If there’s an actor that could that would embody the phrase ‘veteran in the business’ it would be Jon Voight. Born in 1938 in Yonkers, New York, he has been one of the most instrumental legends that have placed the way for the next generation of actors. With a net worth of $55 million, it would be accurate to suggest that his money is ‘old’ since he began his career in the early 1960s in television series such as Gunsmoke, Naked City, Hour of The Gun, and Midnight Cowboy, a drama film which made his career. To date, Jon Voight has appeared in at least 64 movies in total, although that number could be greater. He has co-starred with actors such as Jane Fonda, Eric Roberts, Danny Trejo, Matt Damon, Owen Wilson, Jennifer Lopez, Will Smith, and Tom Cruise to name only a few. Here are ten of Jon Voight’s highest-grossing movies, ranked from greatest to least.
10 Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them
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Entering into the world of spellwork and wizardry, Jon Voight landed himself a role in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter movie series spin-off, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, released in 2016. Set in 1926, the fantasy film follows a British wizard named Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) who in search of one of the magical creatures, called a Niffler, that escaped from his suitcase. However, he is arrested by Portentina Goldstein, a demoted Auror of the Magical Congress of The United States, for breaking magical laws. Luckily for Newt, his suitcase was mistakenly switched with that of a baker named Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler), and he is released. Believing it to be his, Jacob opens the suitcase and frees the creatures into New York City. Portentina (Katherine Waterston) helps Newt to recapture some of the creatures, but they are again arrested when it’s believed that one of the creatures killed Senator Henry Shaw Jr. (Jon Voight). The spell-casting film grossed a net worth of a whopping $811.72 million at the box office.
9 Transformers
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Directed by Michael Bay with Steven Spielberg overseeing production as executive producer, Transformers was released in 2007 and is the first installment in the Transformers movie series. The science fiction film surrounds the ongoing feud that took place on the planet of Cybertron, which was destroyed by a civil war between two rivaling Transformer divisions, the Autobots led by Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen), and the Decepticons led by Megatron (Hugo Weaving). Both factions are in search of the All Spark, their planet’s life source – the Autobots want to rebuild Cybertron and put an end to the war with the Decepticons, while the Decepticons want it for more nefarious reasons, like control over the universe. The All Spark is on Earth in the Colorado River, and Megatron, who is frozen in the Arctic Circle, is aware, but so is the United States Military, of who John Keller (Jon Voight) is the US Secretary of Defense. The fate of the world now rests in the hands of a descendant of the explorer who found Megatron, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf). The captivating film grossed $208.27 million worldwide.
8 Mission: Impossible
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Jon Voight has been present at the inception of many multi-million and multi-billion dollar movie franchises, in this case, Mission Impossible’s first installment, released in 1996. Undoubtedly, Tom Cruise has taken the franchise above and beyond, and now, all together, the MI franchise is worth over $3 billion. The spy action films follow Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) who is the lead agent on his IMF team. When they are sent to the city of Prague in the Czech Republic for another mission, things go horribly wrong and everyone on the team is apparently killed, including Jack (Emilio Estevez), Hannah (Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė), Golistyn (Marcel Iureş), and Sarah (Kristin Scott Thomas), leaving Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) as the sole survivor and suspected mole (traitor). When Phelps’ wife and fellow IMF member, Claire (Emmanuelle Béart) resurfaces after being thought dead, Ethan realizes that Phelps is the mole. The film successfully grossed $457.69 million worldwide.
7 National Treasure: Book Of Secrets
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One of his more memorable films in recent times is his role in the National Treasure movie series, the sequel being National Treasure: Book of Secrets released in 2007. In this franchise, we see Voight playing the role of the protagonist’s father, Patrick Henry Gates. The film surrounds the ancestor of Benjamin Gates (Nicolas Cage), Thomas Gates, who is approached by John Wilkes Booth and Michael O’Laughlen, who ask him to decipher a code. While he decodes the message, Booth proceeds to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. Realizing their betrayal, O’Laughlen shoots and kills Gates after he tears apart the decoded message. Fast forward 140 years later and black market dealer, Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris) owns the last surviving piece of torn paper with the code. Ben Gates and his father, Patrick, set out to clear the name of their ancestor, Thomas Gates, who the public believes helped to kill Benjamin Franklin. The historical film grossed $457.32 million.
RELATED: Mission Impossible: Every Major Cast Member’s Net Worth
6 Pearl Harbor
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Based loosely on the events of the Pearl Harbor attack by Japanese forces in December 1941 during World War 2, the romantic war drama was released in 2001. The film follows two best friends, Captain Rafe McCawley (Ben Affleck) and Captain Danny Walker (Josh Hartnett) who have are both lieutenant pilots. Rafe meets with a nurse named Evelyn Johnson (Kate Beckinsdale) who conducts his medical exmaination, and the two begin a romantic relationship. However, Rafe surprises Evelyn with news that he will be leaving the following day to fight in the Eagle Squadron. However, he is shot down in battle and presumed dead. Evelyn, distraught and mourning his death, turns to Rafe’s best friend, Danny, for comfort. However, Rafe survived the crash, and returns to find his lover and his best friend are now together. Jon Voight plays the coveted role of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who declares war against Japan, forcing Danny and Rafe back into war. Danny dies, however, after taking a bullet for Rafe, who reveals that Evelyn is pregnant with his son. What a bombshell! The film grossed $449.23 million gobally.
