Was Connery screwed ?

Ricardo C. · October 2010

I watching Sean Connery's biography today and it made me wonder, was Connery justified in being bitter about the money he earned as James Bond ? Appearently, Connery felt Albert R. Broccoli screwed him out of the money he deserved and he didn't earn a big pain check for play 007 until Diamonds Are Forever. Also as we all know, Never Say Never Again was a huge middle finger to Cubby and EON. So, does anyone feel Connery should have got more money sooner or what ?

Hardyboy · October 2010

Welllll. . .back in the early 1960s the Bond films were a huge gamble, in no small part because no one really knew who Connery was and a lot of people (including one Ian Fleming) thought he was completely wrong for the part; so one could say that he got what a no-name actor working on small-budgeted films deserved, and he got the added benefit of riding those films to stardom and wealth. That said, Broccoli and Saltzman could have given Connery increasingly huge paychecks and bigger percentages of the grosses and royalties as a way of acknowledging Bond was a hit in no small part thanks to the guy who was playing him.

7289 · October 2010

Connery was no stranger to the courtroom and he used it very effectively to "get what he deserved".... "Big Tam" made a killing with Bond. I wouldn't worry about him.

zig zag · October 2010

Was he screwed? With his looks, consistently I'd think

)

Ricardo C. · October 2010

Hardyboy wrote:

Welllll. . .back in the early 1960s the Bond films were a huge gamble, in no small part because no one really knew who Connery was and a lot of people (including one Ian Fleming) thought he was completely wrong for the part; so one could say that he got what a no-name actor working on small-budgeted films deserved, and he got the added benefit of riding those films to stardom and wealth. That said, Broccoli and Saltzman could have given Connery increasingly huge paychecks and bigger percentages of the grosses and royalties as a way of acknowledging Bond was a hit in no small part thanks to the guy who was playing him.

I agree with that. I wonder what Connery was given for Goldfinger and what was that compared to the movie stars of the day.

SpectreBlofeld · October 2010

I'd say he got off better than poor Monty Norman, who created the most recognizable theme song in cinematic history and was paid a meagre $500 for his troubles...

Ricardo C. · October 2010

SpectreBlofeld wrote:

I'd say he got off better than poor Monty Norman, who created the most recognizable theme song in cinematic history and was paid a meagre $500 for his troubles...

He always gets credit for writing that theme and he has been payed royalties.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4129704.stm

Barbel · October 2010

SpectreBlofeld wrote:

I'd say he got off better than poor Monty Norman, who created the most recognizable theme song in cinematic history and was paid a meagre $500 for his troubles...

Not exactly. Mr Norman was very well recompensed for the "James Bond Theme", claiming in court to have earned just under half a million pounds in royalties by 2001. This was an approximate figure, and any adjustments would be made upwards. I don't have the exact details to hand, having filed all the paperwork from that case away, but I do remember him saying that the amount in yearly royalties was steadily rising owing to the Theme appearing in games, on CD re-releases, etc.

It's John Barry who was paid comparatively little for his work on the "Theme", although at the time it was a good deal- and it of course led to him becoming the series' regular composer.

Barbel · October 2010

Looked up some more detail. Mr Norman stated that he had recieved £485,000 in royalties over the 25 years prior to the 2001 court case (although this was an incomplete figure, since there were some 13 years of royalties prior to then); Mr Barry that he had been paid £250 for his work. Mr Norman is the credited composer of the "Theme", Mr Barry the arranger.

Ricardo C. · October 2010

Barbel wrote:

Looked up some more detail. Mr Norman stated that he had recieved £485,000 in royalties over the 25 years prior to the 2001 court case (although this was an incomplete figure, since there were some 13 years of royalties prior to then); Mr Barry that he had been paid £250 for his work. Mr Norman is the credited composer of the "Theme", Mr Barry the arranger.

Yeah I don't get that. All of a sudden, after nearly 15 years, Norman starts to get royalities ? There has to have been another court case prior to this one.

Also out of curiosity I used the currency conversion feature on Google to see what that amount would be in USD. I am not sure it's accurate but the total is $677,303 USD.

Barbel · October 2010

Ricardo C. wrote:

Yeah I don't get that. All of a sudden, after nearly 15 years, Norman starts to get royalities ? There has to have been another court case prior to this one.

There was, and I worked on that one too. However, he didn't start to get royalties after 15 years. The gap was simply in his paperwork- the records for his royalties before 1976 were in a different location (he'd moved house).

Was Connery screwed ?

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