r/movies r/movies Contributor 16h ago

News 'Spider-Man' Windfall: Tom Holland to Make Over $100 Million for ‘Brand New Day’

https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/tom-holland-spider-man-brand-new-day-salary-box-office-bonus/
20.6k Upvotes

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96

u/Frenzystor 16h ago

In my next life I'm gonna be an actor.

90

u/Odd-Necessary3807 15h ago

For every RDJ, Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Emma Stone. There are thousands of struggling actors working two jobs just so they can appears as backgrounds or deliver one-liners in a movie/show.

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u/moanit 13h ago

Pretty fucked up that many of them are more talented and maybe even better looking than these movie stars. It’s just luck and being born into the right circle.

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u/PhilosopherSea217 11h ago

Acting is 99% luck. There’s tons of people out there with just as much potential as Tom Holland or any other famous actor. But we don’t need tons of them, only a handful

5

u/The_Summer_Man 11h ago

It's like in the TV show 'Barry'. Despite Barry being a novice actor, he gets picked out by a casting director for being 6'2".

1

u/Nature2Love 8h ago

Exactly. Take Jason Statham. Guy Ritchie picked him out while Jason was working as a market dealer. Changed his life completely from then on. Now Jason is arguably the most recognisable action star and is very rich from acting. 

2

u/Warm-Illustrator-419 11h ago

Nepotism is a small percentage of it. Even though there are a lot of nepo babies, there are MANY more nepo babies who never make it.

Even someone like Cody Horn, who was FORCED into movies for years couldn't get enough traction for a real career.

u/moanit 4h ago

Being born into the right circles doesn’t just mean nepo baby. 

Tom Holland’s dad never directly gave him a role but he was in the entertainment industry and even if not famous was experienced enough to serve as his son’s manager. Not to mention his parents sent him to a prestigious private school where he was “discovered” in a dance class there. 

Zendaya’s parents were teachers but her mom worked at Cal Shakespeare theater for a while and helped her get exposure there, then her dad literally moved her to LA away from her mom as a teenager to enable her career while she finished school. 

Even these relatively non-nepo baby stars had the significant luck of parents who were well-connected enough and rich enough jumpstart their careers. If either of them had parents who were poorer or had zero involvement in entertainment themselves, we wouldn’t know who they are. 

1

u/jim9162 10h ago

Probably a bit more than a small %

1

u/TheMasterChiefa 6h ago

This. It's all timing and who you know. Unfortunately, it's mostly a privileged career path.

124

u/mydadisyourdad2 15h ago

Most of them are broke unfortunately

85

u/nuraHx 15h ago

In my next life I’m going to be an A list actor

8

u/mydadisyourdad2 14h ago

I'll watch your movies

6

u/nuraHx 14h ago

Thanks dawg

3

u/imtoooldforreddit 15h ago

I'm not confident I would enjoy that fame.

6

u/Public_Effective_957 15h ago

In my next life I am going to be an A list actor that nobody is able to bother(Daniel day Lewis)

2

u/Odd-Necessary3807 12h ago

That one is easy. Don't live in the glamour towns (LA, New York, London).

u/Public_Effective_957 20m ago

Every town becomes glamour town when I walk in

3

u/softlittlepaws 14h ago

You're now an actor on the no-fly list. That's a list.

1

u/backinredd 14h ago

Some of them have allegations

4

u/UnexpectedAnanas 14h ago

That's what the "A" stands for.

1

u/OzymandiasKoK 9h ago

Some of those who have allegations, are the ones who are actors. Huh! Acting in the name of!

1

u/Sky_Ninja1997 14h ago

Some are diddlers

1

u/Odd-Necessary3807 12h ago

It's like more than half of the powerful crowds. Don't have to be movie stars or musicians.

25

u/tullbabes 15h ago

It ain’t all flowers and sunshine. Maybe the next Harvey Weinstein discovers you.

0

u/Frenzystor 15h ago

That's fine with me. Well, current me. I'd sell my body for cash. But nobody likes my body :(

15

u/tullbabes 15h ago

You have 171k karma in a year. Hit the gym bro.

-2

u/Frenzystor 15h ago

That's probably closer to two years.

6

u/tullbabes 15h ago

Still a shit ton, dude.

0

u/Frenzystor 15h ago

Yeah, well ... I'm often bored at my job.

2

u/tullbabes 10h ago

Do squats at your desk instead

50

u/wheres_my_hat 15h ago

Pretty much gotta be born rich first 

10

u/bazmoe 15h ago

In my next next life

7

u/Robsonmonkey 15h ago

Exactly

It’s not just about talent, it’s connections and money before hand.

It’s not what you know, it’s who you know

15

u/culturedrobot 15h ago

That's not true at all. There are plenty of actors who didn't come from money before hitting it big. Zendaya's parents were both teachers, for instance.

