And, just to bring this full circle: a long time ago, young George Lucas agreed to have his salary slashed for his work on STAR WARS, which was running a bit over budget.
So he traded away dollars for, y’know, merchandising rights. Ha! Like anyone would buy toy lightsabers and Darth Vader action figures! Why, that’s just crazy talk!
Talk about crying all the way to the bank…
Daisy Ridley and John Boyega should have made more.
Where it gets released as Backstroke of the West Episode VII.
And I’m pretty sure these new actors get a bigger % from merchandising than the cast of A New Hope did.
Hayden Christensen might want to disagree. And he was a better actor then either of them (see Life as a House and Shattered Glass, hell the few times he managed to get past Lucas’s direction.
Hayden Christensen might want to disagree. And he was a better actor then either of them (see Life as a House and Shattered Glass, hell the few times he managed to get past Lucas’s direction.
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He got his shot; post-Sith, he did (a) that artsy drama with Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce, followed by getting (b) the leading role in Awake (which had a solid supporting cast, and made back plenty of money) followed by the leading role in Jumper (which debuted at number one, and made back plenty of money). And that’s leaving aside how his leading role in Shattered Glass was post-Clones; he caught the public’s eye as Anakin Skywalker, and then got chance after chance after chance to parlay that fame into other roles.
And, okay, he was top-billed in a little film with Tim Roth. And he was top-billed in a little film with Kate Bosworth. And he was top-billed in a little film with Nicolas Cage. And while that’s not much to speak of, it’s even less to speak of for Roth and Bosworth and Cage; what, they didn’t have anything better to do?
There are probably hundreds of millions of people who now know Daisy Ridley and John Boyega’s names and faces. For any actor, that’s huge. There’s no guarantee that they will become A-List actors after this, but they can probably get cast regularly just on the basis of being known. (And worst case, they can make appearances at conventions and sign autographs for a fee.)
Look at the career of Taylor Lautner, as an example. He was the lead werewolf in the Twilight movies but his career hasn’t exactly taken off since then. His most recent role was in Adam Sandler’s direct-to-Netflix The Ridiculous Six. This article from The Hollywood Reporter goes into what went wrong. He was the star of a movie called Abduction that was panned and lost money, another movie he signed up for didn’t get made and his window passed.
By way of contrast, look at the career of Channing Tatum. He broke through in a 2006 dance movie and then a 2009 G.I. Joe movie. Since then, he’s led action and comedic films. So it’s partly a matter of luck, timing and good management.
On top of what Waldo said, I think another problem with Christensen’s career is that his performance, while not entirely his fault, was poorly received. To a certain extent, the whininess that people complained about seems to run in the family. But more, those films were filled with poor performances even by already well established and respected actors. For Ridley and Boyega, though people have had complaints about their characters–the most blatant one being that Rey is a Mary Sue–there haven’t been many complaints about their portrayals of those characters, and what faults people see seem to be falling on the writers instead.
In general, though, people have received their characters well, so I think they both have a strong chance of using this opportunity to springboard their careers. No one was saying “oh boy, I can’t wait to see the guy that portrayed Anakin in another film.” but they are of Rey and Finn. That said, I don’t think expectations of Harrison Ford are in order. After all, he got quite lucky landing the leading role in Raiders of the Lost Ark and he made some other potentially risky career moves that just kept paying off. In short, he pretty much just made all the right career moves, taking all the right risks, and they always paid off. Sometimes actors take what look like good moves or calculated risks and they just fail through no fault of their own. Harrison Ford is basically a once in a generation type of actor to reach that iconic level.
I think both Ridley and Boyega have bright careers ahead of them unless their careers are mismanaged. And, considering Oscar Isaac is the most already established (as Harrison Ford was) and how charismatic he was in limited screen time and already set up in another franchise (Apocalypse in X-Men: Apocalypse next year), assuming his role is well received there, I think he’s the one best set up to be the “Harrison Ford” of this Star Wars trilogy.
I gotta admit, though, it’s kind of weird that he didn’t wind up starring in a JUMPER sequel: it had a big budget, it made a lot of money, they set up the sequel hook, and he and Rachel Bilson are still together with a kid so the chemistry’s a lock.
(Which, in retrospect, means that the guy was freaky well-cast as Anakin Skywalker. “Hayden, in this next scene, you need to act like you’d knock up an incredibly hot brunette of Jewish ancestry who stands maybe five-two-and-a-half.” “Done.”
Sometimes those casting directors just have a magical touch.
Why? I’m sure had they asked for more, some other talented young actor would have done it for $450,000.
Yeah, leverage not exactly on their side.
I am pretty sure right now Daisy Ridley and John Boyega are almost delirious with glee over their lot in life.
Comparisons to Hayden Christensen are pointless. He starred in bad movies and put on a bad performance (though it really was not his fault, he’s a decent actor.) Ridley and Boyega put on critically praised performances in a critically praised movie that may finally be the movie that unseats “Gone with the Wind” as the all time box office champion.
David Morrell, who created the John Rambo character for the 1972 novel “First Blood”, has said he thought he wasted $500 on a lawyer who got him merchandising and sequel profits participation in movies.
"Do you honestly think kids will have Rambo lunch boxes? And how can there be a sequel when everybody dies in the novel? Did you read the book"
"David, you never know what they can do with your book. They could make a Broadway musical for all we know. That's my job-to anticipate all possibilities".
Wouldn’t help Daisy Ridley as much since her merchandising has been minimalised so much.
And there’s no doubt that this new SW film will have some sequels with the same cast of new to the franchise actors. After Anikin turned into Darth Vader, Christensen’s SW career was done. And he didn’t get all that much fanlove for his acting in that role either.
Huh. Can you imagine Hayden Christensen appearing in one of the upcoming sequels as the translucent ghost of Anakin Skywalker, talking some sense to a key character?
Of course you can. That’s a stupid question. Forget I even asked it.
But can you imagine telling him, right before that, hey, look, if you nail – and I mean ABSOLUTELY NAIL – this ONE SCENE, then everyone will look back at the prequels and say, Wow, He’s A Terrific Actor; George Lucas Can’t Direct, Is All; the whole world will be watching this movie, and even the fanboys will retroactively love you!
That’s maybe some kind of weirdly specific and crazy powerful incentive.
He’s exactly the right age to play a 35 year old Anakin clone…
I know you’ve read some outraged Facebook links about how there’s no Rey merchandise. All horseshit. There’s enough Rey merchandise to sink a battleship.