Washington gets off the train

After waiting at the station for almost three months, Denzel Washington has decided he won’t be catching the “Unstoppable” train. 

Sources close to the actor confirm that after waiting almost three months for 20th Century Fox to firm a budget and a fall start, Washington formally withdrew from the film late last week. He is looking for another film project to keep him busy this fall. 

UPDATE: Interestingly, once Washington and his reps came to that decision, passed on Fox’s offer and started entertaining other projects, Fox prepared to come back to the table with a different offer that the studio hoped would entice the two-time Oscar winner to re-consider his decision. The actor will now take a look at the latest script draft, giving a glimmer of hope.

Welcome to a normal day in the tug-of-war between stars and studios in the current economic climate.

Washington had planned since April to re-team with director Tony Scott and play a veteran engineer who jumps into a locomotive with a young conductor (“Star Trek’s” Chris Pine) to halt an unmanned runaway train filled with a toxic chemical cargo whose spillage will decimate a town located near a hairpin turn in the tracks.  

The project has been shaky for weeks (Daily Variety, June 29, 2009). While Washington and Scott will keep talking this week as the longtime collaborators promote “The Taking of Pelham 123” in Europe, the actors reps at WME confirm he is available.

Fox has long been passionate about its runaway train project, previously trying incarnations over the past few years with directors Robert Schwentke and Martin Campbell. Though it now has an enviable combination of director, star, and up-and-coming co-star, studio brass is choking on the budget. Sources said that Fox cut a $107 million tab down to $100 million, but wants it in the low $90 million range. Fox asked Scott to drop his fee from $9 million to $6 million, and wanted Washington to shave $4 million from his $20 million paycheck. Washington declined. The studio hasn't given up on the film, and is already testing the waters with other available stars, sources said.

"Unstoppable" is a victim of poor timing: the Scott-Washington-John Travolta subway drama “Pelham” has posted an unspectacular $60 million gross. That didn't bode well for another Scott-Washington train tale looking to disembark when studios are hyper-conscious about trimming every dime.

Every film that isn’t a branded summer tent-pole is getting squeezed, and stars and their reps will have to battle to hang onto hard-won salary quotes.

Some actors are taking paycuts, deferring salary until break-even, or, in the case of Todd Phillips on "The Hangover" and Jim Carrey on "Yes Man," gambling whole fees for a potentially larger payoff as they become percentage revenue participants alongside studios.

Unless something dramatic happens here, Washington will be an example of the star who says no thanks, and tests the waters elsewhere.