The stories of George Clooney’s paydays are legendary. His Gravity payday and the suitcases full of $1 million going to 14 of his closest friends. The Nespresso ads that pay for a spy satellite in Sudan. Now an alleged $35 million salary to star in Wolfs for Apple TV+, according to an article in the New York Times. But Clooney says it isn’t so. At a Venice press conference, Clooney says he and Brad Pitt were paid less than $35 mil each for the film, and even returned some of that lesser fee in hopes of securing a wider release for the film. “By the way, there’s a really good reporter, Nicole Sperling for the New York Times, she wrote an interesting article about it,” he said, “and whatever her source was for our salary, it is millions and millions and millions of dollars less than what was reported. And I am only saying that because I think it’s bad for our industry if that’s what people think is the standard bearer for salaries.”

Clooney said it was a “bummer” that Wolfs wasn’t getting a wider release. “There are elements of this that we are figuring out. You guys are all in this too. We’re all in this industry and we’re trying to find our way post-COVID and everything else, and so there’s some bumps along the way,” he said. “It is a bummer of course, but on the other hand, a lot of people are going to see the film and we are getting a release in a few hundred theaters, so we’re getting a release.”

George Clooney and Brad Pitt’s ‘Wolfs’: A Modern Crime Caper

Brad Pitt and George Clooney play two sides of the same coin in Jon Watts’s jaunty, high-concept comedy-thriller about a pair of self-styled lone wolves who find they’ve been double-booked. Watts earned his spurs as the director of the money-spinning Spider-Man: Homecoming trilogy and he sets about Wolfs with the panting relief of a man who now feels he can kick back, let loose and consign the Marvel salt-mine to history. Except that the joke might be on him because what he’s made is basically the film of the meme in which two Spideys point at each other.

Exterior, night: the Manhattan skyline. A crash of glass, a woman’s scream. Margaret (Amy Ryan, thankless role) has been cavorting with a young stud she picked up in a bar, but now the kid’s dead and who’s she gonna call? Margaret calls Clooney, who reckons himself to be the only man for the job. The hotel calls Pitt, who feels much the same way - and therein lies the problem; these two aren’t lone wolves after all. Wolfs, incidentally, lists the stars’ characters as Nick and Jack, although so far as I could tell they never actually state their names. Implicitly the film wants us to regard them as Pitt and Clooney.

If Watts had seen fit to flip the ticket - to cast Pitt as Jack and Clooney as Nick - would it have made any difference? Almost certainly not, because the point is that these fixers are two peas in a pod. They share the same gravelly growl and the same narrowed stare. They both have black leather jackets and greying stubble. Their get-up is diverting, and borders on the comical. At times Pitt and Clooney might be the stars of a homoerotic Hollywood version of The Hairy Bikers in which the celebrity chefs are tasked with chasing a semi-naked youth around town.

Nick and Jack’s job should be simple, but naturally events intervene. The young stud (who is credited as Kid and played with a gauche, beta-male charm by Austin Abrams) turns out not to be dead and then promptly absconds. Now he’s running amok through Lower Manhattan in his pants with the clean-up men in hot pursuit; grumbling about their bad backs, complaining that they’re too old for this shit.

A Tale of Two Wolves?

The film itself never amounts to much more than a silly, self-satisfied crime caper, but the headline stars look as though they are enjoying themselves and their sense of fun, by and large, is infectious. Plot twist follows twist, the stakes keep being raised. There is a bag of drugs in the trunk and a bunch of Albanian gangsters in the car park – surely all would be lost if Nick and Jack didn’t fancy themselves as such smooth operators. We know this because they have a habit of playing Sade’s Smooth Operator in the car.

The kid assumes that they’re partners. He giggles and says, “You’re basically the same guy.” This of course is the central conceit of Wolfs, although it finally proves to be the film’s limitation, once the initial gag has worn thin and the caper starts to spin its wheels. Great buddy movies are undeniably about common ground, but they are also about difference and friction, in the same way that a great sporting rivalry is defined by its clash of styles. Redford needed Newman just as Djokovic needs Nadal; Watts’s two wolves can only growl and howl themselves hoarse.

