The summer of three-quels concludes with the release of Rush Hour 3, which opened to $50 million from 3,778 theatres for a $13k average. These are perfectly acceptable numbers, putting it squarely between the $33 million opening of the first entry and the $67 million opening of the second.
And yet, if you ask me, Rush Hour 3 could be the poster child for Hollywood excess, bad business, and totally reinforces my idea that what the movies really need is a salary cap.
I realize this concept is pretty far out there, and yet I think it might be the only way to save Hollywood from itself. Let me start off by putting Rush Hour 3 into some perspective. New Line execs had been trying for years to put this movie together, because Rush Hour 2 was incredibly successful, grossing $226 million domestically and $347 million worldwide, on a budget of $90 million. Now that's triple the budget of the first Rush Hour, with a lot of that money going to stars Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan. Chan's salary went from $5 million to $15 million, and Tucker's went from $3 million to $20 million (he had a good agent).
Part of what took so long in assembling the latest entry was putting the deals together for Tucker, Chan, and director Brett Ratner. They knew they were coming off the second most profitable buddy comedy in history (behind only Men In Black), and were in a position to demand big raises. Tucker in particular seems to have little interest in acting, and was perfectly willing to wait seven years to get the kind of numbers he wanted.
On a brief side note, I can't help but respect Tucker's position. Here is a guy who collected his first $20 million paycheck and realized, "I never have to work again!" He is unabashedly, unashamedly in it for the money. He hit the Super Lotto Jackpot with Rush Hour 2 and feels no desire to stay in the spotlight, make more money than he could spend in a lifetime, and live the life of a Hollywood superstar. Rather, he took the money and ran. That's a little sad, because I really enjoy Chris Tucker when he does make an appearance (Friday is a quotable favorite among my friends, and his Beaumont in Jackie Brown and Skip in Dead Presidents are surprisingly fleshed out performances; if I had a wish, it would be to see Tucker and Sam Jackson in another Tarantino pic), but at the same time I think, more power to him. I wish he was in the game for the art, but I at least respect that he's in it for the money and not the adulation and headlines.
Anyway, back to Rush Hour 3. The point is that Tucker, Chan, and Ratner were all three in a position to hold out as long as necessary, and wound up collecting the following paychecks: $25 million and 20% of the gross for Tucker; $15 million and 15% of the gross for Chan, and $7.5 million (and presumably back end points as well, although they're not reported) for Ratner. That's $47.5 million and at least 35% of the gross in the hole before a single frame has been shot. If those are what's called 'first dollar' gross points (meaning they get a percentage before the film has recouped anything), that means that, out of the perfectly acceptable $50 million opening, Tucker collects $10 million and Chan $7.5 million, which means New Line has yet to recoup enough money to pay them their salaries. And that's not even counting the theatres' percentage of ticket sales.
That's ridiculous.