 2009, she also starred in writer Diablo Cody’s Academy Award-winning horror-comedy, Jennifer’s Body, which is still fondly remembered by fans of the early 2000 era cinema. Though the controversial movie was considered a cult classic, it, unfortunately, didn’t take in the same amount of money as Transformers. And for a while after that, Megan Fox couldn’t seem to find her way back to the notoriety she had achieved during the early part of her career. In fact, it would be another five years before fans would see Megan Fox grace the big screen again.
In 2014, after reconciliation with director Michael Bay, Fox managed to land the role of April O’ Neil in Nickelodeon’s live-action adaptation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and even returned for the sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows in 2015. The first film–which made $493 million in the box office–brought Megan out of her slump and gave fans hope that the actress would make a resurgence. Unfortunately, the sequel didn’t enjoy the same success; it bombed at the box office and only earned $245 million, a considerable decrease from its predecessor. Shortly after that, the film series became a distant memory, and Fox herself retreated into the shadows.
She would appear and become famous again in 2020, but it wouldn’t be for her acting this time. She began making headlines when she began dating rapper/actor Machine Gun Kelly after her split from ex-husband Brian Austin Green, which some speculated was due to financial troubles. So exactly how much is Megan Fox’s net worth?
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Megan Fox has only made $8 million since she first became a breakout star in 2009. That’s a relatively low number considering the blockbuster films she’s been in over the years, and living like (or trying to live like) a celebrity can be expensive. And with no lucrative or big projects on the horizon, it doesn’t seem like Fox is making much money from acting. So, it’s possible that financial troubles were the reason for her split from Green.
But that doesn’t mean the 35-year-old couldn’t still turn it around. She might just need to land a role in a good superhero franchise to help her bounce back. It certainly helped Aquaman star Jason Momoa.