“Weekend Gross of $5,000,000”: Empowered by $7,000,000 Cheque, Shaquille O’Neal Justified Acting in a Horrible 1996 Film

LA Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal is a multifaceted individual with a varied portfolio. Apart from his basketball achievements, O’Neal is also a published author, actor, a famous DJ, and a TV personality. Back in 1996, Shaq starred in the fantasy movie Kazaam. The movie was not a huge success, despite garnering $5,000,000 during the first weekend. According to Jeff Pearlman’s Three Ring Circus, the movie “vanished into the abyss” despite not being the best of career decisions for Shaq.

As his lengthy TV career testifies, Shaq has always been an entertainer, despite not being the best of actors. The Lakers legend never misses an opportunity to make people laugh and was paid $7,000,000 to do Kazaam.

Shaquille O’Neal was paid $7,000,000 to star in Kazaam

According to Pearlman’s book, Shaq knew that starring in the genie movie was not the best decision for his career. However, O’Neal had a simple reason for starring in the film.

Speaking to GQ, he explained that he was offered a whopping $7 million to do the movie. This meant that Shaq accepted the offer:

Following an opening weekend gross of $5,000,000, the film vanished into the abyss. He later admitted it wasn’t the best career decision, telling GQ that “I was a medium[1]level juvenile delinquent from Newark who always dreamed about doing a movie. Someone said, ‘Hey, here’s $7 million, come and do this genie movie.’ What am I going to say, no?”

While O’Neal himself had a big payday for Kazaam, the movie did not do well. After registering an opening weekend of $5 million, it simply did not receive the attention the director expected.

Charles Barkley once aimed hilarious jab about Kazaam at O’Neal

O’Neal has had a long and lengthy career as an analyst on TNT alongside his friend and fellow legend Charles Barkley. Speaking about the Pacers’ loss to the Miami Heat in 2013, Shaq referenced a Michael Jordan quote about failure. Jordan once said the following quote, which Shaq used in front of Barkley, according to Bleacher Report.

“Before you succeed, you must first learn to fail.”

Chuck was obviously not letting O’Neal leave without a burn. He turned to Ernie Johnson, asking him whether Shaq asked him to act in Kazaam as well. The response led to laughter from the TNT analysts, as Shaq was left red-faced. He could be seen thinking about a response, but Barkley had left him in a tough spot. Eventually, the Lakers legend contended with a stern look instead.