Movie Salaries (1 Viewer)

[Craig Woodhall]

Hey guys, just curious where i can find out how much actors make on individual movies? had a bet going with a friend on the salaries of the cast of Lord of the Rings but couldn't find any info anywhere through the search engines.. can anyone point me to a site somewhere?

Craig

 

[Matt Pasant]

imdb lists it in the actors biographies sometimes.

 

[Craig Woodhall]

ya, i had a look there and couldn't find it.. thanks for the reply though Matt..

Craig

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Craig,

Unless it's one of the Heavy Hitters (Tom Cruise, Jim Carrey, Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, Ahnold, etc., etc.) you generally won't find that sort of information. You wouldn't like YOUR salary plastered all over the internet.

But I'd also be VERY curious to hear how much the various LOTR actors made for their extensive participation in the trilogy. Did Elijah make a LOT more than Sean? Did Viggo get a piece of the merchandising? Did Ian get a bonus for being so damn cool?

I suspect that even if there were salary reports on these actors...we'd have no real way to know if they were accurate or not.

...and how much does Steven Seagal earn for a movie these days?

 

[Vickie_M]

This doesn't answer your question specifically about the LOTR actors, but I thought it was interesting anyway. This is from U.S. Department of Labor - Bureau of Labor Statistics in their section about Actors, Producers, and Directors. The rest of the page is interesting too.

Median annual earnings of actors were $25,920 in 2000. The middle 50 percent earned between $16,950 and $59,769. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $12,700, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $93,620. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of actors were as follows:



Motion picture production and services $54,440
Producers, orchestras, and entertainers 28,310
Miscellaneous amusement and recreation services 13,500

Minimum salaries, hours of work, and other conditions of employment are covered in collective bargaining agreements between show producers and the unions representing workers. Actors' Equity Association (Equity) represents stage actors; Screen Actors Guild (SAG) covers actors in motion pictures, including television, commercials, and films; and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) represents television and radio studio performers. While these unions generally determine minimum salaries, any actor or director may negotiate for a salary higher than the minimum.

On July 1, 2001, the members of SAG and AFTRA negotiated a new joint contract covering all unionized employment. Under the contract, motion picture and television actors with speaking parts earned a minimum daily rate of $636 or $2,206 for a 5-day week. Actors also receive contributions to their health and pension plans and additional compensation for reruns and foreign telecasts of the productions in which they appear.

According to Equity, the minimum weekly salary for actors in Broadway productions as of June 25, 2001 was $1,252. Actors in Off-Broadway theaters received minimums ranging from $440 to $551 a week as of October 30, 2000, depending on the seating capacity of the theater. Regional theaters that operate under an Equity agreement pay actors $500 to $728 per week. For touring productions, actors receive an additional $106 per day for living expenses ($112 per day in larger, higher-cost cities). According to Equity, fewer than 15 percent of its dues-paying members actually worked during any given week during 2000. Median earnings for those able to find employment in 2000 were less than $10,000.

Some well-known actors—stars—earn well above the minimum; their salaries are many times the figures cited, creating the false impression that all actors are highly paid. For example, of the nearly 100,000 SAG members, only about 50 might be considered stars. The average income that SAG members earn from acting, less than $5,000 a year, is low because employment is erratic. Therefore, most actors must supplement their incomes by holding jobs in other fields.

Many actors who work more than a set number of weeks per year are covered by a union health, welfare, and pension fund, which includes hospitalization insurance and to which employers contribute. Under some employment conditions, Equity and AFTRA members receive paid vacations and sick leave.

Median annual earnings of producers and directors were $41,030 in 2000. The middle 50 percent earned between $29,000 and $60,330. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $21,050, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $87,770. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of producers and directors were as follows:

Motion picture production and services $50,280
Producers, orchestras, and entertainers 38,820
Radio and television broadcasting 34,630

Many stage directors belong to the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SSDC), and film and television directors belong to the Directors Guild of America (DAG). Earnings of stage directors vary greatly. According to the SSDC, summer theaters offer compensation, including "royalties" (based on the number of performances), usually ranging from $2,500 to $8,000 for a 3- to 4-week run. Directing a production at a dinner theater usually will pay less than directing one at a summer theater, but has more potential for income from royalties. Regional theaters may hire directors for longer periods, increasing compensation accordingly. The highest paid directors work on Broadway and commonly earn $50,000 per show. However, they also receive payment in the form of royalties—a negotiated percentage of gross box office receipts—that can exceed their contract fee for long-running box office successes.

