Jackie Chan and Arnold Schwarzenegger are two heavyweights at the box office. They have made a name for themselves after decades of working in Hollywood and are known as bankable stars. Producers pay millions to get them in their films because it almost guarantees that their sizeable fanbase will show up to see the movie.
However, their star power isn’t always reliable and as a result, there have been expensive flops. One such expensive box office dud starred both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jackie Chan. It was Around the World in 80 Days.
Arnold Schwarzenegger And Jackie Chan Failed To Save Their Film
Jackie Chan has starred in notable films like the Rush Hour movies, Rumble in the Bronx, The Forbidden Kingdom, and more. Arnold Schwarzenegger is known for The Terminator films, Conan the Barbarian, and more. As per Celebrity Net Worth, Jackie Chan is worth $400 million while Arnold Schwarzenegger is worth $450 million.
These two actors co-starred in one film together and it was the 2004 film, Around the World in 80 Days, directed by Frank Coraci with a budget of more than $100 million. Schwarzenegger had a cameo role as Prince Hapi while Chan was one of the leads called Lau Xing. However, the movie failed to even earn back its budget.
It grossed just $72 million worldwide. As per Bomb Report, the film was one of the most expensive box office blunders. The outlet stated:
“Around The World In 80 Days closed its US run with a terrible $24,008,137. Disney would see returned about $13.2 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross… The offshore total was just $48,170,758 across numerous distributors, leaving this remake as one of the costliest blunders at the box office — which ended as nearly a $100 million write-down.”
It was indeed a financial disaster, but since Arnold Schwarzenegger was just in a cameo role so it didn’t hit his career hard. As for Jackie Chan, he was one of the leads, and the failure of the film could have affected him, but he didn’t have to worry much thanks to the salary paid to him that amounted to about 1/3 rd of the total gross.
Jackie Chan’s Eye-Popping Paycheck For Around The World In 80 Days
Even though Around the World in 80 Days was a box office regret, Jackie Chan wasn’t affected too much. After all, he took home a paycheck of nearly $20 million even before filming began. As per Bomb Report, Chan took home $18.5 million for the film due to his pay-or-play contract. Such contracts are not common in the film industry and are only reserved for the top echelon of bankable actors.
Once upon a time, Chan was in that tier. The contract generally states that the actor will be paid a set amount irrespective of whether the filming actually happens or not. However, in the end, Chan’s stardom failed to help the movie at least recoup its budget. But that didn’t dent his wealth at all.
As per Celebrity Net Worth, the martial artist and actor was the second-highest-paid actor in 2016 and “Between June 2019 and June 2020, he earned $40 million.” So neither he nor Arnold Schwarzenegger were affected by the failure of Around the World in 80 Days at all.
Around the World in 80 Days is available on Disney+.
Source: Bomb Report
