BRIEF

 Quiz: Who was the first to be paid $1 million to an actor in one movie? Was it in the year of? I'll give you a clue it's an actress. Another hint: JFK was alive when the film debuted. I have not watched the movie, and most likely haven't even if you're younger than 50. The jeopardy theme music is now playing. Elizabeth Taylor was the first actor to make $1 million from a single film. This feat was achieved for the film of 1963 "Cleopatra". FYI that the sum of $1 million in 1963 was the equivalent of $7.7 million in today's dollars. The original budget for the film of $2 million included $1 million. We use the word "projected," because the production of Cleopatra was destined to be an unstoppable disaster. After spending $5 million in six months ($40 million in today's dollars), the producers determined they had absolutely no usable footage, so they needed to begin from scratch. After inflation adjustments the film was priced at $31 million. Because of budgetary overruns Liz's paycheck swelled to $7 million. It's about the same as an actor earning $54 million per film today.