He's not even worth 20 million let alone 25. But Rush Hour is probably a sure thing even though the series has only been pretty good at best. I remember the funniest moment in Rush Hour 2 was the last outake during the credits, so that's not saying a whole lot about the fim. Not to say I don't like either one. But for the amount of money he and Jackie Chan are getting for this, I don't see the justification for filming it.
Well, he's getting $15 million upfront. $40 million JUST for two actors. Who knows how much everything else costs. This movie ain't cheap to make.
I agree. Chris Tucker has always struck me as a poor man's Chris Rock (or now the rich man's Chris Rock) and could be replaced in the role whereas it would be really hard if not impossible to replace Jackie Chan.
And that's only the upfront money. Jackie Chan will also get a cut of the total revenue which, according to a poster in another thread, gave him another 30m from Rush Hour II. It's crazy.
yeah jackie gets a cut of the box office profits plus distro rights in asia... "Tucker will earn $20 million against 20% of gross along with a second-picture commitment for the same salary on a film to be determined later. Chan will get around $15 million against 15% of gross and own distribution rights in China and Hong Kong." http://www.rottentomatoes.com/news/comments/?entryid=320812
It's just a really weird situation, Chris Tucker was best in 5th element but he only had a small part. Really haven't done much besides Rush hour series. Jackie Chan is huge in Asia, but his U.S. movies like Shanghai knights, the Medllaion etc weren't exactly box office scorchers. But together, they create a cash cow called Rush hour and the studio believes they will make more money from these two, thus the crazy pay.
While $20 million vs 20% of the gross is crazy even for "Rush Hour 3", it's especially crazy that he's getting the same deal for a second movie to be decided on later. And the way this appears to be set-up, this is a guaranteed money-loser. I mean, let's say it equals "Rush Hour 2" in both foreign and domestic and comes out with almost $350 million. So, there's $350 million, less the theater's take and the studio is left with $192.5 million. Take away 20% of the gross for Tucker, and they're down to $122.5. Take away 15% gross for Chan, and they're down to $70 million. Take away the Asian box office and no telling how much they're down. Take away the cost of the picture (and if it cost the same as Rush Hour 2, that's at least $55 million in production costs, not including paying Tucker and Chan, who I already compensated above. Take out P&A, which is likely at least $20 million on a picture like this and the studio is probably in the red at least $10 million even if it's a hit as big as the last one. Granted, it'll probably dig its way out of that hole on DVD if it turns out to be a $350 million picture. But if it just equals the first one's grosses, New Line is looking at being $40 million in the hole before subtracting out whatever giving away China and Hong Kong costs. This thing basically has to match the worldwide grosses of the first two Rush Hour movies combined to make a profit at all in theatrical... that is, if what's being reported is the actual salary structure.
small part in Money Talks? he was the main character. i remember never watching this when it came on tv for the longest time. then one day i actually watched it all the way through and now i hardly miss it when it's on. a weird, but funny and entertaining movie. what the hell are they talking about? no doubt it made a lot of money but home alone, lion king, incredibles, shrek, shrek 2, men in black, and several others beat it out. shrek 2 nearly made twice as much (440+ to 226 domestic). that also means it can't even be highest grossing comedy sequel. so does 25M against 20% gross just mean you get the higher of the 2? if it's worldwide gross then you gotta figure this thing will make ~150-200M or so unless it's just really horrible so tucker is looking at one enormous pay day. i was almost more surprised to learn he got $3M for the original rush hour just because he didn't seem that well known at the time. i mean he had the roles listed above (and Friday) but i barely knew who he was so to be set for life with one role just like that was pretty good. of course, in retrospect 3 million was nothing for what the movie made and this $25M or 20% gross is just helping to even things out in terms of him getting his slice of the pie from the franchise (and whoever said chan was the star was wrong, tucker and his mouth pretty much make these movies, though chan is certainly a nice addition).
i watched SUPERHOMES on the travel channel. They talked to Jackie Chan and he has some many homes around the world, he's making 'secret homes'. They showed some crappy industrial building, but jackie drives into it, and when he gets out its some posh pad. he's says he's buying some more 'secret homes' at top of buildings, etc.
Well movies don't usually make money at the box office. They're pretty much operated as a loss leader to promote the DVDs, HBO etc. But I agree with you that this is a pretty risky greenlight. It's been a while since the other Rush Hour movies came out, and I don't know if the buzz is still going to be there. I could easily see this movie pulling a "Charlie's Angel 2", and barely making $100 million domestic, and sub $200 million worldwide. If that's the case then it'll be years before RH3 makes back it's expenses. Maybe when the Rush Hour series comes out on Blu-ray.
I'm sure they aren't counting the animated movies, putting them in a different category. But, you're right in that, even taking out the animated movies, it's still wrong (whether thinking domestically or worldwide). Basically. That's true, but it's just strange to see bets made in which the best case scenario ends up with such a small upside to the financiers of the film.
I remember last year, Jackie Chan was griping that Tucker was holding up RH3. Then it seemed to be centered on control of the project, but maybe it was simply the money. Cashwise, I think Tucker deserves that much, if only as backpay for the first two. Controlwise, I'd be worried if this becomes his pseudo-directoral debut. Evan
Really can you imagine any of the Rush Hours being made without Jackie Chan? What other Asian martial art star would they have used? Jet Li, Donny Yen, Stephen Chow? None of those guys have either the comedic timing of Jackie Chan or the US name whereas you could've probably put Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence or even dusted off Eddie Murphy and still gotten largely the same movie. The first Rush Hour was made for Jackie Chan with Chris Tucker as the add on.
