Ask for commuter passes and recommended tickets!

The current situation is that Matthew and Zack Snyder have neither money nor the initiative in the face of Frank Miller, and the four million dollars they expected cannot fill Frank Miller's lion's mouth at all, and Frank Miller is not stupid, and he has been dragging on until the release of "Sin City", just to occupy an absolute dominant position in the subsequent negotiations.

Matthew and Zack Schneider lacked the experience of actually running a movie, and a lot of things weren't well prepared.

The most important of these is money.

It's impossible to impress Frank Miller without paying enough money, and Sin City has received a good response, and while no one has yet eyed Frank Miller's other works, Matthew is well aware that it won't be long before other studios will react.

Compared to those medium and large production companies, he and Zack Snyder have no advantage at all.

Getting Frank Miller done as soon as possible is the way to go.

In a short period of time, Matthew couldn't find a better suitor than David Ellison.

After he spoke with Helen Herman and David Ellison for the first time, Zack Schneider also flew back from New York specifically to meet David Ellison again with Matthew with a preview clip.

David Ellison has money in his hands, but he has not been able to open the situation in Hollywood, and now there are people who take the initiative to cooperate, and one of them is a popular star like Matthew, he is indeed a little excited.

In the days after the first meeting, David Ellison also had his own people check it out, and it was not difficult to find that Matthew and Zack Snyder had been planning for a long time.

Just entering mid-April, David Ellison personally came to Matthew's office and was sure to work with him and Zack Schneider.

"I can join you in the negotiations with Frank Miller to finance the rights to adapt The Three Hundred Spartans. ”

Sitting on the sofa chair in the office, David Ellison said directly to Matthew, "I can also take full responsibility for the production cost of the film!"

Matthew personally made David Ellison a cup of tea, placed it on the coffee table next to him, and said, "I'm sure it's going to be a very successful collaboration." ”

"But I have one condition!" David Ellison emphasized.

Matthew frowned slightly, a little worried, but still said, "You just talk about it, David." ”

"I need to add a remark clause to our agreement!" David Ellison said with a serious look at Matthew, "You must be the lead actor in this film!"

Hearing this, Matthew relaxed.

Again, David Ellison emphasized, "This is the premise of our collaboration, and most of my confidence in this project comes from you, and if you don't play Leonidas, I will never invest." ”

In his eyes, things like Zack Snyder, stylized images, and Frank Miller's classic illustration adaptations are nowhere near as dazzling as Matthew's past three films.

He is very rich, even if the investment of tens of millions of dollars fails, it will not hurt his bones, since he came to Hollywood to invest, he has never thought of failure, and he also wants to show his father with successful cases that there is nothing wrong with the path he chose.

Matthew Horner is undoubtedly a guarantee of success!

Since that night, he has studied Matthew Horner's resume, an actor from a mediocre background with limited education, who is very discerning in choosing films, and all the films in which he plays the leading role not only do not fail, but each one is a box office hit.

David Ellison went to film school, or the USC Film School near Hollywood, and is half a professional when it comes to speaking, plus he comes from a business family, so he knows that such success can definitely not be explained by luck.

"I'll play Leonidas!" Matthew said with complete relief, "This can be added to our contract." ”

"Good!" David Ellison laughed, "It's a deal!"

Of course, relying on verbal promises alone, neither side will be at ease, and the follow-up will definitely be placed on the formal contract.

Matthew thought for a moment and said, "David, I also have one condition. ”

David Ellison said directly, "Just say it. ”

"It's better to add a clause to our agreement. "Matthew doesn't talk nonsense either," Zack Schneider has to be the director of this film adaptation. ”

"You're bullish on Zack Snyder?" David Ellison was a little puzzled, "I remember he's only directed 'Dawn of the Living Dead' so far, right?"

"I know Zack Snyder. Matthew told the truth, "You've seen the preview footage, and the idea and core of the project all came from Zach, and I doubt anyone else can shoot the style of the preview footage." ”

David Ellison groaned for a moment and said, "Okay, I agree!"

Matthew stood up and took the initiative to stretch out his right hand, "I'm lucky to be able to work with an investor like you!"

