Uncredited actors

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by frazod

I always assumed that when a well-known star shows up in a bit part like this that he's friends with the filmakers and is basically doing it as a favor (and working at a greatly reduced rate).

Well, usually when guys sign on at a reduced rate, they'll make it up with back-end royalties, generally from ticket sales. Otherwise, it would impossible to pay these guys their normal quote because it would cost $60-$70 just for the actors alone.

That can be risky but it could also pay huge dividends. Tom Hanks earned like $38 million from Forrest Gump by eschewing his regular quote and taking back end.

Where the risk comes in is that studio accounting divisions are well-known for making top earning films into losers on the ledger. I think Seth McFarlane even alluded to that during this year's Oscar broadcast. I think I've shared in the past that Disney made the original POTC film a loser, even though it earned in excess of $400 million domestically.