How To Win Lunch With a Celeb

Summary

The Rest Is Entertainment
Episode: How To Win Lunch With a Celeb
Hosts: Richard Osman & Marina Hyde
Date: August 12, 2026

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Overview

In this Q&A edition of The Rest Is Entertainment, Richard Osman and Marina Hyde tackle a diverse array of listeners' questions about pop culture and the inner workings of the entertainment industry. Topics range from the cinematic phenomenon of Spider-Man and the pros and cons of actors taking box office percentages, to the surprising history of Postman Pat’s Royal Mail branding and the reality behind charity celebrity lunch auctions. The episode is characterized by Richard and Marina's witty banter, industry insight, and the odd personal anecdote, providing a sharp, engaging behind-the-scenes look at entertainment's quirks, successes, and lore.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Spider-Man: Pop Culture Juggernaut and Its Industry Impact

Timestamps: 02:26 – 09:51

• Spider-Man's unprecedented box office success:

  • The new Spider-Man: Brand New Day has surpassed even Endgame, with a staggering domestic and international opening.
  • "I saw it on that first weekend. It's the biggest opening of all time. Even bigger than Endgame." – Marina Hyde (02:58)

• Franchise vs. Original IP:

  • Discussion about the necessity of franchises for Hollywood economics versus the desire for original stories.
  • "Hollywood definitely needs some franchise stuff. It's the world we live in." – Marina Hyde (03:14)
  • "The incredible thing we've seen over the last few years is suddenly some of these movies, Spider-Man particularly...are making huge amounts of money and that is great for the whole infrastructure." – Richard Osman (06:09)

• Why Spider-Man endures:

  • Spider-Man updates the coming-of-age theme and leverages real-life chemistry between Zendaya and Tom Holland, who recently married.
  • "Spider-Man is just a brilliant superhero. For them to have had this, it's lightning in a bottle." – Marina Hyde (03:48)
  • The enduring appeal relates to relatability, earnestness, and excellent casting and storytelling.

• Industry knock-on effects:

  • Massive box office events provide windfalls for everyone from cinema owners to creative teams and help fund smaller and original films.

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2. Children’s TV, Product Placement, and Cultural Shifts: The Case of Postman Pat

Timestamps: 10:12 – 14:44

• Royal Mail on Postman Pat’s van:

  • The original show used Royal Mail branding because it was then a public utility.
  • "But that's because at the time Royal Mail was not a, you know, it was, it was a publicly owned utility." – Richard Osman (10:34)
  • After privatization, Pat worked for the fictional SDS (Special Delivery Service) instead.

• Postman Pat and attention span studies:

  • Unique, long-form research about children's attention spans compared slow vs. fast-edited episodes and found no difference in engagement levels.
  • "One of the...greatest studies on the...concentration span of very young children...is based on Postman Pat and essentially said don't worry too much about the speeding up of culture." – Richard Osman (13:18)

• Memorable banter:

  • "One of the funniest lines we ever had on 8 Out of 10 Cats was when Danny Dyer came on...and Danny Dyer just went. He's a busy bastard, isn't he? That's so unnecessary. Which is why it was so funny. He can't help himself, Danny, can he?" – Richard Osman (14:25)

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3. How Do Box Office Percentages Make (or Break) an Actor’s Fortune?

Timestamps: 16:57 – 22:41

• Big winners:

  • Bruce Willis (The Sixth Sense) took 17% of the gross plus home video, earning up to $120 million.
  • Alec Guinness (Star Wars) negotiated royalties from George Lucas directly—an exceptionally lucrative move.
  • "He took 2.25% of George Lucas royalties and over a lifetime on that. That was just beyond, beyond anything." – Marina Hyde (17:49)

• Legendary deals by Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise:

  • Tom Hanks earned $70 million from Forrest Gump via "first day gross".
  • Tom Cruise still negotiates first day gross – an exceptionally rare privilege.

• Biggest losers:

  • Matt Damon turned down 10% of Avatar's backend, missing hundreds of millions.
  • Sean Connery rejected a 15% share of Lord of the Rings' gross, reportedly losing out on over $400 million, famously saying he "never understood it."
  • David Prowse (body of Darth Vader) agreed to net profits (as opposed to gross) for Return of the Jedi and saw nothing due to Hollywood accounting.
  • Richard’s rule: "Never, ever accept a percentage of net profits from anyone, ever, anywhere." (21:45)

• Industry wisdom:

  • Hollywood "net profit" is nearly always rendered meaningless by creative accounting.

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4. IMAX, Premium Cinemas, and the Future of Moviegoing

Timestamps: 22:41 – 27:50

• The rise of IMAX and PLF (Premium Large Format) cinemas:

  • Driven by blockbuster demand (The Odyssey made $300 million in IMAX alone).
  • Cinemas are shifting to luxury—bigger screens, reclining seats, and immersive experiences—to justify higher ticket prices and compete with home viewing.
  • "All of the cinema chains are working out that this really, really, really works." – Richard Osman (22:55)

• Economic rationale:

  • PLFs generate more revenue, crucial as box-office attendance shifts and audiences demand more for their money.
  • The trend is especially popular with younger audiences and could help ensure cinema’s longevity.

