Sean Connery reportedly turned down the role of Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and in the process lost out on around $450 million.
Connery was offered the part in Peter Jackson’s trilogy at a rate of $6 million per film but was also enticed with a 15% stake in the film franchise’s box office profits. So, if he had taken the position he would have earned close to half a billion dollars.
Brian Warner of celebritynetworth.com revealed that he turned it down as he didn’t understand the part stating, “Even a veteran star like Sean can make a mistake so big that it ultimately causes him to lose out on a mind-blowing amount of money.”
Connery himself has stated he “never understood the script”, proclaiming. “I read the book. I read the script. I saw the movie. I still don’t understand it. Ian McKellen, I believe, is marvellous in it.”
It is thought that New Line Cinema were looking to attach a big cinematic name to the movie as Peter Jackson was an unknown entity in the mainstream Hollywood and Connery would have perfectly fit the bill.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy went on to earn close to $5 billion around the world and will be followed up by Peter Jackson’s trilogy of Hobbit films, the first of which will receive its world premiere in New Zealand’s capital, Wellingon, on November 28.
Martin Freeman, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Christopher Lee, Andy Serkis, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving and Benedict Cumberbatch are set to star in each movie.
