Successful actors and directors seem to be living the dream; they're doing the job they love, getting to work with their idols and being getting paid outrageous sums to do it. The really shrewd ones are able to negotiate deals for themselves that find them raking in part of the movie's gross and merchandise, which has seen actors like Will Smith and Robert Downey, Jr. plastering their walls with $100 dollar bills (possibly). The most valued deal is the Pay or Play contract, where an actor or filmmaker will book out a window of time for a movie; if it hasnt started shooting by a certain date they get to walk away with the fee they negotiated. Since nothing in the business is for sure, this deal has seen many leaving projects for doing nothing more strenuous than reading a script in their dressing gowns. Its not always an enviable position since most artists would prefer to work for their cash, but it must help cushion the blow a little. Listed here are a group of filmmakers who for one reason or another (the project was canned, schedule clashes etc) had to exit a movie, but still found their bank balance healthier because of it.
