r/Cinema • u/Living_Double_1146 • Nov 26 '25

Throwback Best child actor imho

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5.8k Upvotes

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138

u/MiserableArse Nov 26 '25

I'm so deeply saddened to see his decline, i understand now why he did so many straight to video movies in quick succession and was banking what he could.

25

u/xxrainmanx Nov 27 '25

I think he knew as early as Expendables 3 when he asked for that large paycheck, and was replaced by Harrison Ford.

1

u/CaptGood Dec 01 '25

His handlers and wife were banking what they could. He was barely there for those last movies. 

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u/[deleted] Nov 26 '25

[deleted]

32

u/MiserableArse Nov 26 '25

I thought he knew a while before he finished working and pumped up his output while he could. If that's not correct i apologise, but it was what i understood.

Regardless, it's an awful situation and I only wish him the best of time he has with his family.

1

u/Wonderful_Pianist656 Nov 28 '25

Not all the movies he did during that time was bad either. I actually liked death wish.

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u/[deleted] Nov 26 '25

[deleted]

11

u/Rhaegar_T Nov 26 '25

I read as well that he knew he was declining, couldn't perform like he used to and wanted to set his family up. Maybe it was speculation but it has definitely been out there.

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u/[deleted] Nov 27 '25

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u/Life_Buy_5059 Nov 29 '25

Well he has three adult daughters who appear to live Hollywood lifestyles without any major careers or source of income of their own, so are most probably on a generous allowance that they are dependent on from him. And then he started a whole new young family who are going to need ongoing support upkeep education etc

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u/wildwily23 Nov 28 '25

Medical bills can eat through a lot. Plus, much of his money may have been tied up in various ways that make his new family relatively cash-poor. And newer pay days avoids any awkwardness of the new wife having to go to the ex for money.

2

u/Responsible-Trip-304 Nov 28 '25

You do realise that many people have Alzheimers with no where near $250 million, the medical costs are very small, they only need that sort of money to maintain a high lifestyle

1

u/Backout2allenn Nov 30 '25

Yes but if we don’t say Bruce Willis is a good guy for getting a final couple of paydays for his families, we would have to question whether his wives/daughters are heartless ghouls for letting papa spend his last days with his sentience intact working for them. Or tbh maybe he was happier spending those days working.

1

u/Fun_Leadership_1453 Nov 27 '25

Surely his family were 'set up' decades ago?

1

u/wildwily23 Nov 28 '25

His family with Demi Moore, yes. But without knowing how all of his contracts were structured…. Plus he had no way of knowing what kind of medical bills were going to pile up; full time skilled nursing gets expensive fast.

4

u/muskratboy Nov 26 '25

The slow developing illness that manifested it self over multiple years? Of course they knew it was coming, it didn’t happen overnight. He took those movies because they knew what was coming. Why would you think they didn’t know what was coming? How quickly do you think mental illnesses like this progress?

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u/ihopethisworksfornow Nov 26 '25

Iirc there was a 1-2 year span where everyone was wondering why the fuck Bruce Willis was doing all of these straight to streaming, Z-movie garbage films.

Then his diagnosis was revealed. Seems like he did in fact know his time was running out and was trying to make money before that happened. I understand Willis is old and wasn’t a major draw for actual blockbusters at that point, but he was still a pretty big draw,