20 Famous Actors Who Got Paid Fortunes For Movies They Weren't In

Cast as Broadway veteran Helen Lawson in the 1967 melodrama, Garland clashed with director Mark Robson and was let go during pre-production. Thanks to her ironclad contract, 20th Century Fox paid her full thirty-seven-thousand-dollar salary before Susan Hayward took the role.

Purefoy performed under the mask for six weeks before creative differences over vocal projection led to Hugo Weaving stepping in. Purefoy received his full contracted acting fee, and several wide-angle physical stunts he performed remain in the finished cut.

Morton was on set daily voicing the sentient AI Samantha opposite Joaquin Phoenix. During post-production, director Spike Jonze felt the character needed a different vocal texture, paying Morton in full before bringing in Scarlett Johansson to re-record every line.

Francis Ford Coppola originally cast Keitel as Captain Willard, filming on location in the Philippines for two weeks. Coppola realized Keitel's passive intensity did not fit the character's interior narration, paying Keitel's contract before recasting Martin Sheen.

Maguire filmed all dialogue as the Canadian writer interviewing adult Pi. During editing, director Ang Lee felt Maguire's recognizable Hollywood profile broke the film's immersion, replacing him with British actor Rafe Spall while ensuring Maguire retained his full fee.

The Oscar winner recorded every line for the lovable CGI bear. Upon pairing the voice with animation, director Paul King realized Firth's dignified baritone sounded too mature for a youthful bear, leading to a friendly buyout before Ben Whishaw was hired.

Riding high on Indiana Jones fame, Ford filmed a cameo as Elliot's stern school principal whose face remained just out of frame. Spielberg excised the finished scene to prevent Ford's superstar presence from hijacking the film's intimate coming-of-age tone.

Originally attached to star as Axel Foley, Stallone rewrote the script into a hundred-million-dollar gritty action epic. Two weeks before shooting, Paramount balked at the ballooning budget, bought out Stallone's deal, and retooled the movie into an Eddie Murphy comedy smash.

Willis began filming Woody Allen's 1930s romantic comedy-drama, even appearing in early paparazzi set photos. After struggling with line memorization on set, Willis exited the production, pocketed his contractually guaranteed fee, and was replaced by Steve Carell.

When director David Fincher killed off Corporal Hicks before the opening credits, the studio attempted to use Biehn's likeness on an autopsy dummy. Biehn objected, forcing Fox to pay him almost his entire previous film salary just to show a photograph on a screen.

Refusing to return over script disputes, Glover was shocked when Universal cast another actor wearing facial molds of Glover from the original film. Glover sued for unauthorized use of likeness, winning a historic 760,000-dollar settlement that reshaped Screen Actors Guild rules.

Stoltz filmed over a third of the movie with dramatic intensity. Realizing the film desperately needed comedic levity, Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg made the agonizing decision to fire Stoltz, pay his full salary, and reshoot everything with Michael J. Fox.

Following serious allegations weeks before the film's premiere, director Ridley Scott spent ten million dollars reshooting every Getty scene with Christopher Plummer. Despite being completely erased from the movie, Spacey had already received his guaranteed upfront fee.

Downey was cast as veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski opposite Sandra Bullock. However, Alfonso Cuarón's rigid motion-capture rigs conflicted with Downey's fast-paced improvisation style, leading to an amicable buyout before George Clooney stepped into the suit.

Dimension Films offered Brando two million dollars for just two days of work to spoof The Exorcist. Shortly before filming, Brando was hospitalized with pneumonia; the studio replaced him with James Woods while Brando retained his non-refundable upfront fee.

Following the massive success of the 1996 original, 20th Century Fox held contractual sequel development options on Smith. When the studio refused to meet his fifty-million-dollar asking price for two sequels, Smith's holding clauses were fulfilled as his character died off-screen.

In 1994, Carolco signed Schwarzenegger and director Paul Verhoeven to a historic pay-or-play agreement for a brutal medieval Crusade epic. When financing collapsed over a hundred-million-dollar budget projection, Schwarzenegger walked away with his guaranteed eight-figure payday.

Nicholson negotiated a masterclass contract for Tim Burton's 1989 Batman that included profit participation not just on his film, but on all future sequels and merchandise. Warner Bros. paid Nicholson over ten million dollars for subsequent Batman films without him ever setting foot on set.

Depp held an unconditional pay-or-play contract for The Secrets of Dumbledore. When Warner Bros. asked for his resignation after filming just a single scene in London, the studio was legally obligated to pay his entire sixteen-million-dollar salary before recasting Mads Mikkelsen.

In 1998, Tim Burton and Nicolas Cage spent months developing Superman Lives, conducting elaborate suit fittings and pre-visualization. Weeks before cameras were scheduled to roll, Warner Bros. pulled the plug, triggering Cage's twenty-million-dollar pay-or-play guarantee for zero seconds of screen time.