Brad Pitt's Biggest Box Office Success Is A Movie Where He Has A One-Second Cameo

According to the website The Numbers, Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt is the 71st biggest earner in box office history. As of this writing, his films — 62 in all, including both lead and supporting performances — have made a collective $9.496 billion at the international box office, putting him just ahead of Tom HIddleston ($9.413 billion) but just behind Orlando Bloom ($9.526 billion). For perspective, the top-earning actor, Samuel L. Jackson, has earned a whopping $28.361 billion at the box office. Keep in mind, however, that Jackson has appeared in many Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, several "Star Wars" films, two "Incredibles" movies, "Jurassic Park," and a few Quentin Tarantino hits. Technically, the highest-earning actor of all time is Stan Lee, as he made cameos in several more MCU movies than Jackson has acted in. 

Pitt, meanwhile, has never had a giant blockbuster franchise that he's been regularly involved with, meaning that his almost-$9.5 billion record is all the more impressive; he was able to sell movies on his own star power and the appeal of their varied premises. "Interview with the Vampire," a romantic horror movie, made over $223 million back in 1994. Downers like "Seven," "12 Monkeys," and "Sleepers" were also hits, making $327 million, $168 million, and $165 million, in turn. The mayhem-filled "Iliad" adaptation "Troy" (which Pitt isn't exactly proud of) made almost half a billion dollars in theaters, while the zombie thriller "World War Z" racked up $540 million. Notably, Pitt's monetary number jumped way up in 2025 after he starred in director Joseph Kosinski's "F1," a high-octane car-racing drama that dominated the box office (making $631 million).

Nevertheless, Pitt's highest-earning movie is, in fact, "Deadpool 2," a movie that made $786 million at the box office ... and only features Pitt in a one-second cameo.

It's worth recalling that Brad Pitt's cameo in the R-rated "Deadpool 2" was included as a mere joke. The titular character (Ryan Reynolds) is an irascible chaos agent who breaks the fourth wall to mock the clichés of superhero movies from within. Partway through the film, Deadpool assembles a ragtag superhero group of his own — the X-Force — in order to rescue a character named Russell (Julian Dennison) from a transport convoy. The problem is that X-Force is constructed of people he's never met before, including a mute, invisible member called the Vanisher. The gag of the Vanisher is that he may not actually be in the room with Deadpool and that Deadpool is delusional for thinking that there is an additional invisible member of his team. 

When the members of X-Force leap from a plane to skydive into position around Russell's convoy, however, everything goes wrong. Deadpool, it turns out, isn't a good planner, and the skydiving goes awry at every turn. Notably, the Vanisher coasts into some power lines and is electrocuted to death. When the electricity is coursing through his body, he is visible for literally one second of screen time. Yes, he's played by Pitt. No, Pitt wasn't on set when the Vanisher was invisible. He only arrived to film his electrocution scene. According to a 2018 article by Radio Times, Pitt's cameo was filmed after production had pretty much wrapped on the rest of "Deadpool 2." An earlier report from the outlet noted that his cameo only took two hours to film. 

Only two hours on set for Pitt — an experience that required he learn no lines — added a $786 million record to his career. Not bad work if you can get it.