The Rock On The Importance Of Being Nice & Laying The Social Media Smackdown On Hollywood To Become The Highest Paid Actor

The Rock recently did an interview with Forbes in which the business publication delved into the contractual details of “The People’s Champ” social media presence when it comes to film promotion:

In addition to hefty $20 million up-front paychecks and cuts of back-end studio profits—starting with July’s Skyscraper, in which he plays a former FBI hostage-rescue leader—he’ll insist on a separate seven-figure social media fee with every movie in which he appears, according to people familiar with his deals. In other words, rather than have studios dump money into TV ads or billboards, their new paid-marketing channel doubles as their marquee star.

“Social media has become the most critical element of marketing a movie for me,” Johnson says. “I have established a social media equity with an audience around the world that there’s a value in what I’m delivering to them.”

Johnson still does the talk show circuit, the press tours and the other promotional duties expected of stars (especially when the real money comes from box-office back end). But in stipulating that social media channels are separate platforms that require separate fees, Johnson is attempting to set a Hollywood precedent.

For The Rock, at least, the studios seem to have accepted this arrangement: Promotional spending on a tentpole movie can climb above $150 million and still not guarantee a blockbuster. A-list actors tapping their fan base augurs a cheaper, more targeted way for studios to promote a new movie.

In addition, The Rock did a brief sit-down feature with Forbes talking about his transition from wrestling to finding his legs in Hollywood and the importance of being nice to people:

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