Vader getting played?

David Prowse He can choke the life out of an unbelieving Imperial officer with a single hand gesture, he can make whole armies tremble with fear, he can command the power of the Dark Side but Sith Lord Darth Vader apparently still can’t get residuals on RETURN OF THE JEDI. Well, at least his alter ego David Prowse can’t.

It seems that Mr. Prowse, who’s entitled to residuals for his appearance in both EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and RETURN OF THE JEDI, is getting played by grand daddy George Lucas because…wait for it…the film hasn’t made a profit. Prowse recently told “Equity” magazine, “I get these occasional letters from Lucasfilm saying that we regret to inform you that as Return of the Jedi has never gone into profit, we’ve got nothing to send you.” Even though the film is one of the highest grossing of all time, the “no profit” inexplicably refers to the special edition releases which apparently have not made back their production costs. Poor Lucas. It must be tough to have movies that make so little.

Not that Prowse is bitter about the whole thing. He mentioned, “It all worked out very nicely for me. Darth Vader became the cult figure of the series and a big role in the subsequent movies and it’s stood me in good stead for the past 30 years.” Moral of the story? Read your goddamn contracts, actors!

Read more about this bizarre little story HERE.

Source: Times Online

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