Yesterday I wrote about how Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene were holding out for more money for their roles in the final two Twilight movies. Well, Entertainment Weekly says the amount of money each actor wants is $4M. Oh, and they want that for each movie. Seriously? $8M for two minor roles. That is nuts. Apparently when this all originally started, Nikki Reed and Jason Rathbone were standing together with Kellan and Ashley but have since folded their cards and agreed to what Summit was offering. $1M per movie. To be guaranteed $2M in total and risk it on a company that has not shied away from recasting roles is stupid and if they do get dropped their agents should be fired. If you are careful, $2M is enough to live on for the rest of your life. If someone earns $50K a year it would take them 40 years to earn that much money.
Someone needs to go shake some reality back into Ashley and Kellan.
Thank you Enty. This is a great example of how out of control ego's can get and how people forget reality when a little bit of fame takes over.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I was thinking: a couple of millions and you're set for life.
ReplyDeleteAfter that, all you earn is a bonus and you can go about earning it relaxed, without worrying about paying rent or buying food.
How much are Mopey and Stinky getting?
They are the main ones, so they wouldn't be recast and can command higher fees.
In one way they're idiots, but in another way...how much money has been made off them and all this Twi crapola?
ReplyDeleteIt never hurts to ask.
People are so incredibly dumb about money.
ReplyDeleteMakes me think of the time that the state jackpot was some incredible amount of money, and some people in our office got a pool going, claiming that would up our chances of winning. One woman refused to participate because IF we won (very big if) her share would only be 5 million and that wasn't enough to live on for the rest of her life - she was nearly 50.
I don't even know who these people are, not having been able to force myself to watch the movies yet. Is she Alice? Who's he?
Anyone who starts thinking they are indispensable needs to stick their finger into a glass of water, remove it, and see what kind of hole it made.
IDIOTS....NEVER TO BE HEARD FROM AGAIN..
ReplyDeleteI hope they get replaced. Kellan is a terrible actor. I saw him in that Nightmare on Elm St. mess (I KNOW). He was awful.
ReplyDeleteThey are not even the main characters!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhoa whoa whoa.... when did we all get so enamoured of the Poor Little Studios???
ReplyDeleteThe studio stands to make between $1 and $2 BILLION on these films -- and that's probably a conservative estimate. The films will probably cost, say, $150m - $200m to make, each. That's not a bad return on your investment.
Meanwhile, Lutz and Greene now must commit to TWO shooting schedules, etc., which means that they have to turn down or delay projects that they would have been able to do in the time now needed to make Breaking Dawn Pt. 2 (Electric Boogaloo). Greene and Lutz are high profile commodities right now, who will almost certainly be even higher profile at the time when BD2:EB will be filming. Do you seriously think that Ashley Greene couldn't get $2m guaranteed for some RomCom piece of crap? That Lutz couldn't get $3m for some beefcake film?
There is an opportunity cost for actors when they take roles. Sometimes it's low, because nobody wants to hire them. But if you're hot, the opportunity cost can be huge.
It boggles my mind that someone would say "their agents should be fired" for attempting to get their clients what they perceive is the fair market value of their services. If they get fired from Twilight, they'll still be in the next two films (as they are under contract for them), and will still be big-name stars at that point. Yes, they are "supporting" players in the Twilight films -- but they're very high profile supporting players, certainly much more high profile (and therefore capable of demanding much more per film) than Lefebvre and Rathbone. Boggles... my .... mind.
And spare me the "people can live on $50k" talk, please. Yes, I know. But Twilight is going to make an obscene amount of money no matter how outraged you get at the injustice of it all. Pardon me for thinking that it's only fair if more than a tiny fraction of that money actually goes to the people in the film....
Electric Boogaloo? haha
ReplyDeleteI thought Ashley Greene was one of the better actors in Twilight.
ReplyDeleteI guess it all depends on what their backup plans are if Summit drops them, right?
ReplyDeleteAccording to IMDB:
Ashley is filming Butter now. The only other future project lined up is Breaking Dawn.
Kellan (is IMO a much worse actor) is apparently filming three movies now. Nothing else is listed as lined up for him.
So what do they have to leverage? The Twihard devotion to them playing these characters? Maybe for Ashley, but Kellan has like 3 words a movie! Both of them should shut up and take the money Summit is giving them. They can make more $$$ tagging themselves to Twilight-related promotions than betting they'll get parts in many movies in the near future if they F this up.
thankyou Pimp Dave! these studios are making bazillions on this from licensing alone!