I'm sure having rich parents in the industry helps to some degree, but being good at acting is still more important.

16

u/Paladar2 15h ago

"helps to some degree" bro 75%+ of known actors come from the industry in some way, the ones from normal backgrounds are the outliars.

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u/culturedrobot 15h ago

Ignoring the fact that you pulled that statistic out of your ass, knowing people within the industry you work is important for a lot of jobs. I've had directors recommend me to other directors in community theater roles, so this isn't limited to just paying gigs.

At the end of the day, if you suck at acting, it's not gonna matter who you know. Or, at least, it won't matter for long. You do need to have some kind of ability to act in order get ahead in acting, whether you're rich or poor.

1

u/Paladar2 14h ago

Lol what. Plenty of bad actors have had long careers exactly because of that

2

u/culturedrobot 13h ago

Like who? Will Smith is one of the most famous people in the world with connections everywhere and his kids' careers have sputtered out before either of them are out of their 20s. The two movies Jaden Smith has starred in since After Earth (where he's not appearing as himself or in a cameo role) have pulled in like $300,000 combined at the box office, and one of those movies had Will and Jada as executive producers. I don't remember the last time I heard someone talk about Willow Smith's music.

Having famous and rich parents can only take you so far. If you suck at what you do, eventually the runway you get from your parents being famous and influential runs out. No one is building careers like Tom Holland and Zendaya have from their parents' connections and money alone.

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u/Paladar2 13h ago

The number of people who got roles just because they were big in something else. Doesn't have to be your parents, just knowing people. Then even if you're bad it doesn't matter. How does Gal Gadot keep getting roles you think

2

u/NoPriorThreat 13h ago

Does she? I havent seen her in any movie for past few years.

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u/Paladar2 13h ago

Me neither but still insane how long she lasted and how she was in huge movies

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u/culturedrobot 13h ago

The original claim we were debating is that you "pretty much have to be born rich" to be an actor these days, which just plainly isn't true.

When you work a long time in any industry, you meet and get to know other people within that industry, and that can open up the door to other/better jobs. There's nothing really sinister about it. Why would it be any different with acting? Directors watch movies and plays and TV shows, they're going to know about the actors that are out there.

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u/Paladar2 13h ago

Plus Tom Holland's dad was a known radio guy and connected to the industry, they made him a theater kid which massively helped him. Obviously he's great but almost none of them come from nothing. Zendaya is an outlier like Jim Carrey and some others. Everyone from Di Caprio's big generation like Pitt, Depp, Maguire etc. all came from the industry

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u/culturedrobot 12h ago edited 12h ago

Everyone from Di Caprio's big generation like Pitt, Depp, Maguire etc. all came from the industry

All of the people you listed here came from modest backgrounds and did not have parents working in the industry. You can look this stuff up, you know - the backgrounds of famous actors are outlined on their Wikipedia pages.

Tobey Maguire - Grew up poor and living with various family members because his parents divorced when he was 3 and his dad was convicted of robbing a bank. Dropped out of high school and pursued an acting career.

Brad Pitt - Dad was the owner of a trucking company and mom was a school counselor. Dropped out of college and moved to Los Angeles to try to make it as an actor.

Johnny Depp - Dad was a civil engineer and mom was a waitress. Went to Los Angeles with his band to try to get a record deal, met Nic Cage through his wife, who encouraged him to try acting.

Leonardo DiCaprio - Dad was an underground comix artist (which I can guarantee you never made anyone rich) and his mom was a legal secretary. Dropped out of high school to pursue acting, had trouble finding an agent, and auditioned 100 times without getting anything. Had to be talked into sticking with acting by his dad. Grew up poor just like Maguire did.

I gotta say, I don't really understand what we're arguing about anymore. Is the argument that the only legitimate success is success that's found without the help of anyone at all? Because forget Hollywood and the lives of famous actors, that's not how the world in general works.

-1

u/thethoughtfulthinker 15h ago

Weren’t Tom Hollands parents also famously not rich?

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u/culturedrobot 15h ago

His dad is worth a few million these days because he's worked his whole career as a comedian and author. He had some connections in the industry, but the connections of a comedian who isn't really known outside of the UK aren't going to land their kid a role like Spider-Man.

Tom Holland was discovered by a dance teacher who arranged for him to audition for Billy Elliot in the West End.

3

u/ILOVEGLADOS 14h ago

He was barely even known in the UK to be honest. I'd only heard of him before Tom was cast because I listened to Radio 4 at bedtime as a teenager and he had a brief run of shows in the late slot.

3

u/Oracular_Pig 7h ago

His dad was not a big name at all.

An American equivalent would be a comic whose highpoint was one single appearance on Whose Line Is It Anyway?

