So far, the conversation around “All The Money In The World” has involved one thing: Ridley Scott‘s bananas decision reshoot Kevin Spacey‘s scenes with Christopher Plummer, weeks before the film’s release. Cinephiles marvelled at the eighty year-old director’s efficiency, and indeed, he delivered without a frame looking out of place. However, it turns out that the film about ruthless greed, had its own J. Paul Getty-like behavior happening behind the scenes.
In a story that seemed to be lost in the post-Thanksgiving crush, The Washington Post revealed in November that Mark Wahlberg played hardball when it came to returning for more work on “All The Money In The World.” The actor demanded and received $2 million for ten days of work, far outpacing the hundreds of thousands of dollars (or less) Michelle Williams and Christopher Plummer received. USA Today has clarified those figures, noting that Wahlberg wound up with $1.5 million versus $80 per day for Williams for the ten day reshoot.
I heard for the reshoot she got $80 a day compared to his MILLIONS. Would anyone like to clarify? I really hope that with everything coming to light, she was paid fairly. She's a brilliant actress and is wonderful in the film. https://t.co/VzGA2ucAjV
— Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) January 9, 2018
During the press run for the movie, Scott routinely claimed that the cast were benevolent about being paid, claiming to USA Today, “Everyone did it for nothing. They all came in for free.” It turns out, that’s not quite true.
The reshoots are said to have cost in the neighborhood of $10 million, and I’d assume a fair chunk of that is Wahlberg’s salary. There are some who will say that the actor should’nt be chastised for negotiating his way to a decent payday. However, for a film that was rocked by the ongoing #MeToo movement, not to mention the continuing conversation about equity in Hollywood, with Scott trying to salvage his picture at the last minute, there is something to be said about perhaps being a little gracious in how you approach a moment which is really about everyone coming together to do the right thing.
“All The Money In The World” is now playing.