Hollywood Hunter

Peter Sanders looked a little impatient, and after greetings with Simon, he proposed to find a place to talk.

Simon did not refuse, and greeted Janet and the others, and took Peter Sanders away from the hotel where the crew stayed and went to a nearby coffee shop.

The two sat down and ordered coffee at random. Peter Sanders said, "Simon, I'm here this time hoping to discuss the contract between you and Fox."

Simon just nodded slightly and waited quietly for Peter Sanders to continue.

Peter Sanders looked at Simon’s expression, paused, but temporarily changed the subject, saying: "Simon, Mr. Goldberg arranged a trial screening of "Butterfly Effect" on Tuesday. But it’s not very good. Several film critics on the scene felt that the film was a bit messy."

Simon gently turned the coffee that the waiter had just served, and said lightly: "If this is the case, Mr. Sanders, I can only say that I am sorry. However, I believe my script is a very wonderful story. I also believe that Bryan has enough strength to show this story perfectly. Perhaps you should be more patient and wait for the film to be completed."

Feeling Simon's strength, Peter Sanders, who originally wanted to make a grip, remembered Ronald Goldberg's request and had to say, "Well, that should be it."

Simon listened to Peter Sanders' tone, but didn't want the other party to be too embarrassed, so he took the initiative to change his name and said, "Peter, did you just talk about the contract?"

Peter Sanders took a sip of the coffee in front of him, put down the cup, and then replied, "Yes, Simon, we plan to fulfill the priority in the contract now and buy your "Reaper Is Here" script. And, Mr. Goldberg also hopes that you can direct the film yourself. If you agree, the project can start now, and the schedule is set at the end of the year."

The great thing about "Reaper is coming" is a very novel idea, but the movie is just an ordinary plasma thriller with limited box office potential. Simon does not intend to waste too much energy on this movie. Moreover, Simon has signed his next directorial contract to Orion, and it is impossible to cooperate with Fox immediately.

However, Simon did not immediately refuse, but asked: "Peter, what about Fox's terms?"

Peter Sanders hesitated, but this time he didn't make any further detours, and directly quoted the price offered by Ronald Sandberg: "Simon, as long as you are willing to direct yourself, we can give $2 million. Director’s remuneration, plus 10% of the North American box office profit share. This is a very generous offer, Simon, under normal circumstances, it is impossible for a newcomer like you to get a profit share. Moreover, I can tell you that you This contract is exactly the same as the salary of Brian directed "Butterfly Effect." He has been a famous director for a long time. Also, the price of the script is 300,000 US dollars, and you can enjoy the same sharing terms as union members."

Simon nodded slightly this time, and Fox offered more sincere conditions this time.

In this era, with the exception of a few people such as Spielberg at the top of the pyramid, the highest salary of other first-line directors was about 5 million US dollars.

This condition of Fox is also an affirmation of his directing skills in "Lola Run".

You know, in Hollywood, where the film industry is already very developed, depending on the work, studios are still very accurate in assessing the ability of a filmmaker.

If Simon now accidentally wins a high box office with untechnical films like "Blair the Witch". Then, the film company will definitely be amazed, but unless you want to try your luck, take advantage of the popularity he has accumulated in Blair the Witch. Otherwise, no studio would be willing to issue a director's contract to him, let alone the current remuneration plan that is already a quasi-first-line director.

Speaking of which, this is the result Simon had hoped to see at the beginning.

With this in mind, Simon could only shook his head regretfully, and said: "Sorry, Peter, I have signed a directorial contract with Orion. This is actually a collateral condition for Orion's willingness to release "Lola Run" for me."

Peter Sanders heard this, but didn't know what to say for a while.

If it had been known that "Running Lola" could achieve the current box office results, Fox would definitely be willing to sign the same contract with Simon.

unfortunately.

There have always been countless ifs in this world, but there will only be one result.

Fox does not know the specific details of Simon and Orion's signing of the issuance contract, but due to several consecutive contacts, the relevant conditions are actually not difficult to guess. Now that he has agreed to Simon's terms, Orion will definitely maintain his share of the North American box office at about 30%.

So, even according to the total box office of "Lola Run" of 150 million US dollars in North America, Orion will be able to get 50 million US dollars in box office share in the future.

As for the cost of publicity, according to Peter Sanders' observation, the box office of "Lola Run" is basically only supported by media buzz and audience reputation, and Orion Pictures' expenditure in this area is simply pitiful. Even if Orion Pictures took the initiative to increase its investment in publicity in order to obtain more profits later, it would not be possible to exceed US$10 million in any case.

Calculated in this way, it is just a simple theater release of "Lola Run", Orion Pictures will earn a net profit of 40 million US dollars.

40 million dollars.

This is obviously still a very conservative estimate.

However, the entire Fox Pictures industry did not have a profit of 40 million US dollars last year. In other words, the film business of Fox Pictures last year was simply a loss.

As the vice president of Fox Pictures, Peter Sanders knows very well that among the films released by his company last year, the best box office result was only $85 million for "Alien 2".

Moreover, of the 16 films released throughout the year, none of them had a box office of over 100 million, and only five had a box office of over US$10 million. Among them, 12 were at a loss. The parent company News Corporation has even been discussing reducing this year's film business budget.

Peter Sanders is just fortunate now, and the person who finally made the decision to reject Simon's hand over "Lola Run" was Ronald Goldberg. Otherwise, in the next few months, he is likely to leave behind.

Seeing Peter Sanders not speaking, Simon continued: "Peter, frankly speaking, I don’t actually have any interest in directing "Death Is Coming" myself. However, if Fox wants to get this script now, I also have At my own request, I will be a producer myself."