The Folly and the Value of Gal Gadot as Cleopatra
The announcement of a female Mediterranean superstar playing one of history’s most renowned Mediterranean women in a new feature film has been excoriated. Why?
Yesterday, burgeoning feature film star and former member of the Israeli army, Gal Gadot, earned a base salary of $300,000 for the 2017 Patty Jenkins-directed feature, “Wonder Woman,” which went on to earn nearly $822 million worldwide. The pay did not take into account the usual Hollywood bonuses, including boxoffice milestones and other measures of financial success. By comparison, it was reported, Henry Cavill was paid $14 million to star as Superman in 2013’s “Man of Steel.”
Not quite.
An overblown controversy ensued. Before we get there, Robert Downey, Jr. was paid a base of $500,000 for his starring role in 2008’s “Iron Man,” and an estimated $50 million for his first appearance as the character in 2012’s “The Avengers” (followed by over $150 million estimated for the following three films in the series). Chris Evans, of “Captain America” fame, received a $300,000 base for his first film in the series before earning millions more based on performance, and also for sequels and “Avengers” follow-ups. Chris Hemsworth’s trajectory in “Thor” was…
