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Message: [QUOTE="HCCForever, post: 3726406, member: 8959"] Interesting article on a role that Connery passed on. Before "Lord of the Rings" became a massive worldwide success, it was seen as a [B]VERY[/B] risky undertaking for Time Warner's movie studio New Line Cinema. With a budget of $281 million, the films were the most expensive movies of all time to that point. In an unprecedented move, all three movies were filmed back to back in New Zealand by a relatively unknown director named [URL='https://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/directors/peter-jackson-net-worth/']Peter Jackson[/URL]. The movie also lacked a truly big Hollywood name like Tom Cruise or Johnny Depp that would guarantee ticket sales. For all these reasons, the producers desperately wanted to lock in a huge star for the crucial role Gandalf. Their first choice was Mr. James Bond himself, Sean Connery. In order to convince Connery to sign on to the film, the producers pulled out all the stops. In addition to a $10 million per film salary, they offered Connery [B]15% of the box office[/B] for all three movies. In what would turn out to be a monumentally poor decision, Connery declined the part because he [B]"did not understand the script"[/B]. To be fair, if I had read the LOTR script, I probably would have thought it was absolutely ridiculous and would be a huge bust. Well, as we all know now, Lord of The Rings went on to become one the highest grossing film franchises of all time. The first movie alone is the sixth highest earning film in history, with over $1 billion dollars in ticket sales. The combined box office totals for the first three films would eventually balloon to [B]$2.9 billion[/B]. As for Sean Connery, his 15% stake would have been worth [B]$450 million.[/B] That would have been the biggest single payday any actor has ever received. [URL unfurl="true"]https://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/entertainment-articles/sean-connery-400-million/[/URL] [/QUOTE]

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