Ryan Reynolds’ career wasn’t ever really in the tank, but it did take a hit after Green Lantern, which is probably why he’s game to keep putting nails in the coffin of his turn as Hal Jordan. Post-Deadpool, Reynolds can seemingly do no wrong, and that’s led to some incredibly lucrative deals for the Two Guys, A Girl, And A Pizza Place actor. So he’s in Michael Bay’s flashy, crashy 6 Underground for Netflix, which is also producing the super expensive Red Notice with Reynolds alongside The Rock and Gal Gadot.
According to Variety, Reynolds scored nearly $50 million, cumulatively, from Netflix for the two above movies. Now, Apple’s also tossing money at him, along with Will Ferrell, after a highly competitive bidding war, in which the tech company “blew everyone out of the water” for — get this — a musical version of A Christmas Carol. That story’s already been remade into infinity, it seems, including a Jim Carrey 3D animated version a decade ago, but Ferrell’s Elf vibes must remain strong. Apple’s reportedly agreed to pay $60 million to nab both actors:
Reynolds was asking for as much as $27 million for acting and producing services in the early negotiations, said one of the knowledgeable parties. As Netflix got down to the nitty gritty in recent weeks, another individual said Reynolds’ team hiked his asking price to $35 million. Because the streaming service does not have a significant theatrical film presence, stars on Reynolds’ level often get inflated salaries. They are compensated for what they would normally expect in back-end box office profit sharing. In the Netflix scenario, Ferrell was looking at north of $25 million to star and produce.
Well, Apple must feel that they’ll see a return on investment here, although it remains murky on how they plan to do so. Apple TV+ will cost $4.99 per month and launch on November 1. That’s several dollars cheaper per month than Netflix, but Apple’s also currently offering a one-year free trial of Apple TV+ that will be available for anyone who buys a new iPad, iPhone, or Apple TV. Conceivably, families could end up with several free years of Apple TV+ if they keep buying devices, although Apple hasn’t issued definitive word on any account-based limit for the free-trial offers. Still, they’re selling $1000 iPhones now, so presumably, Apple can afford to pay whatever Reynolds and Ferrell’s teams demanded. Merry Christmas?
(Via Variety)
