In these days, actors like to charge a premium for their involvement in films. Fees of several crores are passé for the biggest and most successful superstars of our times. There are a very few times when actors cut their fees and that too, only by a small proportion. So the story of the superstar who cut his fees by 99% is a strange one, and also a heart warming one.
The superstar who cut his fees by 99%
In the early-90s, Robin Williams was a successful comic and dramatic actor. Having appeared in commercial successes like Dead Poets’ Society and Good Morning Vietnam, the actor had proved his bankability. As a result, he had begun charging a hefty fees of $8 million (roughly Rs 20 crore in 1991-92) for a film. However, when he was contacted to voice the iconic Genie in Aladdin, Robin Williams made the surprising call to work for virtually free. In gratitude for his success with Touchstone Pictures's Good Morning, Vietnam, Robin Williams voiced the Genie for SAG scale pay of $75,000 (Rs 20 lakh). This is the lowest an actor could charge as part of the Screen Actors Guild requirements.
Why Robin Williams was not used in Aladdin promotions
Robin Williams was working on another major picture that was set to be released just a month after Aladdin was scheduled to hit the screens. That film was Toys. The actor was apprehensive about Aladdin may eat into Toys’ marketability. Hence he stipulated in his contract that neither his name nor image be used for marketing, and that his character take no more than 25% of space on advertising artwork
Aladdin’s box office bonanza
Aladdin was made on a relatively small budget of $28 million (Rs 70 crore), partly because of Williams’ foregoing his fees. But it was a monumental success at the box office, earning over $504 million (Rs 1300 crore). It ended up being one of the highest grossing films of all time. Williams went on to star in some of the most successful films of all time before his untimely death in 2014.
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