Hearing Simon's request, Peter Sanders almost blurted out: Do you know what a producer actually does?

Ordinary people's impression of Hollywood filmmakers is often that of a certain big star and a certain director. But in fact, since the rise of the American film industry in the early twentieth century, Hollywood has been producer-centric.

Except for a few directors and stars who are strong enough, in most cases, a crew, the one with the most power, is usually the producer, who is the final decision-maker who controls the direction of a film's creation.

Even those strong directors and stars who want to exert their influence on a film often need to be named producers, which is equivalent to still not breaking the producer-centric system.

Simon looked at Peter Saunders' changing expression and waited patiently for a moment before saying, "Peter, I know what you're thinking." However, now that I've finished Lola Run, I'm naturally able to do Death well. And there's certainly no second person in Hollywood who knows better than me what kind of movie I'm going to make "Here Comes the Grim Reaper." ”

Peter Saunders restrained his mind a little and said, "In that case, Simon, why don't you act as the director yourself? ”

"Because it's not worth it, I'm going to focus on the movies that I'm more interested in. However, "The Grim Reaper" is my script, and I also want to be able to control the production of this film myself. ”

Peter Saunders thought about it, but still shook his head: "Simon, you should know the situation in Hollywood, Fox will not give control of a movie to a young man like you. ”

Simon shrugged indifferently: "In that case, maybe other studios will agree to do it." ”

Peter Sanderston was a little speechless.

The contract signed by Simon and Fox is, in the final analysis, only a priority. With the box office explosion of "Lola Run" and Simon's fame, there will definitely be studios in Hollywood who will not hesitate to break the tacit agreement on option contracts for the sake of profit.

If other studios agree to let Simon take control of the film himself, and Fox is unwilling to follow up, it will have to choose to give up.

Fox has already given up on "Lola Run" before, and then gave up "Death is Coming" at this time, if this movie is still very successful in the future, then Fox will definitely become the laughing stock of Hollywood.

After a moment's hesitation, Peter Sanders said, "Simon, what about your conditions?"

"I only need a $1 base salary for production, screenwriting, etc.," Simon said, and without waiting for Peter Saunders to react, he continued: "However, after the release of the film, I need to take 10% of the North American box office and 5% of the video tape sales share, and the operation cycle of TV broadcast rights is too long, so I don't want this." ”

Hearing Simon propose a base salary of $1, Peter Sanders already showed a surprised expression, but when Simon finished talking about the follow-up conditions, Peter Sanders's expression had already turned to stunned.

This little guy is so daring to open his mouth.

Peter Sanders heard very clearly that Simon was not asking for a profit share with a lot of room for maneuvering, but a direct box office revenue share and a commission on video sales.

In the entire Hollywood, Spielberg is probably the only one who dares to offer such conditions.

After being stunned for dozens of seconds, Peter Sanders said, "Simon, this can't be. ”

Simon looked at Peter Saunders' expression that was almost staring out, made a slightly calming gesture, and said, "Peter, actually, I have already asked people to do a simple budget assessment in advance according to my ideas for this project. Give me "Here Comes the Grim Reaper" and you can do it for $8 million. As for the cost of publicity, this is, of course, how much you say. Also, I don't have the energy to calculate the break-even point of "The Grim Reaper", so let's be simple, the future domestic box office in North America will be calculated at $16 million twice the production cost. With Fox ensuring the schedule, number of screens, and publicity investment, the film's North American box office was less than 16 million, and I only got paid $1. More than $16 million, my pay is on the terms just now. ”

Peter Saunders calmed down a little when he heard Simon's words.

However, in a blink of an eye, thinking of the box office expectation that "Lola Run" in North America is likely to exceed $160 million, he quickly shook his head: "Simon, if you want to get the sharing conditions you just mentioned, $16 million is definitely not enough, at least $50 million is needed." ”

Based on the information in memory and the popularity accumulated with "Lola Run", Simon's North American box office expectation for "Here Comes the Grim Reaper" is indeed $50 million. It's just that in this world, movies have always been the most difficult business to predict success or failure, and he naturally won't completely open the hole cards in his heart.

