Paid in Spice: Chalamet and Zendaya's Dune 2 Salaries Were Underwhelming at Best

Summary:

• Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, two of Hollywood’s most prominent young actors, recently co-starred in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two.
• Despite their immense star power, Chalamet and Zendaya only earned $3M and $2M, respectively, from their latest Arrakis outing.
• Either the actors had some other hidden benefits that convinced them or they were genuinely willing to take the pay cut to star in the Dune movies.

Based on Frank Herbert’s iconic book series, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movies quickly became an international phenomenon. Apart from the director’s genius and the strong source material, there was another reason for the two films’ overwhelming success: their star-studded cast… The star-studded cast that turned out to be surprisingly cost-efficient and budget-friendly, judging by their salaries.

Dune: Part Two Didn’t Shoot for (Its) Stars

Denis Villeneuve made sure to invite some of Hollywood’s finest to his latest film. Apart from Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, Dune 2’s biggest celebrity attractions, the movie boasted the combined star power of Florence Pugh, Jason Momoa, Dave Bautista, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, and many others.

You’d guess that having a reasonable salary budget was impossible under such circumstances — but somehow, director Villeneuve pulled that off.

Even the main stars of Dune: Part Two, Chalamet and Zendaya, didn’t receive nearly as much as you’d expect — $3M and $2M, respectively. Dave Bautista was the third highest-paid actor in the movie, having earned $1M from it. These are not the numbers we’ve come to get used to when it comes to Hollywood’s A-listers, right?

Dune: Part Two Is Either Sneaky or a Passion Project

Chalamet and Zendaya’s Dune 2 salaries come as an even bigger surprise if you consider their other recent checks. The former recently earned over $9M for Wonka, and the latter is expected to receive $10M for her upcoming movie Challengers — and these numbers dwarf the star actors’ payments for their latest Arrakis outing.

Realistically, there are only two implications that make sense here. Either Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya were promised some other benefits later down the line, like a solid percent of Dune 2’s box office haul, or they just really wanted to be part of the epic sci-fi franchise. After all, their combined salary for Dune: Part Two was two times lower than both of their most recent solo projects, which makes no sense.

Source: Showbiz Galore