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'Everybody worked for super cheap!' George Clooney reveals famous friends including Matt Damon and Cate Blanchett took major pay cuts for Monuments Men

PUBLISHED: 14:03 EST, 4 February 2014 | UPDATED: 18:13 EST, 4 February 2014

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It's got a starry line-up including George Clooney, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett and Bill Murray but Monuments Men was made on a budget.

George, who co-wrote, co-produced and directed the movie which focuses on a group on the frontlines in Europe during World War II as they attempt to save precious art stolen by Nazis, called in favours from his famous friends to ensure it got made.

Revealing they earned about a 10th of 15th of their usual rate, he told Variety: 'If you pay everybody a full boatload, it’s a $150 million film. You just can’t do it. Everybody worked for super cheap, like crazy cheap.'

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Cheap as chips: George Clooney called in favours from his famous friends including Cate Blanchett and Matt Damon to get Monuments Men made on a budget

However, he admitted they negotiated a deal where they will get a significant cut of the profits if it does well.

Clooney even flew to Australia to woo Blanchett to the project.

The film also stars Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin and Hugh Bonneville.

Matt Damon and Cate Blanchett save art from the Nazis

Triple threat: George (pictured with John Goodman and Jean Dujardin) co-wrote, co-produced and directed the movie

It is based on a real-life group of museum curators and art historians who set out to rescue art from destruction during World War II.

Although the team consisted of 345 men and women from 13 different countries, the new film appears to only look at the American members of the group.

The movie, which is George's directorial follow-up to The Ides Of March, is based on the book The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves And The Greatest Treasure Hunt In History by Robert M. Edsel.

Panic: George also admitted he was worried Oscar nominated Gravity could be a flop because it had some bad test screenings

Panic over: The movie was such a success that Sandra was even nominated for an Oscar

And George admitted he was shocked at the extent of the art stolen by the Nazis.

He added: 'I had some understanding that Hitler was stealing s**t. I didn't understand he was taking all of it. They don’t teach that in school. That's why I loved the story.

'We figured at this point, we’ve done so many WWII movies, there really aren’t any new ones. You have to get around to someone as smart as Quentin (Tarantino with Inglourious Bastards), who can burn Hitler in a movie theatre to do something different.'