10 Actors Who Lost Roles Because They Got Greedy

This one is a little hazy, as Terrence Howard's replacement in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as James Rhodes could be seen as less greed, more legal backtracking.

Howard was paid $3.5 million for his role in the original Iron Man and was pivotal to bringing in Robert Downey Jr. as the lead. Howard was promised an upgrade of $5 million for what was then a hypothetical sequel, but then producers told him that his role was being stripped back in the sequel and offered less money than was initially promised.

Jon Favreau and screenwriter Justin Theroux had reportedly not enjoyed their time working with Howard on the original film, and to minimise difficulty on the sequel, wanted to strip back his role not with the direct intention of having to pay out less money to the film's stars, but to protect the experience of working on the film.

Nevertheless, the salary cut was pretty drastic, and Howard's agents were not pleased and their response led to Don Cheadle being cast as a replacement the next day. Years later Howard is still talking about his role in bringing in Downey Jr., claiming that: "I’ve actually given him $100 million, which ends up being a $100 million loss for me from me trying to look after somebody".

Their tough experiences working with Howard does cast Favreau and Theroux in a more sympathetic light when it came to the rewrites, but Howard's walking away from the franchise does seem justified given the enormous pay cut he was expected to take. Still, Don Cheadle remains a pivotal part of the MCU to this day, and who knows what could have happened for Howard's career had he stayed on the project.