[Variety] Behind Robert Downey Jr. and the Russo Brothers’ Mega ‘Avengers’ Paydays ($80m for Russos, "significantly more" for Downey.)

[Dan Thunder]

I imagine it's probably going to be a $20-30m salary for RDJ and a bigger backend percentage. I mean he got something like $75m from both IW and Endgame alone so I'd expect him to walk away with at least $100m per movie. I guess in some ways a lot of that could be offset by paying whoever ends up as the New Avengers a lot less money. I mean by the end of the IW saga I imagine that pretty much all the actors were on a hefty wedge so as there will likely be new members of the team in these films they won't get paid anywhere near as much as the original team did by the time Endgame rolled around.

Crazy that since Endgame he's only been in two theatrical releases (Dolittle & Oppenheimer) and he only starred in one of them.

 

[beat]

For that much money I hope Marvel got two main Avengers movies and at least a cameo in FF outta RDJ.

 

[Principate]

The usual reminder: they were always going to pay RDJ an obscene amount of money to return for their big multiversity Avengers film, whether the Kang stuff worked out or not.

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Yeah but it would be significantly less as a cameo in one film versus being prime billing for both films. If Disney weren't so desperate they absolutely would not be doing this.

 

[Dan Thunder]

I found it brilliant but have no idea if Dr Doom ever shows his actual face.

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I imagine it'll be like Pablo Schreiber in Halo Stallone's Judge Dredd, with the amount of money you're paying them their face is going to be plastered everywhere. Probably be posters where it's half his face, half mask.

 

[ReplacementPelican]

A quick google seems to estimate he got about 75m each for Infinity War and Endgame once receipts were counted? Sounds about right, if thats true. Not sure why people think he'd come back for less than the last two films. Regardless of who he plays.

And 80m for two directors who delivered you two films that made over 2bn dollars, one that made over a billion and one that made 700m.

Seems very desperate and sad and desperate tbh.

please dont actually be upset, anyone, i'm just mucking about.

 

[Plinkerton]

This is a real hail mary to try and bring back the excitement to MCU. I think it will pay off but if this fails its more or less over for the MCU.

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My guess is that it'll work for these two films and they'll make bank, but it won't impact the long-term performance/perception of MCU films overall. People will be excited to see RDJ back in Marvel films but that won't translate to them showing up for the "B tier" films that come out around those two.

 

[Dust]

RDJ as Doom will get butts in the cinema, 100%. That part is settled. I do wonder about the hero side, how that is going to work for mass audience.

 

[subpar spatula]

would be hilarious if the movie doesn't do big numbers at the box office and they all just look at each other and go, "now what?" This has to be the last resort. Or Thanos returning is.

Also gonna be interesting to see how much this moves the marvel fatigue needle the other way. Infinity Saga had build up. This is just Kang being rewritten out and tossing in Doom. If people didn't know who Thanos was at the end of Avengers (2012), they don't know who Doom is.

 

[SoneaB]

I have nothing against Mr Downey nor am I against actors playing multiple rolls across a series but there are so many people who could play an amazing Doom without having to pay that sort of money. It's irresponsible accounting. Hopefully they know what they are doing.

 

[thewienke]

Considering all the people that will be in these movies plus CG…

$500 million each? Probably need $1.5 billion as a minimum for each if we use the 3x multiplier. Basically two of the original Avengers box office. That's very very doable with 2024 prices.

 

[Kinthey]

Could probably finance an entire regular MCU movie with the salary for three people. This is insane

 

[Lynchian Anomaly]

VFX budget is only gonna allow for stop motion or to swede secret wars at this rate.

 

[Bard]

All that for a terrible casting choice and the continuous erasure of Roma characters. Good job Marvel.

 

[Gavalanche]

Do people want RDJ as evil? Flawed yes, it what makes Ironman great. But would they be cool seeing RDJ committing murder and shit?

 

[Min]

Can't believe we're going to have the next Endgame but with a set up of multiple dead end cliffhangers, no team, no sequel character building, and a fake out villain swap last minute.

 

[Vincent Grayson]

Goddamn, that is so much fucking money.

