James McAvoy has opened up about the unexpected financial rewards he receives from one of his biggest movies. The actor explained why Split stands apart from his other projects in terms of residual payments.
During an appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, McAvoy discussed his earnings while promoting his directorial debut, California Schemin’. The conversation turned to his earlier films, including the 2008 action thriller Wanted and his work in the X-Men franchise. Although the host joked about the residuals McAvoy might still receive from Wanted, the actor explained that another film had proved far more lucrative.
McAvoy said Split, M. Night Shyamalan’s 2017 psychological thriller, remains his most reliable source of residual income. He described, “The only one that really consistently pays me is Split, really well, because we made it for—I think it was made for like six million or something like that, and let’s say they spent 30 advertising it, right? Um, in our first weekend we made 40, so we were in profit. So our first residual check came at the end of the first weekend.”
Residuals are payments actors may receive when films are reused or distributed through certain channels, depending on their contracts and applicable agreements.
What other amounts has James McAvoy earned as residual money?
Split stars James McAvoy as Kevin Wendell Crumb, a man whose different identities drive the thriller’s central conflict. Anya Taylor-Joy and Betty Buckley also appear in the movie, which became a major commercial success. According to Box Office Mojo, Split earned approximately $278.5 million worldwide.
McAvoy clarified that his other films have not generated the same steady residual payments. When Horowitz brought up Wanted, McAvoy explained that residual payments from his other films vary considerably. He said, “I don’t get too much money from Wanted. I very rarely see anything from anything. You get the odd check for, you know, a couple hundred quid here, or sometimes you get checks for, like, 25 cents and all that. And you’re like, it literally costs more to post this than it did for me to check it—cash it.”
Wanted was released in the United States on June 27, 2008, and grossed $342.5 million worldwide.