Despite setting a domestic box-office record of $10.6 billion in 2009, Hollywood is on edge. The oceans of easy, eager money that once flooded the industry from foreign investors, hedge funds, and private-equity pools have all but dried up. And with actual attendance still off sharply from its 2002 high and DVD revenues in retreat, fewer and fewer movies are getting made. Worse still, from a talent point of view, where once studios were happy to reward stars with lavish back-end deals siphoning money straight from the studio’s share of the box-office gross, they are now reining in such deals, forcing many stars to collect only when all of the film’s costs have been recouped. In Hollywood, then, as in most of the country, people just aren’t getting paid what they used to. But for a select group the money is still rolling in.
First, a definition: this list of Hollywood elite is limited to creative figures—producers, directors, stars—in film. (We include no moguls, agents, or people who work primarily in television.) Calculating their earning power is an inexact science, but we interviewed scores of people with access to actual numbers and deal terms: agents, lawyers, studio executives, and, occasionally, the stars themselves. Worldwide box-office figures were taken from Box Office Mojo and Box Office Guru. Revenue numbers for DVDs—for the first three quarters of 2009—were supplied by Adams Media Research; we came up with our own revenue estimates for DVDs released in the fourth quarter by applying a conservative multiplier to a movie’s domestic box-office.
So how do we tote up our final earnings estimates? A few simple ground rules:
In tabulating up-front fees, we assume people get paid when filming starts; thus, only movies that commenced shooting in calendar year 2009 are taken into account. (That’s why we don’t count Brad Pitt’s $10 million fee for Inglourious Basterds, which began shooting in 2008.)
For those lucky enough to earn money on the back end, we did our best to determine whether they were gross-point or net-point players and applied our math accordingly. (Example: Pitt’s fee for Inglourious Basterds was an advance against 9 percent of the gross. With some $160 million in studio revenue, Pitt stood to collect a total of almost $14.5 million, minus his $10 million advance, leaving him with $4.5 million from the film for 2009.)
A star’s participation in DVD sales is taken into account, but that generally is small change, unless he or she is one of the few director-producer types who have negotiated exceptional deals. We have not counted royalties and other revenues when the figure is under $500,000. Nor have we counted money made in television; thus, for a major player in both film and TV such as Jerry Bruckheimer, his total 2009 earnings are millions of dollars higher. Since these numbers are estimates, however well informed, and by definition incomplete, they are presented for entertainment purposes only.
1 Michael Bay
(William Morris Endeavor Entertainment)
Estimated 2009 earnings: $125 million
$75 million: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (back-end profit participation for directing and producing, based on worldwide box-office gross of $835 million)
$28 million: Transformers: R.O.T.F. (share of estimated $280 million in DVD revenue)
$12.5 million: Transformers: R.O.T.F. (share of toy and other licensing royalties)
$4 million: Friday the 13th (back end for producing, based on worldwide gross of $90 million, and share of DVD)
$2 million: The Unborn (back end for producing, based on worldwide gross of $77 million, and share of DVD)
$2 million: A Nightmare on Elm Street (fee for producing inexplicable remake)
$1.5 million: Royalties from older films, other income
2 Steven Spielberg
(Creative Artists Agency)
Estimated 2009 earnings: $85 million
$50 million: Universal theme-park royalties and consulting fees (ongoing deal signed in 1987)
$20 million: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (fee for producing and directing upcoming 2011 release)
$10 million: Other back-end revenue, royalties from older films
$5 million: Transformers: R.O.T.F. (back end as executive producer)
3 Roland Emmerich
(CAA)
Estimated 2009 earnings: $70 million
$70 million: 2012 (back end for producing and directing, based on worldwide gross of $746 million as of December 31)
4 James Cameron
(CAA)
Estimated 2009 earnings: $50 million
$50 million: Avatar (back end for producing, writing, and directing, based on worldwide gross of $830 million as of December 31)
5 Todd Phillips
(CAA)
Estimated 2009 earnings: $44 million
$39 million: The Hangover (back end for directing, based on worldwide gross of $460 million, and share of DVD)
$5 million: Due Date (fee for producing and directing upcoming comedy starring Robert Downey Jr.)
6 Daniel Radcliffe
(Artist Rights Group)
Estimated 2009 earnings: $41 million
$20 million: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I (fee for starring in upcoming penultimate Potter film)
$20 million: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II (fee for starring in 2011 series finale, also filmed last year)
$1 million: Royalties from older films, other revenue
7 Ben Stiller
(WME)
Estimated 2009 earnings: $40 million
$20 million: Little Fockers (fee for starring in upcoming “threequel”)
$6 million: Greenberg (fee for starring)
$6 million: Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (back end for starring, based on worldwide gross of $415 million, and share of DVD)
$5 million: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (back-end bonus for voice work, and share of DVD)
$2 million: Megamind (fee as executive producer of upcoming animated film)
$1 million: Submarine (fee as executive producer of upcoming indie film)
check the rest after the jump.. Read the rest of this entry »
For Cheap !
