• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Robert Downey Jr. Being paid over $80 million dollars to play Dr.Doom

Draugoth

Gold Member
JG2_0835_wy1Eyp6a.jpeg


Source

For Downey, who helped catapult Marvel into a money-printing machine thanks to his turn as Tony Stark in the first “Iron Man” film in 2008, his deal also is filled with perks that include private jet travel, dedicated security and a whole “trailer encampment” for the newly minted Oscar winner. (Downey took home this year’s best supporting actor honors for his role in “Oppenheimer.”)

According to one knowledgeable source, Downey is by far the highest-paid member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and has pulled down between $500 million and $600 million over the course of four “Avengers” movies, three “Iron Man” outings and cameos in “The Incredible Hulk,” “Captain America: Civil War” and “Spider-Man: Homecoming.”


Still, some changes are in order. While the Russo brothers’ previous two “Avengers” movies shot in Atlanta, the new outings will be filmed in London beginning in the second quarter of 2025.


Although Marvel had become the most dominant brand in cinema over its first 30 films, it began to show cracks in 2023, with a ho-hum “Ant-Man” sequel that brought in just $476 million worldwide, coupled with a disastrous “The Marvels,” which barely cleared the $200 million mark globally. Adding to the angst on the Burbank lot, the entire future “Avengers” arc that centered on villain Kang had to be scrapped amid actor Jonathan Majors’ legal troubles. (Marvel parent company Disney cut ties with Majors hours after he was convicted of assault and harassment stemming from an altercation with his girlfriend at the time.) In short order, director Destin Daniel Cretton exited “Avengers: Kang Dynasty.”
 

NickFire

Member
Can’t fault him the slightest for asking and / or accepting. But wow. That’s a heck of a precedent to set and big expense.

Edit: is that for more than one movie? Would seem reasonable to me if for 2.
 
Last edited:

lmimmfn

Member
Didn't he get booted originally because he was asking for too much? I guess the Marvel movies are going down the pan so they see it as worth it if the get a 1+billion hit again
 

Gp1

Member
I read yesterday (Deadline probably) that RDJ + Russo brothers costed about 100m to Disney and probably + some % of the box-office.
 

clarky

Gold Member
Didn't he get booted originally because he was asking for too much? I guess the Marvel movies are going down the pan so they see it as worth it if the get a 1+billion hit again
The whole cast was getting too expensive I believe, RDJ obviously being the worst offender. Looking like a big mistake getting rid so far.

Saying that though i thought they had great endings for Iron man and Captian America. Obviously though this multiverse bollocks lessens that when they can just bring anyone back at anytime. Bringing him back now just exacerbates the issue for me, after thinking about it. What's the point in any of this?
 
Last edited:

ManaByte

Gold Member
Didn't he get booted originally because he was asking for too much? I guess the Marvel movies are going down the pan so they see it as worth it if the get a 1+billion hit again

No he wanted out to make Doolittle. Oops.

It was Terence Howard who was booted for asking for too much. He asked for more than RDJ for Iron Man 2.
 
Last edited:

lmimmfn

Member
The whole cast was getting too expensive I believe, RDJ obviously being the worst offender. Looking like a big mistake getting rid so far.

Saying that though i thought they had great endings for Iron man and Captian America. Obviously though this multiverse bollocks lessens that when they can just bring anyone back at anytime. Bringing him back now just exacerbates the issue for me, after thinking about it. What's the point in any of this?
They had a great run with interconnected movies and completely destroyed everything they created with a snap and bring them all back. So yes also I dont see the point anymore or even my original aim of following all MCU to try and have a better perspective.

It is a waste of time
 

clarky

Gold Member
People keep saying this, but it’s been five years and they haven’t brought back any of the characters who died or retired.
2 retired spidermen
1 green goblin
1 doc octopus
Electro
Loki (he was so dead)
Half the cast of end game.
Wolverine. (great death but not really eh?)

Didn't professor x pop his clogs only to show up in dr strange also?

Not all from the multiverse but point stands

You never dead in the MCU. Stakes have never been lower.
 
Last edited:

peish

Member
What happened to the guy directing kang dynasty? I heard he was angling to direct secret wars.

Mcu is in such a mess to suddenly insert doomsday inbetween KD and SW
 

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
Too bad Marvel didn't use the opportunity between Infinity War and Endgame to make some movies about what is going in in that time period. They could have saved a lot of money and contract spots on cameos.
 

clarky

Gold Member
What happened to the guy directing kang dynasty? I heard he was angling to direct secret wars.

Mcu is in such a mess to suddenly insert doomsday inbetween KD and SW
Kangs been scrapped i believe due to Majors being a naughty boy. ManaByte ManaByte is more knowledgeable about these things than me, maybe he could answer that better for you.
 