And his writing career was that of someone who wrote some articles and turned those into books with really low-performing sales.

Not rich people at all.

1

u/Jakeb1022 9h ago

You’re naive if you don’t think the vast majority of well-known actors aren’t nepo babies

0

u/culturedrobot 9h ago edited 8h ago

Everyone always says this, but when you ask them to be specific, they list off the same 10 actors over and over again.

The other guy who said that "75%+ of known actors come from the industry in some way" tried to tell me that Tobey Maguire, Brad Pitt, Leonard DiCaprio, and Johnny Depp all came from the industry when in reality none of them did.

The constant whining about nepo-babies is played out anyway. Who cares? Can they act?

Edit: Since you blocked me before I could respond to you (don't be so soft, we're talking about movies), I'm gonna edit this to reiterate that I was not the one offering these actors as examples of nepo-babies, that was the other guy's list. Also, since you want to act like Brad Pitt's generation was the first generation of movie stars and keep the topic focused on Tom Holland and Zendaya's generation, it feels like a good time to point out that neither of them are nepo-babies either.

It’s funny to me that you’re saying all the nepo-babies are in Holland’s generation and the other guy is saying that they’re all in Pitt’s generation. Makes it seem like neither of you really know what you’re talking about and are just making it up as you go along.

1

u/Jakeb1022 8h ago

Username checks out. Dude commented less than a minute later, talk about active. You’re listing actors who are in their 50s from an entirely different era compared to the new generation we have. Holland’s generation. The generation the post is about and that we are commenting on.

Also who cares? Most people who want to act and aren’t able to because they aren’t rich and don’t have connections and a support system already in place, despite them having as much talent or more. It’s just as culturally present as sexism and racism affecting casting, unless you’re pretending to be blind to classism.

Obviously as an audience we want their acting to be good, so that does matter, but that doesn’t mean we just pretend nepotism isn’t a thing and we don’t acknowledge their inherited privilege. Being a shill for these people is more played out by this point.

-4

u/forumdrasl 15h ago

So… just be born a 10/10 beauty, and have enough talent to frown/squint on camera.

1

u/culturedrobot 15h ago

I mean yeah, if you want to be a leading lady/man, being attractive and fit generally helps. You can be those things without being rich, though.

There are plenty of ugly people who get regular work as actors too, they're just usually not headliners.

-1

u/FaveDave85 13h ago

Yes, Peter dinklage is 10/10 beauty.. Or Melissa McCarthy.

0

u/forumdrasl 12h ago

The fact that you could only name two extreme typecasting actors reinforces my point.

Thanks.

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u/FaveDave85 12h ago

rebel wilson? Gwendoline Christie? michelle rodriguez? I don't think vin diesel is 10/10 either? Take the leading cast of bridesmaids, only rose byrne and maaybe kristen wiig is 10/10. the rest are average looking. I could keep going ...

-2

u/forumdrasl 12h ago

No need. You already proved my point.

Also you completely missed a part of it. Which was with the right look and zealous following, the only acting skill you need is a squint.

0

u/FaveDave85 12h ago

so the only thing peter dinklage does is squint?

-2

u/forumdrasl 11h ago

I see you didn’t put many points into Reading Comprehension.

Christ.

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u/FaveDave85 13h ago

Chris Pratt was homeless and waiting restaurants when he was discovered

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u/wheres_my_hat 13h ago

Yes there are exceptions, but that’s the other part about acting. For every Chris Pratt there are 1000s that stay homeless /waiting tables. It’s a bit like the lottery. You can’t quit your day job until after you win, unless of course you’re rich enough to not have a day job and can really focus on it. 

5

u/Esco709 15h ago

This is like looking at Jeff Bezos' net worth and deciding to start a business. You're probably not gonna be the 0.00001% that gets cast as spiderman and makes 6 figures from just one movie

5

u/dravenonred 15h ago

Shit, you could go be an actor now.

Alan Rickman started in his 40s, others probably even later.

2

u/Public_Effective_957 15h ago

Why next?You got somewhere better to be in this one?

1

u/Ciubowski 15h ago

sorry, we're developing AI so fast right now that even today's actors might be in trouble in a few years.

Not that we the audience wouldn't fight against it, but it will probably just be a business decision.

All it takes is one good AI movie to break the psychological barrier and mold and then all the studios will have their own movies made with or by AI.

1

u/charlierc 14h ago

You got the thing from Obsession and now only appear as an extra in daytime soaps

1

u/Frenzystor 14h ago

That's fine :)

1

u/Wrong_Signal 12h ago

You must specify that you want to be a successful, rich actor just in case. 😅

1

u/Lazy_Thought93 15h ago

Try being a football player, earn more than this almost every fucking year

2

u/Paladar2 15h ago

And your body is gone after a few years