Hollywood's Most Powerful Buoyed by Box Office Gold in 2007

Special to ABCNEWS.com <br/> June 14, 2007 &#151; --
It was a year of conquest in Hollywood.

The worldwide box office soared to a record $25.8 billion, buoyed by global blockbusters like Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Sony's Da Vinci Code.

Madonna reclaimed her title as the mightiest force in music, thanks to her record-breaking Confessions tour, which drew over a million fans and generated $195 million in ticket sales. And golf ace Tiger Woods banked $100 million, more in a single year than any athlete in history.

Tinseltown's triumphs are reflected in this year's Celebrity 100, Forbes' annual list of the world's most powerful -- and best-paid -- celebrities. To generate the list, Forbes analyzes celebrity earnings, plus media metrics like Google hits, press mentions as compiled by Lexis/Nexis, TV/radio mentions from Factiva and the number of times an A-lister appears on the cover of 32 major consumer magazines.

Earnings estimates are for June 2006 to June 2007 and consist of dollars earned solely from entertainment-related income. Management, agent and attorney fees have not been deducted.

Tiger Woods wasn't the only one shattering Celebrity 100 records this year. View the whole list at our partner site, Forbes.com.

Thanks to his share in the box office gross of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, actor Johnny Depp made $92 million in the last 12 months, more than most any other actor has ever earned for a film role. (Mel Gibson made $184 million in 2004 from The Passion of the Christ, but as the producer and director.)

With their Bigger Bang tour, the Rolling Stones now own bragging rights to the highest-grossing tour in history, with over $400 million in ticket sales.

For the first time ever, Forbes breaks out Hip-Hop Impresarios as a separate category from Musicians. That's because the three biggest big shots in that field -- Jay-Z, 50 Cent and Sean "Diddy" Combs -- earn most of their income from their business ventures, including apparel lines, record labels and investments.

Following his triumphant comeback from retirement, rapper Jay-Z debuts on the list in the ninth spot, bolstered by the March sale of his Rocawear clothing label to Iconix for $204 million in cash. 50 Cent should enjoy a sizable jump next year. After Forbes went to press, Coca Cola offered $4.1 billion for Glaceau, the vitamin-infused beverage company in which the former crack dealer owns a minor stake. 50's anticipated take: $100 million.