ManaByte

Gold Member
What happened to the guy directing kang dynasty? I heard he was angling to direct secret wars.
He’s making Shang-Chi 2, Simu says it’s coming sooner now. No idea if his D+ series is still happening with the reduction in output.

And they’re not making Kang Dynasty. The Kang story ended in Loki S2 due to Majors‘ favorite song being “Smack My Bitch Up”. Doomsday replaces it.
 
Last edited:

peish

Member
Kangs been scrapped i believe due to Majors being a naughty boy. ManaByte ManaByte is more knowledgeable about these things than me, maybe he could answer that better for you.

He’s making Shang-Chi 2, Simu says it’s coming sooner now. No idea if his D+ series is still happening with the reduction in output.

And they’re not making Kang Dynasty. The Kang story ended in Loki S2 due to Majors‘ favorite song being “Smack My Bitch Up”. Doomsday replaces it.

Oh wow so they stealth scrapped kang dynasty? I did not see any news updates on it.

Meaning multiverses is also gone with doomsday?

Makes more sense about the chatter Kevin gone break glass with RDJ...
 
Last edited:

jason10mm

Gold Member
Thats just INSANE. This just has to be money laundering on an epic scale. Imagine being the day extras on set knowing the guy is getting like a MILLION dollars A DAY to be there.

Disney rolling them BIG BOY dice, if nothing else we are gonna see some expppeennssiiveee ass films in a few years.
 

Nydius

Member
I thought disney are woke af? So the woke signalling cant redistribute income more fairly?

Just continue talk the woke and slave drive them rats

Disney’s like every other virtue signaling corporation: They only do it because they believe there’s some profit to be had from it. It’s a classic case of “do as I say, not as I do” on a corporate scale.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
RDJ brings excitement like no one else in the marvel franchise and gets people into theatres. That’s worth a lot of money.

I love people coming out of the woodworks saying dumb shit like “I was a second assistant catering manager at Marvel and I only made 14 bucks an hour”. Yeah okay you idiot, your job is important too but do you really not understand the difference?
 

Mobilemofo

Member
RDJ brings excitement like no one else in the marvel franchise and gets people into theatres. That’s worth a lot of money.

I love people coming out of the woodworks saying dumb shit like “I was a second assistant catering manager at Marvel and I only made 14 bucks an hour”. Yeah okay you idiot, your job is important too but do you really not understand the difference?
I get what your saying, but in the grand scheme of things, he's just a fuckin actor doing a job which doesn't really mean anything outside of being entertaining. I mean, he's super talented at his job, he's in no way shape or form, critical to sustaining humanity is he? Just a fuckin actor at the end of the day.
 
Last edited:

FunkMiller

Member
Or, you know, they could have made better investments in their writing teams and FX teams, to actually turn out quality storylines and characters again, in movies that actually look good.

But I’m sure plenty of idiots will continue to consume the level of crap they’ve been putting out in recent years, as long as it stars the guy they all loved years ago.
 
Last edited:

Kenpachii

Member
Is this not for 2 movies? the same goes for the directors. Let's say downey gets 100m for the role, and the directors 80m that's 180m, that's less then 10% of the movies budget if both movies hit 1 billion.
 

thefool

Member
Financially, it probably makes sense.
Capeshit is so dead that the only thing that gives it energy is when you fill it with cameos, nostalgic references, fourth wall shenanigans. If Downey puts people in seats, then 80M+ is a bargain.
 

Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
Damn. That’s a lot of moolah.
 

BlackTron

Member
Lets not jump the gun here. These people wont bring Disney billions of dollars revenue so ofc RDJ is going to be payed a lot for his image.

"Exactly like I know how this works but I could not meet basic needs and had literally 0 time for anything but Marvel"

I think the point is if you can afford to pay 80m to one actor you can afford to pay your teams for what they do, maybe not 80m but at least enough to cover basic needs in exchange for every scrap of time and attention you have.
 

ManaByte

Gold Member
Bob Iger righting the woke ship.
Get me Iron Man again was probably what he said to Feige.

No he's just letting Feige do his job and lessening his workload so he's not so stretched thin. Cheapek interfered too much (like mandating 2 hour runtimes just so they can cram more showings a day at theaters) and demanded so much content spam with D+ shows that Feige was overwhelmed. Iger told them only two movies a year, but three is OK occasionally and less shows.

We'll know more about the shows next month at D23. They'll have Daredevil there. Ironheart is finished and still coming, and they're doing Vision Quest, but beyond that is unclear. Armor Wars was a show and then a movie, but now it might not even be happening.
 

jufonuk

not tag worthy
RDJ brings excitement like no one else in the marvel franchise and gets people into theatres. That’s worth a lot of money.

