Courteney Cox’s Net Worth Reveals What She Makes For ‘Scream’ Compared to ‘Friends’
If you want to know how much of Courteney Cox’s net worth includes what made on friends Friends—and its HBO Max reunion—you’ve come to right place. Allow us to dive into what to know about Courteney Cox‘s net worth and her salary for Friends, Scream and more Hollywood franchises ahead.
Cox started acting career with a taste of fame in small television roles, like the 80’s sitcom Family Ties, where she starred as none other than Michael J. Fox’s character Alex P. Keaton’s girlfriend, Lauren Miller. And in the music world, fans also saw Cox as Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 music video for his song “Dancing in the Dark.” While these appearances kicked of Cox’s careers in 1980s, they didn’t compare to the fame Cox would see after she joined the cast of Friends in 1994. Cox starred on Friends as Monica Geller for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004. In 2021, she reunited with her cast—David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow—for a special on HBO Max titled Friends: The Reunion.
Watch ‘Friends’
But Friends isn’t the only franchise Cox has starred in. In 1996, two years after the premiere of Friends, Cox made her debut as Gale Weathers, a local news reporter investigating murders in the small town of Woodsboro, California, in the Scream franchise. After the first Scream movie, Cox went on to star as Gale in four more Scream movies: Scream 2 in 1997; Scream 3 in 2000; Scream 4 in 2011; and Scream 5 in 2022. Along with Friends and Scream, Cox has also starred in numerous other TV shows. These shows include ABC’s Cougar Town, where she played Jules Cobb, a recently divorced woman in her 40s taking on all the hilariously messy challenges that come along with any major change. She starred on Cougar Town for 102 episodes and six seasons from 2009 to 2015.
So how much is Courteney Cox’s net worth and what did she make from Friends, Scream and more franchises? Read on for what we know about how much Cox is worth.
How much did Courteney Cox make from Friends?
When Courteney Cox was cast as Monica Geller on Friends in 1994, she joined the show with a starting salary of $22,500 per episode. This was the same amount the rest of her cast mates received throughout season one, which amounted to a $540,000 paycheck per cast member by the end of the first season. By season 3, Cox and her co-stars managed to negotiate a $75,000 per episode salary—a practice they kept up until they eventually bargained for their famed $1 million per episode salary during seasons 9 and 10. Altogether, this amounted to earnings of approximately $90 million for Cox by the end of Friends.
But it gets even better: Cox and her castmates continue to take home millions in royalties. Warner Bros. makes an estimated $1 billion (yes, you read that right) in syndication deals alone. And according to a 2015 report by USA Today, Cox and her castmates earn a 2% cut from these syndication deals, amounting to around $20 million each per year.
The cast is also believed to have earned around $2 million each when Netflix paid for the rights to stream Friends on their platform in 2018, as per Lad Bible. Soon after, parent company WarnerMedia acquired the streaming rights to Friends again, resulting in the long-awaited Friends: The Reunion on HBO Max. And how much are they being paid for the reunion special, you ask? Anywhere between $2.5 million to $3 million!
In an interview with The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2021, Cox opened up about how “emotional” it was to reunite with her co-stars for the Friends reunion. “It was unbelievable. It was so emotional,” she said. “It’s an unscripted reunion, but we got to be on [Warner Bros.’] Stage 24 for the first time, all of us in, like, I forgot how many years. 15 years? 17 years?” She continued, “Oh god, I have the worst memory. Everything came up that I forgot about. It was great. It was really fun,” she added. “We had a lot of special surprises. It was fantastic. It really was.”
What did What did Courteney Cox make from Scream?
Cox has starred as Gale Weathers in five Scream movies: 1996’s Scream, 1997’s Scream 2, 2000’s Scream 3, 2011’s Scream 4 and 2022’s Scream 5. According to Forbes, Cox made $1 million for Scream; $5 million for Scream 2 and $7 million for Scream 3. Her salaries for Scream 4 and Scream 5 aren’t known.
