Was Angelina Jolie Worth Her 'Salt' Paycheck?

By Rob Shuter Posted Jul 26th 2010 08:45AM

Angelina Jolie set a new salary high for herself with her latest spy-related movie 'Salt,' earning over $20 million for the role; however, what she did to get that money surprised everyone -- including her man, Brad Pitt.

"You don't just get paid to act anymore," one veteran producer tells me. "Selling the movie these days is more important than actually making the film and no one sells better than Angelina Jolie. You must have been living under a rock not to know 'Salt' opened this weekend and it's Angie they can thank for that."

Which explains why the action-packed film grossed an impressive (but not enough to top 'Inception') $36.5 million at the box office.

"Angie earned every cent of her $20 million salary," a Sony Pictures insider tells me. "Even though Angelina's contract insists she promote the film, no one expected her to sign autographs at the premiere for over 45 minutes, pose for pictures with fans and shake hands before walking the red carpet. Even partner Brad Pitt looked confused watching her spend so much time with all the fans."

And her dedication and work ethic didn't stop there in her drive to promote the flick.

"The studio was shocked when Angie agreed to go to Comic-Con [the largest comic book and popular arts convention in the world] as well as when she traveled to Washington, D.C. to host a reception and tour of the International Spy Museum. Angie even allowed studio publicists to plant stories about her inviting the real-life Russian sleeper spy, Anna Chapman, to the premiere, to help promote 'Salt.'"

However, no one should really have been surprised. After all, this is a superstar who knows better than any star alive today how to sell a product. Paul Dergarabedian, box office president of Hollywood.com, explains to me, "With 'Salt' becoming her 'Bourne Identity,' Angelina Jolie proves that she may be the most bankable female star in Hollywood."

New York Daily News film critic Joe Neumaier, whose quotes appear in 'Salt' newspaper ads, tells me, "I think 'Angie, Inc' has been a brand name perfectly run by Jolie since the late '90s. Since hitting the pop culture map with HBO's biopic 'Gia' and her Oscar-winning turn in 'Girl, Interrupted,' Jolie hasn't worried about box office numbers. Yet she's had hits with action flicks of low and high-caliber -- playing women ranging from Lara Croft to Mrs. Smith -- and starred in dramas that made full use of those great pouty lips, such as 'A Mighty Heart' and 'Changeling.' Yet 'Salt' combines the best of both worlds: As double agent Evelyn Salt, Jolie makes us care about the character while, at the same time, we totally buy her spy-jinks. Fans of both genres can root for her -- which explains why 'Salt's' audience was almost perfectly split between men and women."

Neumaier also told me that when he was interviewing Jolie in 2004 she got up to get a coffee and offered to get him some breakfast from the buffet table.

It's nice to know that breakfast is included for $20 million.

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Tags: angelina jolie, salt

Comments

(143)

Monday 26 July

By Tina

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20 million. Worth every penny.. give me a break... The average person never sees even a 10th of that in their lifetime and they work hard too... Actors earn way too much... Something is wrong here.

By myviewok

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Why not they pay some male much actors that much.

By alschrod

You're right, Angie--but what can be done to change it? Pro sports players and rock stars continue to make ridiculous amounts for the same reasons--because fans continue to pay huge amounts to see them perform. This article points out that Angie went the extra mile to promote this film, so deserves her fee, but it certainly does seem an exorbitant amount, doesn't it?

By Katherine

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She's able to sell herself and if someone pays it, even if she's not worth it, so be it.

By lisa

I like watching the news, So does My boyfriend .i am 10 years younger than him .i met him via mee tr ich . C'O-M a nice place for seeking millionaires,CEOs, pro athletes,doctors, lawyers, investors, entrepreneurs, beauty queens, fitness models, and Hollywood celebrities to interact with each other. Maybe you wanna check it out or tell your friends..
yyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

By susan

I couldn't agree more.....

By Vlado

Why not if you go see that movie then she get paycheck. IRS love that and they do get good part of it.

By starchild

Perhaps because they're willing to settle for being "average".
Those big name entertainers, for right or wrong, bring in piles of revenue to the studios which in turn pays the salaries for hundreds or thousands of "average people" who work behind the scenes on these movies and other entertainment venues.
Without the draw of an Angie or a Tom or a Brad, I daresay there would be a lot of people we've never heard of out of work in the entertainment industry.

By quanshenzhuab

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sssssss

By PemFred

So what Mr. Shuter is saying is that 45 minutes of work for 20 million dollars is going out of your way?

WTF?

I'm so glad that her husband is so impressed that she put almost 3/4 hr.'s worth of work in. Wow we should all be so proud.

What a bunch of worthless pieces of crap.

By Georgia

I agree with you Tina. As a matter of fact, she was way over paid. Their value to society is strictly for entertainment purposes, the same as all of the over paid atheletes. The ones who should be making more money have to go on strike to get it. I am talking about teachers, everyone in the educational field. They are severly over worked and under paid. Yet they show up everyday to teach kids, who grow up to be doctors, lawyers, some actors and others go on to be governmental employees as well as these over indulged atheletes. Angelina does no in no way deserve to earn that much money for a movie, not now and not ever. She is a husband stealing tramp and her earnings should reflect that!

By Straight Truth

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Did she keep her clothes on, and not fake sex with a gay man, with a necklace, like that darling little one adorning Brad and his mmoney Pitt? No? Then there is nothing wrong here, is there? Honest as ever, and worth every cent of that 20 bucks. 20 MILLION bucks? As believable as the shrimp with the necklace being straight. Should the gay actor and the lez cutie get married, tie the knot? Why bother?

By TONY

YES SHE DESERVES THE PAY CHECK EVERY CENT OF IT, SHE IS VERY GOOD SHE KNOWS HER JOB AND SHE IS A PROFFESSIONAL, I AM A MAN BUT IF I WERE A WOMAN SHE WILL BE MY GUIDE. THEY ARE PERSONS IN THIS WOORL THAT THE DESERVE THE BEST AND NOTHING BUT THE BEST AND ANGELINA DESERVES EVEN THE "NOBEL PRIZE".
TONY

By Mary

Of course Tony you would say because you are a man. Is a man worth that much to make a movie Tony.

By RMII

All,
Keep in mind that not every policeperson, fireperson, and person in the education field deserves that kind of money either. You can't still a husband or wife if they don't want to stay. Is that a lot of money? Yes, but that is the price for success in her field. Don't cry about someone that has made it. You have the same opportunity as they, but decided to do what you do. If you are a boss of employees, why don't they deserve the same amout of money as you. Most of the time they work harder than you.

By nicky

I'm a woman and I love Angie (and Brad). They work hard and sacrafice a lot, to put on a good show for all of us. Not just anyone can do a movie like that. I'd love to see my fat a** neighbor do half of what she does. Plus I think it would take that much money for me to live with cameras in my face 24/7, have to leave my kids and husband all the time.

By carneyva

She absolutely deserves the money, but the movie is a pure waste of her talent. The premise is absurd, and the movie is a psycho-silly amalgam of car chases, shoot-outs, fistfights and explosions. Can't Hollywood make an intelligent movie anymore?

By Dieanna

Hollywood is wasted dear. If you wanna see a decent movie independent ones should work.

Tuesday 27 July

By erica

OMG. I absolutely loved the movie. It kept you going and on edge til the end! You never figured out anything til the end which is pretty awesome, it sucks watching movies when you can tell what's going to happen next! I give it a 10!

By ~Jeff

The problem is that we, as an audience, don't want to see an "intelligent" movie. We want eye candy, crash and smash! Spiderman was deplorable when they tried to make it more than what it was intended!

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