The Los Angeles Times is running a story that George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Harrison Ford won't be paid until "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" makes at least $400 million in revenue.

That's the amount cited by the Times as the figure Paramount needs to hit before breaking even and starts earning its distribution fee. According the Times' sources, Paramount paid $185 million for the movie's production and at least $150 million for worldwide marketing. They will earn 12.5% in distribution fee for theatrical, DVD, etc.

However, looking at the past movies, the filmmakers are not at such a risk as the article painted them to be.

According to Boxofficemojo.com, the worldwide box office for the three movies are $384 million, $333 million, and $474 million, respectively.

In 2008 dollars, according to the U.S. Dept of Labor inflation calculator, the three movies made $902.4 million, $686 million, and $801 million, with the average being $801 million.

$400 million? The trio will need a bigger boat to haul the cash.

Update 7/11/2008:
As of today, Crystal Skull has worldwide box office gross of $738M (source: Boxofficemojo.com)