9 Actors Who Actually Lost Money On Their Movies

06/15/2024 11:19 AM

One actor said they "paid more money to my babysitter and my dog walker" than they made on one film.

It's fairly common for actors to be paid seven-figure salaries for their roles in major movies -- but it doesn't always work out that way. In fact, some celebs have gotten extremely candid about their big screen paydays, revealing that they barely made enough to purchase an outfit for the premiere.

Meanwhile, other stars choose to make major investments in their films, only for them to completely flop at the box office. While these movies may have been meaningful to their careers, these actors actually ended up losing money on their projects.

Read on to find out why these actors lost money on the movies…

1. Rebel Wilson

In her recent memoir, Rebel Wilson revealed that she was only paid $3,500 for her role in Bridesmaids. On top of the small salary, Rebel said had to wait a year to get the paycheck, which she had to use to join the Screen Actors Guild and pay for her outfits to wear to the premiere.

"I basically made no money. I lost money because I had to pay to go to the premiere, like to buy my dress and everything," Rebel wrote in her book. "That was a really skint year where I was living on $60 a week in L.A. once I'd paid my rent and my car hire. I wasn't partying or living this [movie star] life. It was basically having that focus, trying to write for myself, like going to auditions."

2. Will Smith

Will Smith and his production company Overbrook Entertainment ended up losing a lot of money on the 2013 sci-fi flick After Earth. After spending $150 million to make the film and a $100 million budget for marketing, the movie only brought in $234 million during its theatrical release. Will later called the movie "the most painful failure in [his] career."

"What I learned from that failure is how you win. I got reinvigorated after the failure of After Earth. I stopped working for a year and a half. I had to dive into why it was so important for me to have number-one movies. And I never would have looked at myself in that way," he told Esquire.

He continued, "That Monday started the new phase of my life, a new concept: Only love is going to fill that hole. You can't win enough, you can't have enough money, you can't succeed enough. There is not enough. The only thing that will ever satiate that existential thirst is love. And I just remember that day I made the shift from wanting to be a winner to wanting to have the most powerful, deep, and beautiful relationships I could possibly have."

3. Sharon Stone

Sharon Stone may be known for her iconic role in Basic Instinct but she made almost no money on the film -- especially compared to her co-star Michael Douglas, who brought in millions. Looking back, Sharon says she ended up having to pay for her Oscars dress while promoting the film during award season and didn't have enough from her paycheck to cover it.

"I didn't get paid to do Basic Instinct. I made a little bit of money. Michael made $14 million and has points. I made not enough money to buy my dress to go to the Oscars the next year. I was in this weird limbo where I was suddenly famous, but didn't have any money," she told CBC.

4. Brad Pitt

Brad Pitt may have been really passionate about his film The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford but it ended up costing him some money. While reflecting on the experience, Brad explained that he put money into the flick and then it ended up losing money at the box office. With a $30 million budget, it only brought in half of that.

"The way producers get us actors on is if it's something we love and have to do, we do it for a price and get the movie made. When I did The Assassination of Jesse James, it actually cost me money in the end. I paid to work on that one, and I think the film still lost money, but it was one of my favorites and one of the most rewarding to me," he later shared.

5. George Clooney

George Clooney was incredibly invested in his film Leatherheads but it didn't have much luck at the box office. Not only did George write, direct and star in the film, but he also produced it through his company, Smokehouse Productions. Unfortunately, the film had abudget of $58 millionand only brought in $41.3 million, making it a major loss for George.

6. Patricia Arquette

Patricia Arquettewas paid so little for her work in Boyhood that she basically lost money. The actress explained that it actually cost her more money to pay the babysitter and dog walker she had while working on the film.

"It's important to me as an actor to be able to make a living, but I'm going to tell you something -- I paid more money to my babysitter and my dog walker than I made on Boyhood, and to be in Boyhood!" she told WENN.

The role did, however, win her an Oscar.

7. Jack Black

In 2006, Jack Black brought Tenacious D to the big screen in Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny. Unfortunately, the movie didn't quite live up to big expectations. After taking a major pay cut, his usual $12 million per movie salary was cut down to just $1 million that was split between himself and Kyle Gas. Then, when the movie hit theaters, it grossed just $13.9 million, a large loss from the $20 million budget.

8. John Travolta

When John Travolta decided to bring Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's book, Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000, to the big screen, he ended up having trouble finding funding. Instead, John chose to fund the film himself, putting millions into the movie and forfeiting a major portion of his paycheck. Unfortunately for John, the flick ended up losing a ton of money -- bringing in only $29.7 million, a small portion of the $73 million budget. Despite the loss, John says he has no regrets.

"No way, are you kidding? Why would I ever regret that? I had the power to do whatever I wanted, and I chose to do a book that I thought was worthy of making into a movie. It's a beautiful film. It's a good movie," he told The Daily Beast.

9. Kevin Costner

Kevin Costner is no stranger to making investments into his own films. When it came to making The Postman, Kevin once again reportedly helped fund the flick -- but it unfortunately didn't fare as well as his other projects. With an $80 million budget, the film only brought in $17.6 million and didn't get an international release. Despite the flop, Kevin still says he's proud of the film.

"Well, I always thought it was a really good movie!" he told HuffPost. "I know that if you revisit the movie, that's a good thing to do. You can go back and revisit some movies that made well over $100 million and you might not care anything about them. And you can go back and maybe review a movie like that -- you know, it was a pretty big, epic movie."