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5. Celebrity Lunches as Charity Prizes: Real or Myth?

Timestamps: 27:50 – 34:00

• Do these experiences happen?

  • Yes, they're common at charity auctions via platforms like CharityBuzz, often for nonprofit fundraising.
  • "They are completely real...organised normally by specialist fundraising platforms." – Marina Hyde (27:50)

• Examples of auctioned celebrity experiences:

  • Flying with Harrison Ford (with humorous warnings about his prior crash landings)
  • Tennis lessons with Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf
  • Pitching ideas to Rupert Murdoch
  • Cameos in Hollywood blockbusters

• Logistics:

  • Highly structured, brief, and tightly managed encounters with background checks and behavioral guidelines to protect both celebrity and winner.
  • "They've done a load of background checks on you...don't touch them unless they touch you." – Marina Hyde (29:15)

• Richard's personal anecdote:

  • He won a charity auction for lunch with Anthony Scaramucci, but despite best efforts, it never happened due to logistical difficulties and limited availability.
  • Reflecting, he’s content with the donation benefiting Action for Children rather than the missed meal.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On why franchises are needed:

  • "You have to have some franchise things...because otherwise you can't get a payday this big." – Marina Hyde (05:02)

• On Hollywood accounting:

  • "Never, ever accept a percentage of net profits from anyone, ever, anywhere...there will be no net profits to share." – Richard Osman (21:45)

• On the purpose of post-credit scenes:

  • "It's just a lovely little extra. Which is also the idea behind Lloyds Rewards. Extra value appearing inside something you were already doing anyway." – Marina Hyde (15:38)

• On celebrity meet-and-greet logistics:

  • "Don't touch them unless they touch you." – Marina Hyde (29:15)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:26 – Spider-Man’s box office conversation begins
• 10:12 – The Postman Pat/Royal Mail product placement query
• 16:57 – Actor earnings and box office percentages discussion
• 22:41 – IMAX & premium cinema trend analysis
• 27:50 – Celebrity charity lunches: behind the scenes
• 31:40 – Richard’s story about his (missed) lunch with Anthony Scaramucci

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Final Thoughts

This episode provides a witty, informative tour through entertainment’s economic realities, nostalgia-laden children’s TV, blockbuster business, celebrity culture, and the sometimes surprising outcomes of charity auctions. Richard and Marina give practical insight into navigating (and surviving) the quirks of showbiz with humor and unvarnished honesty.

Transcript

[Marina Hyde]

The rest is entertainment is presented by Octopus Energy. Now, show business is full of people who start out as one thing but then take on some completely new role that completely eclipses it.

[Richard Osmond]

And before we get on to how Octopus Energy has done that, a few examples. There are people who start out, you know, bands as singers, as actors. A good example would be Victoria Beckham.

[Marina Hyde]

She started off in a band, Richard. She was in a band called the Spice Girls.

[Richard Osmond]

You're going to tell me next that David Beckham used to play football before he became an advertising guy.

[Marina Hyde]

They have earned far more from their second careers, these businesses they've built up, than they ever did in their first ones.

[Richard Osmond]

So the idea she's a singer, that gets her through the door, gets her known, the culture knows who she is. She then thinks, I'm going to see if I can do something else. And she has the audience who, if she does it well, goes along with her. But you know what it reminds me of a lot?

[Marina Hyde]

Tell me.

[Richard Osmond]

It reminds me of Octopus Energy. Because Octopus Energy has also outgrown its own introduction. It's the UK's largest energy supplier, but it's but is now also one of the country's biggest installers of heat pumps, solar panels and batteries. The list even reaches the driveway with a major electric car leasing business as well.

[Nicola Dinan]

I want to date with Rawls Carty says Raws Rocca asks. This is the love story of real hinge couple Carti and Rocca written and read by me, Nicola Dinan. Listen to the free audiobook now.

[Olivia from Ollie]

Hey friends. Olivia from Ollie. Between new routines and the ultimate group project known as parenting, you need science backed solutions that work with your life. That's where Ollie comes in. Start your mornings off right with multis made to support nutrition and immune health. Choose from our lineup of gut supporting probiotics and we've got occasional sleep support to help the whole fam chase their big dreams. Head back to class with the number one Gummy supplement brand stock up on ollie.com today. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

[Marina Hyde]

Hello and welcome to this episode of the rest is entertainment questions and answers edition. I'm Marina Hyde.

[Richard Osmond]

And I'm Richard Osmond. Hello everybody. Marina, you are still away but I think it's your final day.

[Marina Hyde]

I'm very much enjoying talking to you although I'll be much happier when we're back in the studio together. But have you got some questions for me?

[Richard Osmond]

Got loads of Questions for you. What is the buffet like at the hotel?

[Marina Hyde]

I'm not in a hotel.

