When it comes to the ins and outs of Hollywood movie investing, Tim Allen knows all too well.
During a recent appearance on “Club Random with Bill Maher,” the 72-year-old comedian recalled a conversation with President Donald Trump about the risks of investing in films and the moment he realized Trump was no longer interested in putting up money.
“He says, ‘If we got a studio together, let’s say the movie costs a million six or a million twenty.’ And then I said, ‘You’ve got to double that at least for the promotion. So you got 210 into a movie, two hundred million into a movie.’ He goes, ‘What if the ticket sales are low?’ ‘You lose.’ And he goes, ’But you got to make up the loss somehow. How do you make up the loss?’ I said, ‘Well, there’ll be some tax benefit, but you lose the money. That’s how come the studios struggle looking for winners. You amortize your loss with losers over winners.’ He goes, ‘Oh.’ Like, he completely decided at that moment, I’m not going to get in this business.”
“He says, ‘If I buy a bad building and it won’t sell, I still have the f—ing building. If you have a sh—y movie…’ This is not an easy business.”
The “Last Man Standing” alum has spoken about his “conservative” views in the past.
During an appearance on the “WTF with Marc Maron” podcast in 2021, Allen was asked about whether he views himself as an “old-school conservative” as opposed to a “right-wing wack job.”
Allen revealed he’s always been a “fiscal, conservative person with money,” while sharing his frustration with the American tax system.
“Once I started making money, I had this silent partner that just took almost half of my money and never gave me anything for it and that was the taxes,” Allen said. “I’ve never liked taxes… That’s it, I don’t like it. I work pretty hard for this stuff and I accomplished a lot, and I was handicapped by my own errors. It’s all my fault, I get that. But I had this silent partner. I never liked taxes.”
Allen confirmed the “silent partner” he was referring to is the “government.”
During the conversation, Allen explained why he’s never been one to openly discuss politics or publicly endorse a political candidate.
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“I literally don’t preach anything,” he said. “I’m not telling anybody else how to live. Once I realized that the last president pissed people off, I kind of liked that. So it was fun to just not say anything, [I] didn’t join into the lynching crowd.”
In 2018, Allen recalled one of his first ever meetings with Trump.
“I’ve met [Trump] at [a] charity event years ago, and that certainly doesn’t fit with the man who tweets,” he told Entertainment Weekly at the time. “I’ve met a lot of people in private whose public persona is a bit off. My perception is ‘let’s see what he gets done.’ Let’s stop banging on the pilot’s door and trying to pull the guy out of his seat while he’s still flying. You might not like how he’s flying the plane, but let’s let him land it.”