5 National Treasure
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Released in 2004, the first National Treasure action-adventure film installment made waves with its compelling backstory of generational tales and secret societies, like the Knights Templar, Founding Fathers, and Freemasons. Benjamin Gates (Nicolas Cage) was told by his gradfather John Gates (Christopher Plummer), that these secret societies are securing hidden treasure, which was passed down to him by the late signatory of the Declaration of Independence, Charles Carroll. Years later, Ben, his computer wiz friend, Riley (Jastin Bartha), his father Patrick (Jon Voight), and fiance Abigail (Diane Chase) emabark on an expedition finacned by Ian Howe (Sean Benn) to find the historical treasure. The Walt Disney Pictures release grossed $331.32 million.
4 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
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Before Angelina Jolie’s life was plagued by her unfortunate divorce from the World War Z actor, Brad Pitt, her career was thriving with movies like Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, released in 2001. The action adventure film was an inevitable success, grossing $273.33 million at the global box office, as well as a video game. After all, who doesn’t want to see Jolie get sweaty and physical is a pair of short shorts? The film follows Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie) an adventurer whose presumably dead father, Lord Richard Croft (Jon Voight) appears to her in a dream. Shortly after, she finds a strange clock inside her family manor house, which happens to be the missing half of a mysterious atifact called “The Triangle” that is highly sought after by the Illuminati, who holds the second half of the clock. The intend to unite the pieces in conjunction with a solar eclipse, and Manfred Powell (Iain Glen) promises Lara that once united, The Triangle can be used to ressurect her father. Craft seeks, rather, to destroy the artifact so its power won’t be manipulated. Angeline Jolie is Jon Voight’s biological daughter, and this was their first movie together.
3 Enemy Of The State
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If there are two roles that Voight can enact superbly, they would be that of a politician and a traitor, which ironically don’t seem to differ much in the eyes of many. In the 1998 political action thriller, Enemy of The State, Voight executed his role as NSA Department Head Thomas Brian Reynolds in spectacular fashion. The film starts with Reynolds meeting with a U.S Congressman to discuss a new counterterrorism legislation backed by the US Congress that would give intelligence agencies surveillance powers over domestic individuls and groups. However, Congressman Hammersley refuses to pass the legislation, wanting to defend the privacy of US citizens, which leads Reynolds to have him executed. Reynolds’ NSA team notices a biologist named Zavitz (Jason Lee) retreiving a surveillance tape from a wildlife camera which captured the Congressman’s murder. Panicked, Zavitz transfers the tape to a disk and while fleeing for his life, bumps into Clayton, and drops the disk into his shopping bag unbeknowst to him. Now Clayton, his wife Carla (Regina King), and son are targeted by the NSA who destroys his life and bank accounts. He gets help from Brill (Gene Hackman), and the two are hunted by NSA surveillance. The provocative film grossed $250.64 million globally.
2 Tropic Thunder
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Directed by Ben Stiller, who also played the role of the lead actor, Tropic Thunder is an action comedy film featuring a host of comedians that made it a commercial and critical success with generally favorable reviews. The comedy follows a once successful and promoinent actor, Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller) who has been unfortunately producing a strong of box office bombs and decides to take the role of Four Leaf Tayback (Nick Nolt), a Vietnam veteran whose life is being made into a movie directed by Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan) called Tropic Thunder. On set with him are fellow washed-up actors such as the drug-addicted comedian Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black), Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.). Life gets real for the frail actors when they are dropped in the Golden Triangle jungle on Four Leaf’s Command. They are now in the territory of a heroin-producing gang called the Flaming Dragon. However, they’re unaware that the movie is over, and what they are experiencing is real. Jon Voight, Martin Lawrence, and Trya Banks are among some of the celebrites who made cameos in the film, which grossed $191.43 million.
1 Heat
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Heat is a crime drama released in 1995 and surround the life of Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro), a professional thief who operates in Los Angeles with his team of thieves, namely Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer), Michael Cheritto (Tom Sizemore), Trejo (Danny Trejo), and a newly hired hothead named Waingro (Kevin Gage). An armor truck heist for $1.6 million goes wrong when Waingro impulsively kills an armored guard. This casues a second guard to be killed by MaCauley when he attemted to draw his weapon. Annoyed, MaCauey and his team turn to kill Waingro, but he escapes their pursuit. Their trail is detected by LAPD Lieutenant Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) who begins investigating MaCauley and his crew, although he is consumed with personal issues of his own. Jon Voiught plays the role of Nate, MaCauley’s receiver. Against a budget of $60 million, the film grossed $187.4 million globally.
READ NEXT: International Treasure: Inside The $25 Million Empire Of Nicolas Cage
Sources: Roger Ebert, Empire, The Guardian, Washington Post, Rolling Stone
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