Biography & Early Wealth Journey

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According to one anonymous producer quotes in the THR story, Watson was lucky to get such a deal, particularly from a studio that's become notorious for penny-pinching in recent years. If there's another thing Disney is notorious for, it's the fact that they don't really need movie stars in the conventional way to sell a movie to a mass audience, especially when it's based on as beloved a film (or, sorry, a piece of intellectual property) as the original Beauty and the Beast:

"The IP is the star of the movie," said a producer. "If you hired Jennifer Lawrence as Belle, would it really make a difference in the opening [of Beauty and the Beast]? Unlikely."

Primary Income Streams & Multi-Million Contracts

For Watson's part, she earned a reported $60 million for her work in the Harry Potter film series, but she's been absent from big budget franchises (and their accompanying huge salaries) since it ended – so her Beauty and the Beast deal can, and more than likely will, signal her return to the sphere of extremely well-compensated stars.