Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence's staggering Netflix payday for Don't Look Up

Leonardo DiCaprio earned $42 million for a single movie role. Photo / Getty Images

Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence have received a staggering paycheck.

The two Hollywood stars are among the ensemble cast for Netflix's forthcoming dark comedy Don't Look Up.

Variety reports Lawrence earned US$25 million for the role, and DiCaprio earned US$30 million. That's equivalent to $35 million and $42 million, for a combined total of $77 million.

The star-studded cast of Don't Look Up also includes Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Rob Morgan, Ron Perlman, Timothee Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Kid Cudi, Mark Rylance and Cate Blanchett. Netflix released the teaser trailer for the movie ahead of its release on December 24.

The movie follows two astronomers who attempt to warn mankind of a comet set to destroy Earth. In the teaser trailer, viewers get a sense of what DiCaprio's character is like. He's shown having a panic attack in the bathroom about the impending doom.

Streep portrays the President of the United States and tells the stressed astronomers: "Do you know how many 'the world is ending meetings' we've had over the last two years?"

Jennifer Lawrence as Kate Dibiasky and Leonardo DiCaprio as Dr. Randall Mindy in Netflix's Don't Look Up. Photo / Netflix. Photo / Netflix

"Your breathing is stressing me out," Hill's character says.

"This will affect the entire planet," DiCaprio's character warns.

Hill's character responds "I know, but it's, like, so stressful."

The movie is written directed and produced by Adam McKay (The Big Short, Vice).

Despite the hefty paycheck for the Wolf of Wall Street star, DiCaprio still took some convincing according to a podcast interview - four to five months of convincing in fact.

McKay told Happy Sad Confused podcast: "We went back and forth on [the script]".

"It was about a four-to-five month process with us just kicking around ideas. We took a break for the quarantine, and lo and behold once we figured out a theoretically safe way to shoot this movie, he was in. I couldn't believe it. It's no surprise he's fabulous in the movie."