- HOW OLD WAS ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER IN TERMINATOR 3 MOVIE
- HOW OLD WAS ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER IN TERMINATOR 3 DRIVER
In the bygone days of the studio system, the studios had exclusive contracts with their stars that allowed them to reap the profits from the images their PR machines had created.
HOW OLD WAS ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER IN TERMINATOR 3 MOVIE
(Click here to see where that money went.)Įven though Terminator 3 eventually had a world box-office gross of $427 million (at least half of which is kept by movie theaters), it barely broke even, except for Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, of course, had created his own “cash break-even,” and, under any scenario, made a small fortune from his image. The negotiation of this contract did not come cheaply-the legal and accounting budget for the movie was $2 million-and, by the time all of Schwarzenegger’s demands were met, the budget of the film had risen to $187.3 million, making it the most expensive independently produced movie in history. This media work included everything from television and radio appearances to appearances at premieres and Internet chat rooms. In addition, he had to make himself available for at least 10 days, seven of them abroad, for promotional activities in connection with the initial theatrical release of the movie. (Click here to read the tax rider.) In return, Schwarzenegger agreed to make himself available for 18 weeks of principal photography, one week (on a nonexclusive basis) for rehearsals-if any were required-and five days for reshooting. For example, Oak Productions entered into a complex tax-reimbursement scheme with the production to help avoid additional tax liabilities that might occur abroad. Since Schwarzenegger didn’t get any money personally from the movie itself, he had more flexibility managing his exposure to taxes. Oak Productions, in return, “lends” Schwarzenegger’s services to the production. All the money was to be paid not to Schwarzenegger but to Oak Productions Inc., a corporate front he controlled. Graham Waring), and his cook (Steve Hunter).įinally, Schwarzenegger had the contract structured to give him every possible tax advantage.
HOW OLD WAS ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER IN TERMINATOR 3 DRIVER
The contract “pre-approval” clause gave him choice of not only the director (Jonathan Mostow) and the principal cast, but also his hairdresser (Peter Toothbal), his makeup man (Jeff Dawn), his driver (Howard Valesco), his stand-in (Dieter Rauter), his stunt double (Billy Lucas), the unit publicist (Sheryl Merin), his personal physician (Dr. Schwarzenegger also could decide who worked with him.
) Since these payments to Schwarzenegger pushed back the cash break-even point of other participants-and added to the costs of the movie-it effectively came at the expense of less powerful talent (like writers) in the contract game. (Click here to see how his contract defines cash break-even.
home video revenues less costs).” So unlike weaker players, Schwarzenegger could count all the money taken in from DVDs and video, $20 million, less their actual cost, toward reaching the threshold where he gets his cut. In the case of DVD and video royalties, the contract specifies: “For purposes of calculating Cash Break even only, Adjusted Gross Receipts shall include a 100% home video royalty (i.e. But Schwarzenegger’s contract, thanks to the ingenious lawyering of Jake Bloom, allowed for no such evasion. That means that if sales of a DVD total $20 million, only $4 million of that is counted toward reaching the break-even point. Under the standard Hollywood contract, studios credit the film with a video “royalty” equal only to 20 percent of the sales.