Ben Child 

Sandra Bullock to earn at least $70m from Gravity

The actor's percentage-profits contract for the space thriller means her performance may be one of the best-paid of all time, writes Ben Child
  
  

Alfonso Cuarón directs Geroge Clooney and Sandra Bullock on the set of Gravity.
My share of the profits will be this big … Alfonso Cuarón directs George Clooney and Sandra Bullock on the set of Gravity. Photograph: Sam Jones Photograph: Sam Jones

Sandra Bullock is set to pick up a pay cheque of at least $70m (£42m) for her turn as a stranded astronaut in Gravity, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Alfonso Cuarón's Oscar-nominated space thriller has taken $703m (£421m) across the globe so far. Bullock secured a potentially lucrative deal which means she will take $20m (£12m) plus 15% of the film's first dollar gross – effectively 15% of studio Warner Bros's share of the box office haul. According to the report, she is also due a share of TV and DVD revenues.

"The theatrical window is going to generate a third of the total revenue a movie will earn; it will get another third on DVD; and then the final third comes from pay and free TV," a source tells the US trade bible.

Bullock's deal is so generous because the actor had impressed with an Oscar-winning performance in 2009's The Blind Side when she signed up to star. Robert Downey Jr struck a similar deal for the Iron Man films and is reported to have walked away with at least $50m (£30m) for 2012's The Avengers, the third-highest-grossing film of all time with $1.5bn (£900m).

Downey Jr went on to be named the year's highest-paid actor in Hollywood by Forbes magazine. Male actors traditionally receive far greater financial rewards than their female counterparts, but Bullock's pay for Gravity could mean she tops combined lists next year.

Gravity is up for 10 prizes at Sunday's Oscars, including best film, best actress for Bullock and best director for Cuarón.

• Interview: Sandra Bullock and Alfonso Cuarón talk Gravity

 

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