There are paycheques… and then there are PAYCHEQUES.
When it comes to getting paid for acting, there are usually two ways it is done. The first is being paid everything up front, which is becoming more and more prevalent in the days of streaming movies. And the second is being paid some up front, but then getting a percentage of the back-end, which means the better the movie does at the box office, the more that actor will then get paid.
In the former category, the previous record holders was a tie between Robert Downey Jr. in Captain America: Civil War and Will Smith in King Richard, with both actors being paid $40 million up front.
In the latter category, the following actors in the following movies each received approximately $100 million once the box office tallies were counted up: Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense, Will Smith in Men In Black 3, and Tom Cruise in War of the Worlds, Mission Impossible 2 and Top Gun Maverick.
For those getting paid up front, it is reported that a new record has just been set, and the appropriately giant paycheque is apparently being sent to appropriately giant man, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, for his role in new festive action comedy Red One.
Not a biopic of the music producer who created most of Lady Gaga’s songs (pop music fans are going to love that joke), the plot for Red One is still being kept under wraps, but here is what we do know so far:
Red One is set to be the biggest Christmas movie of all time
It stars Dwayne Johnson as the awesomely named Callum Draft, as well as Chris Evans as the Irish-ish sounding Jack O’Malley. The rest of the cast consists of Lucy Liu, Nick Kroll, J.K. Simmons (as Santa Claus) and Bonnie Hunt (as Mrs. Claus).
The movie is directed by Jake Kasdan (who recently directed The Rock in those two updated Jumanji movies) and a screenplay by the guy who wrote seven of the eleven Fast & Furious movies to date.
Red One is expected to arrive on Prime Video before the end of the year – just in time for Christmas! – and may get a limited cinematic release before then. Oh, and the other thing we know about the movie (as per Screen Rant)… The Rock was reportedly paid a stonking $50 million up front for his role!
That, as they say, is a spicy meatball.
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