Moreover, according to the production cost of "The Grim Reaper" is $8 million, as long as the North American box office can reach $10 million, Fox can easily achieve profitability through subsequent overseas distribution, video tape sales and TV rights revenue.

Simon's guarantee of $16 million is already very high.

"Peter, if I'm not mistaken, of the 16 films that Fox released last year, only five grossed more than $10 million. Others, such as Kate Capshaw's "Space Station", had a budget of $20 million and a North American box office of 9.69 million. Sean Connery's "The Name of the Rose", with the same budget of $20 million, grossed 7.15 million in North America. "Manhattan Project", $18 million budget, North American box office 3.9 million. Look, you've spent a lot of money on so many junk projects, why wouldn't you want to spend a little less money on a very secure movie?"

When Peter Saunders heard Simon suddenly mention "Space Station", the corners of his mouth twitched, and he didn't know if the young man did it on purpose, but he immediately retorted: "Simon, before the movie is released, no one can guarantee that it will succeed." ”

Simon nodded, "Of course, Peter." But I can guarantee that if the movie doesn't work out, I'll only need $1, not 5 million. ”

Peter Sanders insisted: "Simon, there are actually a lot of people in Hollywood who are willing to take only one dollar for an opportunity. ”

"According to the box office results of "Lola Run", we pushed forward three years, "Top Gun" in '86, "Back to the Future" in '85, and "Beverly Detective" in '84, so do you think Tom Cruise will take $1, or Robert Zemeckis will take $1, or Eddie Murphy will take $1?" Simon stared at Peter Sanders, and after saying this, he got up and said, "Peter, that's what I wanted. You can consult with Mr. Goldberg, and I'd better get an answer next week. By the way, the hotel has been chartered by the crew, and if you want to stay overnight tonight, I can ask someone to clean up a room for you. ”

After Simon finished speaking, he beckoned the waiter to settle the bill, and then got up to leave.

Peter Sanders didn't get up, he still sat in the café frowning and thinking. He came at this time on Saturday afternoon, in addition to discussing the contract with Simon for "The Grim Reaper", in fact, he also had the intention of pulling a relationship with the rising Hollywood rookie, so he originally planned to stay at Coolidge for two days.

It's just that, thinking back to Simon's strength when he first spoke, Peter Saunders understands that it doesn't make much sense for him to stay here.

As for Simon's offer, calm down at this point, Peter Sanders realized that the other party's contract was not strictly too much.

Although he is still too young, although he has just made a movie, although there is still some luck in the success of that movie. But the expected box office of "Lola Run" is too amazing. Even if this movie fails to win this year's North American box office champion, as long as it breaks 100 million, Simon is qualified enough to shout the offer just now.

Peter Sanders also understands that relying on the popularity accumulated by "Lola Run", "Death is Coming", a creative and commercial horror movie, is completely easy to achieve $16 million at the North American box office.

Moreover, even if the expectations are higher, the North American box office of "The Grim Reaper" reached 50 million, and Simon's share from the box office was only $5 million. Sean Connery's salary for "The Name of the Rose" was $5 million, but the film's domestic box office of just over $7 million in North America made Fox lose to the bottom.

Of course, there's also a 5% share of videotape sales, which is also a price not to be underestimated. In the Writers Guild's "Basic Agreement", film screenwriters can only take a 0.3% share of the sales revenue from the post-production videotape of a film.

In 1986, Hollywood movie revenue surpassed North American box office revenue. Add to that the fact that popular horror films are generally more popular in the videotape market than other genres, and Simon's 5% offer is likely to be about the same as 10% of box office revenue in the future.

But.

Peter Sanders can't ignore the fact that Simon's offer is entirely on the premise of ensuring Fox's profitability.

In all fairness, that's fair.

Peter Saunders is just having a hard time accepting that an eighteen-year-old is about to break into the top of the Hollywood pyramid so soon and become his equal.

It's just too much to accept.