Producers seldom get a set fee; instead, they get a percentage of a show's earnings or ticket sales.

I'm always interested in what actors earn too.

 

[Vickie_M]

Here's another intersting article, from ActorPoint.com

Actor Pay Scale: Minimum Pay Rates for Actors «
by ActorPoint.com
The information provided here is provided as a guide or reference only. You will need to contact your local SAG office before entering into any contract or agreement.

You're pursuing your dream as an actor. You took classes, got your headshots, kept your resume up to date, networked with the right people, auditioned for a film with pay(!) and you landed the role! After your initial excitement of landing the role wear's off, you get doubly excited that you have a pay check coming your way for doing what you love.

"Hmmm, I wonder how much I'll get paid," you ask yourself. "$50 a day? $500 a day? $5000 a day??" You realize you have no idea what a standard rate for an actor is. What's a fair amount? What's the minimum you should receive?

A lot of people are curious as to what an actor might get for working on a film. I'm not talking about the millions of dollars we all read about those Hollywood guys making per picture. I'm talking about the actors who make their living in film. All contracts are of course negotiated by the actor's agent, but what is an actor's pay scale or minimum pay rates for feature films.

There are over 8000 films listed with IMDb that were released in 2002 alone. We all dream of becoming a Hollywood success and pulling in "the big bucks" but what can an actor who is hired for a film expect to get paid? We compiled the following information to give you a general idea of what to expect to be paid for your work. We listed 3 SAG agreement pay rates which vary based on the film's total budget.

These minimum rates are current through July 2003 and should only be used as a guide.

"Basic Codified Agreement" SAG Agreement for a full budget feature film:
Principle Performer Rates

Per Day: $655
Per Week: $2,272
Background Actors (Extras)
Per Day: $115
Residuals for theatrical films:
Television/Cable: 3.6% of distributor's gross receipts
Video/Discs: 4.5% of first million sold, 5.4% thereafter


Side note about background actors: In New York, producers must first hire at least 85 background actors who are members of SAG before they can employ non-sag background actors. In Los Angeles, the number drops to 45. If the producer can't meet these requirements, any non-sag actor they use will receive a sag waiver, which basically means that the non-union actor is covered under the SAG agreement and is entitled to all it's benefits for the day he is working on the set.

"Low Budget Agreement:" SAG Agreement for Low Budget Films (budgeted less than $2 million):
Principle Performer Rates

Per Day: $466
Per Week: $1,620
Background Actors (Extras)
Per Day: $115

"Modified Low Budget Agreement:" SAG Agreement for Modified Low Budget Films (budgeted less than $500,000):
Principle Performer Rates

Per Day: $248
Per Week: $864
Background Actors (Extras)
Per Day: $115

 

[Vickie_M]

I fixed the formatting on that.

 

[Vickie_M]

I still can't answer your question, but it's interesting, the things you find when you google a bit.

These are from the Entertainment Zone

Harrison Ford: (11 films over $100M) Current Salary: $25M

Tom Hanks: (11 films over $100M) Current Salary: $20M

Tom Cruise: (10 films over $100M) Current Salary: $25M

Eddie Murphy: (9 films over $100M) Current Salary: $10M

Mel Gibson: (10 films over $100M) Current Salary: $25M

Julia Roberts: (9 films over $100M) Current Salary: $20M

Jim Carrey: (7 films over $100M) Current Salary: $25M

Will Smith: (5 films over $100M) Current Salary: $20M

Arnold Schwarzenegger: (7 films over $100M) Current Salary: $30M

Ben Affleck: (5 films over $100M) Current Salary: $11.5M

Brad Pitt: (3 films over $100M) Current Salary: $17.5M

 

[Craig Woodhall]

thanks for the info Jackie, very interesting.

Scott,

those were the exact questions we were discussing, you hit it right on the head.

Craig

 

[KyleK]

Hmm, very interesting. Does anyone have stats for directors?

Thanks,
Kyle