Posted on 12/22/2015 6:52:50 PM PST by Citizen Zed
Star Wars veteran Harrison Ford pulled in an astronomical paycheck for his reprisal role in The Force Awakens, which opened globally Friday. Fortune reported that Ford stands to make more than $34 million for his return as Han Solo. Disney reportedly wanted him back so badly that they offered him a base salary of nearly $25 million, plus 0.5% of the film's gross profit, according to the Guardian.
"Harrison is the key to making this movie work," an unnamed source from Disney said, according to the Guardian. "He's the link between the old generation and the new. Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher were good to get, but the film could have lived without them. You couldn't make it without Harrison Ford."
Maybe a half a percent sounds like small stakes, but consider this: After one weekend in theaters, The Force Awakens has surpassed the previous record holder for ticket sales - Jurassic World - at nearly $240 million in North America alone. The film has netted some $517 million worldwide, which puts Ford's share of the profits above $2.5 million after just three days, a number that the Guardian projects could rise to some $9 million.
Fisher, according to the Daily Mail, was paid some $1.5 million to return as Princess Leia, while Hamill's salary has not yet been made public.
The film's up-and-coming actors, though, received much less lucrative deals. Both Daisy Ridley and John Boyega were paid just under $450,000, plus they'll receive a "small cut" of box office revenue after ticket sales have hit $1 billion, the Daily Mail reported.
Still, Ridley and Boyega have a substantial leg up on the original actors when it comes to salaries for the first Star Wars film, according to Yahoo. Ford reportedly made something like $10,000 (in 1970s dollars) for Episode IV: A New Hope. (He leveraged this to $100,000 for The Empire Strikes Back and around $500,000 for The Return of the Jedi.)
Hamill fared better in salary negotiations for the first movie: He was allegedly paid something like $650,000 to play Luke Skywalker in A New Hope, plus .25% of profits and royalties. Fisher has never named her salary for the first installment, but has said she failed to secure royalties from the use of Princess Leia's likeness. She did receive the same percentage of the film's income as Hamill, though.
“Star Wars: Episode VIII (2017) has Harrison Ford Han solo listed in the cast ,did he land on a mattress ?”
Some people think that was done to avoid spoilers. Others think he’ll reappear but in some sort of flashback. Who knows?
How much did Dustin Hoffman get this time around?
It was nice having Han back, but this is a stupid comment. You could easily have had Lando grouped with Chewy. Luke is going to be key in at least 8 and possibly 9 as the new Yoda character.
If Han was killed by sacrificing himself for the greater good, he’ll commune from other side, like Yoda does.
“If Han was killed by sacrificing himself for the greater good, he’ll commune from other side, like Yoda does.”
So far - in the films - a character had to be a Force user to do that. All four characters who have been portrayed doing that - Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Won Kenobi, Yoda, Anakin Skywalker - have all been Jedi.
Han is not a Jedi. It’s never been confirmed (but is suspected by some) that Han is Force sensitive.
At this point, I think they simply added his name to the film to avoid spoilers for the current film.
Daphne Zuniga....SCHWING!
Unfolded it and counted the wrinkles
you betcha.
Between "schlong", "schwanz", "schwartz" and "schwing" I'm getting several threads mixed up.
Fortune reported that Ford stands to make more than $34 million for his return as Han Solo
He’s not looking too good himself these days. Horrible in fact. USED to have a crush on him when younger. Now he’s a ‘prune libtatd’.
There is one thing in the universe stronger than the Force, and that's Hollywood accounting. There are no movie profits. Every possible expense is loaded onto the movie's books so that the movie makes nothing while the studio profits handsomely. About the only way a movie profits is if it is a complete surprise and the accountants weren't able to work there magic before release.
Sort of. The original actor that was inside the C3PO suit (Anthony Daniels) is queer as a three dollar bill.
Is it bad that when I hear about Mark Hamill I think more of the Joker than of Luke Skywalker?
At the end I mentioned “I wonder how much Mark Hamil got paid for that?” My wife “Ha - that’s exactly what I was thinking!”
Hmmm - I guess that might not be the best sign of a great movie. No contemplation of how the character feels, the meaning of life, the inevitability of death, or where one finds beauty. But “I wonder how much money that guy made?”
That would be net profits. Gross is a percentage of the gross revenue, net is after expenses, but the old joke about Hollywood is “there is no net.”
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