14 DAY TRIAL // Over the weekend, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” the second film in the highly successful franchise from Summit Entertainment, set a new record in terms of box-office grossing and became the third biggest opener in movie history. Speaking specific numbers, “New Moon” made $140 million in the opening weekend alone, so that begs the question of what paycheck the stars appearing in it got to cash in.
As estimates made by E! Online would have it, both Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, who play Edward Cullen and Bella Swan respectively, got approximately $12 million each for reprising their parts in the second film. Not only is this a considerable boost from the $2 million they got for “Twilight,” the first film, but to it a percentage of the film’s revenue will also be added.
Now, seeing that “New Moon” is poised to make around $400 million worldwide before DVD release and merchandise sales not taken into account, whatever that percentage of the revenue might mean will still translate into a hefty amount poured into the two stars’ bank account. In other words, even if Pattinson and Stewart suddenly chose to retire (speaking strictly hypothetically, of course) tomorrow, they would still be set for live – and so would be their offspring and their offspring’s offspring.
“According to one report, the deals afforded to Stewart and Pattinson include not only a raise from about $2 million on the original Twilight to about $12 million, but also a percentage of the profits. […] A source of mine indicates that one of the principals made at least in the high seven figures for New Moon alone, and it isn’t a stretch to imagine that the cast’s original deal memos may have included more – in bonuses, gifts or just shiny new sets of fangs,” E! Online writes after talking to lawyers and business insiders.
Still, even while commanding such ridiculously high amounts for a single movie, neither Pattinson nor Stewart is yet an A-lister, the same e-zine goes on to say. Unwritten but golden rules in Hollywood say that a bona fide A-lister is that one thespian who, by himself or herself, can headline a movie and turn it into both a critical and commercial success, with all audiences. The “Twilight” couple is a long way from that, in this respect.
“The true definition of an A-lister is an actor who can open a film on name alone and do it across many, many demographics, from teens to retirees. Pattz may have women, but old dudes have yet to get on that train. ‘This film is very much character based,’ [entertainment attorney Christopher J.] Cabott rightly points out, ‘and the characters are adapted from a series of books. The cast was selected primarily on who best personified the book’s characters and not so much on how their acting fit the script’,” E! further writes.