Movieline Goes Deep Inside Robin Hood's Amazing $237 Million Budget

By now, you've probably seen the staggering number: $237,000,000. No, it's not an early round of federal aid to help keep Greek garbage collectors on the job in an attempt to stave off anarchy on the Peloponnesus for a few more days. It's the budget for Robin Hood, Universal's opening volley in the summer blockbuster wars. As the document leaked to The Wrap is maddeningly vague, Movieline has decided to dig a little deeper to try and detect some of the culprits in the production's bloat; not surprisingly, a significant portion of it can be found in excessive "above the line" expenditures, where the talent, director, and producers exact their pounds of budgetary flesh.

NOTTINGHAM BUDGET 1/16/2009

STORY & OTHER RIGHTS: $750,000

[Rights payment to descendants of presumed Piers Ploughman author/14th century Robin Hood referencer William Langland: $250,000]

[Renaming fee to branding consultants: (Nottingham to Robin Hood) $500,000]

WRITING: $6,704,804

[Brian Helgeland (story by, screenplay): $3,500,000]

[Ethan Reiff & Cyrus Voris (story by): $2,000,000]

[Aaron Sorkin (overlapping Robin Hood/Marion Loxley meet-cute banter, uncredited): $500,000]

[David Mamet (one week on-set punch-up of "cheesy p*ssy sh*t" R. Crowe refuses to say, uncredited): $400,000]

[Diablo Cody (anachronistic Marion pop-culture references): $200,000 ]

[Jason Friedberg & Aaron Seltzer (genre spoof sequence, uncredited): $200,000]

[Mel Brooks (honorarium): $104,804]

PRODUCER & STAFF: $6,443,786

[Brian Grazer (producer): $3,300,000]

[Brian Grazer (produced by): $1,500,000]

[Brian Grazer (other producing services): 450,000]

[Brian Grazer title card artists: $90,000]

[Brian Grazer hair technician (hold): $64,000]

[Brian Grazer hair technician (sheen): $64,000]

[Producer's Assistant (Grazer Krispy Kreme runner/handler/taster): $25,786]

[Stephen Hawking (special consultant to producer Brian Grazer): $1,000,000]

DIRECTOR & STAFF: $13,954,963

[Ridley Scott: $13,800,000]

[Assistant (first): $70,000]

[Assistant (second, travel & schedule): $50,000)

[Assistant (third, Grazer interference): $30,000]

[Assistant (fourth, Crowe interference): $54,963]

TALENT: $36,060,158

[Russell Crowe: $20,000,000]

[Cate Blanchett: $10,000,000]

[Digital Marlon Brando posthumous cameo (Jorel Longstride, Robin's father): $2,000,000]

[Kevin Costner (ironic cameo + multiregional dialect coach): $1.000,000]

[Justin Bieber (young Robin): $1,000,000]:

[Taylor Swift (young Marion) $1,000,000]

[Christopher Mintz-Plasse (young Nottingham): $500,000 ]

[Betty White (Robin's amusingly foul-mouthed grandmother) $150,000, salary offset by Paypal donations from "Let's Get Betty White Into The New Robin Hood Movie!!!" Facebook group]

[Other Above The Line talent: $410,158]

FRINGE BENEFITS (ATL) $1,860,268

[Private jet service (Universal execs, Scott, Crowe, Blachett, Grazer): $800,000]

[Personal trainers (Crowe, Blanchett, Grazer): $200,000]

[Cate Blanchett Porcelain Complexion Stylist: $210,000]

[Entourage, R. Crowe (South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby team): $160,000]

[On-set house band (The Ordinary Fear of God): $125,000]

[Russell Crowe anger-management consultant (court-ordered): $100,000]

[Russell Crowe personal archery coach: $80,000]

[Russell Crowe personal arrow catcher: $70,000]

[Russell Crowe twitter ghostwriter (publicity tour): $90,000]

[Russell Crowe apology muffin basket artist (also court-ordered): $25,268]