Matthew McConaughey Reveals the Movie That Still Earns Him the Most Money
Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey has revealed which movie continues to generate the highest amount of residual income for him years after its original release. Surprisingly, the answer is the beloved 2003 romantic comedy How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.
During an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the 56-year-old actor described the movie as an almost never-ending source of income. He particularly pointed to the renewed popularity the film enjoys around Valentine's Day.
A romantic comedy that keeps paying
Directed by Donald Petrie, the movie stars McConaughey as Benjamin Barry, an advertising executive who bets that he can make any woman fall in love with him within 10 days.
Kate Hudson plays Andie Anderson, a journalist who is working on an article about the ways women can deliberately drive a man away. The two unknowingly pursue completely opposite goals, setting up the movie's central romantic comedy premise.
McConaughey said the film remains one of his favorite romantic comedies and emphasized how strongly audiences continue to respond to it.
But his most interesting comments concerned the money he continues to receive from the movie.
According to McConaughey, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days remains by far the highest-earning movie in terms of residual income among all of his films.
Valentine's Day gives the movie another boost
McConaughey explained that during the era when DVDs and cable television were the dominant ways of consuming older movies, the film generated particularly significant payments around Valentine's Day.
As the holiday approaches, demand for romantic movies traditionally increases, giving titles such as How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days another opportunity to attract viewers.
For McConaughey, the film has therefore become more than simply a successful movie from the early 2000s. He considers it a lasting benchmark within the romantic comedy genre.
Why residual payments matter in Hollywood
Residuals are additional payments negotiated through industry agreements for the continued use and rebroadcasting of movies and television programs after their original release.
The amount performers receive can vary depending on several factors, including the size of their role, the production's budget, how the project is distributed and where it is shown.
Residual payments have become an increasingly controversial issue in Hollywood. Many actors have pointed out that projects can remain extremely popular with audiences for decades while the financial benefits received by the performers become relatively small.
The issue was also a major point of contention during the simultaneous actors' and writers' strikes in 2023, which brought much of Hollywood's production activity to a standstill for several months.
Other stars have also criticized the system
David Krumholtz, who played Bernard the elf in The Santa Clause, recently discussed the subject as well. He explained that because the Christmas movies are shown so frequently, the payments performers receive for subsequent broadcasts can become surprisingly small.
Eve Plumb of The Brady Bunch has also spoken about the issue. In her memoir, she explained that she and her castmates did not receive the kind of substantial payments many people might expect from the sitcom's continued reruns.
These examples highlight an important distinction between a property's popularity and the money its performers ultimately receive from that popularity.
McConaughey, however, appears to have benefited considerably from one of his biggest romantic comedy hits. More than two decades after its theatrical release, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days continues to generate income for its star.
Benjamin Barry may have had only 10 days to win Andie's heart, but the movie itself has enjoyed a much longer financial life.
