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These days, The Cable Guy is best known (if it’s known at all) as just another movie with Jim Carrey’s teethmarks all over the sets. But back when it was announced, it was a landmark film for a reason other than its depressing, irritating unwatchability.
From the LA Times on June 22, 1995:
When superstar comic Jim Carrey signed a deal last week guaranteeing him at least $20 million to star in the comedy “The Cable Guy,” it marked a historic–and, to some, troubling–upping of the Hollywood salary ante.
One studio head, who declined to be identified, called it “as seminal and destructive a payment as when Larry Gordon and Barry Diller paid $5 million for Bruce Willis to do ‘Die Hard’ [in 1988]. That also came out of nowhere [Willis was as yet unproven as an action star] and set the pace for actors’ salaries…”
“Dumb [and Dumber]” cost only $16 million to make. Naysayers were silenced when “The Mask” and “Dumb” each grossed about $120 million domestically. And though comedy doesn’t always translate around the world, “Ace [Ventura]” and “Mask” proved potent box office overseas.
Still, if Carrey is making $20 million now, where does he go from here? That’s the real significance of the Carrey deal, industry executives said, as well as the potential ripple effect.
“If Carrey is getting $20 million, then what are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom Hanks worth?” wondered the anonymous studio head.
A lot! Carrey’s $20 million payday set the standard for movie-star salaries ever since. Recently he’s become better known for the movies he hasn’t made because he’s an overpaid diva, and for the relatively reduced offerings he’s accepted for the ones he’s graced with his presence. But for several years he was able to ask for what he thought he was worth, and he got as much as the market would bear.
He even told a heartwarming story about his many years of Hollywood poverty, when he carried around in his wallet a check he wrote to himself for $10 million. Thanks to his drive and determination (and… talent?), he doubled that with just one bomb. He worked hard and didn’t give up, and his adopted home of America rewarded him beyond his wildest dreams.
There’s a name for that, isn’t there? Oh yeah: Capitalism.
Now that Carrey’s box-office magic has faded, you might think his appreciation of capitalism has faded as well. And you’d be right!
From the Chicago Tribune via BigHollywood.com, here’s Carrey promoting his new film A Listless Failure A Christmas Carol:
Charles Dickens’ most popular creation, Ebenezer Scrooge, usually takes on the tenor of the times, so it’s not surprising that Robert Zemeckis’ new performance-capture animation version of “A Christmas Carol” has its star, Jim Carrey, musing about where his Scrooge fits in today.
“I was thinking about it this morning, how this story ties into everything we’re going through,” says Carrey, who, thanks to the technology, plays Scrooge as well as the three ghosts haunting him. “Every construct we’ve built in American life is falling apart. Why? Because of personal greed and ambition. Capitalism without regulation can’t protect us against personal greed.”
Let me show ya somethin’!
Well, this is brazen. (Or maybe I mean braisin’?)
