Guess How Steven Spielberg Made a Majority of His 2010 Earnings
Vanity Fair has released its annual list of the 40 highest paid people in Hollywood, and as usual, it's full of surprises. For instance, if you guessed that Paranormal Activity 2 producers Oren Peli and Jason Bloom made more money in 2010 than Brian Grazer, Joel Silver, Angelina Jolie, Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn, congratulations; you're right! The pair earned $26.2 million thanks to their horror franchise. The top-ten includes some random sightings as well -- yep, Todd Phillips did earn more than the three Twilight stars -- but the weirdest entry of all might belong to Steven Spielberg. Just how did the Academy Award-winning director make most of his money in 2010?
Theme parks, of course! According to Vanity Fair, Spielberg earned $50 million from "Universal-theme-park royalties and consulting fees." That money, coupled with his fee for War Horse ($20 million) and revenue from old films ($10 million), made Spielberg the third highest paid celebrity from last year.
All of which is to say: Where can I get some theme park stock? Hey, it's either that or co-star in a terrible worldwide blockbuster (No. 2 Johnny Depp and Alice in Wonderland) or direct the biggest movie of all-time (No. 1 James Cameron and Avatar). And frankly, I don't have the time or willpower to accomplish those.
· Hollywood's Top 40 [Vanity Fair]
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Comments
Apart from the fact that this is old old news (Spielberg had been with Universal since 1983 if memory serves) and yet somehow every year it gets reported as some sort of a shock.
Guess what, Spielberg's a very creative man and he got the deal because he's worth it. Not only did he lend licneses to his movies to Universal, he also helped design and advertise their rides and helped make creative decisions that maintain the park's popularity.