ReplyDeleteYou can bargain when you have something worth bargaining for--they don't. They are dumb and are getting shit advice. Take the guaranteed $2 million and be happy. Someone needs to remind them they are actors. I think something like 85% of actors are out of work. Be grateful, you morons.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree w/ DaveR - instead of comparing their salaries to those of us "little people" let's look at the context. $1M a movie for critical supporting roles in two guaranteed blockbusters does seem rather paltry. I pay precious little attention to the Twilight franchise but I will say that I see articles about Ashley and Kellan once a day at some kind of photo call/opening/interview - they both seem to do as much if not more PR for the film than the rest of the cast. And perhaps their agents are taking advantage of the fact that the red-headed vampire had to be recast and the studio will be trying to avoid yet another casting change, particularly in the final film.
ReplyDeleteI seem to vaguely recall that Kallen was getting a couple of million for another (non-Twilight) film role. I don't think he's worth it but there may be producers out there that will take a chance on his "celebrity" value (early on Paris Hilton got the same offers, until the movies actually got released).
ReplyDeleteThanks for doing the math and making me feel sad regarding my non-fame whore, everyday person, office manager salary.
ReplyDeletewho are they in Twilight movies? i saw the movies but it's so awful than i slept every time and i lack a bigggg part of movies
ReplyDeleteListen, they're barely out of adolescence, and if they have agents PUSHING them hard to do this, I can see how they'd take that advice. It's not like they have years of work or even life experience.
ReplyDeleteYes the Studio may be making tons on the movie but that doesn't change the fact that these are young actors w/out a lot of credits before this franchise; who AREN'T the main bankable pillars of the movies, and for whom a $2million pay check (for 2 movies) is a fucking lot of money.
ReplyDeleteThey will receive their SAG residuals forever on the movies based on that salary and they will do very well.
The Twilight Movies are not huge budget movies. From a production standpoint it does not make sense to weigh down the above the line with all those talent costs...especially now that the real box office draws, the big 3 kidlet stars, are pulling in the bucks, and having a real director on the movie now is going to cost them.
Studios will always make profit...unless you're George Clooney or Angelina Jolie, it's never "fair" for the actors. But for any young actor, a million a movie is enormous. I don't think these two are going to be making seven figures for movies for very long after this; and I doubt they projects they are 'turning down' in order to accomodate the schedules for these films are life changing. (Besides aren't they block shooting the two films anyway? How many scenes are these guys actually in - they don't carry the movie.)
I think they are being unreasonable and are overestimating their own appeal, but once actors start moving around that rarefied Hollyweird atmosphere, are cast regularly and start making money in a town where houses, even fairly modest ones, can cost in the millions, well it's easy to see how their young and tiny little minds could lose perspective.
ReplyDeleteI agree with A Pimp Named Dave and Jax. Ashley (Alice) actually has a fairly big part in the next two. Not sure about Kellan. But what's the harm in asking? The studios will make an incredible amount of money.
ReplyDeletePerhaps their agent(s) should take the $1 million and demand some of the gross back-end like Tom Cruise does. They'd be set for life.
Uh duh! If I get a million bucks today, I'm set for life!
ReplyDeleteI agree with A Pimp and Jax. Regardless, there careers are pretty much over. They will forever be branded as the "Twilight" vamps and it will be hard for them to break out into much else. Especially since they both such at acting.
ReplyDeleteThe Twilight franchise is raking in MILLIONS (maybe Billions) and to ask for a bit more I think is fair. $1M per movie doesn't seem enough IMO.
I'm firmly in the camp that they should take the offer they're getting and run with it. DaveR makes some valid points, but as individuals without a lot else going for them career-wise, these two don't have a lot of leverage. Maybe, in principal, it doesn't make sense to get a small cut off of a big production, but principals without a paycheck don't exactly keep the bills paid.
ReplyDeleteI don't want either one to be recast. BUT...that being said, I am grossed-out that they would be serious about asking for this kind of money. Ridiculous. Kellan can be replaced in a millisecond. Ashley can be replaced, too, but replacing her would actually be sad for the series. I REALLY hope that their agents come to their senses. Summit will dump them both, just like they dumped Rachelle LeFevre.
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