Donald Sutherland was one of the most versatile actors of his generation who starred in many classics.
Yet one of his big regrets was making Animal House happen and losing tens of millions for his efforts.
Not bad for only ten days work.
In his advanced years he even left an impact on modern franchise cinema by elevatingThe Hunger Games.
We dont imagine the Canadian thesp was hard up for cash with nearly 200 film and TV credits.
The cameo was extra-hilarious considering Sutherland was one of the biggest stars in the world at the time.
A year later,Animal Housewas almost happening at Universal.
So I thought, well, the only movie star I know really well is Donald Sutherland.
I said, Its a movie for Universal.
He said, Well thats MCA, I cant do that for scale, you gotta pay me.
The most expensive player on the film was a horse/horse trainer combo who got paid $100,000.
The studio counter-offered $20,000 plus two percent of the pictures back-end revenue.
The actor had zero interest in becoming a profit participant.
So I got $25,000 for the day, when I could have ended up with $14 million.
That final number is sometimes reported as $35,000 to $45,000.
The actor responded with a grin, I dont want to know.
There is, of course, a silver lining to this.
We would not have Tim Matheson delivering his rousing futile and stupid gesture speech.
And would The Isley Brothers Shout still be a karaoke/party staple today?
Probably, but the movie helped.Animal Housewas inducted into theNational Film Registryfor preservation in 2001.
Because he said yes, thats why we got a greenlight, Landis said.
