MANILA, Philippines—Time was when the big bucks to be made in entertainment were in the glitzy, ritzy world of the movies. Remember when Elizabeth Taylor made film history in the ’60s by getting paid a then hot $2 million to play the title role in “Cleopatra”?
These days, that’s regarded as peanuts, with top stars like Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks drawing $25 million-plus per film—and even more when they invest their talent fee in a production.
Despite those gazillions of dollar signs dancing in front of top movie stars’ addled eyes, however, television has become so popular that it now offers similarly stratospheric talent fees, especially when computed annually.
Remember when TV sitcom and drama-adventure series stars got only a pittance for a hard day’s night of work taping their weekly shows? TV stars have now come into their own and are raking it in, with some of them getting a cool $1 million per episode.
Some of the top earners on TV are talk show hosts—which just goes to show how popular those gabfests have become:
Former stand-up comedienne Ellen DeGeneres now makes $20 million a year for hosting her self-titled TV talk show.
Ellen has been doing so well as a talk show host that some show biz observers say that she’s become a threat to talk “queen” Oprah Winfrey’s decades-long “reign.” Their comparative annual grosses for 2007 indicate, however, that the winsome and winning Ms. Winfrey need not lose any sleep over that prospect just yet. Read on:
Model-turned-gabfest host Tyra Banks has done even better than DeGeneres, earning $23 million last year. As for Jay Leno, who’s retiring next year, he made $32 million—so, he should be able to retire in style!
Some years ago, Dr. Phil began his TV career as a guest psychologist on Oprah’s program. His “tough love” therapy became so popular that Oprah eventually gave Dr. Phil his own spin-off talk show—which has become even a hit in its own right that he got paid $40 million for hosting it last year.
Like Jay Leno, David Letterman started hosting his talk show decades ago, but has yet to announce his retirement. It looks like he’s still having fun on the boob tube, poking fun not just at his guests, but at himself, as well. We don’t blame him for staying on—after all, he made $45 million last year!
That’s a lot of money, but it’s loose change when compared to the top TV earner’s income in 2007: Oprah Winfrey grossed an awesome $275 million!
Granted, not all of that come from hosting her popular show, because Oprah wears many other hats, all making a lot of money for her—producer, publisher, and overall media mogul.
Ms. Winfrey has hinted that she may retire from TV hosting a couple of years from now, but her other activities as motivator, educator and all-around “inspirer” are expected to continue.
After all, these are many millions of troubled and unfocused people out there still in need of help, direction and inspiration!
‘Beverly Hills Chihuahua’
FROM the director of “Scooby-Do” comes the “canine comedy,” “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” with an all-star voice cast—Andy Garcia, Placido Domingo, George Lopez, Edward James Olmos, Cheech Martin and Drew Barrymore.
In the film, a pampered, diamond-clad Beverly Hills Chihuahua named Chloe (voice of Drew Barrymore) enjoys her luxurious lifestyle so much that she hardly notices Papi (voiced by George Lopez), a tough-looking Chihuahua who falls for the fashionista pooch.
When Chloe gets lost in the rough streets of Mexico, Papi heads south of the border, joining forces with a motley crew—a street-hardened German Shepherd, a sly rat, a nervous iguana, and two humans—to resume his love.
Book Fair
THE 2008 edition of the Manila International Book Fair will be held from Sept. 12 to 15 at the SMX Convention Center, Seashell Drive, Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City. The event is organized by Primetrade Asia in partnership with Asian Communicators, Book Development Association of the Philippines, Philippine Booksellers Association and Publishers Representative Organization of the Philippines. Call 980-0661 or e-mail bookfair@primetradeasia.com.
