Big pain for massive payday
Bullock’s Gravity deal adds plenty of weight to bank account
Gravity has given Sandra Bullock the biggest payday of her career — upwards of $70 million US — after she negotiated a cut of the box-office takings in addition to her $20-million fee.
It was surely the most gruelling role of Bullock’s career: Trapped inside a dark box for up to 10 hours per day, simulating the loneliness of an astronaut adrift in space.
Yet, the actress’s performance also has turned out to be her most lucrative after agreeing to a deal that gives her a 15 per cent cut of the box office.
Alfonso Cuaron’s outer-space epic has exceeded industry expectations to take $700 million worldwide so far.
The payday is sweet reward for Bullock, 49, who has said filming Gravity was an arduous experience.
She plays Dr. Ryan Stone, an astronaut who faces disaster when an accident leaves her marooned in orbit. Around 60 per cent of the film was shot inside a 2.74-metreby-2.74-metre box fitted with LED lights.
Bullock would be suspended in the box, sometimes with a clamp around her leg, in complete silence except for the director’s instructions in her earpiece.
The only camera was fitted to the end of a robotic arm, and came hurtling toward her face when Cuaron required a close-up of her panicstricken expressions.
Bullock has said the experience was terrifying. Her co-star in the film, George Clooney, was only on set for three weeks and she spent most of the time by herself.
“I was cut off and restricted and claustrophobic,” she has said.
“It was so lonely. When George came, it was like sunshine entered the room, but we had very little time together physically.
“You are basically in solitary confinement with only your own thoughts and a lot of quiet. So when I was locked in that box and just sitting there for hours while they were setting up, I had nothing. Your mind goes to the craziest places.
“I was depressed; I was angry,” she said.
Details of Bullock’s payday were published in The Hollywood Reporter.
It is not unknown for actors to take a cut of a film’s profits, but Bullock’s deal is unusual.
Most studios insist on recouping costs before sharing profits with the actors, but Bullock negotiated a 15 per cent cut of Warner Bros’s boxoffice takings.