BRIEF

 Pop quiz: Who was given the first $1 million by an actor for one movie? What was the movie and what year was it? Let me give you a hint. It's an actress. Another hint is that JFK was in the same place at the time the film debuted. Additionally, I've never watched the film, and if you're younger than 50, you probably don't also. The jeopardy theme music is playing now. The first actor to earn $1 million for one film was... Elizabeth Taylor. Liz made this record for the 1963 movie "Cleopatra." FYI, the sum of $1,000,000 in 1963 was equal to $7.7 millions in the present. When the film was first announced, the $1 million was precisely half of the total budget of $2 million. We say "projected," because the production of Cleopatra turned into the midst of a catastrophe. The production team spent $5 million over six months ($40,000,000 today) and then realized they did not have any footage. The film had to begin over. The film ultimately cost $31 million to make, which is $237 million after accounting for inflation. With the budget overruns, Liz's paycheck swelled to $7 million. This is the same amount as an actor earning $54 million per film.