yeah, that's definitely the billed modeling or animation BUDGET that the VFX house billed. That figure is split over upwards 200-300 people.

And even that figure doesn't go directly to the artists. They get paid either a yearly salary or contract wage and are let go after the show. Yearly income for a VFX artist floats around mid 5 to maybe, maybe low six figures for a senior artist.

You get to earn that much when you pull in nearly a billion dollars in revenue over two weekends. No one would see the film in the first place if it didn't have someone that everyone knows in it.

Yes, they are in a way responsible for a great many people. Every person that works on the film benefits from them lending their star power to it. Is that a bit crap? yes. But them's the facts.