In a bid for theatrics, the word ‘unprecedented’ is
often applied without much thought to the most mundane of events. But
there is no other word that can aptly describe the remarkable excitement
surrounding the latest Star Wars film entitled The Force Awakens. Almost forty
years since the first Star Wars film released, the series has secured a place
not just in film history but cultural history. Generations have discovered and
fallen in love with the films and its characters.
Fans all over the world were greatly
disappointed with trilogy of prequels and often wondered if the magic was gone.
When Disney acquired rights to the Star War franchise and a new film was
announced, there was eagerness to know about the future of the franchise.
When it was announced that J. J. Abrams (who successfully revived the Mission
Impossible and Star Trek franchises) was assigned both writing along with
directing responsibilities and that the old cast was returning, the
anticipation was sky high. There were gasps of joy from fans when in one of the
early trailers, Han Solo uttered
the words ‘Chewie, we're home’ as he set foot into the Millennium Falcon
alongside his and his furry companion Chewbacca. This line was quite the
perfect metaphor of how viewers felt upon watching The Force Awakens. This was
the film fans had waited for and even the critics gave the film a resounding approval.
While the celebrations continued something relatively insignificant unfavorable
began to surface from various sections of the press and soon it got more
prominent. It was the surrounding the salary of the film’s leading man Harrison
Ford.
The highly reputed entertainment
magazine Variety quoted that Ford was paid 50 times more than his co-stars, the
equally respected business magazine Fortune pushed the number slightly higher
to 56 times and then eminent British
newspaper The Independent applied their final push to 76 times. Epithets such as ‘ridiculous’
to ‘mammoth’
were conferred to the remuneration. The ever dependable Time magazine had their
own way of looking at the matter, they noted that Ford made 3400 times more for in the latest ‘Star
Wars’ Than original film. There was almost a subtle tone of lament in all these
articles as if Ford was not deserving or had acquired his paycheck
through unfair means.
So let’s look at the facts, Harrison
Ford has been a huge global superstar for over forty years starring in hugely
successful films beyond the Star Wars franchise such as the iconic Indiana
Jones films, The Fugitive, Witness, Patriot Games, Air Force One and many more.
Ford’s films have made an average of 100 million in the US and collective of
$7,645.5 million worldwide and the box-office.
He is quite simply an icon in addition to being a huge draw at the box office.
In the Star Wars universe, the character of Han Solo is quite the nucleus of
the Star Wars series, while other characters are Jedi- Knights bestowed powers
or super-powers and wax eloquently about of ‘The Force’ or the ‘Dark Side’, it
is Ford’s Solo who is a normal human being and whom the audience relates to, be
it is his ‘I’m in it for the money’ attitude, his resourcefulness, and his
rarely shown compassion. But above all his sardonic sense of humor that often
mocks the proceedings and works quite effectively to prevent the films from
taking themselves too seriously perhaps one of the major reasons the prequels
failed was the absence of a Han Solo. The character has become immortal in
cultural history eclipsing the lead Luke Skywalker. The American Film Institute rated
Han Solo as the 14th greatest film hero. He
was also voted the 4th greatest movie character of all-time in a poll conducted
by celebrated Empire magazine. It was Ford who made Solo and Solo who
established Ford as a global superstar. There is quite clearly nobody who could
have played Han Solo which makes him irreplaceable.
Let’s look at Ford’s co-stars, the
juniors Daisy Ridley and John Boyega are competent but unknown so are their
characters, they could have been played by anybody, Ford’s co-stars from the
original trilogy Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill are beloved but ‘nice to haves’
as they add a twinkle of nostalgia, but their absence would not have made a
considerable difference and then there is Oscar Isaac and Adam Driver who are
known but not important with respect to the Star Wars universe. It is quite
clear that Ford’s Solo is vital to make the film work.
The matter of his salary amount is
strictly between the employer and the employee, even if in this case the
parties are a well-known global superstar and a major Hollywood Studio. The
studio clearly did a feasibility study and decided that his track record and
relevance to the film made him worthy of the amount he was paid. Ford is not a public
servant and his salary isn’t paid by the tax payer, hence it clearly none of
our business to know or comment about anybody’s salary be if your office
colleague or Harrison Ford.
This is how business functions, an individual who delivers the
most valuable service and is irreplaceable secures the highest pay. The
film studio clearly did a cost versus benefit analysis, thought that Ford’s
services were most valuable to the project and decided to pay his salary. It is utterly foolish to compare the salaries of the seasoned Ford and new comers Ridley or Boyega. Thankfully nobody has played the 'ism' card as yet, but it would not astound me of somebody does. If Ridley and Boyega proves their credentials as a movie stars in films beyond Star Wars
and consistently star in films that gross millions at the box office, they will be deserving of a huge salary. If they still doesn’t get it then claims of
unfairness can be made. Until then we only hope that the whiners cease their hysteric bellowing and instead celebrate the success of the self made Ford who has been as durable and reliable as the car of the same name.
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