George Clooney has corrected a claim that he and Wolves co-star Brad Pitt each received around $35 million for the film, as reported in a New York Times article.

The duo brought their banter and riffs to the Venice Film Festival for the world premiere of Jon Watts’ action comedy, in which they play competing criminal fixers who are accidentally assigned to the same job. The two movie stars and real-life friends traded friendly jabs, praise and movie insights in Italy during a press conference for Wolves.

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At one point, Clooney explained that the couple took back some of their salaries after a theatrical deal for the film fell through, meaning the film will get a limited release in “a couple hundred theaters,” and he spent a New York Times article published last week by Nicole Sperling, which stated that he and Pitt were each paid more than $35 million.

“(It was) an interesting article and whatever her source was for our salary, it’s millions and millions and millions of dollars less than what was reported. And I only say that because I think it’s bad for our industry if that’s what people think is the standard bearer for salaries,” Clooney said. “I think that’s horrible, it’s going to make it impossible to make movies.”

“Yes, we wanted it to come out (in theaters). We had some bumps along the way, that happens. When I (Clooney-directed biographical sports drama) The boys in the boatWe did it for MGM, and then it ended up being for Amazon and we didn’t get a foreign release at all, which was a surprise. There are elements of this that we’re figuring out. You’re all in this together. We’re all in this industry and we’re trying to figure out our way after COVID and everything, and so there are some bumps along the way. It’s unfortunate, of course, but on the other hand, a lot of people are going to see the movie and we’re going to get a release in a couple hundred theaters, so we’re going to get a release. But yeah, it would have been nice to have had a wide release.”

Just days before the two movie stars landed in Venice, it was announced that Watts had signed a deal with Apple to write and direct a film. Wolves sequel. It is unclear whether Clooney and Pitt have also signed on for the sequel.

Clooney also took the opportunity during the press conference to publicly comment for the first time on his recent op-ed for The New York Times Titled “I love Joe Biden, but we need a new nominee,” he said the president’s decision to step down as the Democratic presidential nominee was “the most selfless thing anyone has done since George Washington.”

“All the machinations that got us here, none of that will be remembered, and it shouldn’t be,” Clooney said. “What should be remembered is the selfless act of someone who did the hardest thing to do. We’ve seen it all over the world, and when someone says, I think there’s a better way forward, they get all the credit, and that’s really the truth.”

Wolves will launch on Apple TV+ on September 27, following a limited theatrical release through Sony on September 20.

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