Kristen Bell momentarily froze when she was confronted with reports that she would be paid a whopping $60 million for the upcoming Frozen sequels.
“When I read it, I was like, ‘Whoa! Whoa! What?!’” Bell, who voices Anna in Disney’s Frozen franchise, told Entertainment Tonight on the Actor Awards red carpet.
In November, TheWrap exclusively reported that franchise leads Bell, Idina Menzel, and Josh Gad had “signed deals worth over $60 million each.” Other sites picked up the jaw-dropping figure, and it spread like wildfire on social media.
Bell, 45, was quick shut down the rumors before taking the stage to host the Actor Awards ceremony for Netflix.
“I also think there’s been a lot misreported about that,” Bell, who reportedly earned $15 million for Frozen 2, said on Sunday. “That’s somebody making a lot of things up.”
The reported deal includes both high up-front fees worth nearly $20 million each—which are typical for actor contracts—and additional back-end performance bonuses based on the film’s box office success. An executive told TheWrap that the figure would be paid out over a few years and would vary depending on the film’s overall performance.
$60 million is likely the high-end figure if the films gross in the billions.
Bell said she was grateful to even be a part of the Oscar-winning franchise.
“That said, am I happy to have that job, and does it pay very well because it’s a successful franchise? Yes. And I’m so grateful for it, and I will continue to do it for the rest of my life if they’ll have me,” she concluded.
The deal reportedly dwarfed the actress’s $15 million payday for Frozen 2. The franchise is the studio’s most profitable to date, with its first two films earning $1.3 and $1.4 billion, respectively.
The first Frozen won big at the Oscars, with two awards for Best Animated Film and Best Original Song, and the second film scored another Best Song nomination. It was also turned into a Broadway musical that ran for three years, closing in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Frozen 3 is slated to release around Thanksgiving 2027. The fourth installment has not yet been given a release date.
