We're all well aware, Arnold Schwarzenegger has made some serious coin. Heck, this is the same guy that effortlessly shipped a tank from Austria to the US, just for the kids...Along the way, Arnold made some questionable films, including 'Batman and Robin' which was a major letdown in 1997. Some even say that it ruined the career of a certain cast member, Alicia Silverstone.We'll take a look at what went down and how Arnold managed to make a fortune for the role as Mr. Freeze.
George Clooney Wasn't Pleased Arnold Schwarzenegger's Pay And Performance
In 1995, Joel Schumacher received praise for 'Batman Forever', which is still viewed very fondly by fans. However, his second film in 1997 'Batman & Robin' turned out to be a complete disaster. The film had a massive budget, estimated to be between $125 million and $160 million.
The cast was filled with household names including George Clooney, Alicia Silverstone, Uma Thurman an Arnold Schwarzenegger just to name a few. The film has a 12% approval rating on platforms like Rotten Tomatoes and in addition, the brunt of the criticism fell on George Clooney who played Batman.
Clooney reacted to his time on the film, stating that not only was it a disaster, but we wasn't paid well for it either, unlike a certain someone.
“Schwarzenegger was paid, I think, $25 million for that, which was like 20 times more than I was paid for it, and, you know, we never even worked together! We worked together one day. But I took all the heat,” Clooney said.
“Now, fair deal; I was playing Batman and I wasn’t good in it, and it wasn’t a good film, but what I learned from that failure was, I had to rethink how I was working,” Clooney said. “Because now I wasn’t just an actor getting a role, I was being held responsible for the film itself.”
Not only was Arnold paid a premium for the role, but it turns out that he also had some serious perks in his contract.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's Insane $25 Million Salary Also Came With Other Perks
At the end of the day, Arnold walked out with a salary of $25 million, which is even drastic in today's world. Making matters that much more puzzling, he was only on-set for 25 days. And oh yea, according to ScreenRant, he also had a certain clause in his contract that limited the amount of time he would be working on-set per day.
"He also had a twelve-hour workday policy built into his contract, which when combined with his time spent in the make-up chair and getting suited up, limited how long the filmmakers could shoot with him," says Cotter of ScreenRant.
Although the film was not well-received, Arnold would reveal that the studio was desperate to have him star. In addition, he didn't show much remorse for his time in the film, which seems to be the norm for Arnold and his outlook on those less than stellar roles.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Does Not Regret Taking On The Role In 'Batman And Robin'
"In most cases I don't regret the movies that failed or were not as good," said the former California governor. "It's always easy to be smug in hindsight, right?"
That's Arnold's outlook on his negative films. In truth, he hasn't discussed much when it comes to 'Batman & Robin', especially when it came to his insane salary. However, alongside Comic Book, he did comment on his overall experience during the film, making mention that he didn't regret his time and experience.
"I don't regret it at all. I felt that the character was interesting and two movies before that one Joel Schumacher was at his height. So the decision-making process was not off. At the same time I was doing Eraser over there and Warner Bros. begged me to do the movie."
With an insane net worth of $450 million, Arnold managed to make some serious bank, despite the perception according to the fans on certain films. Nonetheless, there is no denying that he was insanely overpaid when assessing his work days and performance.