[Richard Osmond]

I have loads of questions for you. But let's have listeners questions, shall we? Or viewers questions because, you know, that's the kind of medium we're in. Graham R. Has a question for you and it concerns Spider man, which I think we'd like to talk about anyway because it's been such a sensation. Graham R. Says, from listening to your show for a long time, I'm concerned about Spider man breaking box office records. He's concerned about it breaking box office records. I want studios to be investing in new IP, not superhero slop. That is now and it's 10th outing. He sort of has a point. That's an interesting question.

[Marina Hyde]

Well, yeah, so this is brand new day that came out whenever. I don't know. I saw it on that first weekend. It's the biggest opening of all time. Even bigger than endgame. The second weekend. It was 143 million domestic, I think, which is bigger than any other movie's opening. So it's extraordinary, I will say about this. I know what you mean, Graham, and you know, I'm no fan of like vast amount of the Marvel output and in this case, but remember, Sony made this. It is Marvel, but Sony still have the rights to it and they make this. I think in general you need, and Hollywood definitely needs some franchise stuff. It's the world we live in. You need stuff that kind of iterates and goes on. I agree with you on originals and it's great. We've seen lots of interesting originals. Obviously many more originals this year than we have in any other year recently. This genre in general, superheroes is not anything like what it was back in. In say, you know, the late 2000 and tens. Nothing like it at all. I sort of love this story. First of all, I think the Spider man is just a brilliant superhero. For them to have had this, it's lightning in a bottle. They've got these two principals who were cast opposite each other as Zendaya and Tom Holland. And then obviously in real life fell in love. They've gone all the way through this and they've just got married. I mean, it's kind of incredible. And everyone likes them, by the way. These are stars that actually are not polarizing, that people really like, but also

[Richard Osmond]

behind the scenes, you never hear a bad word about them either.

[Marina Hyde]

Oh, my God. I think people love them. Yeah. And it's interesting. Various. And there's something about Spider Man. When I was watching, I was Thinking it's so weird. It always remains a kind of coming of age story, even though, you know, he's come of age. And they've been through various episodes of this. But things that big coming of age stuff like Stranger Things that ended very cleverly, they brought in Sadie Sink to play a character from Stranger Things to play a character, character in this. And so I think it really, it just sort of really works. And it was.

[UPS Store Announcer]

It.

[Marina Hyde]

None of these things are, you know, slam dunks at all. I will say that when something is this successful, it helps cinema owners who take half the box office there are huge go and sit in the. I mean, that's why Marvel always put all their, you know, trailers and stuff. They have a middle credits trailer at the end and an end credits trailer for something coming up. And in this case, of course, it's all doomsday, which is coming at the end of the year. But the amount of people who, who work on these films, the huge numbers of creatives work on this, this is like a windfall for the whole industry. As I say, the genre is not where it was at all. But this is the best of it. I really like the stars. I think they did a great job on the film and they preserve something of its essential nature and it's a great superhero. And so I just think that this is a feel good story for the industry. And of course I want originals and we're very lucky. We've had many more originals this year than we have in recent years. But I think that you have to have some franchise, franchise things and just to keep things going, because otherwise you can't get a payday this big. I have to say, with an original, I can't see it, can't see it happening.

[Richard Osmond]

Yeah, I think that we, you know, I think we were in danger three or four years ago, certainly post pandemic, that the Marvel Cinematic Universe had lost some of its luster. And so we were in the stage where even the blockbusters weren't really working. And people are saying, okay, we need to invest in, you know, original ip. But the money wasn't really there because, you know, these studios do depend on these tent poles to bring in. I mean, you know, this is going to make over $2 billion, Spider Man. And a lot of that is profit. And of course, some of that, you know, will go into the pockets of studio heads and into the pockets of people involved, but a lot of that will go back into new moviemaking. And I think we were, we were in danger a few years ago. Of if these big tentpole movies weren't working, they weren't about to start putting money into smaller movies anyway, that we were in danger of cinema becoming a declining and dying industry. We talked about it an awful lot and there are lots of think pieces about it. And as you say, the shares of some of the cinema chains were absolutely going through the floor and people are thinking there is no future here. The incredible thing we've seen over the last few years is suddenly some of these movies, Spider man particularly, but you know, you look at Minecraft, you know, Mario Galaxy, all of those things are making huge amounts of money and that is great for the whole infrastructure. And people in Hollywood want to make movies. They want to make great original movies. And as you say, things like backrooms and obsessions have been incredibly useful to show that there is money to be made in it. So yeah, I think it's. I think it's a huge positive. I think, you know, the more people going to the cinema is a huge positive, Marina, because you are something of a superhero expert, I have always wondered. I know that Avengers is going to be absolutely enormous, but Spider man specifically has seemed to grow and grow and grow and grow. And I know they've made great movies. Is that why it is great source material then? They make great movies.

