[Ken H]

He agreed to work for scale in Brokeback Mountain, because nobody really thought it would make a lot of money;

IIRC, Donald Sutherland took the full pay option instead of a percentage for his role as Professor Jennings in "Animal House". He didn't expect it to be such a hit.

Steve McQueen lost out on big bucks by doing the same with "The Blob".

[buccaneer81]

IIRC, Donald Sutherland took the full pay option instead of a percentage for his role as Professor Jennings in "Animal House". He didn't expect it to be such a hit.

True. He got $40,000 (probably $125,000 in today's dollars) for it. Big mistake.

[sugaree]

Yeah, lots of people choose unwisely. But you’re supposed to suck it up and laugh at it—not sue for punitive damages.

His wife seems off-kilter, but according to IMDB they’ve been married for 20 years! That’s a lifetime in Hollywood.

[Political Junkie Too]

If I remember correctly, Jack Nicholson took a percentage of the GROSS profits for his role as the Joker in Batman, and made a fortune.

Art Buchwald took a percentage of the NET profits in Coming To America, and the studio used accounting tricks to keep that movie as a net loss for years.

-PJ