Cox and her ex-husband, David Arquette, met on the set of Scream in 1996. “We met at a pre-party before we started filming Scream. I was being a little cocky and Courteney was like, ‘Ah, I’ve heard of you,’ and we just kept flirting for a while. She’s just so gorgeous and she jokes around so much,” he told People in 2009. They started dating soon after and married in 1999, a year before the premiere of Scream 3. In 2010, Cox and Arquette—who welcomed a daughter named Coco in 2004—announced their separation after 11 years of marriage.
“The reason for this separation is to better understand ourselves and the qualities we need in a partner and for our marriage,” they said in a statement at the time. “We remain best friends and responsible parents to our daughter and we still love each other deeply. As we go though this process we are determined to use kindness and understanding to get through this together.” The statement continued, “We are comfortable with the boundaries that we have established for each other during this separation and we hope that our friends, family, fans and the media also show us respect, dignity, understanding and love at this time as well.”
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2011, Cox opened up about what it was like to star with her estranged husband in Scream 4, which premiered a year after their separation. “I just enjoy doing all three of them. That’s where I met David. Each Scream represents a huge turning point in my life: I met David on 1. We did not like each other on 2. We got married right before on 3. And Coco was born right before 4,” she said. “This series of movies means a lot to me. I loved Scream 1 so much and the thought of being able to do it again with the original cast, Wes Craven, Kevin Williamson, just bringing that back was really exciting to me.”
When asked if it was asked to film the movie with her estranged husband, she responded, “I love him so much. We are the closest of friends. I would say we’re probably better now than we were during that movie. The movie was just a little bit of a tough time. I don’t have the fondest memories of those particular moments during that film.” She continued, “It’s not hard to watch because we’ve moved past that phase. Some times were really fun. Some times we had a ball there! But it definitely was the beginning of some issues…We did have a great time no matter what, but there were some awkward moments. I don’t remember us ever getting into a fight. It wasn’t like that.”
What did Courteney Cox make from Cougar Town?
The former Friends star made her return to prime-time for the first time in years as the star and executive producer of ABC’s Cougar Town in 2009. The series, which ran for six seasons until 2015, earned Cox an estimated $275,000 per episode, according to The Richest. While this is certainly not nearly as much as her famed $1 million per episode salary during seasons 9 and 10 of Friends, it’s still pretty impressive. At 102 episodes total, Cougar Town easily earned Cox at least $28 million overall.
What is Courteney Cox’s net worth?
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Courteney Cox’s net worth in 2021 is an estimated $150 million. Monica would be proud. Along with what she made from Friends, Cougar Town and Scream, Courteney Cox’s net worth also includes the money he’s made in other movies sand shows like 1987’s Masters of the Universe, 1994’s Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, 2006’s Barnyard and 2008’s Bedtime Stories. Her net worth also accounts for the money she’s made from her production company, Coquette Productions, which she launched in 2004 with her husband at the time, David Arquette.
In an interview with The Los Angeles Times in 2015, Cox revealed that she invested $1.5 million of her own money into the movie Just Before I Go, which was her directorial debut. “You really can’t get a cast unless you have financing,” she said. “And you can’t get financing unless you have a cast. It’s hard to get people to believe you can do it.” She continued, “[I put in $1.5 million], which I hear is not a very wise thing to do, but I did it. When I set my mind on something, I have to do it.”
Friends is available to stream on HBO Max. Here’s how to watch it for free.
Watch ‘Friends’
Friends Forever: The One About the Episodes
If you still can’t get enough of Friends, check out Friends Forever: The One About the Episodes, the only authorized guide with behind-the-scenes details for over 200 fan-favorite episodes. This 25th Anniversary edition is fully illustrated and includes tons of fun exclusives, like never-before-seen photos, interviews with show creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane, and interactives from the series itself. For example: You’ll finally see what’s on Joey’s fake resume vs. his real one and find out Chandler’s real job! Friends Forever: The One About the Episodes is available to purchase on Amazon or Bookshop.org.
Friends: The Reunion is available to stream on HBO Max on May 27, 2021.
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