It's a mystery to us why 'The Right Stuff' wasn't a bigger success. It had all the right ingredients, it covered a fascinating period in American history, and it was so highly thought of by critics that it picked up no less than four Academy Awards. The average movie-goer just wasn't as enamored with it as the people handing out awards, and it failed at the box office, putting a further dent in the profits of the Ladd Company.
'The Right Stuff' was set at the dawn of the USA's space program, and painted a gritty, realistic picture of what life was like for those early astronauts. Determined to make their film as true to life as possible, they spent $27m on cutting edge special effects, only to fall $6m short of breaking even at the box office. It just goes to show that there's no such thing as a guaranteed hit when you're in the business of making movies.
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.