Don’t believe supposed salary figures for new film Wolfs, says Clooney

Turn up the air con – it’s getting hot in Venice. As the festival sweltered under a prolonged heatwave, the temperature was raised still further when George Clooney and Brad Pitt arrived on the Lido.

The actors and longstanding friends, who have not appeared at the festival together since 2008, have accumulated such a powerful status in Hollywood that many believed reports that they had been paid $35m (£26.7m) each to star in their new film, Wolfs.

“It is millions and millions and millions of dollars less than what was reported,” Clooney told a packed-out press conference on Sunday. “And I am only saying that because I think it’s bad for our industry if that’s what people think is the standard bearer for salaries. I think that’s terrible, it’ll make it impossible to make films.”

Premiering on Sunday, the crime thriller directed by Jon Watts, which is playing out of competition, is about two lone-wolf fixers who are mistakenly hired for the same job to cover up a crime. The film was acquired by Apple TV+ in a bidding war, beating traditional studios and rival streaming services.

It was reported in 2021 that the film was expected to come with a big theatrical release. But several weeks ago the streamer announced different plans: theatrical would be limited and streaming would follow seven days later.

Clooney and Pitt admitted they had been disappointed by the decision, even if they still believed the rise of the streamers was a positive development overall. They also said they gave a portion of their salaries back after the theatrical deal fell through.

“Yes, we wanted it to be released, we’ve had some bumps along the way, that happens,” Clooney said. “There are elements of this that we are figuring out … It is a bummer, of course it’s a bummer. On the other hand a lot of people are going to see the film and we are getting a release in a few hundred theatres. But yeah, it would have been nicer to have a wide release.”

Related: Wolfs review – Pitt and Clooney are job-sharing loners in Spidey-meme of a thriller

Speaking about the debate around streaming’s impact on cinema, Clooney said the industry “needs” streaming but that streamers also “benefit from having films released”.

He added: “This is a revolution in our industry and we need Apple and Amazon and they actually need distributors. They need to have Sony or Warner Bros who actually have been doing this for 100 years. What I do think I see is a lot more work for actors. We’re having to curate it differently and we’re gonna figure that out.”

During the press conference, Clooney was also asked about his New York Times article calling on Joe Biden to step down as the Democratic presidential candidate. He described Biden’s actions as “the most selfless thing that anybody has done since George Washington”.

Clooney added: “All of the machinations that got us there, none of that’s going to be remembered, and it shouldn’t be … For someone to say, I think there’s a better way forward, he gets all the credit, and that’s really the truth.

“I’m just very proud of where we are, in the state of the world right now, which I think many people are surprised by, and I think we’re all very excited by the future.”