I finally gave in and rented The Hangover 2 over the holidays. It was funnier and a lot raunchier than I expected, but all of the criticism I’ve heard about the movie rang true: it felt old and stale and it had the exact same plot as the first one. The last forty five minutes dragged, and there were more plot holes than I could be bothered to figure out. Despite low critic approval, the film cleaned up at the box office. It grossed $254 million domestically and over $327 million worldwide, to make over a half billion gross. The original Hangover did better domestically, but wasn’t as strong overseas. It grossed $467 million.

It’s been established that the Hangover is a strong franchise, and like every other franchise it’s going to be run into the ground until every drop of money is squeezed out of it. There’s a third movie in the works, and the stars are supposedly negotiating for $15 million each. That’s not upfront – that’s a percentage of the backend which they’re likely to get. They each made a reported $1 million for the first movie and $5 million for the second.

Dealmaking on the studio’s third installment in the raunchy comedy franchise is wrapping up after dragging on for months due in part to the salary demands of its three stars. Sources close to the negotiations say Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms are asking for $15 million each (against backend) to reprise their roles, and they now are likely to get it.

That’s a big raise from 2009’s The Hangover, which was made for about $35 million and paid the headliners under $1 million each (Cooper made the most because he had the biggest name recognition at the time). When the R-rated bachelor-party comedy unexpectedly grossed $467 million worldwide, the studio found itself without talent deals for a sequel. Negotiations were heated for The Hangover Part II, released last May, with the three principals each scoring around $5 million, according to a source, plus back-end compensation that raised their haul into the mid-teens (and counting) when the movie grossed $581 million worldwide.

For the third film, the lead actors, all represented in negotiations by CAA (with agent Jason Heyman taking the lead) and are presenting a united front. (In fact, CAA also reps writer-director Todd Phillips and writer Craig Mazin.)

Warners hopes the next film, a Los Angeles-based story that will deviate from the forgotten-debauchery formula of the first movies, can shoot this summer and be ready for a Memorial Day 2013 release.

That would be great news for Warners, which is saying goodbye to two of its major franchises—Harry Potter, the final installment of which opened last July, and Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies, which the director says will end with this July’s The Dark Knight Rises. In addition, two movies that were on the fast-track for high-profile releases in 2013— Akira and Arthur & Lancelot—have been put on hold as the studio tries to reconcile budgetary issues. All of which increases the urgency to put a third Hangover on the fast track.
“It’ll happen,” says one insider. “It’s a proven commodity, which is rare these days.”

[From The Hollywood Reporter via ONTD]

Well I guess if the movies are cleaning up that the stars should get a piece of that. It still sounds like an exorbitant amount of money. Doesn’t it seem like they marginalized Justin Bartha’s role in this film just for this purpose? Like they knew they couldn’t afford more than three big stars? Or maybe Bartha was absent for the first film, so he was absent for the second because they didn’t want to mess up the buddy dynamic between the three leads.

I really hope that they do mess with the formula this time and serve up something that’s slightly more fresh than the second one. We don’t need yet another lost weekend, but you kind of know that’s what you’re getting. You know what this means? Alan, Zach Galifianakis’ character, might get married next. He’s the only one left who is still single, and for good reason. They could try and switch it up and have someone get divorced or have the guys have to watch their kids alone for the weekend. No, they really shouldn’t involve any kids in this mess. That prop baby in the first movie was enough.