Not that it isn't hard work or anything but it just blows my mind sometimes the figures that get tossed around.

 

[duckroll]

Do people want RDJ as evil? Flawed yes, it what makes Ironman great. But would they be cool seeing RDJ committing murder and shit?

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I mean, he played Strauss in Oppenheimer and people loved it so I'll say... Yes?

 

[Jubilant Duck]

All that money and yet Simu Liu still hasn't been given a Shang-Chi 2.

 

[Alexandros]

My guess is that it'll work for these two films and they'll make bank, but it won't impact the long-term performance/perception of MCU films overall. People will be excited to see RDJ back in Marvel films but that won't translate to them showing up for the "B tier" films that come out around those two.

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The X-Men aren't B tier, so if Marvel can successfully weather its rough phase then it will be much better positioned for the future.

 

[Gavalanche]

I mean, he played Strauss in Oppenheimer and people loved it so I'll say... Yes?

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Strauss wasn't really evil though. He was just a political hound with a chip on his shoulder and a healthy case of narcissism. Dr Doom is a mass murdering genocidal dictator, this a little different :p

But maybe you are right.

 

[Future Gazer]

80 million for the fucking Russo brothers. 😂 We have reached peak stupidity.

 

[Uzzy]

Could probably finance an entire regular MCU movie with the salary for three people. This is insane

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According to Wiki re the Marvels: 'The film was a box-office bomb, grossing $206 million worldwide against a gross production budget of $274.8 million, making it the lowest-grossing film in the MCU and one of the few MCU films not to break even in its theatrical run.'

If RDJ's 'significantly more' is any more than 50% up on what the Russo brothers are getting, then they're paying three men more than the entire box office of The Marvels.

 

[Quinton]

Can't believe we're going to have the next Endgame but with a set up of multiple dead end cliffhangers, no team, no sequel character building, and a fake out villain swap last minute.

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As someone who checked out of the MCU years ago, save for Loki, could you let me know what all the dead end cliffhangers are? Spoiler tag them, maybe. But I'm curious because that's wild. One thing Phases 1 through 3 had in spades was the general ability to deliver on stuff that had been set up in prior films.

 

[duckroll]

Strauss wasn't really evil though. He was just a political hound with a chip on his shoulder and a healthy case of narcissism. Dr Doom is a mass murdering genocidal dictator, this a little different :p

But maybe you are right.

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Doom isn't really evil though. He is just a brilliant but unhinged dictator with a chip on his shoulder and a healthy case of narcissism. Let's not talk about mass murder and genocide when there are children around, gotta keep this PG-13!

🤣🤣

 

[Mabase]

Unless there's some Dr Doom = bad Tony Stark but with an ultimate redemption, I don't see how this is what any MCU fan wanted.

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That's probably what they're aiming for. The last movie will end with a redeemed 'Evil Tony Stark', saying " I love you 3000!" and/or "I AM IRON MAN".

Cue the handkerchiefs and the dollar bills.

 

[WrenchNinja]

All that money for dull directors and an uninteresting creative decision. But hey, it makes the mouse money so who cares.

 

[subpar spatula]

80 million for the fucking Russo brothers. 😂 We have reached peak stupidity.

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The Russo Bros may not be competent at their craft but they are capable yes men. That's what Marvel wants right now. They cannot afford to keep giving directors a bit more say in how things are done.

All that money and yet Simu Liu still hasn't been given a Shang-Chi 2.

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Don't worry, you will get an entire film of side characters whose names you cannot recall.

 

[kowhite]

I mean…RDJ isn't making significantly more than 80m for these two movies upfront. That's wrong. I asked someone who knows.

 

[duckroll]

The Russo Bros may not be competent at their craft but they are capable yes men. That's what Marvel wants right now. They cannot afford to keep giving directors a bit more say in how things are done.

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I don't even think that's remotely the case. If they just wanted yes men there are a dime a dozen everywhere. They have a bunch of them working on films right now. They don't cost 80 million. Some don't even cost 1 million.

What Marvel gets for 80 million is the public perception of safe stable marketing that allows them to say FROM THE DIRECTORS OF ENDGAME to hopefully distract the dumb mainstream from seeing that they don't have any plan or hope for the next 3 years of MCU movies.

