Marlon Brando Took This One Role Only for the Paycheck and Hated It

Marlon Brando once admitted that he accepted a movie role for one simple reason: money. That film was The Formula, a 1980 mystery thriller released shortly after his famous performance in Apocalypse Now.

After working with Francis Ford Coppola and earning around $2 million, Brando appeared opposite George C. Scott in The Formula, directed by Rocky filmmaker John G. Avildsen. The movie was based on a novel written by Steve Shagan, who also adapted his own book for the screen.

The story followed several groups trying to control or destroy a secret synthetic fuel invented by the Nazis at the end of World War II, a discovery that could end the world’s dependence on oil.

The film was set during the Cold War and mixed conspiracy, politics, and crime, but it failed to impress audiences or critics. It performed poorly at the box office and quickly gained a bad reputation. Brando was even nominated for Worst Supporting Actor at the first-ever Golden Raspberry Awards, an outcome many felt matched his low-energy performance.

Brando later spoke openly about why he took the role. In an interview with writer Lawrence Grobel, he said he never wanted to be part of the film but felt forced to accept it because he was running out of money. When asked what he thought about the finished movie, he didn’t hold back, calling it “a terrible piece of s****.”

He also claimed that a much better version of the movie once existed. According to Brando, many of his best moments were cut during editing. “They cut that all to pieces,” he said. “They took out all my humour. But I didn’t have any money, and I did it for the bucks. Ten days for three million bucks; I didn’t care.”

Despite the large paycheck, Brando only appeared in three scenes as an oil tycoon. Critics noticed his strange but memorable presence, though most agreed it wasn’t enough to save the film.

Rotten Tomatoes currently lists The Formula with a 20 percent approval rating, based on ten reviews, describing it as slow, clichéd, and overly dependent on genre habits.

Roger Ebert gave the movie two out of four stars, saying it leaned too heavily on predictable ideas. While he acknowledged the strong cast, including Brando and George C. Scott, he felt the film offered nothing new. Reviews from Variety and The New York Times shared similar thoughts, calling it a standard thriller that never rises above its familiar plot devices.

TV Guide was even harsher, labeling the movie dull and poorly paced. It criticized the story for being made up mostly of repeated interviews that failed to create tension. While Brando’s brief appearance added some strange energy, the publication noted that he was paid $3 million for a performance that only briefly sparked life into an otherwise lifeless film.

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