Bruce Willis Secured His Family’s Future With the Largest Ever Acting Pay Check That Shamed Tom Cruise Before Dementia Forced Acting Legend Into Retirement
Bruce Willis, one of the most iconic and successful action stars in film history, has recently been diagnosed with dementia, which has saddened movie fans all over the world. His roles in action-packed films, such as the Die Hard franchise, Armageddon, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, The Expendables, Pulp Fiction, and The Fifth Element, have generated around $5 billion at the global box office, making him one of the highest-grossing actors of all time.
He has also been one of the highest-paid actors in the world, earning up to $14 million in minimum base salary for a single movie. But what most people don’t know is that he holds the record for the highest single-film payday of all time, thanks to his role in the M. Night Shyamalan movie, The Sixth Sense.
The Sixth Sense’s Record-Breaking Payday
In 1997, David Vogel, an executive at Disney, bought the film rights to a script written by a then-unknown screenwriter named M. Night Shyamalan for an unprecedented $3 million fee. Shyamalan demanded to direct the movie, and Vogel agreed. Disney executives, including then-CEO Michael Eisner, were furious when they found out about Vogel’s rash decision to spend such a large sum on a script without approval. As a result, Vogel was removed from his position and fired a few months later.
Disney offloaded the rights to The Sixth Sense to a production company called Spyglass, which sought out Bruce Willis to star in the film. Spyglass offered Willis a base salary of $14 million and 17.5% of the film’s profits, as well as a similar percentage of DVD and licensing proceeds. Despite concerns from some about the casting, Willis took the role, and the movie became a massive hit, grossing $670 million at the global box office on a production budget of $40 million + $20 million for marketing.
When all the receipts were counted, Willis earned an additional $100 million in backend revenue, making his total payday $114 million, which still stands as the highest single-film payday of all time, even after adjusting for inflation.
Bruce Willis’ Legacy and David Vogel’s Fate
Willis’ success and popularity as an actor were due in part to his ability to play tough yet sensitive action heroes, who always had the perfect one-liner before delivering the knockout punch to the villain. His performances in films like Die Hard and The Sixth Sense have left an indelible mark on the film industry and pop culture. Despite his recent dementia diagnosis, Willis’ legacy as one of the greatest action stars of all time will continue to inspire generations of filmmakers and movie fans.
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David Vogel, the executive who purchased the rights to The Sixth Sense at Disney, was removed from his position and eventually fired from the company in June 1999. Vogel went on to start a consulting business that never took off. Feeling frozen out of the entertainment industry, he turned to meditation and eventually moved to Palm Springs, where he founded a film festival and education company called Digicom.
Source: Celebritynetworth
