NEW movie superstar Jim Carrey has turned down an offer which would have made him the highest paid actor in Hollywood history. Carrey, who is enjoying phenomenal success thanks to a string of zany performances in such hits as The Mask and Ace Ventura Pet Detective, was offered a whopping US$18 million (HK$139 million) to play a genie.
But Carrey, whose latest hit is Dumb And Dumber, left movie moguls dumbfounded by walking away from their invitation to star in Thief Of Santa Monica because he did not like the script.
Other stars have made more money out of making a single film - in particular Tom Hanks, who stands to make US$45 million from Forrest Gump - because of profit-sharing deals. But this approach is the largest sum ever offered up front.
Carrey is playing The Riddler in Batman Forever which is now being filmed, and will earn US$21 million in the next year from movies alone.