HEFTY SALARIES MAY DEPRIVE FOCKERS OF PROFIT

Although Universal’s Little Fockers has taken in more than $110 million after two weeks in release, it has a long way to go to recoup an enormous budget that ballooned because of enormous salaries paid to its actors, the New York Post observed today (Wednesday). According to the newspaper, which cited unnamed sources, nearly $70 million of its budget went just to pay its stars, who included Ben Stiller ($20 million), Robert De Niro ($20 million), Owen Wilson ($15 million), Dustin Hoffman ($7.5 million), Barbra Streisand ($7 million) and Jessica Alba ($3 million). The Post‘s “Page Six” column quoted a source, who said of the high salaries, “The studio needed a hit, so the stars were able to hold them to ransom and command huge money. On top of this, De Niro takes extra cash because his company, Tribeca Productions, produced the movie.”