George Clooney has poured cold water on claims that he and co-star Brad Pitt were paid ‘more than $35,000,000’ (£26,655,496) each to act in and co-produce their upcoming movie Wolfs for Apple TV Plus.
The pair of Hollywood megastars, who have dominated the film industry since the 1990s, have teamed up once again for the crime caper to play two professional fixers who are forced to work together after being hired for the same cover-up job.
Wolfs is premiering at Venice Film Festival today – just days after Pitt’s ex-wife Angelina Jolie, with whom he is still embroiled in an acrimonious divorce, received widespread acclaim for her big-screen return as opera singer Maria Callas in Pablo Larrain’s biopic Maria.
Clooney also addressed the fact that Wolfs failed to land a wide theatrical release rather than predominantly streaming, which he called ‘a bummer’.
‘Yeah, we would have liked that. We wanted it. That’s why Brad and I gave some of our salary back to do that,’ he told reporters at the Wolfs press conference in Venice, including .
The Gravity actor, 63, then went on to make the point that their payment had been ‘millions less’ than reported anyway.
‘By the way, there’s a really good reporter, Nicole Sperling for The New York Times. She wrote an interesting article about it, and whatever her source was for our salary, it’s millions and millions and millions of dollars less than what was reported.’
‘I am only saying that because I think it’s bad for our industry if that’s what people think is the standard bearer for salaries,’ he added, noting that it ‘will make it impossible to win’.
The publication also claimed that writer and director Jon Watts, who has directed and also partially penned on all three of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man movies for Marvel, received ‘more than $15million’ for his dual role in putting the movie together.
Turning to the question of a wide theatrical release, he acknowledged there had been ‘some bumps along the way’, as had happened with his previous movie, Boys in the Boat, which he directed.
‘We did it for MGM and then it ended up being for Amazon, and we didn’t get a foreign release at all which was a surprise. There are elements of this that we are figuring out,’ he shared, saying that ‘of course it was a bummer’ for him and Pitt.
But on the other hand, a lot of people are going to see the film, and we are getting a release in a few hundred cinemas – but yeah, it would have been nice to have a wide release.’
Sony was initially poised to distribute the film widely in cinemas – including in the UK – ahead of Wolfs’ streaming release on Apple TV Plus, before Apple changed its mind and pivoted on the plan just weeks ahead of release in August.
His co-star and longtime pal Pitt, 60, whose most high-profile onscreen collaborations with him have been Ocean’s Eleven and Ocean’s Twelve over 20 years ago, also chimed in.
‘I think we’ll always be romantic about the theatrical experience. At the same time, I love the existence of the streamers because we get to see more story, we get to see more talent. It gets more eyes,’ he shared.
‘So it’s a delicate balance right now, but it’ll right itself.’
In Wolfs, Clooney and Pitt are the lone wolves of the title, Jack and Nick, who chafe when working together to cover up a bloody crime scene in a high-end hotel. However, their night ends up taking a series of twists that neither could have predicted, featuring Amy Ryan as the woman who calls the fixer(s) and Austin Abrams as ‘Kid’, the body in her room.
The pair and Watts – who missed the press conference and will be forced to skip tonight’s premiere after catching Covid – have also already signed up for a sequel, according to Deadline.
Clooney was also asked about the impact his op-ed written for The New York Times in July had, which urged President Joe Biden, 81, to bow out as a presidential candidate in November’s election.
‘You know, I’ve never had to answer that question, so I suppose I’ll do it here,’ he started, before making it clear that any gratitude should lie with the current president.
‘The person who should be applauded is the President, who did the most selfless thing that anybody has done since George Washington,’ he claimed, referring to Washington setting the precedent that US presidents only serve a maximum of two four-year terms by not seeking re-election the third time.
‘All the machinations that got us there – none of that’s going to be remembered, and it shouldn’t be. What should be remembered is the selfless act of someone who – you know, it’s very hard to let go of power, we’ve seen it all around the world, and for someone to say I think there’s a better way forward – all the credit goes to him and that’s really the truth, and all the rest of it will be long gone and forgotten.’
Oscar-winner Clooney also added that he was ‘very proud of where we are in the state of the world right now, which I think many people are surprised by’.
‘I think we’re all very excited for the future,’ he added before demurring on saying anything further.