Bruce Willis, Who Wanted $20,000,000 For a Disney Movie, Had to Agree to $17 Million Paycut After Career Threatening Lawsuit

Bruce Willis is one of the biggest action stars that the industry has ever seen. The actor has announced retirement now since he was diagnosed with aphasia but back in the 1990s, Willis was at the peak of his career. However, Willis’ behavior on set has made him widely disliked among his co-star. The actor also almost faced a $17 million lawsuit for creating a hostile work environment on the set of romantic comedy movie, Broadway Brawler.

Also read: Will Smith, Who Became a Villain After Oscar Slap, Once Was a Hero For Bruce Willis After His Divorce With Demi Moore

However, the studio decided not to go to trial and made Bruce Willis sign a deal that turned out to be very profitable for both sides.

Bruce Willis created a hostile work environment on the set of Broadway Brawler

Lee Grant’s sports romantic movie, Broadway Brawler had allegedly completed 2 years of pre-production and 20 days of filming before it was eventually shut down by Disney. According to sources, it was Bruce Willis‘ behavior on set that led to the shutting down of the production of the movie. The cinematographer of the movie, William Fraker even talked about Willis taking over the production of the movie and said,

“Lee was doing a great job. Bruce was telling other actors how to act. It was a great script and Lee’s vision was a love story about two people with the background of hockey. But Bruce just took over.”

Also read: Bruce Willis Did an Insanely Generous Act When 2007 Movie Stunt Double Fractured His Face and Wrists after Falling 25 Feet to the Pavement

According to sources, Bruce Willis allegedly had a problem with how everything was being conducted on the set. The actor had fired Lee Grant, William Fraker, and the producer, Joe Feury from the movie and had hired Dennis Dugan as the director of the movie. However, Disney decided to call off the project before Dugan could even shoot any new scenes.

Disney made the Die Hard actor shoot 3 more movies at a reduced cost

Disney allegedly threatened to sue Bruce Willis after his hostile behavior on the set of Broadway Brawl had allegedly cost the studio almost $17 million. However, the studio boss, Joe Roth had another idea to cover up for the losses incurred by the studio and also utilize Bruce Willis’ stardom. Roth put forward a proposal for Willis that he would star in 3 movies with Disney and would take a reduced pay in the movies until he has covered up for the losses incurred by the studio in the making of Broadway Brawlers.

Bruce Willis agreed to the deal and thus the Fortress actor made 3 movies with Disney. Willis starred in Armageddon and took a $17 million pay cut and only took $3 million for his portrayal of Harry S. Stamper in the movie.

Also read: Bruce Willis Refused Stealing Mel Gibson’s Role in Lethal Weapon, Chose Franchise That Earned Almost $500M More

Willis went on to star in The Sixth Sense and The Kid as well. The Sixth Sense is also widely regarded as one of the biggest hits of Willis’ acting career as the movie reportedly made $672.8 million against a budget of only $40 million.

Source: Film Stories