David Ellison also stood up and shook his right hand hard, "Our cooperation will definitely succeed." ”

Later, Zack Schneider and Helen Herman also rushed to Matthew's office, and several people got together to discuss many details, and the lawyer then joined in, and according to the opinions reached by several people, the agreement was drawn up as soon as possible.

Two days later, David Ellison signed a formal agreement with Matthew and Zack Schneider.

The core of this agreement is roughly David Ellison's "Sky Dance" film company, which financed the film adaptation rights for the illustration "The Three Hundred Warriors of Sparta", and was responsible for the production and investment of the film.

In addition, the agreement clearly stipulates that the director of this project must be Zack Schneider, the actor is played by Matthew, and most of the cast and crew of the future film will be Helen Herman and the angel agency in charge, and three percent of the future income of "Spartan Three Hundred Warriors" will be used as the intermediary and agent commission of the angel agency.

To be precise, since David Ellison has no experience and lacks connections in Hollywood, Helen Herman and Angel Agency will provide a simplified version of the one-stop package for this project.

Therefore, the angel agency will contact the distributor for this film in the future.

David Ellison's Sky Dance Film Company had money, but no distribution channels, and it was impossible to build it anytime soon.

With hundreds of clauses involved in the details of a contract agreement, it is never easy to sign an eight-figure investment agreement.

After the agreement was reached, Matthew, Zack Schneider, Helen Herman and David Ellison, together with external PR experts, rushed to New York to start a tug-of-war negotiation with Frank Miller.

Frank Miller was indeed impressed by Zack Schneider's preview footage and production concept, and agreed in principle to license the film adaptation of "The Three Hundred Warriors of Sparta", and the points of disagreement between the two sides mainly focused on the licensing fee and the share of the film after its release.

Matthew and Zack Schneider's original identities were very simple, just working as actors and directors, lacking enough understanding of the film copyright adaptation market, and the initial $4 million copyright fee was okay before Frank Miller's work was adapted two years ago, and now it is not enough for Frank Miller to plug his teeth.

Frank Miller, for his part, negotiated a $15 million base license fee plus a 10 percent global box office share.

This condition is too harsh.

But David Ellison didn't care, and after the first contact and negotiations, he said that he would spend money on the copyright fees.

In his words, a problem that can be solved with money is not a problem at all.

Fortunately, he just said that although he was young and had some impulses of rich children, he was not stupid enough to be so stupid, and he also understood the truth of shouting prices and paying back money on the spot.

In the following three days, the two sides held three rounds of negotiations, and the differences on the most core cost of adaptation gradually narrowed, and by the end of the third day of negotiations, an agreement was finally reached on this key issue.

Sky Dance Productions invested $9 million as the basic adaptation fee for "The Three Hundred Warriors of Sparta", and in the future, after the release of the film, 5% of the North American box office will be used as a post-production share.

The biggest disagreement is resolved, and the subsequent negotiations will be faster, such as the producer of Frank Miller's future nominal film, and the conditions such as the producer's salary and benefits, are within the acceptable range of both parties.

And David Ellison, as the funder, doesn't care much about such trivial expenses.

Seeing that the problem is not big, Matthew prepares to leave New York and return to Los Angeles because Michael Bay changes the script, resulting in a delayed commercial for the Mercedes G series off-road vehicle, which is about to start filming inside Disney studios, and as the only protagonist of the commercial other than the car, he cannot be absent from filming.

On the day he left New York, Sky Dance Productions had already initialled an agreement with Frank Miller, and the formal agreement would be signed after the last few minor issues were resolved.

As long as there are no unexpected situations such as world wars, the film rights of "The Three Hundred Warriors of Sparta" will be resolved smoothly.

After returning to Los Angeles, Matthew took a day off and then arrived at a small studio at Disney Studios on time for the date announced by Mercedes-Benz.

The shooting of this commercial is divided into two parts: interior and exterior, each of which plans a day's shooting time, Michael Bay has been a director who has been shooting commercials and MTV for many years before entering the film industry, even after becoming a film director, he will occasionally make cameo appearances to shoot commercials for some big brands.

Matthew arrives at Disney Studios and also meets the man who was born when he was hit by a comet that hit Earth.