[Marina Hyde]

It's interesting. I trying to work out quite why. As I said, it's a bit lightning in a bottle. You've got these two principal actors who are brilliant and have real life romance. I do think Spider man is one of the absolute, very best superheroes. You know, it's so relatable. So I think that's a big part of it, the way they've made these films. As I say, Sony makes these for Marvel. They're not made by Disney. Marvel. They've always had a kind of. They haven't had that overlaying sort of irony Jocheum that lots of the other Marvel ones had. There is an earnestness to them because of the character. I think the character is very appealing and always has been. And I think that. Yeah, I would say that. And there's been. I mean obviously they've bought back other ones. There's. They've all the spider men like Andrew Garfield and Toby Maguire and they've done that very cleverly. I think the story just will always resonate. But the way they've made them is brilliant. I thought it was very. I thought was great. I really, I really liked it.

[Richard Osmond]

This is a great film and also the sort of little team that seems to have Been set up for the next Spider man movie as well. Is really, really, really good. I mean there's no spoilers, but there's a couple of charact characters in here who you now think, oh, okay, I see that going forward, Spidey's gonna have these little psychics. You think, oh yeah, I mean, count me in. It's what it's worth noting as an aside that Zendaya may well have a five billion dollar year this year. If you take the Odyssey and Spider man and Dune. I mean she could have, she could have. I mean, I think she's already possibly the. Had the highest ever grossing year and she's only going to add to that as well, isn't that, I mean, and that's, that's got to be healthy.

[Marina Hyde]

Those three are. And actually Jon Berntel, who's Frank Castle, he's amazing. He's so good in the Odyssey, he's Menelaus in the Odyssey and he's absolutely brilliant. Really eye catchingly brilliant in that. So, yeah, I mean, I think in general it's really good for the industry is what I would say. I understand your reservations, but I didn't think this was slop. Sam Stevens has a question for you about Postman Pat.

[Richard Osmond]

My God, you can't say we don't have range.

[Marina Hyde]

There's huge range here. Since you're not allowed to gratuitously showcase one particular company on tv. This is about undue prominence. How did Postman Pat get away with promoting or displaying Royal Mail on his van for all those years? Did the animators do a deal with Royal Mail or the BBC? Or did he get away with it because he's a harmless and friendly animated postie?

[Richard Osmond]

You know what, thank you, Sam. Someone's finally called this out. It is funny enough, when Postman Pat started. Well, firstly, when Postman Pat started, he didn't have any Royal Mail branding. Didn't have any branding at all. He had like a red fan and stuff like that. But there wasn't raw mail on the side of it. But I think very quickly from the second series onwards, they did have Royal Mail branding. But that's because at the time Royal Mail was not a, you know, it was, it was a publicly owned utility. So, you know, there wasn't, it wasn't kind of. We didn't used to have FedEx and all that back in the day, did we? So you were allowed to put Royal Mail on your thing because it wasn't seen as a, as a, as a commercial organization. They had more trouble when they rebooted Postman, but, you know. They rebooted Postman Pat.

[Marina Hyde]

Yeah. In a privatized Post Office world.

[Richard Osmond]

In a privatized Post Office world. And there they couldn't use Royal Mail because by that point, you know, Royal Mail was one of many parcel providers that you can use. So in the. In the newer Postman Pats, he becomes. It's quite a big change. He becomes head of the sds, which is the special delivery service, and he moves to Pencaster, which is, you know, one of the big urban centers. It's sort of like, you know, when Spider man grows up in the new ones. So there's no raw mo branding because he works for sds. He has a Jeep. He has a motorbike and sidecar. Jess sits in the sidecar. He has a gyrocopter. Like, everything changes in the new Postman Pat, but, yeah, is this.

[Marina Hyde]

Or him being imprisoned falsely by his Post post. Post Office bosses, I guess.

[Richard Osmond]

Oh, my God, they should have done that. They should have done a Mr. Bates versus versus postman Pat Spin off. Yeah, that would be a mess. That's like Deadpool and Wolverine.

[Marina Hyde]

Yeah, that story remains developing, so don't rule it out once we get our final judgment.

[Richard Osmond]

And so, yeah, they basically. It wasn't undue prominence because it was a publicly owned utility. And perhaps in the next few years there'll be more of those, so you'll be able to do that. But in the. In the newer iteration, it is. It is absolutely. A commercial organization called the SDS is playing off the sas. But for. But for Postmen, they did an interesting. We talked a number of times about attention spans and we talked about where our culture is going and, you know, this need for, you know, 15 second sound bites and things to be incredibly sped up. One of the few really long form studies they've ever done on that about kids attention spans and what's happened to them was actually based on Postman Pat. And they took a bunch of very young kids and they split some Postman Pat episodes into. Into slow ones and fast ones. So they had some very fast Postman Pat episodes which must have passed me by. And they showed these different episodes to kids because this obviously that's a control which is. It's all. It's the same character, it's roughly the same storylines, but one is cut much faster than another. And showed them to kids and watched their reaction, measured their brainwaves, all that, all that kind of stuff. And they concluded via this Postman Pat study that it had zero Difference. It was made zero difference to their entertainment value. Zero difference to their concentration. And so listen. Citation needed, of course. But one of the. The greatest studies on the. On the concentration span of very young children. It's based on Postman Pat and essentially said don't worry too much about the speeding up of culture. It doesn't seem to make much difference. I love that. I have no way of knowing how rigorous that was. But I thought it was an interesting conclusion and I wanted to thank Pat for his service. I remember one of the funniest. We're gonna have to get the beep out. One of the funniest lines we ever had on. On 8 out of 10 cats was when Danny Dyer came on. And I can't remember why Postman Pat came up, but he did. And Danny Dyer just went. He's a busy. Isn't he? That's so unnecessary. Which is why it was so funny. I mean he can't help himself, Danny, can he?

