Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson has had plenty of success in music, film, and television, and he’s never been shy about the personal philosophies and strategies that he says helped get him to that point. In a recent Vulture interview, 50 gave some interesting insights into his career as a movie producer, which he says at one point was earning him $10 million per film, plus valuable learning experience about the industry.
50 was already a rap superstar by the time he broke into movies, and he said that was crucial for allowing him to follow “one of the unwritten laws of power,” which is “to appear not to need anything.”
Since he was already “in a financial place that I didn’t need one thing from him” when he met up with movie producer Avi Lerner, he was able to follow this law effortlessly. And according to 50, that made all the difference:
“Because I was interested in what he had developed as a business, he was excited by my interest…He offered probably more than the average person.”
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Lerner’s tutelage helped 50 form his own production company Cheetah Vision, which was able to get $200 million in financing from various investors interested in films as well as in working with 50 Cent. And the company quickly began churning out relatively low-budget films that paid 50 handsomely as a producer and provided further education about the movie business. As 50 put it:
“I got paid almost $10 million on each one of those films…So I paid myself to learn how to participate on those projects.”
Now, 50 is an experienced hand in the production game, with shows like “Power” and its assorted spin-offs, and he’s set to star alongside Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, and a multitude of other action stars in the upcoming fourth installment in the “Expendables” franchise.
50 is only acting in “Expend4bles” and won’t be serving as producer, but his top billing in the project shows how he’s still a serious name in film and television, and according to him the reason why is this unfortunate truth: “Because everybody will do you a favor when you don’t need it.”