Featured Image Credit: Universal Pictures
Topics: Film and TV, Entertainment, Money, Rebel Wilson, Celebrity
Michael Slavin
Topics: Film and TV, Entertainment, Money, Rebel Wilson, Celebrity
Rebel Wilson's has opened up about the gobsmacking percentage increase in pay she received from Bridesmaids to Pitch Perfect 3.
Earlier this year, Wilson's release of her book Rebel Rising saw the actor open up about not losing her virginity until the age of 35 to a fellow actor - who she also named - alongside accusing Sacha Baron Cohen of treating her appallingly on set of The Brothers Grimsby, which the actor responded to.
And one section of the 2024 release also discusses the pay she received in two of the movies she is most widely recognized for.
Advert
Wilson’s breakout role was in Bridesmaids, the Oscar-nominated Paul Feig comedy where she starred alongside Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, and Maya Rudolph.
Within two weeks of the movie’s premiere, she booked six different movies, including Pitch Perfect, which went on to bring Wilson’s career to another level of success.
While it paid off for her though, she earned a tiny amount in Bridesmaids considering the success it garnered, being paid just $3,500, a segment from her book revealed by PEOPLE magazine states.
She said in the book that it ‘didn’t matter to [her]’ and that 'the experience was everything'.
The fee was reportedly just enough for her to join the SAG-AFTRA actors union, which allowed her to continue to make movies in the US.
This figure jumped to $65,000 for the first Pitch Perfect, and by the time the third film came around – she'd earned a whopping $10,000,000 for her role as ‘Fat Amy’.
Speaking to The New York Times, she claimed that she was originally offered $9,000,000 – but was determined to get that massive eight figure contract for the film.
She said: “Universal Studios are incredible, but did they make a ton of money from the ‘Pitch Perfect’ movies? Yes.
"So despite me absolutely loving all those folks at Universal, did I use that leverage to my advantage? Yes. And in the 11th hour, I go, ‘You know, that’s a lovely offer of $9 million. But I need one more to make it 10.’
“That’s a big milestone when you’re an actor. To receive an eight-figure offer, for a woman, is huge.
“Sometimes women don’t like to talk about that. Whereas I don’t think the guys have any issues saying they get $20 million a movie.”
The figure is an almost 300,000 percent increase from Bridesmaids, and announced the Australian comedic actor as one of the highest paid female actors of all time.
This leverage for Pitch Perfect 3 supposedly came in part due to plans by executives to replace the core cast of the Bellas for the third film – wanting to put a new cast of characters around Hailee Steinfeld, who was introduced in the second film.
This made the cast harder to rebook for the third film of the trilogy, especially as the second film with the original cast made nearly $300 million at the box office, the highest sum in the series.
The third film was still a huge success – with the acapella-focused comedy earning $185 million at the box office off a budget of $45 million.