8h38 PST 1/14/2021
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Mia Galuppo
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Denzel Washington is getting his $ 20 million plus back-end fee, while the large number of bonuses tied to HBO Max’s daily plan is expensive for the studio.
The Warner Bros. business department. it hasn’t had a very relaxing holiday. The group was working towards the end of the year with the goal of appeasing big names that were kept in the dark on December 3, revealing plans for the entire studio 2021 list to be released nationally in cinemas and HBO Max.
One of those negotiations was with Denzel Washington, who leads The little things, released on January 29, the first of 17 titles to be released on the HBO Max model with date and date. The Washington contract is said to have a $ 20 million plus back-end fee, leading insiders to assume that it will pay much more than the $ 10 million Gal Gadot received as Wonder Woman 1984 went to streaming on December 25th. “Denzel will never negotiate his deal and a really strong backend,” says an executive at a rival studio, who adds: “People will be very happy with their business.”
While there are few stars who can command a payday as big as Washington, the sheer number of talented businesses that now require some kind of bonus payment in light of WarnerMedia’s CEO Jason Kilar’s screening exercise is costing the company a lot. Warners, the sources say. Each talent agency is managing its own range of businesses, with CAA alone handling 55.
Apparently, no formula has been adopted by the studio yet, but at least one proposal has been sent to the representatives. According to sources, a draft proposal from Warners stated that talents earning less than $ 4 million will receive 25% of their salary at the launch of the film as an advance on box office bonuses. Anyone who earns $ 4 million or more in advance will receive 40% of their salary. In addition, the box office performance limits linked to bonuses would be cut in half. And regardless of whether the film was shown at the global box office, all postponements would be honored at the film’s release. (Warner Bros. declined to comment.)
Even with closings in domestic theaters, the idea among some representatives is that new box office limits around the world will be easier to achieve than pre-pandemic bonus benchmarks. But as a new wave of COVID-19 cases sees countries implementing new shutdowns, the state of the exhibition is in constant flux. The proposal is not a single solution that can be implemented in all negotiations.
And there are filmmakers hoping for a theatrical release. Legendary, which is behind the 2021 Warners titles Godzilla vs. Kong and Denis Villeneuve Dune, is still arguing with the studio.
This story first appeared in the January 13 issue of The Hollywood Reporter. Click here to subscribe.