I love people coming out of the woodworks saying dumb shit like “I was a second assistant catering manager at Marvel and I only made 14 bucks an hour”. Yeah okay you idiot, your job is important too but do you really not understand the difference?
Tom Cruise Dance GIF
 

The Cockatrice

I'm retarded?
"Exactly like I know how this works but I could not meet basic needs and had literally 0 time for anything but Marvel"

I think the point is if you can afford to pay 80m to one actor you can afford to pay your teams for what they do, maybe not 80m but at least enough to cover basic needs in exchange for every scrap of time and attention you have.

He was making almost 4k$ a month, saying he could not make basic needs is a huge exaggeration.
 
Last edited:

BlackTron

Member
He was making almost 4k$ a month, saying he could not make basic needs is a huge exaggeration.

Maybe he is exaggerating but where does your 4k come from? Assuming both that you didn't make that up and he is not lying that he made 12.50/hr, he would need to work 14 hours per day every weekday (or 10 hours including weekends) to make 4k, before taxes. After taxes, I'm guessing 3200ish. If I modestly guess rent and auto expenses at 2k/m, that leaves $1200 or $40/day to live on which I guess isn't that bad for selling your soul to Marvel. If rent+auto is $2500 which is easy to happen that's 23 bucks a day. Time to cancel Gamepass.
 

The Cockatrice

I'm retarded?
Maybe he is exaggerating but where does your 4k come from? Assuming both that you didn't make that up and he is not lying that he made 12.50/hr, he would need to work 14 hours per day every weekday (or 10 hours including weekends) to make 4k, before taxes. After taxes, I'm guessing 3200ish. If I modestly guess rent and auto expenses at 2k/m, that leaves $1200 or $40/day to live on which I guess isn't that bad for selling your soul to Marvel. If rent+auto is $2500 which is easy to happen that's 23 bucks a day. Time to cancel Gamepass.

Ok cool so we established he was making more than basic needs assuming ofc he wasnt lying about his actual salary since he said he also made 14 on another movie. Twitter drama queens always tend to exaggerate and Im more than sure he lowered what he actually made. At the end of the day, RDJ brings billions to companies, he wont and if he didnt like the salary he should've looked for something else instead of you know, continue working for them lmao BUT OH NO I NEED MY TWITTER POINTS.
 
Last edited:

BlackTron

Member
Ok cool so we established he was making more than basic needs assuming ofc he wasnt lying about his actual salary since he said he also made 14 on another movie. Twitter drama queens always tend to exaggerate and Im more than sure he lowered what he actually made. At the end of the day, RDJ brings billions to companies, he wont and if he didnt like the salary he should've looked for something else instead of you know, continue working for them lmao BUT OH NO I NEED MY TWITTER POINTS.

Looking at that budget it's obvious you would be running out of money constantly, especially with a fast paced lifestyle which means you can't save money by doing a lot of stuff cheap yourself at home. I mean stopping for Dunkin on your way to work just killed 25% of your daily budget.

You're the one who said 4k, not me, not him. So it's sort of weird and funny to pull that out of your ass then talk about making shit up on Twitter.
 

Mr Reasonable

Completely Unreasonable
Ok cool so we established he was making more than basic needs assuming ofc he wasnt lying about his actual salary since he said he also made 14 on another movie. Twitter drama queens always tend to exaggerate and Im more than sure he lowered what he actually made. At the end of the day, RDJ brings billions to companies, he wont and if he didnt like the salary he should've looked for something else instead of you know, continue working for them lmao BUT OH NO I NEED MY TWITTER POINTS.

RDJ will bring in plenty of attention and he's one of a very small number of people who can take roles like this.

But your argument that "as long as basic needs are being met fuck 'em" is pretty shitty.

What if you'd actually like to live a life, take some time to do things you enjoy, go places, have a family, save for retirement?

Meanwhile for RDJ there's effectively no difference to his life if he gets paid 80 or 70 or even 60m. It'll all just get thrown in with the other millions he's already sat on that he won't have time to spend before he dies.

If Disney can't afford to pay people a fair wage for their work, then they ought to set budgets accordingly.
 
Last edited:

The Cockatrice

I'm retarded?
You're the one who said 4k, not me, not him. So it's sort of weird and funny to pull that out of your ass then talk about making shit up on Twitter.

Dude said he made 14 on another movie, 70 hours a week. I also said almost 4k, not exactly 4K but reading and math is hard. You also seem to keep ignoring my main point so Ill just ignore you.
 
Top Bottom