[Marina Hyde]

That's what Yap Stam called the Neville Brothers.

[Richard Osmond]

Really busy.

[Marina Hyde]

Busy little.

[Richard Osmond]

Did he?

[Marina Hyde]

Yeah.

[Audiobook Narrator]

Huh.

[Richard Osmond]

That's what they should call Stick to football. That'd be a good title on that bombshell. Shall we go to a break?

[Marina Hyde]

I think we'd better.

[Richard Osmond]

Yeah.

[Marina Hyde]

This episode is brought to you by Lloyd's Rewards. Now, a big mistake that people make is leaving the cinema as soon as the credits roll. Cause there might be a bonus scene right at the end.

[Richard Osmond]

Absolutely. One of my favorites.

[Marina Hyde]

There might be one in the middle.

[Richard Osmond]

Yeah. You never know.

[Marina Hyde]

In Marvel Ones there used to be a mid credits scene and then there'd be an end credit scene.

[Richard Osmond]

I remember the first one. I really remember well too. I remember Ferris Bueller's Day off where he tells you to go home at the end. But also Smokey in the Bandit with Burt Reynolds where they would do bloopers. It just feels like a secret little glimpse into a.

[Marina Hyde]

And it doesn't quite have to be over.

[Richard Osmond]

Yeah, exactly. And it's just a lovely little added bonus. You've done everything. You've made your show right. You've given everyone everything. It's just a lovely little extra.

[Marina Hyde]

Which is also the idea behind Lloyds Rewards. Extra value appearing inside something you were already doing anyway. Your daily banking. From shopping to streaming. You can bank on Lloyds to help your money go further.

[Richard Osmond]

It's rewards like this that make 14 million people bank on Lloyds. Search Lloyds Rewards in your app. Eligibility criteria Terms and conditions apply. Retailer offers and cashback amounts may vary. UK residents 18 plus.

[Nicola Dinan]

I want to Date with Rawls Carty says. Rawls Rucker asks this is the love story of real hinge couple Carty and Rocca written and read by me, Nicola Dinan. Listen to the free audiobook now.

[Olivia from Ollie]

Hey friends, Olivia from Ollie. Between new routines and the ultimate group project known as parenting, you need science backed solutions that work with your life. That's where Olli comes in. Start your mornings off right with multis made to support nutrition and immune health. Choose from our lineup of gut supporting probiotics and we've got occasional sleep support to help the whole fam chase their big dreams. Head back to class with the number one Gummy supplement brand. Stock up on ollie.com today. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

[Richard Osmond]

Welcome back everybody. Marina, Natalie has a question which I think you will have a good answer to. She says, Natalie says, I understand that some actors, instead of an upfront fee, will take a percentage of the box office for a movie. I've heard that Bruce Willis made a lot of money from this for the Sixth Sense and Marlon Brando lost a lot of money from renegotiating his fee for the Godfather. Who are some of the biggest winners and losers from this?

[Marina Hyde]

Okay, good one, Natalie. Yes, the Sixth Sense. Bruce Willis famously did really well out of, I think his salary at the time was kind of. He would have got 14 million but he instead took a back end on it and he got 17% of the worldwide box office. And remember, home video profits, DVDs were obviously such a huge market then. So I think he ended up getting between 100, 120 million.

[Richard Osmond]

That's amazing.

[Marina Hyde]

Yes.

[Richard Osmond]

Great film.

[Marina Hyde]

Yes. Now, Keanu Reeves did one of the greatest deals. He maybe took on the Matrix. He took maybe 250 million across the franchise. Unbelievable. Alec Guinness. We've talked about this before and I think maybe some of our bonus episodes. That was an amazing deal he did. He took 2.25% of George Lucas royalties and over a lifetime on that. That was just beyond, beyond anything.

[Richard Osmond]

By the way, that's the cleverest way of doing it because quite often on things, you know, projects and things, you say you can have a piece of this or you can have a piece of the back end of this. But the way that back ends are calculated some, you know, there are people who say, oh, I've got some back end on this movie that and it's made half a billion, but I've never seen a penny because of the way it's accounted, you know, Hollywood accounting, it's offset. Yeah. So what Alec Guinness has done there is. He's not, he's not said, I want 2 1/2% of the back end. He says, I want 2 1/2 percent of what George Lucas makes. Because you know that George Lucas will be the first to be paid. Oh, he'll be earning out a situation like that. So that's the clever. Do you know what? I've never heard that before. And I'm gonna. That's very, very smart.

