The late Donald Sutherland was one of the industry’s legendary actors, who saw a career resurgence in the 2010s with his role in The Hunger Games. Sutherland rose to fame with his role as Hawkeye Pierce in MIX and went on to become a major presence in several classics and blockbusters. Interestingly, she made a financial mistake when negotiating a role in a movie that cost her $20 million.
Sutherland was reportedly offered the option of accepting a flat salary or a percentage of the profits and the actor chose the former in the film. He almost reminds fans of Matt Damon’s revelation of his worst financial mistake when he turned down the role in Avatar who offered him a percentage cut.
Donald Sutherland’s one mistake cost him a $20 million payday
Donald Sutherland will be remembered for his nearly 200 roles in a career spanning more than five decades. One of Sutherland’s most popular films in the 1970s was animal house, directed by John Landis. The 1978 film featured a cast of actors, including John Belushi, Tim Matheson, John Vernon, Verna Bloom and Thomas Hulce.
Although Belushi was intended as the lead actor in the film, the producers, Universal Pictures, did not believe that his SNL The star status was enough to attract audiences to the theater. Director Landis revealed to EW in a 1998 interview that he was friends with Sutherland from the time he worked on the sets of Kelly’s Heroes. He added that he even used to babysit Kiefer Sutherland.
Landis immediately called Sutherland to cast him in the film, as he had the star status that Universal wanted. However, Sutherland demanded that he be offered an advance salary. Landis told EW:
We had Belushi, but Universal still wanted another star. Now, I had been a lackey on the set of Kelly’s Heroes in Yugoslavia, and Donald Sutherland and I had become very close friends. I used to babysit Kiefer. So I called Donald and he said, ‘I’ll do it, but I won’t do it for scale.’ They have to pay me in advance.’
Producer Matty Simmons wrote in his book: Fat, Drunk and Stupid: The Inside Story Behind the Creation of Animal House, that Sutherland asked for $250,000 in compensation. The studio was not willing to pay him that amount and counterattacked with the offer of $20,000 for a day’s work plus a percentage of the film’s gross profits.
Sutherland did not agree with that, as he allegedly told Landis: “I can’t accept that offer. I just want the money. “I don’t want any points in the movie.” The studio eventually settled, offering him $35,000 per day of work without any percentage points. Later, Sutherland realized that this had been his biggest financial mistake.
During his appearance on the radio show, Opie and Antonio, Sutherland revealed that he was offered 2% of the film’s profits on top of his steady salary. While Sutherland didn’t want to know how much he lost, Landis revealed to EW: “But if I had taken a profit position, I would have made at least $20 million.” animal house grossed a total of $141.6 million at the box office (via Stumped).
Matt Damon revealed his biggest financial mistake that cost him $250 million
While appearing on CNN Who is talking to Chris Wallace?, Matt Damon revealed the one mistake he made in 2009 that cost him $250 million. Damon shared that he often relied on his instincts to choose a movie and based his calculations primarily on the film’s director. However, he was unable to help him when he had to turn down James Cameron’s offer to star in Avatar.
Interestingly, Damon was committed to Bourne franchise at that time and could not assume the Avatar role. According to Forbes, Damon was offered a 10% cut on the film’s box office in addition to his salary. Since the film grossed over $2.7 billion at the box office, Damon’s total earnings from the film would have been $250 million. Damon shared with CNN:
I’m sure that’s the most money an actor has ever turned down. He had a contract. He was in the middle of filming the Bourne movie and would have to leave the movie early and leave them in the lurch a bit.
Damon and Ben Affleck also made a mistake when selling the script for Goodwill Hunt for $600,000 and received the money in a joint account. Affleck revealed to Drew Barrymore on his show that he didn’t have much money left after paying his agents and taxes and they went bankrupt within six months.
animal house is now available to stream on Netflix.
