Robert Downey Jr. And The Russo Brothers Score Massive Paydays With New ‘Avengers’ Movies
Marvel is cutting some big checks to bring back Robert Downey Jr. and The Russo Brothers. The team worked wonders together before. Now, can they repeat similar success?
Marvel shocked the world when they unveiled Robert Downey Jr. as Dr. Doom in the upcoming Avengers movies, Avengers: Doomsday and “Avengers: Secret Wars. The San Diego Comic-Con crowd erupted when RDJ removed the mask revealing himself as the supervillain. Hopefully the audience’s excitement can lead to putting bodies in seats when the movie comes out because Marvel is investing some serious capital into the collaborators.
Robert Downey Jr. And The Russo Brothers Score Big Payday
It looks like Marvel might be learning from its mistakes and sticking to what it knows works. After a couple of rough years, they’ll be returning to their glory days by reuniting Robert Downey Jr. and The Russo Brothers, Anthony and Joe, for a couple of new Avengers movies. The brothers directed the two most successful movies for the studio with Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: End Game which grossed nearly $5 billion combined, per Box Office Mojo.
However, trying to replicate that success is not going to be cheap. According to Variety, Marvel will be paying the Russo Brothers $80 million to direct the new two Avengers movies and will reportedly be paying Robert Downey Jr. “significantly more.” Variety reports that the brothers’ deal will not include back-end compensation but will have performance escalators at the $750 million and $1 billion thresholds. That sounds like an unbelievable deal–until you hear more about RDJ’s.
Not only is Downey’s pay rumored to be in the 9-figure range, he’s reportedly got some sweet perks that come along with it. Variety reports that Downey Jr.’s deal also includes private jet travel, a dedicated security team, and a trailer encampment. You can’t say he didn’t earn it! He helped turn Marvel Studios into the giant it is today starting when he starred as Tony Stark in the first “Ironman” movie in 2008. He went on to star in 2 more “Ironman” movies, 4 “Avengers” movies, and had cameos in several other Marvel movies. Additionally, he’s fresh off a win at the Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Lewis Strauss in the hit movie Oppenheimer, which would go on to win Best Picture.
It’s already been a monumental year for Downey, who was also recently nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a limited series for his portrayal of several characters on HBO’s The Sympathizer. Winning both an Oscar and an Emmy in the same year would put him in some elite company. This Marvel deal is just the cherry on top of a historical year for one of the best actor’s working today. The new movies are expected to begin filming in Spring of 2025.