Gravity was a massive hit both at the box office and with critics, and it’s worked out well for Sandra Bullock, too, as she’ll apparently make AT LEAST $70 million from film revenue. Whaaaaat!
Basically, she signed an initial deal for $20 million just for appearing – a high payday for an actress that’s reserved for the best of the best, for sure – PLUS 15% of box office fees (how in the hell did she wrangle that?!) AND portions of “home video, TV and ancillary revenue”. That adds up to a fuckton of money, for sure.
From the Hollywood Reporter:
According to multiple sources, Bullock’s deal with Warner Bros. for the Alfonso Cuaron-directed space epic calls for her to earn $20 million upfront against 15 percent of first-dollar gross. That means once her advance is covered, she will collect 15 percent of the studio’s slice of the box-office pie, known as “film rentals.”
Gravity has earned more than $700 million at the worldwide box office and is expected to cross the $750 million mark. Assuming Warners gets 45 percent of that, Bullock’s take would be more than $50 million, including her upfront payment. But theatrical revenue is just one part of what she’ll make, as she also gets a percentage from home video, TV and ancillary revenue.
“The theatrical window is going to generate a third of the total revenue a movie will earn; it will get another third on DVD; and then the final third comes from pay and free TV,” says one veteran finance lawyer. Gravity might earn proportionately more at the box office, says this lawyer, because “pay and free-TV numbers cap out at a certain point.”
So basically, that $70 million estimate is a conservative one and she could actually make much, much more than that. Get it, girl!
Of course, it was an incredibly challenging shoot and meant Sandra had to spend a shit ton of time in isolation, which caused depression, etc. Still, $70 million seems like more than an adequate paycheck for a few months of doing what you love, no matter how hard it is, wouldn’t you say?
Sisters are doing it for themselves! It was a fantastic film. I think it’s still obscene that someone is making that much money but she isn’t hurting anyone.