Peter Dinklage and Morgan Freeman face off in Super Bowl ad, and other cast member news

Peter Dinklage and Morgan Freeman have long had a bitter rivalry. Well, not really, but that’s the impression PepsiCo is trying to give in a new ad featuring the two of them. And it’s not just any ad; the company is prepping a Super Bowl ad promoting two of their products: Doritos Blaze (Doritos but spicier) and Mountain Dew Ice (Mountain Dew with some lemon-lime juice in it). Freeman represents Mountain Dew and Dinklage Doritos. It’s on. Here’s the teaser:

It’s weird to think of there even being a teaser for a commercial. It’s like a trailer for a trailer. The full ad will air during the Super Bowl on February 4, when Freeman and Dinklage finally put their feud to bed once and for all.

Next, let’s talk briefly about salaries. We’ve reported before on how much money the Game of Thrones stars make. Unsurprisingly, it’s a lot, with heavy-hitters like Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Kit Harington (Jon Snow) and Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister) all taking home $500,000 per episode. Nice work if you can get it.

But as high as those salaries are, they aren’t at the top of the food chain. For example, Mark Harmon pulls down $525,000 for every episode of NCIS on CBS, HBO pays Dwayne Johnson $600,000 per episode for Ballers, and you don’t even want to know what each of the main cast members on The Big Bang Theory make per episode…but I’ll tell you anyway. It’s $900,000.

Now, Independent reports that Ellen Pompeo is leap-frogging the Game of Thrones stars and pulling down $525,000 for every episode of Grey’s Anatomy, where she’s played lead character Meredith Grey since 2005. How will Kit Harington compete? “I’m 48 now,” she told The Hollywood Reporter, “so I’ve finally gotten to the place where I’m OK asking for what I deserve, which is something that comes only with age.”

So I guess the takeaway of this story is: go into acting. You’ll make millions.

Let’s end this clip with some music. Game of Thrones composer Ramin Djawadi  stopped by NPR Music to promote the Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience, which kicks off in May, and played a lovely acoustic version of the main title theme. Head here to watch and listen.

Next: Peter Dinklage resumes filming Game of Thrones, and a familiar set returns for season 8

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h/t Variety