Rarely do we read in-depth breakdowns of who made what on a particular film until the books have been closed, but a recent report published regarding Universal’s American Reunion shows that certain cast members received significantly smaller pieces of the pie (so to speak) for the opportunity to return for the latest sequel.
The Hollywood Reporter claims that the studio played “hardball” with cast salaries in order to keep the $50-million project from going overbudget. Jason Biggs and Seann William Scott, at $5 million a piece, earned the most money to return, even though one could argue that How I Met Your Mother actress Alyson Hannigan is a bigger star at this moment. (She and Eugene Levy received a reported $3 million for their work on the sequel.)
According to the trade, most everyone else in the cast -- from Chris Klein, Eddie Kaye Thomas and Thomas Ian Nicholas to Mena Suvari and Shannon Elizabeth -- received much less. Their salaries reportedly are in the $500,000 to $750,000 range.
And then there’s Tara Reid, who THR says only received close to $250,000 for her contributions to the film. Ouch. Once upon a time, Reid was one of the franchise’s biggest stars, but a string of poor role choices (Alone In the Dark, The Crow: Wicked Prayer) as well as a handful of questionable reality programs have turned her into a punchline. It’s funny - just about anyone reading this would kill to make $250,000 for a few weeks of work, and maybe Reunion will help put Reid back on the map, but stories like this do put Hollywood in some perspective, and can serve as a wake-up call for talents who once were on top of the world.
