When Warner Bros. announced that it would launch its entire list of 2021 films in theaters and simultaneously on HBO Max, this caused shock waves in the film industry – and the reverberations were felt most strongly by people who were directly involved with many of these films, because none of them was informed of the decision before it became public. Several renowned directors and actors (and their representatives) were not very happy with the possibility of losing the financial bonuses they would normally receive from their film reaching certain box office performance benchmarks, and now, weeks later, WB is still struggling to clean up its mess itself.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Denzel Washington he usually commands a salary of $ 20 million plus a back-end fee for each film he participates in. The little things, a police thriller co-starring Jared Leto, which opens later this month and will be the first of 17 films the studio will release this year. Although there are still no details on what his payday will be, THR says that WB has submitted a draft proposal that describes the following formula:
- If an actor earns less than $ 4 million, he will receive an additional 25% of his salary when the film is released “as an advance on the box office bonus”.
- If an actor earns $ 4 million or more, that advance will increase to up to 40% of his salary.
- The box office performance limits linked to the bonuses will be cut in half.
- Finally, regardless of the performance of a film at the worldwide box office, all postponements would be respected when the film was released.
The agency says the studio has yet to adopt an official formula, but negotiations with the talent are underway. (The CAA agency alone is evidently working on 55 deals with clients who are affected by the WB’s announcement.) But insiders assume that because of its stature and the size of its contract, Washington will end up earning much more than the $ 10 million that Gal Gadot was given before Wonder Woman 1984opens on Christmas Day. “Denzel will never negotiate his deal and a really strong backend,” said a rival executive to THR.
The WB is having to find tons of money to pay bonuses for great talent like this and, frankly, they should. I know people can be irritated when the discussion about star salaries comes on the scene, but that seems to me to be the case with one of our greatest actors knowing what it’s worth and not bowing to a company that would be happy to screw it if he didn’t, fight tooth and nail to get what you deserve. But while Washington has the power to defend itself, many others do not – and it is they who will end up being harmed by the WB’s decision.
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