[Marina Hyde]

Well, Tom Hanks did something similar on Forrest Gump. Now, Tom Hanks, he got something which I'm gonna talk about in a minute on that movie, but he got 70 million from that now because he took first day gross, which now only one person gets, who we'll talk about another Tom. Then he. Yeah, another Tom, exactly. And Winston, who wrote the book, he had a net profit participation and thanks to Hollywood accounting, as they say, you know, like, oh my God, you know, no, Forrest Gump has yet to make any money. So you still don't have any anyway. There are lots of people who do. Jack Nicholson in Batman, they said he could have 10 million and he said, oh, I'll take 6 million, thank you. And he. I'll have back backend and participation and merchandise, which he did. Amazing how many must have got 80 or 90 million in 1989 money. Which is crazy. But talking about that first day gross thing, Tom Cruise is the only person really who still gets first day gross. And he's just successfully always negotiated that. I mean, it really is vanishingly rare now. A few people used to get it. What that means is that you start profiting from day one. So whatever it's earning in the cinemas, you're getting a, you're getting a percentage of that. You're not waiting for them to say, oh yeah, well, we, we've now repay back the marketing spend, we pay back all of this. Now you can start making money, which is what most back end is. First day gross is now this kind of vanishingly rare thing, as I say. But even on impossible final reckoning, he was still getting first day gross. And then, you know, they've got sort of. There's lots of other ones that are sort of fun. But the biggest losers we will talk about. James Crammond offered Matt Damon the role of Jake in Avatar and he also offered 10% of backend profits, which on Avatar is pretty good. But Matt Damon was doing the Bourne Ultimatum and he lost out on however much I Think hundreds of millions now. Sean Connery is a classic. Sean Connery's done a couple of these for. In Lord of the Rings they wanted. He was offered something like 15% of the worldwide box office gross as well as standard salary, and he would have got hundreds of millions from that. But he explained in 2005 why he turned it. I said, yeah, well, I never understood it. I read the book, I read the script, I saw the movie. I still don't understand it. He also declined to be Morpheus in the Matrix for the same reason. Didn't understand it.

[Richard Osmond]

Wow. Yeah, I read. I read somewhere that they reckon he may be lost out on $400 million because of the Lord of the Rings thing.

[Marina Hyde]

Yes. So you can lose out on a lot if you don't deal with a Hollywood accounting. Remember David Prowse, who is the sort of physical body of Darth Vader? In Return of the Jedi, he agreed to his back end on net profits. This is a disaster. Rather than gross revenue and Lucasfilm, just everything is charged back. And I think he got no dollars in. In profit participation from Return of the Jedi. So it is quite hard to arrange.

[Richard Osmond]

Never, ever accept a percentage of net profits from anyone, ever, anywhere. It's the easiest thing to give you because there are, you know, in any business, it's very easy to make something not make money because you can borrow against it, offset against it, put all sorts of costs against it. And so if they're offering you, it's the easiest thing to offer an actor because the actor thinks, oh, my God, this is amazing. I'm getting a share of the back end here. And the studio's going, I can pay him $2 million less because I'm offering him a share of net profits. And there are. I guarantee even if this film is the biggest movie ever made, there will be no net profits to share. Yeah, yeah.

[Marina Hyde]

Or just get, like Tom Cruise's agent to do it for you. Nearly done. A great deal.

[Richard Osmond]

Isn't it amazing how so many of the biggest actors in the world are called Tom?

[Marina Hyde]

Yes.

[Richard Osmond]

Now Tom Holland's joined them. It's like Tom is like the male Olivia. Like, our culture is absolutely run by Olivia's and Toms anyway. Maybe there's a question in that somewhere.

[Marina Hyde]

Right. Lots of people are interested in this one. Imax. Alfie Jackson says, after the success of the Odyssey and the high demand for IMAX viewings, will we see more IMAX films in the near future? Who do you think will turn to IMAX next?

[Richard Osmond]

