Monetary madness: The single movie that earned Will Smith $100 million
It’s not an earth-shattering revelation to say the biggest stars in the industry get paid the most money, but still, a nine-figure payday from a single movie is mind-blowing stuff. Will Smith knew his worth, though, and ensured he was compensated as such.
In an age where franchises arguably have more sway among general audiences than the names above the title, the easiest way to secure the most lucrative recurring roles in Hollywood is to sign on for a sure-fire smash hit that’s almost guaranteed to spawn a slew of sequels.
Casting a glance over the names to have earned more from a single performance than any others, and that becomes even clearer. Johnny Depp, Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr, and Harrison Ford feature prominently thanks to the goldmines of Pirates of the Caribbean, The Matrix, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Indiana Jones, while Tom Cruise being Tom Cruise has been hugely beneficial for his bank balance.
Smith regularly commanded salaries of at least $20million from his breakthrough as a global superstar in the 1990s right up to the moment he buttered Chris Rock across the chops at the Academy Awards, but even at that, it’s not as if he’s working for pennies on the dollar as he seeks to rehabilitate a reputation that’s been smacked just as hard – if not harder – than the source of his ire at the Oscars.
And yet, $100m for a film that runs for a relatively breezy 106 minutes is nuts, although the finger of blame should be pointed at the dealmakers for giving the former ‘Fresh Prince’ such a ludicrous percentage. As tended to be the norm whenever he signed on for a blockbuster, Smith was handed $20m upfront to reprise the role of Agent J in 2012’s Men in Black III, with his riches dependent on how well the sequel performed at the box office.
Arriving a decade after the underwhelming second chapter, it ended up becoming a massive success that cleared $650m in ticket sales. While that would suggest Sony turned a significant profit on the production, the fact it was one of the most expensive ever made at the time slashed away at the profit margins, as did Smith’s mighty compensatory package.
“His deal is an absolute impediment to making money for the studios”, were the words of one insider to The Hollywood Reporter, and it’s easy to see why. After all, Smith collected an additional $80m from Men in Black III to top up his already hefty paycheque, sending him home with nine figures by the time the third instalment in the sci-fi series had finished its theatrical run.
Crunching the numbers, that would indicate Smith was contractually obligated to receive 12.5% of the total gross accrued by Men in Black III, and people wonder how movies that earn eye-watering amounts of money conspire to turn such paltry profits.
