# Does Bruce Willis owe money or something? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 2, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bruce-willis-owe-money-or-something/790383 "2017-07-02T18:48:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bruce-willis-owe-money-or-something/790383/1 "2017-07-02T18:48:35Z")
Because he is doing Nicolas Cage level terrible movies. I was paging through Netflix with a friend looking for something to watch and we settled on a movie called Vice. It turned out to be a Westworld rip off where there is a theme park with artificial people and real people go to commit crimes and act violent. We made it twenty minutes in and had to stop it. It sucked and Bruce Willis looked and sounded bored. I know Cage had money issues so he had to take every garbage script that came his way. Is Bruce Willis in a similar fix? ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bruce-willis-owe-money-or-something/790383/2 "2017-07-02T18:54:44Z")
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHok1-SdTJ0) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bruce-willis-owe-money-or-something/790383/3 "2017-07-02T19:13:41Z")
Nobody has ever accused Bruce of being prudent, financially-astute, or forward-thinking. So yes, he is in a similar fix. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bruce-willis-owe-money-or-something/790383/4 "2017-07-02T19:16:37Z")
I heard from a trustworthy source that Willis is “Greedy and lazy”. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bruce-willis-owe-money-or-something/790383/5 "2017-07-02T19:35:47Z")
Willis is worth more than 90% of all actors. Just because he does movies that are less than stellar, doesn’t mean squat about his finances. Estimated net worth $180 million. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bruce-willis-owe-money-or-something/790383/6 "2017-07-02T19:37:38Z")
It went straight to video and pulled an impressive 4% on Rotten Tomatoes. Not exactly Oscar-bait. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bruce-willis-owe-money-or-something/790383/7 "2017-07-02T19:38:42Z")
He owes me $12 bucks and two hours of my life for Hudson Hawk tickets. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bruce-willis-owe-money-or-something/790383/8 "2017-07-02T19:50:39Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Willis is worth more than 90% of all actors. Just because he does movies that are less than stellar, doesn’t mean squat about his finances. > > Estimated net worth $180 million. 1. I tend to be leery of claims like that from websites that don’t reveal their sources or methodologies. Forbes, by contrast, is reasonably transparent about how they calculate their figures. 2. Even if that figure is correct, a large chunk is going to be tied up in capital assets, and possibly collectibles, jewelry, and so forth. There was a phenomenon in the Colonial South; “land-rich and cash-poor.” 3. Over the centuries, a vast number of people have decided that they were rich enough that they couldn’t possibly spend it all. Such people almost invariably turn out to be incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bruce-willis-owe-money-or-something/790383/9 "2017-07-02T20:27:51Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > 1. I tend to be leery of claims like that from websites that don’t reveal their sources or methodologies. Forbes, by contrast, is reasonably transparent about how they calculate their figures. > > 2. Even if that figure is correct, a large chunk is going to be tied up in capital assets, and possibly collectibles, jewelry, and so forth. There was a phenomenon in the Colonial South; “land-rich and cash-poor.” > > 3. Over the centuries, a vast number of people have decided that they were rich enough that they couldn’t possibly spend it all. Such people almost invariably turn out to be incorrect. There’s still no reason to think Bruce Willis is in financial trouble because he took a role in a bad movie. He’s been in around 100 movies, very few of them have been stellar movies or performances, but he’s kept on working steadily as many actors do because it’s what they do. If he had a colossal financial collapse the way Cage did it would be news. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bruce-willis-owe-money-or-something/790383/10 "2017-07-02T20:56:34Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Willis is worth more than 90% of all actors. Just because he does movies that are less than stellar, doesn’t mean squat about his finances. > > Estimated net worth $180 million. Actors who can pay the rent from acting alone are probably in the 90th percentile to be honest. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bruce-willis-owe-money-or-something/790383/11 "2017-07-02T21:07:05Z")
actually cage and willis have the same type of careers … they do a bunch of low/no budget or “indie” type of stuff and then do a big movie or two every few years, Like cage himself said when he was accused of selling out when the rock and face/off was big “doing con air the rock and face off lets you do movies like leaving las vegas or bringing out the dead that had almost no hope of making anything ever” he originally thought leaving las vegas was just a prestiege movie that no one but critics and cinemaphiles would see … ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bruce-willis-owe-money-or-something/790383/12 "2017-07-02T21:11:08Z")
You do realise that actors don’t get to see the finished movie before they sign up for it. Working actors get to choose their work from the movies that they’re offered, and everybody’s just hoping for the best when they make a movie. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bruce-willis-owe-money-or-something/790383/13 "2017-07-02T21:13:04Z")
Michael Caine was in Jaws The Revenge. He famously said that he’d never seen it, but he’d seen the house it bought for him. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bruce-willis-owe-money-or-something/790383/14 "2017-07-02T21:31:22Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Michael Caine was in Jaws The Revenge. He famously said that he’d never seen it, but he’d seen the house it bought for him. “I have never seen it, but by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific.” ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bruce-willis-owe-money-or-something/790383/15 "2017-07-02T23:44:58Z")
I have gotten the feeling that for the most part, Willis has given up and is just doing cash jobs. I don’t blame him. I assume they are paying well. Die Hard 5 was so bad, I almost wonder if it soured him. Then again, Kevin Smith says he was already a nightmare on Cop Out. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2017, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bruce-willis-owe-money-or-something/790383/16 "2017-07-03T01:00:55Z")
Counterpoint: how many actors not named James Dean or John Cazale have been able to avoid doing movies with horrible scripts/direction? If you’re a working actor, sooner or later you’re going to be cast in a real dog. If you only act in Oscar bait, you’re not really going to have a career at all. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2017, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bruce-willis-owe-money-or-something/790383/17 "2017-07-03T01:21:01Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > Counterpoint: how many actors not named James Dean or John Cazale have been able to avoid doing movies with horrible scripts/direction? Well, arguably, Daniel Day Lewis. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2017, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bruce-willis-owe-money-or-something/790383/18 "2017-07-03T08:36:48Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Well, arguably, Daniel Day Lewis. Maybe that’s why he recently retired. First time he felt a moment of temptation after being offered a part in an obvious dog…“That’s it – I’m outta here!” ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2017, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bruce-willis-owe-money-or-something/790383/19 "2017-07-03T08:57:37Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I have gotten the feeling that for the most part, Willis has given up and is just doing cash jobs. I don’t blame him. I assume they are paying well. > > Die Hard 5 was so bad, I almost wonder if it soured him. > > Then again, Kevin Smith says he was already a nightmare on Cop Out. Not soured enough apparently. > **[Die Hard Year One: Len Wiseman Explains Bruce Willis' Role](https://collider.com/die-hard-year-one-bruce-willis-role-len-wiseman/)** > > Director Len Wiseman gives more details on his work on the new 'Die Hard' prequel title 'Die Hard Year One,' and what Bruce Willis' involvement will be. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2017, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bruce-willis-owe-money-or-something/790383/20 "2017-07-03T12:48:26Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Maybe that’s why he recently retired. First time he felt a moment of temptation after being offered a part in an obvious dog…“That’s it – I’m outta here!” Actually, he didn’t retire, he announced that he “retired”. A trusted source says the announcement was strategic, and we will be seeing more from him. ETA: discussing Daniel Day Lewis here. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-bruce-willis-owe-money-or-something/790383.md?page=2)