I think, funny enough, IMAX is sort of the tip of a slightly more interesting iceberg. So IMAX is just, is just, you know, one format for showing movies. Obviously, you know, you can show it in much bigger scale and, you know, it's an extraordinary sort of cinema going experience. And the Odyssey has made nearly $300 million just in IMAX, you know, so it's, it's a huge deal. But the slightly more interesting story behind it is, is what they call PLFs, which is premium Large Format cinema. So IMAX would be a version of that, which is you go to a cinema, you pay a bit extra, you see something slightly more extraordinary. And across a lot of the cinemas in the States and increasingly over here as well, they are starting to roll out these more premium versions of cinemas. So the Cinemark itself, which is one of the big cinema chains, has its own version of that, which is xd. There is imax, of course, there's Dolby Cinema, there's AMC has got Prime. So lots of these cinemas are rolling this stuff out. You would think of it more familiarly as, you know, sometimes you'll go to one of the multiplexes and they'll have incredible reclining seats, you know, and that essentially is where cinemas are going. They're going for bigger screens, they're going for, you know, wider seats, they are going for this stuff where they can really, really charge a premium. And all of the cinema chains are working out that this really, really, really works. So, you know, they are slowly or as quickly as they can, but it is slow converting an awful lot of their screens to these bigger formats. And there's all sorts of companies that will provide that for you. As I say, you know, you've got IMAX itself, you've got Real d who do 4xd, and lots of the cinemas have their own kind of versions of this. And they are discovering that more and more and more of their income is coming from these premium seats and from these premium screens and from this premium experience. So. So we are definitely going to see an awful lot more of it. We're going to see an awful lot more cinemas that have incredibly luxurious seats, that have, you know, bespoke refreshments, that have incredible sound, that have, you know, extra bits on the edge of the screen. So you can watch films the way that directors want to make them and they absolutely just team up with the studios right at the beginning and say, you know, can you make sure this is shot in this format so that we can show it in these particular screens? But yeah, we are going to see A lot more of it. It's really going to save cine in lots of ways because it'll be in fewer screens. But you make, you can make so much more money each time someone comes into the cinema. If they're in a plf, a premium large format cinema, it's something that the younger generation absolutely flocks to and loves. Because if you are going to go away from a big, big, big home cinema screen or home cinema setup to just a normal cinema, you can sort of see why they have avoided that, that, you know, over the years. Whereas if you're going to go into something which is extraordinary and which has incredible surround sound and which you are absolutely surrounded by the picture and which your seats shake and your seats recline and you know, it's, it's, it feels luxurious, then you absolutely see why that for a new generation of cinema goers would be a premium experience that they're happy to pay a bit more money for. So yeah, the Trojan horse of Odyssey and imax which kind of shows you what's happening is, is actually bringing in a huge amount of other things. And I sort of think it's rather nice that cinemas are going to become more and more and more luxurious. You will pay more, but not insanely more. You know, in the States it's four or five dollars a ticket more than a regular ticket, which if you're taking a family of four, you don't particularly want to do. But if you're just a couple of mates going out or it's a date movie or something like that, you can see why people are happy to pay that premium. And it's, you know, it's going to be the savior of the movie theaters. And all the movie theaters are rolling this out. They're rolling out their own versions of it. They're absolutely asking for, you know, cuts of films in, in those different formats. And it's one of the big drivers now behind massive cinema and theater growth in America. And funny enough, we were talking literally just now about how cinema seem to be really, really on its uppers and having these big tentpole movies and also having people happy to pay 4 or $5 more for a ticket to sit in an incredible cinema with incredible sound and incredible visuals is also something that's gonna save movies and mean that, you know, we've got another hundred years of cinema to enjoy ahead of us. Let's finish with this one. This is a cute one and I have a bone to pick with someone when we talk about this as well. Another goal hanger Alumni. James asks, over the years I've seen a fair few competitions where the prize involves meeting a. Or getting to have dinner with them. Do these actually happen? What are the logistics of doing such prizes?

[Marina Hyde]

Well, yes, they are completely real. I feel sure you're about to tell us one that didn't happen. But they are real and they are organised normally by specialist fundraising platforms. Charity auctions, film studios. It's a big thing. Like there's a company called Charity Buzz that sells and auctions off experiences and items and they raise money for nonprofit celebrities. By the way, use that as tax deductible charitable giving. So let me let daylight in on magic. But. So charity basketball have organized lots and lots of things. So you might get. Joining Harrison Ford as his co pilot during a flight over California. I just want to say he did crash on a golf course. But anyway, it's just. You remember he had that thing where he did a crash landing on the golf course.

[Richard Osmond]

I think he was. That's because he had a member of the public in the. In the co pilot scene and he let him have a go.

[Marina Hyde]

Let them have a turn. You're not supposed to let them have a turn.

[Richard Osmond]

You can crash with Harrison Ford onto a golf course of your choice on any Sunday in August.

[Marina Hyde]

Yeah. Now, private one hour tennis lesson with Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf.

[Richard Osmond]

That would have been amazing.

[Marina Hyde]

A cameo in Superman vs Batman. That would have been pretty good. Pitching an idea to Rupert Murdoch. I've got an idea for him, but

[Nicola Dinan]

you don't need to.

[Richard Osmond]

We should genuinely. We should bid on that. We should crowdfund that from our listeners and we'll. Yes, as you say. And then our listeners can say which idea we should pitch to Rupert Murdoch and then we tape it.

[Marina Hyde]

Mine will take literally two seconds,

[Richard Osmond]

two words.

[Audiobook Narrator]

Winners.

