Jon Peters Could Make $15 million From ‘Man of Steel’ – Without Any Hard Work

Movie producer Jon Peters is set to draw in a fat paycheck from "Man of Steel" - a movie he had little to do with. According to Hollywood Reporter, Peters is entitled to five per cent of whatever the movie finally makes as part of his executive producer credit on the movie, even though he was asked to leave the project in 2010. The five per cent could translate to as much as $15 million.

It seems Peters, a hairstylist-turned-movie-mogul, benefitted from the "early adopter" system in Hollywood. "Players who give key pushes to projects at a nascent stage often reap huge windfalls down the line -- even if they have long since exited," explained Hollywood Reporter.

Peters had taken an interest in reviving the Superman franchise as far back as 1996. As the story goes, when Kevin Smith approached him for writing a film on the superhero, Peters gave his go-ahead with three strange stipulations - that Superman shouldn't fly, shouldn't wear his famous red-and-blue suit and that he fight a giant spider at the end. At that time, the movie was to have been directed by Tim Burton and would have starred Nicholas Cage. As time rolled on, changes took place to the script and the people attached to the project. Eventually, "Superman Returns" was made in 2006, with Peters credited as producer.

As is known, "Man of Steel" has Christopher Nolan as lead producer and co-writer and is directed by Zack Snyder. According to media reports, the film raked in $125 million in revenue over the opening weekend and from early screenings, making it the second biggest opening of the year so far, after "Iron Man 3". Warner Bros. is naturally ecstatic at the response and rumors of a sequel are already in circulation. "It's more than just a franchise for us, it really opens up the door to do combinations of the DC Comics characters," said Dan Fellman, the studio's president of domestic distribution, in a report by WSJ. Going by what unnamed knowledgeable sources close to the studio have to say, WSJ predicted a release date as early as 2014 for the sequel.