Money, Dear Boy: Difference between revisions

* [[Brad Pitt]] was very vocal about how much he hated ''The Devil's Own''. According to him it was "the most irresponsible bit of filmmaking -- if you can even call it that -- that I've ever seen" and he also called the film a "disaster". Which combined with his weak performance in the film (not to mention his totally ridiculous sounding Irish accent) makes it clear that money was his only real motivation for starring in that film.

* [[Donald Pleasence]] says it all:

* [[Oliver Reed]] ended up doing a lot of B movies towards the end of his life, including an awful adaptation of ''The Fall of the House of Usher'', as his drinking habits and wild lifestyle meant many mainstream directors would not give him a role.

* [[Jean Reno]]. Granted, not all of his latest movies are bad, but the times of ''[[The Professional|Leon]]'' and ''[[Ronin (film)|Ronin]]'' seem very far.

* [[Charlize Theron]] admitted in an interview that she starred in ''[[Hancock]]'' for the money.

* Marisa Tomei has pretty much admitted herself that she enjoys money:

* Abe Vigoda's role in ''[[Good Burger]]'', most likely.

* Jon Voight as Principal Dimly in ''[[Bratz]]: The Movie'', and the Big Bad Bill Biscane in ''[[Baby Geniuses]] 2''. He ''produced'' those movies as well.

** He also subverts this trope. He's said repeatedly in interviews that he takes any role offered to him as long as he has the time because he regards every film he works on as a learning experience. One can only guess what he learned from ''The Country Bears''.

* [[David Warner]]. While ''[[Tron]]'' is acceptable, let's consider ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (film)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] II: Secret of the Ooze'', ''[[Star Trek V: The Final Frontier|Star Trek V the Final Frontier]]'', ''Privateer II: The Darkening'' and of course, ''[[Quest of the Delta Knights]]''.

** Warner may be the new patron saint of this trope, as he was paid for ''two'' roles in ''Delta Knights''.

* [[Sigourney Weaver]]'s involvement in ''[[Alien (franchise)|Alien]] ^3:'' and ''Alien: Resurrection'' was motivated largely by this. After ''Aliens'', Weaver had intended it to be the last role she would play as the character...until 20th Century Fox lured her back to the third film (after rejecting several scripts by other writers that didn't include her) with a much bigger payday and a producer's credit. Years later, during an interview, she responded to the question, "Why did you agree to do ''[[Alien (franchise)|Alien]] Resurrection''?" by saying, "Because they drove a dumptruck full of money to my house."

* This has to explain ''Warrior of the Lost World'', which in addition to featuring [[Donald Pleasence]], also provided an income for [[The Paper Chase|Robert Ginty]], Persis Khambatta (pretty much only known for her role in ''[[Star Trek: The Motion Picture|Star Trek the Motion Picture]]''), and Fred Williamson.

* [[Wes Craven]] had this to say about his involvement in ''[[The Hills Have Eyes]] 2'' (The 80s one)

* [[Dustin Hoffman]], and [[Robin Williams]] did not take salaries for ''[[Hook]]'', instead opting (with [[Steven Spielberg]]) to split 40% of the gross revenues. Since that movie, Spielberg likes to convince his stars to get this instead of their usual paychecks (considering the budget is usually already huge, it helps a lot). Examples include [[Tom Hanks]] for ''[[Saving Private Ryan]]'' and [[Tom Cruise]] for ''[[Minority Report]]''.

* The late director Gary Winick did a number of cookie-cutter romantic comedies (''13 Going On 30'', ''Bride Wars'', ''Letters To Juliet'') and family films (the remake of ''[[Charlotte's Web]]'') so that he could finance smaller independent projects that made use of digital cameras. It ended up working rather well as he produced a number of critically acclaimed films through his company Indigent.

* As noted before, this trope doesn't necessarily result in bad fiction - think of the doorstopping evergreens by Dostoievsky and Alexandre Dumas. Both were paid per line. In case of Dostoievsky his urgent need to repay his gambling debts caused him to write "Crime and Punishment" at a crazy speed. This is thought to be one of the reasons for the novel's unique flow of thoughts making it both an inspiration to psychoanalysis and Joyce's stream of conciousness.

* [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s writing career started as a way to pay off debts incurred in an unsuccessful run for office, in 1937. The male protagonist of ''[[The Cat Who Walks Through Walls]]'' took this trope as his own.

* [[Samuel Johnson]] wrote ''Rasselas'' in only seven days to pay for his mother's funeral.

* An in-universe example occurs in Robert B. Parker's novel ''Shrink Rap'' when [[Tom Cruise]] [[No Celebrities Were Harmed|stand-in]] named Hal Race threatens to leave after the lead character refuses to take her dog out of the room, and the author of a book that he's interesting in playing a role in a film adaptation tells him he can take a hike if he doesn't cut the attitude. Sure enough, he stays. When asked later why the author was willing to risk him walking, she replies with this trope.

* The producers of ''[[Lost]]'' managed to get almost every main character back for at least one episode in the sixth and last season. The exception was Mr. Eko, as actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje asked for too much money.

* Joe Rogan once referred to ''[[Fear Factor]]'', a show which he hosted, as "Joe Gets Paid".

* In one game of "Scenes from a Hat" on [[Whose Line Is It Anyway?]], where the scene in question was "rejected names for Whose Line", Wayne suggested "Drew Carey's House Payment".

* Then-well-known stage actors James Daly nor Louise Sorel, who guest-starred together in the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek the Original Series]]'' episode "Requiem for Methuselah" as Flint and Reyna, respectively, both thought the series was childish and cartoony and later both admitted the only reason they did the episode was the paycheck.

* Carroll O'Connor pulled off a massive version of this during the sixth season of ''[[All in The Family]]''. During the hiatus between seasons, O'Connor lobbied for [[CBS]] to greatly increase his salary, as well as give him more creative control. Studio executives balked at his demands, and production of the season started without him (with an explanation given that he was out of town). CBS head Fred Silverman successfully convinced O'Connor to come back at a much higher salary. By the time ''[[Archie Bunker's Place]]'' began, O'Connor was the highest-paid cast member (and, by the end of the first season, the ''only'' original cast member) and an executive producer, and rode the salary bump through four more seasons of diminishing ratings.

* It seems that a sitcom is doomed as soon as its star/s become/s the "highest paid on television." (Notably, Seinfeld, Frasier, Friends).

== Music ==

* Even [[The Beatles (band)|The Beatles]] weren't immune to this, according to [[Paul McCartney]]:

* Supposedly, lead singer Tarja Turunen's focus on money was the reason she was kicked out of the band [[Nightwish]].

* The Boomtown Rats never bothered to pretend that they weren't at least partly in it for the large sacks of cash they were getting out of their success, unlike pretty much every other punk band of the era, particularly the [[Sex Pistols]]. Interestingly enough, whilst Bob Geldof went on to devote his fame and connections to one of the greatest humanitarian endeavors of the 1980s, Johnny Rotten of the Pistols, after a decade of [[Doing It for the Art]] with his acclaimed experimental band [[Public Image Ltd]], was last heard of appearing in a decidedly not-punk butter commercial.