245 thoughts on “Bruce Willis Movies”

1. Hey Bob….good information on Clint Eastwood. Clint is amazing….when his new movie comes out in a few months….it will be the 8th different decade he will have a movie in theaters. The 7th decade in which he starred in a movie. Good stuff.

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2. It occurs to me that it’s a great pity that the late Benny Green is no longer around to be a possible Willis fan who was able to have “a word with you” as the saying goes. Green was a DJ with a Sunday afternoon radio record-playing programme over here and he was a Sinatra fanatic.

   He was always playing Frankie’s records; drooling over Ole Blue Eyes they way you drool over Hirsch; and he went to every Sinatra live concert he could and even was invited over to the US by the Great Man himself to sit in on one of his recording sessions and offer advice.

   Anyway at one of the very last of Sinatra’s live concerts during the interval an elderly woman behind Green complained to her friend “His voice is not what it used to be.” A furious Green spun round and savaged her with “Neither is your face madam but that doesn’t stop you taking it out on public and showing it to us!”

   Even at the age 66 when Brucie’s income from his acting [and occasional producing I might add!] is combined with the incomes from his large property holdings Walt must still be raking-in money that the average man-in-the street would die for. As I indicate: fair play to him; but I am humorously reminded of one of the spats that Ivan Lendl and McEnroe used to have when they competed on the ATP tour and were its top 2 guys.

   Being the top seeds both men were on the Players’ Committee which made recommendations about such things as the dividing-up of the overall prize money among the various levels and types of players; and McEnroe who extensively played doubles recommended that the singles players should take less cash so that the doubles guys could get more.

   Lendl who rarely if ever played doubles opposed the suggestion and he and Mac got into a debate about it. Finally McEnroe jumped up, thumped the table and shouted “You were the tour’s top-earner last year – how much ******* money do you NEED?!”

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   1. Hey Bob. Good story on Benny Green and Frank Sinatra. I am sure the stars can say the same thing about us fans… They’re not as young as they used to be when they first became my fans… LOL.

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      1. HI BRUCE:

         Good point about how the stars might see us fans.

         I recall a line from an old horror story that began with “Remember: when you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks out at you!”

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3. HI JJ [ie Joel Junior]

   I agree that Walt is probably not getting7-figure salaries any longer though with the money that they chuck about them nowadays at even relatively obscure actresses with no box office worth whatsoever one couldn’t be sure.

   However according to Wikipedia in the past 5 years Willis has appeared in over 30 productions for various outlets including the large batch in the pipeline. Collectively the money from them must be very good for him especially as in most or many of them his role is the lead one whereas Curtis for example was largely consigned to bit parts/cameos. In 1993’s Naked in New York for example the stars are relative ‘nobodys’ Eric Stoltz and Mary-Louise Parker and Curtis is in a 5th-billed supporting role.

   So I say that instead of ‘putting-down’ Walt for probably not earning at least per movie what he did in his heyday let’s celebrate his longevity on the screen at the age of 66 when he can still remain highly active and continue to apply his craft.

   Many of the Gods of the past like Flynn/Ty Power/Bogie/Cooper/Gable were long-gone when the 66th anniversary of their birth-date came around and Tracy passed away when he was 67. As some vindictive wit morbidly quipped at the time: “no top billing where he’s gone!”

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   1. Hey Bob. Good points on Bruce and his many straight to home entertainment movies. You make very good points, though I was hoping at this point Bruce was doing the Michael Caine version of late career. Taking supporting parts and big budget high profile movies, versus the cash grabs he seems to be doing these days. I guess my expectations were higher for him. On the other side, with few exceptions, Tom Hanks, Clint Eastwood, Tom Cruise, and Denzel Washington most actors seem headed to these types of movies. Good stuff as always.

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      1. HI BRUCE: Thanks for the additional comments – much appreciated I like your point about Eastwood/Hanks/Cruise.

         All have had GREAT careers. Clint possibly deserves special credit as in his early career before The Man with No Name and then Harold Francis Callahan aka Dirty Harry came along Eastwood was regarded more as TV personality [via the western series Rawhide 1959-1965] than as a big screen star and in those days television was treated as the poor relation of the movies with anyone who made it to big-screen stardom from TV being described as having got “promoted”.

         Even Giants like Crosby, Doris Day and Sinatra accepted that movie stardom was advisable if a performer wanted to be considered as being at the pinnacle of fame. Such attitudes don’t seem to hold the same strength today.

         Clint has of course been a Mega-Great in movies in terms of both box office power AND high artistic success as a star/director etc. Mind you I could argue that he had a good teacher.

         There is a photo on the internet at present of the young Eastwood and half-a-dozen other students in an early-1950s acting class sitting in a circle on the floor and being lectured by guest speaker The Great Mumbler about 30 years of age at the time who is standing in the middle of the circle holding court and being gazed up at in awe in no doubt the way YOU are when you address your students !!!

         Anyway keep safe and as I have previously indicated I hope you and all on holiday with you are enjoying your vacation. If anyone tells me YOU don’t deserve it I’ll refuse to go on holiday ever again!!

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4. Even if the 2 Brucie movies which have been merely “announced” do not come to fruition we are guaranteed a further 11 Walt Willis projects in the near future; and one has to assume that the financial backers are not ‘mad’ and do not throw their money away. Wikipedia currently lists an enormous string 20 Willis movies in recent times that went “straight to video”.

