'Hangover' guys locked for sequel (DH)

By Nancy Tartaglione

Following protracted negotiations, the "Hangover" folks have completed talks for a sequel and are ready to sign deals, reports Deadline.com. Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms will each be paid in the vicinity of $5 million against 4% of first dollar gross, says the Web site. Director/producer Todd Phillips will be paid around $10 million against 10%.

For Phillips, there are also escalators and bonuses that ensure if the sequel does anywhere close to the original's $467 million worldwide gross, he will not make less than his income on the original.

"The Hangover 2" was a difficult deal to put together, however. Deadline says it was a perfect storm of leverage: the three stars made less than $1 million collectively on a film that became Hollywood's biggest grossing R rated comedy ever.

They did not have options locking them into a sequel. But, they did have teams of managers, agents and attorneys who negotiated together.

Warners didn't make option deals with the cast because the studio never envisioned the picture would become a juggernaut that begged for an encore.

Cooper made slightly more than Helms and Galifianakis, but none made more than $300,000 to star in the original, says Deadline.

An October start on the sequel is considered likely if Helms can work things out with his NBC series "The Office."