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Home / Entertainment

Like Sam Neill and Daniel Craig, here are other stars who turned down massive deals

news.com.au
24 May, 2016 08:10 AM4 mins to read

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Daniel and Sam aren't the only ones turning down ridiculously good deals.

Daniel and Sam aren't the only ones turning down ridiculously good deals.

Sam Neill just revealed his only regret is turning down Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and he's not alone in telling all on what could have been in showbiz.

Last week Daniel Craig rejected a $146 million Bond offer, and while he said he'd rather "slash his wrists" than do another bond film, it's still an absurd amount of money to reject.

So here's a look at other stars who turned down some insane deals.

JERRY SEINFELD

And to think, Seinfeld could have lived on.
And to think, Seinfeld could have lived on.
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The star of the "show about nothing" was offered a staggering amount to extend the sitcom for a 10th season.

Former NBC President of Entertainment, Warren Littlefield told Fox News that he thought the network's offer was too good for Seinfeld to turn down.

"We offered him $5 million (NZ $7.4 million) an episode," Littlefield said. "Over $100 million (NZ $148 million)."

"We didn't mess around. What we put on the table was unheard of. We went in there with a staggering sum and there was tremendous confidence that no one could walk away from it.

"He came to me and said, 'I don't have a life, I'm not married, I don't have kids'. We gave it everything we had, he was tempted, but in the end it was a quality of life decision."

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TIM ALLEN

Money wasn't enough to keep Tim Allen's Home Improvement on air.
Money wasn't enough to keep Tim Allen's Home Improvement on air.

Just like Seinfeld, Tim Allen was offered a huge amount of money to star in one more season of his hit sitcom, Home Improvement.

The show wrapped up after eight seasons in 1999, but Allen was reportedly offered more than $74 million to return in 2000.

His co-star Patricia Richardson, who played Jill Taylor, was offered around $37 million to return for a ninth season.

BREAKING BAD

Breaking Bad could've lived another day but its final episode was a bit too final.
Breaking Bad could've lived another day but its final episode was a bit too final.

Millions of viewers around the world mourned in 2013 when Breaking Bad ended after five seasons.

Discover more

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14 May 10:38 PM
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Daniel Craig turns down $146m Bond deal

19 May 10:30 AM
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Sam Neill's starring role regret

29 May 01:00 AM
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'You can stop filming me ... I'm here in real life'

30 May 09:00 PM

But the CEO of DreamWorks Animation, Jeffrey Katzenberg, wanted to see three more episodes and offered the creators $111 million to make them.

"I had this crazy idea," he said in Cannes in 2013, according to Variety.

"I was nuts for the show. I had no idea where this season (season five) was going."

Katzenberg planned to release the footage from the episodes online in six-minute segments over 30 days, charging people less than a dollar to watch each one.

"I said (to them), 'I'm going to create the greatest pay-per-view television event for scripted programming anybody's ever done'."

Unfortunately for Katzenberg, the storyline in the final episode pretty much put an end to his hopes of bringing the show back to life.

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ABBA

Abba turned down more than $1 billion to carry on, but Abba impersonators are better off for it, at least.
Abba turned down more than $1 billion to carry on, but Abba impersonators are better off for it, at least.

The Swedish foursome were reportedly offered $1.4 billion back in 2000 by a British-American consortium to reunite for a series of concerts, but the band members refused to say I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do.

"It's a hell of a lot of money to say no to, but we decided it wasn't for us," Benny Andersson said at the time to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.

"We said no because they wanted 250 shows or something," Agnetha Fältskog later said.

Band member Frida Lyngstad told RTE in 2014 that "No amount of money would change our minds".

"We only have one answer and that is no," she said, as she pointed to a photo of the group back in their prime.

"That's how we looked at that time, with all the energy, excitement and motivation. It's not exactly the same nowadays, if you know what I mean."

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ADELE

Adele could've made a million dollars a night, but turned down a spot on the Vegas Strip.
Adele could've made a million dollars a night, but turned down a spot on the Vegas Strip.

Before Adele released her album 25 and revealed her plans to tour in both Europe and the US, a number of Las Vegas casino's tried to sign her up for a residency.

Caesars Palace and MGM Grand reportedly offered the Hello singer a little more than $1 million per night and the Venetian upped the ante with an offer worth $1.7 million every evening.

Rumour Has It Adele wasn't interested though.

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