   So if he is being allowed to continue churning them out SOMEDOY’s presumably finding them profitable. As poor Burt Reynolds could have testified they don’t keep giving you an endless run of movies to feature in to one extent or another if your name still doesn’t “bring in the bacon” to some degree in some medium. I have researched the credit lists and posters for several of that 20 and Bruice is either the top-billed star or gets joint star billing where he takes a cameo/subordinate role.

   One also has to assume that the money Walt is being offered suits him as after playing “Mr Church” in Expendables 1 and 2 he wouldn’t appear in 2014’s Expendables 3 because the pay wasn’t good enough in his eyes.

   Actually in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s in those days when the video libraries were Cock of the Walk and there was one on virtually every street corner Brian Dennehy and Rutger Hauer were so popular at such outlets that those two entertaining industry nicknamed them The Video Kings. I clearly remember a local video store owner all pleased with himself about demand for 1993’s In Search of Justice the latest Denney release in the Jack Read detective franchise that he gleefully said to me “He never fails to please, doesn’t he?”

   When sadly Dennehy died last year and Rutger the year before their left-behind estates were reportedly valued at $12 million and $16 million respectively so they ended their days enjoying a good lifestyle and did not have to join Brando in the social security queues!

   Last year I watched Walt Willis’ Death Wish remake and whilst I continue to prefer the Bronson original Willis was for me nevertheless still relaxing and charismatic to watch whereas I have no longer any interest in most of the other action stars old or new in movies.
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   1. Hey Bob. I agree that there was be some gold in them there straight to dvd hills. Just not thinking Bruce is getting 7 figures for those movies. Good point on Brian and Rutger. I recently saw Dennehy in Driveways….a good swan song for him. As for Death Wish….it starts off well, but the second half was not too good.

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5. ADDITIONAL TRIVIA FROM WIKIPEDIA AND IMDB

   Actor and musician Walter Bruce Willis is well known for playing wisecracking and/or or hard-edged characters often in spectacular action films. Collectively, he has appeared in films that have grossed billions domestically and worldwide placing him in the top ten stars ever in terms of actual box office receipts.

   He currently has an amazing 13 individual new projects either in the can and awaiting release, filming or announced:

   2 completed
   5 at post-production stage
   4 filming
   2 announced. These are “Fortress 2” and “McClane” which is being flagged-up as “The original story to the popular film franchise, ‘Die Hard’.”

   Willis owns multiple Real Estate properties – multiple properties in Sun Valley, Idaho. Bruce Willis also owns some of the best luxury cars in the world. All that is on top of his enormous earnings from films: his take from 1999’s 6th Sense a for example broke records for ONE movie– quote –

   “Walter Bruce Willis’ earnings from 1999’s The Sixth Sense came to around $100 million pre-tax thanks to a generous cut of the film’s gross. His upfront salary was $14 million. As of this writing, that’s the second-most money ever earned by one actor from a movie. Although technically the #1 record, $156 million, was earned by Keanu Reeves over TWO Matrix movies.”

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   1. Hey Bob…sounds like Bruce has done pretty well. 13 movies in post production….I bet most will be the type he has been generating out these days….low budget and quickly forgotten. As for McClane/Die Hard 6….they have been talking about that one for awhile…not thinking it is getting made any time soon. As for earnings for a single movie…I think Jack Nicholson for Batman is up there as well as Bruce and Keanu. Good stuff as always.

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      1. HI BIG BOY: Thanks for the feedback which makes some relevant points and provides up-to-date information [as is usually the case with your thoughtful responses as distinct from those where you offer just ‘throw-away’ comments like “You are wonderful Steve!”]

         As you mention Jack’s Batman, here are the inflation-adjusted comparisons that I personally have seen relating to the incomes of some of the mega-earning stars:

         Marlon Brando – 3 1970s movies combined: $86 million; average $28.66 million.
         Jack Nicholson – 1989’s Batman: $106 million for that one movie
         Walt Willis – 1999’s 6th Sense $156 million for one movie
         Keanu Reeves – 2 Matrix movies in 2003: $222 million; average $111 million per movie.

         If those figures are correct then Brucie is the historical King of the Castle regarding take-home pay for any one movie; and I have long argued on Cogerson that even this site’s ranking lists do not accurately reflect the historical magnitude of Willis’ stardom – “ Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.” – King James Bible, St Luke 4:24

         But hey! Let’s show a bit of respect for Old Father Time and concede that Brucie is not the star he was in his heyday – but who is if they hang around long enough?: remember that W o C’s survey found that actresses peak at 39 and males at 55 in terms of stardom.

         Heck even The Thin Woman ultimately became The Thin Aunt, then The Thin Mom and then somebody even started the rumor that she was to be signed up for Al Leach’s Thin Grandmother! “At long last I get to play old guys!” – Harrison Ford recently being a man content to act his age on screen.

         Also: I have read that in the years immediately following the decline of their super-stardom in the 1950s/1960s the Burtons [both Richard and Liz] tactically resorted to appearing in a run of small-budget films which -they hoped- would turn modest profits worldwide.

         For example Burton’s 1971 Villain has an adjusted domestic Cogerson gross of just $5.8 million; but it was made for in the actual money of its day a miserly £383,000 in English money but lifted a reported £1 million at the United Kingdom box office alone which obviously more than paid for its production cost so that anything earned in the US and the rest of the world was pure profit.

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