 

[Tobor]

I mean…RDJ isn't making significantly more than 80m for these two movies upfront. That's wrong. I asked someone who knows.

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The assumption is that includes back end money.

 

[entut1]

There is something most people don't seem to get here. Those are the salaries of two movies combined.

 

[JLP101]

If this movie bombs...............I wonder what the total losses would be.

 

[duckroll]

I mean…RDJ isn't making significantly more than 80m for these two movies upfront. That's wrong. I asked someone who knows.

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Prove it. You keep talking shit about other people in this thread not knowing anything, it's time to put up or shut up.

 

[Ld007]

This just stinks of spending your way out of a problem

 

[kowhite]

The assumption is that includes back end money.

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But they have no idea how much backend is. And the upfront is def higher than 20m per movie he got way more on the others.

 

[subpar spatula]

I don't even think that's remotely the case. If they just wanted yes men there are a dime a dozen everywhere. They have a bunch of them working on films right now. They don't cost 80 million. Some don't even cost 1 million.

What Marvel gets for 80 million is the public perception of safe stable marketing that allows them to say FROM THE DIRECTORS OF ENDGAME to hopefully distract the dumb mainstream from seeing that they don't have any plan or hope for the next 3 years of MCU movies.

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Eh, they don't have yes men who know the Marvel machine. There's probably a good reason why the Russo Bros stayed so long and it wasn't because they dreamed of creative freedom.

And the creators of Infinity War and Endgame don't carry as much weight anymore since their string of crap they made since Endgame.

 

[MacReady]

VFX budget is only gonna allow for stop motion or to swede secret wars at this rate.

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Nah, you just pay workers less and make them work harder to keep up with the talents of RDJ and Russo bros who are 1000 times better at their jobs.

 

[Hollywood Duo]

Are they planning on making money on this lol

 

[kowhite]

Are they planning on making money on this lol

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I mean it's an Avengers movie. Of course it could cost a billion and it'd make money.

 

[Specific Power Ranger]

I am not surprised, but i also think that when you reach a certain amount it gets ridiculous. Everyone working on this should share in the success of these movies. Most of the money should go to the people doing the vfx here.

 

[kowhite]

Eh, they don't have yes men who know the Marvel machine. There's probably a good reason why the Russo Bros stayed so long and it wasn't because they dreamed of creative freedom.

And the creators of Infinity War and Endgame don't carry as much weight anymore since their string of crap they made since Endgame.

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Eh the 80m is probably wrong.

 

[mrmickfran]

Movie budget is gonna be half a billion at this rate

 

[Blader]

The assumption is that includes back end money.

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That's just the upfront. Sneider's report has RDJ getting 50m per movie, and that's before getting into any box office points.

 

[AndyVirus]

The movies are guaranteed a billion each, but if you're paying this kind of money to 3 people alone, a billion won't be enough and it'll be need to be on par with the first two Avengers movies. Possible sure, but wouldn't say probable atm.

 

[kowhite]

I am not surprised, but i also think that when you reach a certain amount it gets ridiculous. Everyone working on this should share in the success of these movies. Most of the money should go to the people doing the vfx here.

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But most of the money won't go to the people doing VFX. It never has and it never will.

 

[Solaris]

I'm so out of touch with big movie budgets, this shit is absolutely obscene

 

[kowhite]

That's just the upfront. Sneider's report has RDJ getting 50m per movie, and that's before getting into any box office points.

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Ok well Sneider…is right.

 

[kowhite]

I'm so out of touch with big movie budgets, this shit is absolutely obscene

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You are looking at numbers literally no other human being has ever gotten.

 

[Strings]

Is that 80 million total for the director team for both movies, or 80 million for the director team for both movies, or 80 million per director for both movies, or 80 million per director for each movie? Makes a huge difference in the math!

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It's for the two of them. No one will establish a precedent for paying a directing or writing pair more than if they were just an individual.

 

[Specific Power Ranger]

But most of the money won't go to the people doing VFX. It never has and it never will.

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That's why I'm saying should.