Not everyone is driven by greed. If he feels he's earned enough that he doesn't have to worry about working ever again, and he wants to try other things, then that's his prerogative.
Spoilers The Flash - Season 8 Discussion Thread
- Thread starter thribs
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I can only imagine how much Ben Affleck gave up by turning down Batman but the luxury of having money is not having to do things that won't make you happy. I've read that Pattinson is reported to be getting $3 million for Batman which seems crazy if Grant can get $2M for Flash on CW. I do find it funny when you hear celebrities get lauded for working long days on set for life changing amounts of money as if there aren't a lot of regular Joe Schmoes working hard jobs out there just trying to make ends meet.
True, but his motivations might go beyond money. He has earned enough at this point to retire and do what he wants. Maybe he feels that he has enough millions banked now, and he has done all he can for the character and the show and it is time to move on.
The guy is 32 and spent nearly his entire 20s on this one particular show. After seeing how Stephen Amell got to work on a passion project (Heels) after his eight year tenure on Arrow, Gustin probably thinks he might be able to do something similar, or whatever else he'd like at this point.
Properly invested, he can live a decent 6 figure lifestyle if that's what he wishes. My guess though is that his career plans are more than just being The Flash for the rest of his life--and he is successful enough that he can pick and choose what he wants to do.
For a 32-year-old, $5 million is comfortable retirement money and $15 million is comfortable Hollywood retirement money. His flexibility to take on roles will be much higher if he can achieve the latter type of net worth first, imo, so, unless the Flash production is a horrible workplace, I would recommend sticking it out for a couple more full seasons.
And I'm sure he, and his representation will take your views under advisement . . .
Of course all this assumes other seasons are on the table. That an increase or even fixed wage is an option. That the show will even survive the buyout. Plus of course it's always a better look to leave when you're still in demand than to hang around until nobody cares anymore.
The discussion began with Grant Gustin turning down a multi-season offer and accepting 15 episodes at over $200 thousand each, so, yes, I assume other seasons were on the table and that somewhat equivalent wages were on offer. Also, a smart lawyer would add a pay-day if the studio decides not to pick up the show for the full length of the contract.
Believe it or not, an actor having--or in this case being offered--a multi-season contract doesn't mean the show is guaranteed to be picked up for those seasons; that's a network decision.
It does however guarantee that they can't really pursue other roles, or be booked in advance for the prescribed shooting period because they're bound by contract, and unless there's a pay or play clause, if the show is cancelled before said contract is up, then they'll be out of a job AND unable to book anything major for quite a while since such things are usually done well in advance of production.
So if he has the sense that they're not liable to be picked up past the next season, then the smart move is indeed to only sign a one season contract so he has a parachute if and when the cancellation hits.
Also, if they don't get cancelled and the production company really, really wants him to stay on, they can renegotiate down the road (probably for even more money and/or less time.) And since his schedule would have been freed up, said negotiation would have to take place around any other commitments he's made, instead of the other way around. So either way, he'd be covered.
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I don't think we disagree on any of the above. I just think Grant Gustin is in a good position to negotiate extra guaranteed compensation if they want to lock him into a two-season deal.
That's certainly a reasonable strategy, though I think it makes more sense to lock in the compensation now (assuming he can get a payday clause if the show doesn't survive a sale of the network, etc.). Otherwise, the studio is likely to play it safe and have the writers plan out the next season as its last.
I'm sure he and his representation when over all those options, weighed what they thought they could swing against where he wants to take his career, and what the company is willing to give up in exchange . . . and what they landed on is what they landed on.
If there were better options on the table that he wanted, I'm sure he'd have taken them. He didn't, ergo they either weren't on the table, or they weren't better in his team's estimation.
They could be playing the long game a little, giving up the promise of possible money now, for the certainty of definitely being in a stronger negotiation position with more flexible options later. But honesty I think he just sees the writing on the wall and wants to move on.
If there were better options on the table that he wanted, I'm sure he'd have taken them. He didn't, ergo they either weren't on the table, or they weren't better in his team's estimation.
They could be playing the long game a little, giving up the promise of possible money now, for the certainty of definitely being in a stronger negotiation position with more flexible options later. But honesty I think he just sees the writing on the wall and wants to move on.
I'd say he's in a good position to negotiate if he wanted to be locked into a two season deal. At least taking the article at face value that says there was a multi-year offer on the table and that he capped his involvement at 15 episodes.
Then again, with the CW being shopped around who knows if it will even exist in its current form in two years.
That's what happened to Pierce Brosnan with Remington Steele. Younger actors may not know that but I bet their agents do.
The Flash returns this week. Is there still an interest? It moves to Wednesday instead of Tuesday now. I'm giving some thought of just watching the season when it arrives on Netflix later this summer.
Yes, I will check it out.
IT'S SEASON ONE AGAIN!!!!
I feel the CW does not do their shows any service by changing the days they air all the time. Their line-up is not consistent. One show airs a few episodes and then goes on hiatus for a few weeks (like Superman & Lois S1). Then another show fills the gap. Then it stops and the other show comes back but on a different day. It's confusing to the audience and kills any momentum. It makes it hard for the audience to really get excited for the shows.
I wonder how much more nowadays their audience is like me... who watches it later rather than the actual night.
But I agree...changing the dates makes no sense... and they have lots of time to plan solid blocks, rather than let different things interrupt
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