[dropcap]M[/dropcap]ONTY PYTHON are set to make £2.2 million each from their recent reunion.
The legendary comedy troupe - consisting of John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones - will all earn a seven-figure payday for their 10 shows at London’s The O2 arena, which have been billed as the group’s last ever gigs together.
A source told The Sun newspaper: “Each will pocket at least £2.2million. That’s quite a tidy little sum for just 10 days of them performing material they could recite in their sleep.”
All 10 ‘Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five To Go’ gigs have sold out, with some 20,000 fans attending each night, and the septuagenarian comics are set to earn even more money as they’ve sold lucrative TV rights for their final show on Sunday (20.07.14) to UKTV Gold. The gig will also be broadcast in cinemas around the world.
The lavish production - which features state-of-the-art sets, expensive video skits and backing dancers - is thought to cost £4.5 million to stage.
A portion of the profits will go to the estate of late Monty Python star Graham Chapman, who died in 1989 but continues to have a presence in the troupe’s sketches.
The bumper payday will go a long way to help alleviate sitcom legend John Cleese’s hefty alimony payments, as he has been ordered to pay ex-wife Alyce Faye Eichelberger around £600,000 a year until 2016.
