Arnold Schwarzenegger is no stranger to making big bucks. In fact, he’s made a fortune in both his acting and business careers. But one particular movie that stands out in terms of his salary is the 1997 film, Batman and Robin. Schwarzenegger earned a whopping $25 million for his role as Mr. Freeze in the film despite being present for only 25 days on the set, which left some of his co-stars, particularly George Clooney, unhappy.
The Ice Man’s Millions: Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Paycheck and Perks for Batman and Robin
Batman and Robin was the fourth film in the Batman franchise and was directed by Joel Schumacher. The film had a massive budget, estimated to be between $125 million and $160 million. However, the film was met with poor reviews, and many fans and critics consider it to be one of the worst superhero movies ever made.
Despite the negative reception, Arnold Schwarzenegger was handsomely paid for his role. Not only was Arnold Schwarzenegger paid a premium for the role, but he also had some serious perks in his contract. At the end of the day, Arnold walked out with a salary of $25 million, which is even more drastic in today’s world.
Making matters that much more puzzling, he was only on set for 25 days. And according to ScreenRant, he also had a certain clause in his contract that limited the amount of time he would be working on-set per day.
“He also had a twelve-hour workday policy built into his contract, which when combined with his time spent in the make-up chair and getting suited up, limited how long the filmmakers could shoot with him.”
George Clooney, who played Batman in the movie, was not pleased with the film’s outcome or Schwarzenegger’s pay and perks. He reportedly said in an interview. Clooney said,
“Schwarzenegger was paid, I think, $25 million for that, which was like 20 times more than I was paid for it, and, you know, we never even worked together! We worked together one day. But I took all the heat.”
“Now, fair deal; I wasn’t good in it, and it wasn’t a good film, but what I learned from that failure was I had to rethink how I was working. Because now I wasn’t just an actor getting a role, I was being held responsible for the film itself.”
The movie had an all-star cast, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Uma Thurman, and Alicia Silverstone. However, the brunt of the criticism fell on George Clooney who played Batman.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Defends His Role as Mr. Freeze in Batman and Robin
Despite the backlash, Arnold Schwarzenegger did not regret taking on the role of Mr. Freeze. He believed that the character was interesting, and he didn’t think the decision to do the film was off. In fact, he stated that Warner Bros. begged him to do the movie while he was filming Eraser at the time.
“I don’t regret it at all. I felt that the character was interesting and two movies before that one Joel Schumacher was at his height. So the decision-making process was not off. At the same time I was doing Eraser over there and Warner Bros. begged me to do the movie.”
He also mentioned that he does not regret any of his less successful films and that he found the character he played to be unique and enjoyable.
“In most cases, I don’t regret the movies that failed or were not as good. It’s always easy to be smug in hindsight, right?”
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s salary for Batman and Robin may have caused some controversy, but it’s clear that he was highly sought after by Warner Bros. at the time. Despite the negative reception, Schwarzenegger remains proud of his work in the film and his decision to take on the role of Mr. Freeze.
Source: The Things
