"Confess, Fletch" star Jon Hamm gave up 60% of his salary to fund the film after financiers declined to pay for the indie project, saying that nobody would care about the crime comedy.
The actor's selfless act was revealed by director Greg Mottola during an interview with Uproxx. He explained that the money Miramax executive Bill Block had pumped into the film could cover 27 days of filming, but they needed to shoot for at least 30 days. Hamm and Mottola set out to find funding for the three extra days of filming, but they were rejected by every financier.
"We looked for partners on the movie, and everyone passed. Everyone said, 'I don't know that this kind of comedy works in this day and age.' They just had a kind of like, 'Who's Fletch? I don't think anyone cares anymore,' " Mottola said.
"So, basically, what we did is Jon gave back 60% of his salary to the budget," he continued. "I gave back some of my salary, not as much as Jon because he's richer than me, and I've got three kids. And we bought three more days of shooting. We got it up to 30 days in Boston and one day in Rome. And we said, f*** it, we're insane, we're dumb. We're going to make this movie. And then Miramax really supported us, creatively. They didn't fight us on people we wanted to cast."
"Confess, Fletch" is based on Gregory Mcdonald's 1976 novel of the same name, Variety noted. In the 1980s, two comedies inspired by the character were released starring Chevy Chase — "Fletch" and "Fletch Lives." Hamm takes over the role for the new film based on Mcdonald's first novel.
There has been little to no marketing but "Confess, Fletch" has received a positive response, and has been well received by critics as it plays in theaters.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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