The Clooney-Pitt Duo: A Match Made in Hollywood Heaven

While Clooney’s comment about the industry being worse off if people believe he and Pitt were paid $35 million might sound like a Hollywood star’s “woe is me,” it does raise an interesting point. With streaming services becoming increasingly dominant, and the global box office constantly in flux, Hollywood is having to find new ways to make money.

The traditional model of big-budget blockbusters driven by A-list stars is no longer as guaranteed as it once was, especially with a pandemic that shifted consumer habits. This makes it harder to make money on films, and it’s no surprise that stars like Clooney are feeling the pinch. But, there is also a positive aspect to this shift. It’s forcing Hollywood to be more creative, and perhaps it’s also opening up opportunities for new and diverse voices to be heard.

Wolfs, despite its limited release, is a testament to this changing landscape. It’s a smaller film, with a focus on character and comedy, rather than huge action set pieces. But, it’s also a film that has two of the biggest stars in the world at the top of the bill. In the end, it is this intriguing combination that might make it a success, even if it's not the massive Hollywood blockbuster that many might have predicted.

A Look at the Couple’s Recent Red Carpet Appearance

Brad Pitt and George Clooney hugged and danced at the Venice Film Festival on Sunday night as the two megastars’ latest film, “Wolfs,” received a polite four-minute standing ovation. The premiere itself was delayed by more than 30 minutes as fans crowded into Venice’s Sala Grande in an attempt to catch a glimpse at Pitt and Clooney. When the duo finally arrived inside, the sound — and general vibe — in the theater could only be described as carnal. Both actors took to different sides of the carpet, signing autographs and taking selfies, before being whisked away to their seats by security.

Pitt landed in Venice only two days after his ex Angelina Jolie debuted her latest movie “Maria” here, to an eight-minute standing ovation and Oscar buzz. Neither mentioned their long pending divorce, and Pitt wasn’t asked at a press conference on Sunday about court documents that allege “a history of physical abuse of Jolie” in their marriage. (The hashtag #BradPittIsAnAbuser trended on the social media platform X shortly after “Wolfs” premiered.)

Written and directed by “Spider-Man” helmer Jon Watts (who had to miss the premiere after testing positive for COVID), the Apple Original Films action-comedy stars Pitt and Clooney as two professional fixers who prefer to work alone, but must come together after being hired for the same job. “Wolfs” also stars Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams and Poorna Jagannathan. A sequel to the film is already in development with Watts and the two stars attached, Apple announced earlier this month.

“Wolfs” marks Pitt and Clooney’s first time co-headlining a film since the Coen Brother’s 2008 black comedy “Burn After Reading.” Prior to that, the two were co-stars in the “Ocean’s” franchise from 2001 to 2007. Both actors have graced the Lido before, with Clooney attending in 2009 for Grant Heslov’s “The Men Who Stare at Goats” and Pitt having premiered David Fincher’s “Fight Club” in 1999 and earning the Volpi Cup for best actor with Andrew Dominik’s “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” in 2007.

In a recent cover story for GQ, Pitt and Clooney discussed their longtime friendship and the state of Hollywood today. “They haven’t developed stars the way the studio system used to,” Clooney said. “We kind of were at the very end of that, where you could work at a studio and do three or four films, and there was some plan to it. And I don’t think that’s necessarily the case anymore. So it’s harder for you to sell somebody something on the back of a star.”

After its Venice premiere, “Wolfs” will release in theaters for a limited time starting Sept. 20 before debuting on Apple TV+ on Sept. 27.

The Final Verdict: A Win-Win for Everyone?

The film, while not quite a critical darling, has generated plenty of buzz thanks to the charismatic duo at its heart. The limited release, while a bummer for Clooney and Pitt, might actually work in the film’s favor. A smaller release could create a sense of exclusivity, potentially leading to more interest from viewers and critics alike. In the end, only time will tell if Wolfs will become a success story in this ever-changing Hollywood landscape. But, with Clooney and Pitt on board, it’s certainly a film worth keeping an eye on.