George Clooney has corrected a statement that he and Wolves co-star Brad Pitt was paid around $35 million each for the film, as reported in a The New York Times item.
The duo brought their banter and riffs to the Venice Film Festival for the world premiere of Jon Watt's action comedy, in which they play competing criminal fixers who are mistakenly assigned to the same job. The two movie stars and real-life friends traded friendly banter, praise and cinematic insights in Italy during a press conference for Wolves.
At one point, Clooney explained that the couple returned part of their salaries after a theatrical deal for the film fell through, meaning it will have a limited release in “a couple hundred theaters,” and raised a The New York Times article published last week by Nicole Sterling claiming that he and Pitt would each receive more than $35 million.
“[It was] interesting article and whatever the source of our salary was, it’s millions and millions and millions of dollars less than what was reported. And I only say that because I think it’s bad for our industry if that’s what people think is the standard bearer for salaries,” Clooney said. “I think that’s terrible, it’s going to make movies impossible to make.”
“Yes, we wanted it to be released [in theaters]. We had some bumps in the road, it happens. When I did it [Clooney-directed biographical sports drama] The boys in the boatwe did it for MGM, and then it ended up being for Amazon and we didn’t get any foreign distribution, which was a surprise. There are elements of this that we’re trying to figure out. You’re all in this together. We’re all in this business and we’re trying to find our way after COVID and everything, and so there are some bumps in the road. It’s unfortunate, obviously, but on the other hand, a lot of people are going to see the movie and we’re getting a release in a few hundred theaters, so we’re getting a release. But yeah, it would have been nice if we had gotten a wide release.”
Just days before the two movie stars landed in Venice, news emerged that Watts has a deal with Apple to write and direct a film. Wolves sequel. It is unclear whether Clooney and Pitt have already signed on for the sequel.
Clooney also used the press conference to publicly comment for the first time on his recent opinion piece for The New York Times Titled “I Love Joe Biden, But We Need a New Candidate,” he said the President’s decision to step down as the Democratic presidential nominee is “the most selfless thing anyone has done since George Washington.”
“All the machinations that got us to this point, none of that will be remembered, and it shouldn't be,” Clooney said. “What should be remembered is the selfless act of someone who did the hardest thing to do. You know we've seen it all over the world, and for someone to say, I think there's a better way forward, he takes all the credit, and that's really the truth.”
Wolves will launch on Apple TV+ on September 27, following its limited theatrical release on September 20 via Sony.