D uring the course of 1915, Chaplin became a cultural phenomenon. Shops were stocked with Chaplin merchandise, he was featured in cartoons and comic strips, and several songs were written about the star. As his Essanay contract came to an end, and fully aware of his popularity, Chaplin requested a $150,000 signing bonus from his next studio. He received several offers, including Universal, Fox, and Vitagraph, the best of which came from the Mutual Film Corporation at $10,000 a week. ( wiki ) NOW TAKE A LOOK AT HIGHEST PAID CELEB'S IN 2012: Top 10 Highest Paid Actors in 2012 Tom Cruise: $75 million Leonardo DiCaprio: $37 million Adam Sandler: $37 million Dwayne Johnson: $36 million Ben Stiller: $33 million Sacha Baron Cohen: $30 million Johnny Depp: $30 million Will Smith: $30 million Mark Wahlberg: $27 million Robert Pattinson/Taylor Lautner: $26.5 million