Investing in Hollywood movies can be a good idea because the potential returns on investment can be sky-high, and a successful Hollywood project can accumulate billions at the Box Office. Being a producer in Hollywood can be a risky prospect. Sometimes they have to invest in a multimillion project which in return will give them a very lucrative contract from the studio.
But a deal that stands out from the rest would be Cameron Diaz’s deal for the movie Bad Teacher. The actress was initially paid only $1 million to get it produced but as part of her back-end profits she secured over $40 million.
Cameron Diaz’s Legendary Movie Deal
Some people would wonder how did an actress earn $40 million? Hollywood is a business, and if a business would do well at the Box Office, then the actor or actress can have a share of their success. Bad Teacher was not a multimillion-dollar franchise, but Cameron Diaz earned her share by striking a creative deal.
In the movie business, there is a limited selection of methods to get paid. They can either receive their pay upfront or make more money through back-end profits or both. Back-end profits are a great way to earn big profits because a percentage of the movie’s profits are paid after its release.
The Charlie’s Angels actress was lucky and patient enough to wait for her back-end profit to come through because Bad Teacher earned $216.2 million worldwide. As a result, Diaz not only paid her $1 million payout but also made an additional profit of $40 million, the legendary deal which gave a return of 3,900%.
The Plot and Cast of Bad Teacher
The success of Bad Teacher is surprising because the film had only a budget of $20 million, but it had a star-studded cast which includes: Cameron Diaz in the role of Elizabeth Halsey, Justin Timberlake in the role of Scott Delacorte, Lucy Punch in the role of Amy Squirrel, Jason Segel in the role of Russell Gettis, Phyllis Smith in the role of Lynn Davies, John Michael Higgins in the role of Wally Snur, Dave Allen in the role of Sandy Pinkus, Jillian Armenante in the role of Ms. Pavicic, Matthew J. Evans in the role of Garrett Tiara, and Kaitlyn Dever in the role of Sasha Abernathy.
The movie revolves around Elizabeth Halsey, an irresponsible and bad-mouthed high school teacher, she hates her job and wants to marry a rich man to live comfortably. However, her rich fiancé dumps her and she eyes on another teacher who also comes from a wealthy family. The greedy teacher is determined to win him over which leads to a series of events that would give a lot of laughs to the audience.
Why Did Cameron Diaz Choose to Have a Back-End Pay for Bad Teacher?
The Knight and Day actress knows how to negotiate a movie contract because she knows her worth and the impact she makes on her movies. She uses this to have leverage on earning some serious money from low-budget films. Therefore, she chooses to be a back-end participant in such movies that promises huge returns if the movie is superhit.
In such deals, she would receive additional payments from earnings the movie makes later, for instance, DVD sales. Cameron Diaz made a name for herself when she was part of other popular Box Office movies such as The Mask, Shrek, There’s Something About Mary, and many more. Being in numerous popular roles gave her a solid reputation making her the perfect choice for having back-end deals.
Bad Teacher can be streamed on Prime Video.
Source: Yahoo Finance