[Marina Hyde]

You don't get their personal info. They're incredibly managed, these things, by the way. And I've been present with various people backstage at different things. When you're there for some other reason, either you're interviewing or whatever, it's incredibly regimented and it doesn't last long. And they've done a load of background checks on you. You have all this instructions on how to behave. You know, you're not. Don't touch them unless they touch you. All of the. I know, but you know, don't touch

[Richard Osmond]

them unless they touch you. I'm almost. And that's not in the contract.

[Marina Hyde]

Well, no, because otherwise people just try and sort of throw themselves and like they want to hug Taylor Swift, you know, if she hugs you, that's great. But if she doesn't hug you, you don't hug her, that sort of thing. And there's a lot of restrictions all around it. Everybody is background checked because obviously you could just be some crazy stalker who applies for every single opportunity to meet the celebrity and at some point you'll get close to them.

[Richard Osmond]

I remember once at a crime festival and there was a dinner with authors the night before and you could bid to sit next to your favorite crime author. I wasn't at this dinner, but Richard Armitage was at the dinner. And so normally they always run this thing and they go, oh, that's lovely, and I'll give some money and I'll sit next to Mark Billingham and you know, so it's a, it's a really lovely thing. And then the year that Richard Armitage had written a crime book and he was there, they said it was absolutely insane. They said, but it was, it was like Sotheby's. Absolute carnage. As people wanted to sit next to Richard Armitage at this dinner. It went, it went for a lot of money in the end.

[Marina Hyde]

Richard, I believe you have a celebrity meeting story that you would like to get off your chest.

[Richard Osmond]

I do, I have to say, I tend not to say yes to those things. I'm slightly too introverted for it because, you know, what if I would just feel too awkward? The charity thing I always do is auction off character names in my books. That's a thing that I really, really love doing. So I'll always do that as a charity thing. But yeah, I was at this like a, an industry news quiz they hold every year where like, you know, all the kind of BBC news brands and the Channel 4 news brands and all the newspapers and they always have an auction there. And the auction thing is never that thing of, oh my God, I've always wanted to do that. It's, you're there and it's, it's for action for children and you want to give action for children some money and it's a nice way to do that. So, you know, I'll always bid on something at the auction. And a few years ago, the thing you could bid on, and this is pre podcast fame for this gentleman, you could bid on having lunch with Anthony Scaramucci.

[Marina Hyde]

This was when he was primarily known for his 11 day career in the

[Richard Osmond]

Federal government, I believe exactly that. And you know, he'd sort of appear on things and I just thought, well, that, you know, I'm gonna bid on something, you Know, it's either that or Coldplay. And I thought it would be fascinating to talk to him. You know, he can. There's stuff you can imagine asking Anthony Scaramucci and, you know, you can, you know, I can bring Ingrid. You can, you know, you go somewhere nice and you have lunch and you think, well, that's a, that'd be a nice thing to do. So I bid on that and I won that. So I was like, how much did you pay? I can't remember. But again, that's like just saying I didn't want to spend that much money having lunch with Anthony Scaramucci. Imagine. But I did want to give that money to Accent For Children.

[Marina Hyde]

So we've got a contract here is what I'm saying.

[Richard Osmond]

That's the way to do that significant sum.

[Marina Hyde]

And it's. We've got an agreement, haven't we? A gentleman's agreement.

[Richard Osmond]

We have an agreement and the action for children. People said, oh, we'll, we'll arrange that and, you know, we'll get in touch with his people and, you know, who, who can they talk to? I said, well, just don't talk to me. I don't really have people. And they go, okay, we'll sort that out. And, you know, then he went back to America. It was like, when I come back over, we'll go for lunch. We could, we'll definitely do. And then he came back over and I think there was like, like one date for about 17 minutes he could do. Unlike maybe, maybe it was like kind of three in the morning on a Sunday. He said, oh, yeah, Anthony's free and we'd love to meet you for. And, and so we couldn't do that. And then over the years, yeah, it just sort of went away and it was, it was accepted that I wasn't going to have my lunch with Anthony Scaramucci, which is absolutely fine. You know, I, I can, I can, I can get a meal deal myself. But, yeah, it never happened. And then I think when, when he goal hanger stable, I think there was talk of saying, oh, we should, we should make that happen. I think he's aware now that he, that, that he's washed on a down. Yeah. But genuinely my thought is I don't particularly want to have lunch with Anthony Scaramucci. I don't mind. If it was today and someone said, do you want to have lunch? I, yeah, I'm sure that'd be all right. I don't need to. He doesn't need to have lunch with me. So I sort of feel like everyone's a winner really. But yeah, I would say what I would say to Anthony, I do not need to have lunch with you. But you know, maybe a matching donation to Action for Children for missing the lunch would be a nice thing to do, right?

[Marina Hyde]

Okay, that does wrap us up for today. But by the way, the first episode of our Bond series, which is really fun, is out for free for everyone. It's gonna be for members only from now on, but the first episode is out for free if you wanna join for ad free listening and all the rest and all these bonus episodes. It's it's thereesticentertainment.com otherwise we will see you next Tuesday.

[Richard Osmond]

See you next Tuesday.

[Audiobook Narrator]

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