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Connery's biggest monetary gaffe
Sir Sean Connery is probably rueing the day he turned down the role of Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, for he?s lost out on cashing in on a #225 million paycheque.
Hollywood legend Sir Sean Connery is probably rueing the day he turned down the role of Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, for he’s lost out on cashing in on a £225 million paycheque.
Director Peter Jackson revealed that production company New Line Cinema was so eager to get the Scottish movie legend to done the long white beard and wizard's staff in the trilogy, that it offered Connery between 10 and 15 per cent of world-wide box office takings back in 1999.
"New Line were indicating that having a major name like Connery was necessary in order for them to green-light the film. They asked us if we would agree to send a copy of the Fellowship screenplay to Sean with a view to enticing him to play Gandalf,” the Scotsman quoted him, as saying.
The company then sent over a copy of the script, and rolled out a lucrative offer to the actor’s agency CAA.
However Sir Sean decided to turn down the offer to act in the movie adaptation of author J R R Tolkien's fantasy.
"[Mark] Ordesky [the film's executive producer] told me New Line were going to offer a small fee in exchange for a large slice of the gross. Mark said New Line was prepared to give him between 10 per cent and 15 per cent of the films' income. Some kind of offer must have gone in because in April 1999 the script was bundled off to Sean who read it - and declined the role," Jackson added.
As it turns out, the three films in the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring (2000), The Two Towers (2001) and The Return of the King (2002), raked in a massive £1.5 billion at the box office, which meant that had Connery accepted the role, he would have earned anywhere between £150 million and £225 million.
The role eventually went to Sir Ian McKellen, who was later nominated for an Academy Award for his performance.
As for why Sir Sean decided to turn down the offer, well it seems that’s because the former 007 “never understood” the script.
"Yeah, well, I never understood it. I read the book, I read the script, I saw the movie. I still don't understand it. I would be interested in doing something that I don't fully understand, but not for eighteen months," Connery said last year.
