Most of Hollywood's stars who are qualified to talk about box office sharing are undoubtedly the big stars of the 20 million club.

But in Hollywood, when studios negotiate with celebrities for their salaries and shares, they always use the stars' past box office results as a reference. This is also known as "box office appeal".

For example, action superstars such as Sylvester Stallone and Schwarzenegger in the 90s took advantage of the east wind when the Germans "invaded" Hollywood, and made a lot of mark foreign exchange.

And before Tom Hanks officially entered the 20 million club, he also made a big profit of $70 million with the box office share of "Forrest Gump".

And Will Smith has officially received a fixed salary of 20 million since last year's biopic "Boxer Ali", and in this year's upcoming "Men in Black 2" and the already negotiated "Jedi Men 2", he will also enjoy 10% and 20% of the box office share respectively.

Therefore, the idea that box office sharing is more important than fixed remuneration has become the concept of actors who aspire to become top stars since the 90s.

So even if Johnny Depp is now a second-rate actor, but once he receives an A-grade commercial blockbuster, he and his agent Tracy Jacob first consider box office sharing.

"What do you mean by a share linked to box office results?" asked Tracey Jacob, who could guess the meaning of the other party as soon as she heard the name.

Henry smiled disapprerovingly, and then explained: "It's very simple, we Fire Lion feel that the previous method of relying solely on the past achievements of actors to determine the salary is outdated. So we're going to have a new set of pay and box office sharing systems. ”

Henry's words were a bit unshy, and Tracey Jacob's eyelids jumped.

Starting from the capital "invasion" of the Germans in the 90s, as well as the wave after wave of box office nuclear bomb effects of Hollywood movies around the world at that time, it provided the confidence for superstars to ask for 20 million or even 30 million salaries.

At that time, the most ferocious one of the hammer deals was probably Spielberg.

The box office of "Jurassic Park" in 1993 plus other profit sharing made him unprecedented, and it was difficult for him to earn $250 million in the future!

This is also one of the important reasons why Sid was not optimistic about DreamWorks from the beginning, to open a weighty studio, then you must use the thinking of a studio operator to run the company.

Reducing unnecessary costs and increasing the profit margin of the film project itself is just like the business philosophy of any industry and any company.

But Spielberg and others are themselves the beneficiaries of Hollywood's big producers, big directors and big star system. Regardless of whether the film makes money or not, whether the studio makes money or not, as the core rulers of the film project, they will only think about how much money they make first.

This actually conflicts naturally with his identity as the owner of DreamWorks, and under such a ridiculous organizational structure, how can DreamWorks become a challenge to the existence of the Big Seven?

Henry didn't let Tracey Jacobdo wait, and said straight to the point, "So the remuneration system we have now is like this - we will first calculate a profit balance point based on the production and distribution costs of commercial films." ”

"In the case of Pirates of the Caribbean, for example, we expect the production cost to be $140 million, and the cost of publicity is between $30 million and $40 million, so we expect the profit balance point to be $400 million at the global box office. ”

At the same time, because Mr. Johnny Depp plays one of the three main characters in the film, his salary will be the same as that of the heroine Miss Lindsay Lohan 5 million. Then when the global box office of the film reaches $600 million, Mr. Johnny Depp can get a 2.5% share of the box office. When the box office exceeds $800 million, we pay a 5% share of the box office. ”

"So if the box office is 600 million, Johnny can get 15 million, and 800 million box office means 40 million. Tracey Jacob did the quick mental calculations.

"Yes, I think this sharing ratio can already show the sincerity of our Fire Lion. Henry asked, smiling.

"Although this is good, but ......" Tracey Jacob is very satisfied with the sharing ratio given by the Fire Lion, but she is not satisfied: "Do you all use the same salary and sharing ratio for all five of your films?"

"Of course. Henry said with a smile.

"That's too little!" Tracey Jacob immediately retorted, "According to Hollywood conventions, after each film, we have to adjust the corresponding salary according to the star's coffee position, and we definitely can't accept you setting the next five movies at once." ”

Henry smiled and looked at Tracy Jacob, "The reason why Hollywood needs big stars is because of their 'box office appeal'. ”

"Not bad. Tracey Jacob nodded.

"But we don't need 'star appeal', we create popular movies, we create popular stars, and we don't need stars to make us who we are. Henry had been with Sid for a long time, and had learned a little bit of the wrist of a stick and a carrot.

"And, Tracey, please don't forget. The current Mr. Johnny Depp is no longer his 'rising star' in the 90s. Henry finally smiled and said conclusively: "I would like to know, if he loses this opportunity, can he still return to the stage of A-grade commercial blockbusters?"

Tracey Jacob's cheeks flushed in the face of Henry's aggressiveness.

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"On behalf of the crew, I would like to welcome both of you to The Departed. Sid smiled and shook hands with the two big-name old actors opposite.

"I'm also excited to be working with some of Hollywood's biggest talented directors. Robert De Niro, the god of acting, shook hands with Sid with a smile.

The godfather next to him, Al Pacino, also held Sid's hand and said with a smile: "Yes, yes, look at you Sid, I feel old again, Hollywood is really the back waves of the Yangtze River pushing the front waves, let us old guys Alexander." ”

"You're kidding me, Mr. Pacino's performances have always been something I've really enjoyed. Sid also joked with a smile.

While crew A was preparing for "Pirates of the Caribbean", Sid was not idle, while crew B's "The Departed" was looking for filming locations and local studios in Toronto, while Sid was constantly selecting suitable actors in Hollywood.

The Hong Kong version of "Infernal Affairs" has assembled a cast that can be called "luxurious", and Sid also has the heart to reproduce such glory this time.