BIG Payouts For Hangover III And Its Trio Of Stars

Negotiating together, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis have confirmed that they will be back for The Hangover Part III says THR The trio is asking for $15 million each (against backend) to reprise their roles, and they now are likely to get it.

That’s a big raise from 2009’s The Hangover, which was made for about $35 million and paid the headliners under $1 million each (Cooper made the most because he had the biggest name recognition at the time).

When the R-rated bachelor-party comedy unexpectedly grossed $467 million worldwide, the studio found itself without talent deals for a sequel. Negotiations were heated for The Hangover Part II, released last May, with the three principals each scoring around $5 million, according to a source, plus back-end compensation that raised their haul into the mid-teens (and counting) when the movie grossed $581 million worldwide.

Craig Mazin will write the next screenplay. Director Todd Phillips is back to call action too.

The studio hopes the next film, a Los Angeles-based story that will deviate from the forgotten-memory formula of the first movies, can shoot this summer and be ready for a Memorial Day 2013 release.