Kevin Costner finally got off the couch in order to keep acting.

It can either ruin you or make you richer. Most actors develop a big head after a movie they make grosses $100 million so they ask for $20 million dollars.

Martin Lawrence wanted $20 million for National Security after Big Momma's House did well. Well, that's not quite the case. He was offered $12 million for What's The Worst That Could Happen, which came out a year after his first big success, BMH. Then his salary climbed when he took over Black Knight for Chris Tucker. Then for some odd reason, after WWTCH and BK did abysmal business, Lawrence was cut a $20 million check for National Security. Didn't the studios see the falling trend in his grosses? We don't hear much about his salary these days, but I'm sure it has to be more than $10 million. I think Lawrence is still on the $20 million couch, because why would you want to get off if you could ask for it?


Kevin Costner was the shit after his bestiality musical Dances With Wolves grossed over $100 million at the box office and won alot of Oscars. He then starred in The Bodyguard, and the rest is history. So he jumped on the $20 million couch. But because he doesn't have that crossover appeal, he was able to work out a little deal and earned $15 million (yes you read it right)for Waterworld, Dragonfly and Thirteen Days. Well, those movies tanked, and someone had to pry Costner from the couch. But here's the thing. Costner's films weren't a steady string of $100 million hits, so why did he get that huge paycheck so late in the game?Thirteen Days and Dragonfly came out in 2000 and 2002, when Costner's star was fading big time. By then, Will Smith was the King of the Box Office which leads us to believe that the Cos had a really good agent or he forcefully took $15 million from studio execs. I believe the latter for some reason.

Basically, the $20 million couch is a couch that an actor, long after his string of box office hits dwindle, refuses to leave just because he's got too much air in his head or because he rests on his past successes. Costner eventually got off because he needed to keep working, and to his credit, we've seen his wrinkly face in a movie at least once a year. Lawrence continues to act in movies, even selling out to Disney for Wild Hogs and College Road Trip. We don't know how much he was paid, but I'm sure both him and John Travolta didn't earn their $20 million Wild Hogs, although the mysterious $165 million gross on that movie may have their agents negotiating richer deals for them.

The question you really have to ask yourself after you've watched a $20 million actor's movie is..."Was it worth $20 million? Did I get $20 million worth of laughs? Do I feel like $20 million?"