Marlon Brando’s career was in shambles when The Godfather marked his comeback. Post his Academy Award for the role, his value as an actor went through the roof in Hollywood. Brando reportedly commanded a salary of $3.7 million and a backend deal of 11.75% for his 20 minutes of screentime in Richard Donner’s Superman.
Brando played Jor-El, the father of Kal-El / Superman, and was brought into the film to draw the audience to the theaters. Brando was paid more than the lead actor Christopher Reeve, who was only paid a comparatively measly sum of $250,000 for the role.
Marlon Brando Earned Almost A Million Per Minute For His Jor-El Role
Superman (1978) was one of the costliest films made up to that point, and the producers, Salkinds, generously offered a huge sum to hire popular actors for the film. According to Variety, they paid $3.7 million to Marlon Brando to play the role of Jor-El in the film. Gene Hackman, who played the role of the villain Lex Luthor, was also paid a hefty sum of $2 million.
Brando also negotiated a cut of the film’s profits, and after intense negotiations, the producers offered him an 11.75% backend deal. The Last Tango in Paris actor earned a total of $19 million from the film. Brando earned the money for 12 days of filming and a total of 20 minutes of screen time. Accordingly, Brando was paid almost a million for his per-minute appearance on screen in Superman.
Interestingly, Brando felt cheated out of his share of the film’s profits as the film made $300.5 million against a budget of $55 million. Brando sued the producers Salkinds and the distributors Warner Bros. for a sum of $50 million. His lawsuit came one week after the premiere of the film. The lawsuit resulted in the removal of Brando’s footage from Superman II, which was shot simultaneously with Superman.
Brando later revealed that he hoped to use the salary to produce a documentary highlighting the discrimination faced by Native Americans in the United States. However, many co-stars and Richard Donner recalled Brando’s difficult behavior on the set of Superman. At one point, he suggested that Jor-El should be portrayed as a “bagel” and that he would provide the voice. He also reportedly refused to memorize dialogues and relied heavily on cue cards.
Richard Donner Initially Thought Marlon Brando’s Salary Was Outrageous
Richard Donner was initially upset about Marlon Brando’s salary in Superman. Donner was not completely on board with the producers’ idea of casting big stars. Brando’s casting happened before Donner joined the film; however, he managed to convince the producers to cast a relatively unknown Christopher Reeve in the Superman role. However, seeing Brando act in the role made Donner change his mind. He shared in an old making video of Superman:
“When I first came on the picture and I heard how much Marlon Brando was paid for it, I was really upset, because it seemed like much more money than anyone is worth. But then working with him and seeing him on film, to me, he is underpaid.”
However, Reeve did not remember fondly of his icon Brando. Reeve was angry and hurt that he cared so much about the film that paid him only $250,000, but Brando was “phoning it” in his million-dollar role. In an interview with David Letterman, Reeve was asked whether he would love to work with Brando again, to which he replied, “Not really. No. I had a wonderful time, but the man didn’t care. He just took the $2 million and ran” (via The Hollywood Reporter).
Superman is now available for streaming on Max.
