Matthew McConaughey Says How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days Still Pays Him the Best Residuals of Any Film He's Made
Matthew McConaughey has revealed that How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days still delivers cheques to his mailbox roughly two decades after the film's 2003 release — and pays him better than anything else on his filmography. Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast in comments reported by Deadline on 13 August 2026, the actor called the romantic comedy "the gift that keeps on giving" and said it generates the best "mailbox money" — industry shorthand for residuals, the payments actors receive when their films air on television, stream, or sell on home video — of any film he has ever done.
Not close, either. McConaughey said the film earns him the most residual income "by far. By lengths." He also said it is probably his favourite romantic comedy he has made.
The film, directed by Donald Petrie and based on a picture book by Michele Alexander and Jennie Long, stars McConaughey as advertising executive Benjamin Barry, who bets he can make any woman fall in love with him. Kate Hudson plays writer Andie Anderson, who is planning an article about how to make a man dump you. The screenplay is by Kristen Buckley, Brian Regan, and Burr Steers (Deadline).
McConaughey has been telling this story for years. The Playlist quoted him in February 2019 saying the film "has been my greatest mailbox money of any film" (The Playlist), and Cinemablend reported the same month that it remains the romantic comedy he still earns the most from (Cinemablend). On the podcast, he added a nostalgic detail: when residuals flowed mainly from DVD sales and cable broadcasts, he used to receive a large cheque every March, driven by Valentine's Day viewing (Deadline).
McConaughey described the film as "a real anchor in the romantic-comedy genre through time" (Deadline). The film was part of a stretch that also included The Wedding Planner (2001) and Failure to Launch (2006), a period McConaughey has said nearly drove him to quit Hollywood altogether (Deadline).
For fans holding out for more, a sequel has never materialised, though the interest is there. Kate Hudson said on Bravo's Watch What Happens Live in 2024 that she would be "totally open" to a sequel if the script and McConaughey were on board (Deadline). A modern television adaptation was announced as in development at Quibi in August 2019 (Deadline); Quibi shut down in December 2020.
McConaughey and his wife Camila have kept the film's spirit alive at home, too. In November 2024, he posted a video channelling his How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days character alongside her (New York Post).
Not bad for a bet, a magazine article, and a love fern.
