10 Movies That Cost Twice As Much As They Needed To

2. How Do You Know?

How Do You Know
Columbia Pictures

The romantic comedy doesn't exactly boast a reputation for requiring a huge investment from the studio, and the genre is one of the mainstays of mid-budget cinema, but director James L. Brooks' insistence on assembling a star-studded lineup saw How Do You Know end up costing a princely $120m.

The movie suffered from reviews that could be described as tepid at best, and couldn't even crack the $50m at the box office despite boasting a roster of A-list talent. Audiences might not have shown the slightest interest in How Do You Know, but at least the cast were well-compensated for their efforts.

Paul Rudd was paid $3m, Owen Wilson picked up $10m, Reese Witherspoon landed her standard $15m fee and Jack Nicholson pocketed a hefty $12m for what turned out to be the last acting role of a legendary career. Unsurprisingly, spending $40m on salaries when you could have made a whole movie for the same price didn't end up making a single penny for the studio.

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