[Aptorian]

http://www.moviesonl...news_10549.html

Quote

Sean Connery turned down $225million for Lord of the rings
Posted by: Stanch
While reading one of my buddies sites, I stumbled on something creepishly freaky. Ok so not really, but the word is that Sean Connery was offered the role of Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings and turned it down. He would have made $225million pounds. Thats like minimum 300million US. He would have gotten 10-25% of the take according to the Scotsman, via FilmStalker. Quote

Sir Sean turned the offer down as he did not understand the complicated plot of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy masterpiece... ...The three films in the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring (2000), The Two Towers (2001) and The Return of the King (2002), earned a total of £1.5 billion at the box office, which would have meant the former Bond actor would have earned between £150 million and £225 million. The fee would have dwarfed the £23 million earned by Jack Nicholson under a similar deal for his role as The Joker in Batman, released in 1989.

Man I would do a movie about the genome, and if I didnt get it I would use the $225million pounds to pay some science student to explain it to me. This is a prime example of an actor not knowing the material and REALLY missing out on some serious cash.

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So, trusting this guys blog... this is a pretty insane amount of cash he missed out on. Then again, he is retired, and he also said no to Indy 4.

Also, the idea of Gandalf with a scottish accent is hilarious.

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 10 February 2010 - 04:30 PM

[Vengeance]

I don't buy it. The problem I have is that they are saying he didn't understand the plot of LOTR. Please those books are older then him and I am sure at some point he read them. The plot isn't that complex. The other thing is why this coming out years after the movies have been released.

[rhulad]

LIES! There's no way he turned down that much money. Also for that much, they could have cloned him and used his clone in the movie instead.

[Ulrik]

Sorry, it doesnt look realistic. No producent would agree to give salary equal to cash of whole A-level movie. Or - percentage from earned money at this rate. Especially in times when LOTR:FOTR was filmed - New Line Cinema got into serious financial troubles and this would cut 1/4 of their income.
Usually studios overpay superstars like was Brad Pitt in movies where you can focus on one big star - you make merchandising, stick him everywhere... Sean wasnt popular at this rate anymore and LOTR if multi-character movie = big problems with pointing at one name.

[Coco with marshmallows]

Actually, it's largely true.

Sean has admitted in interview that he turned down the role.

And that his reason for doing so was a lack of understanding regarding the part and the overall story.

not sure about the amounts involved (after all, I doubt the %age of the gross was offered, and realistically even if it was, no-one thought it was going to be quite as big as it turned out to be)

[Ulrik]

Yep, he turned it down, thats known.

[Dolorous Menhir]

Vengeance, on 10 February 2010 - 04:43 PM, said:

...Please those books are older then him and I am sure at some point he read them.

No, they aren't.

[Werthead]

Dolorous Menhir, on 10 February 2010 - 09:21 PM, said:

Vengeance, on 10 February 2010 - 04:43 PM, said:

...Please those books are older then him and I am sure at some point he read them.

No, they aren't.

Indeed. Connery was born in 1930, whilst The Hobbit came out in 1937 and LotR in 1954-55, only seven years before Connery first appeared as Bond.

[stone monkey]

tbh I think he'd have been rubbish if he'd played Gandalf.

[Cougar]

Give me a ping Legolas, one ping only please.

Saruman, why am I not surprised you piece of shit.

etc

[Ozymandiac]

He would've gotten even more.. 250 millions pounds is a lot more than 250 million dollars

[wolf_2099]

Hindsight is 20/20.

Peter Jackson hadn't yet cut his teeth on a movie that large, so it could have easily been a flop. Looking back and saying he would get that much is easy. At the time he might have been looking at $20-40 million, and for a man his age, in retirement, with his money, for a property he didn't understand, it makes a lot of sense for him to turn it down.

[Tiste Simeon]

The guy who wrote that website said "He would have made $225million pounds." That's a basic ignorance fail, and therefore I'm not sure I would take him seriously...

[Stradivarius]

the namsh The Grey. Gandalf The Grey, license to screw with little hobbitsh lives

[Coco with marshmallows]

You Shall Not PASH!

[Tiste Simeon]

It'sh SHARUMAN!!!!

[Illuyankas]

Eaglesch? Give me an Aschton any day.

[Abyss]

The wubsite is mixmatching fact and baseless speculation.

But say what you will, it would have been awesome to watch him take out the Balrog with an exploding pen, then straighten his tux and walk off the mountain.

Plus he would have totally got his funk on with the Rohan princess and probably Arwin and Galadrielle for good measure.

- Byss, A. Byss. Will have that Entini shaken, not stirred.

[Gladius]

He only turned down the role because he was working on the Zardoz sequel. Ponytail, gun's, and a mankini tell me you wouldnt have done the same, 225 million be damned.