Yes. George Clooney reportedly returned his directing fee a week before filming The Boys in the Boat, after MGM said the budget offer was too low. He later recovered the fee after he and producing partner Grant Heslov brought the production in under budget, according to a 2023 PerthNow report relaying Clooney’s account to Deadline.
Why did Clooney return his directing fee?
Clooney told Deadline, as quoted by PerthNow, that MGM’s budget offer was so low that he had to give back his directing fee shortly before production began. The cast and crew had already been hired and trained, and Clooney said filming was only a week away. He described feeling cornered by the timing.
The arrangement also put Clooney and producing partner Grant Heslov on the hook if spending went over budget. Clooney put it this way: “If we came in over at all, we had to pay for it.”
PerthNow’s December 21, 2023 report does not give the fee amount or the film’s budget, so neither figure can be established from this account. Read PerthNow’s report.
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Did he eventually get the fee back?
Yes. PerthNow reports that Clooney recovered his directing fee after he and Heslov brought the production in under budget. The report does not specify how much he received or provide further financial detail.
What is The Boys in the Boat about?
The 2023 sports drama is based on Daniel James Brown’s nonfiction book about the University of Washington rowing crew that won gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The film is an adaptation, not a complete historical account of every event or person in Brown’s book.
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In a PBS NewsHour interview, Brown said the film did not include everything in the book. He described the story’s central themes as the crew’s camaraderie and Joe Rantz’s movement from rugged individualism toward cooperation. Clooney, discussing the adaptation with Brown, said: “What I have the advantage of is that he’s done all the work, right?” Brown replied: “And that was also what I wanted.” Watch the PBS NewsHour interview.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What historical context does the film leave out?
Brown told TIME that many members of the real crew came from working-class backgrounds and were often unemployed. Some received part-time work through the university while rowing; for Rantz and others, remaining on the team helped them stay in school. That is Brown’s account of the crew’s circumstances, not a claim that the film gives equal detail about every rower.
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For a fuller account of the historical story, Brown’s book is the underlying nonfiction work. Interviews with Brown and Clooney offer context for where the adaptation draws on that account and where the film necessarily narrows its scope. TIME’s interview with Brown and the Directors Guild of America discussion with Clooney provide additional background.
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