Eric doesn't know what Tom Cruise's attitude is, but Paula Wagner is clearly keen to make the deal happen. To this end, Paula Wagner also said that Tom Cruise could sign a contract with Firefly for three "Iron Man" films at one time, on the condition that he only retains the bargaining power for the sequel's salary.www.biquge.info

Compared with Tom Cruise's coffee position, this condition is still very sincere, due to the explosion of the film market in recent years, the value of Hollywood stars has risen significantly, and now Hollywood A-list superstars have rarely signed multiple film contracts with film companies at one time.

However, this obviously does not meet Eric's requirements.

"Paula, the Marvel Cinematic Universe plan is a very important layout for Firefly, in order to ensure the implementation of this plan, the bottom line for us to select core superhero characters is to sign at least six film contracts, this condition can not be an exception for anyone, so three films are definitely not good. ”

Paula Wagner said: "Eric, since you attach so much importance to the Marvel Cinematic Universe project, Firefly should obviously be more cautious in the selection of actors. I think you must know that a one-time six-film contract would not be agreed to by any A-list superstar in Hollywood. ”

Eric shook his head lightly and said, "I think you may have misunderstood a little, Paula, Firefly wants to be able to sign a long-term contract, but that doesn't mean that we are not willing to pay the actor more generously." We have drawn up a detailed variable remuneration package. Take Cruise, for example, if he is willing to sign, we can even adopt a floating salary mechanism from the first part. ”

Paula Wagner looked quietly at Avi Arad sitting next to her.

After she came into contact with Marvel, Avi Arad was very eager for Cruise to participate in "Iron Man", and everyone just had a brief discussion and hurried to Los Angeles, so she has not heard the explanation of the floating salary plan from Avi Arrad.

From this small detail, Paula Wagner speculated that Avi Arad may not be too much in favor of Eric's plan. However, it is not difficult to imagine that Eric's one-time six-part contract bundle plan will definitely discourage more than 90% of Hollywood's first-line superstars. But in Hollywood's traditional notion, how can a big-budget movie succeed without the participation of big stars.

Despite this, Paula Wagner did not show any anomalies, and continued to ask, "Eric, can you go into more detail?"

"Of course," Eric nodded, patiently explaining, "Take Cruise, Firefly can offer him a guaranteed salary, based on $10 million." Next, the global box office of the film is less than $300 million, and the base salary of $10 million remains unchanged. Between $300 million and $500 million, the increase in salary is not too big, and for every $100 million added, add 1 million, because this is still within the payback range of the film. The global box office reaches and exceeds $500 million, take the highest number at the box office and multiply it by 3 million, that is, 500 million in the world, Cruise can get $15 million, 800 million in the world, Cruise can get $24 million, and so on. ”

Paula Wagner knew that Eric was simply giving examples, and that these numbers would certainly not be the final solution, and that the detailed terms and conditions involved in a specific compensation contract would certainly be dozens of pages long.

However, Paula Wagner also realized that the overall salary package was not very generous.

In recent years, the number of Hollywood films that have grossed more than $100 million a year has approached 20, almost double the number in the early nineties. However, despite the overall prosperity of Hollywood films in the global market, the number of films that exceed $500 million at the global box office each year is still only a handful.

Take last year as an example, in addition to the outlier of "Titanic", there are only three films with a global box office of more than 500 million US dollars: "The Matrix", "The Mummy 2", and "Mission Impossible 2".

Although Sony's "Men in Black 2" and MGM's "Breaking Bads 2" also brought huge profits to the studio, the global box office was only more than 400 million.

Since the production cost of mainstream Hollywood commercial films has remained within $100 million, there are very few that exceed $70 million. The global box office of a film can reach 300 million US dollars, counting the multi-channel income in the later stage, it can already make the film company make a lot of money, and the global box office of more than 300 million US dollars is also a sign of the success of Hollywood commercial films.

Therefore, Eric's remuneration terms, in Paula Wagner's view, although generous on the surface, are more like an empty pie.

According to this kind of remuneration conditions, if the actor wants to get a salary of 20 million US dollars, the global box office needs to reach 700 million US dollars, so that last year, only "Titanic" and "The Matrix" were left, and the global box office of "The Mummy 2" and "Mission Impossible 2" was only more than 600 million.

Paula Wagner's even more unaware Firefly's attempt to achieve 'mass-produced' plans for the Marvel Cinematic Universe has the potential to easily reach 700 million at the global box office.

Although Cruise has entered a low point in his career in recent years, because he has co-financed and produced both co-finances and producers on most of his films, it is still very easy to earn $20 million from each film, even if the films he is involved in are not very good at the box office.

After thinking for a moment, Paula Wagner said: "Eric, if I'm not mistaken, there were no more than five Hollywood movies that grossed $500 million last year, right? In this case, do you think it is reasonable that the protagonist can only get $15 million at the global box office of $500 million?"

Eric looked at Paula Wagner with a knowing smile on his face and said, "Paula, you should understand that if the Marvel Cinematic Universe project is successful, Cruise will get more than just a salary, at least for the next ten years, he will be able to become a first-line superstar with the popularity brought by this film." I guess that's the main reason you're here today, isn't it?"

Cruise has been in a state of declining popularity in recent years due to missing out on the "Mission Impossible" series, and if he suffers one or two more box office failures, he will lose his status as a first-list superstar almost in a minute. John Travolta, Richard Gill and others, who had a moment of prosperity back then, basically disappeared from the front-line ranks, and Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and others also came to the brink of this situation.

In order to maintain his popularity, Arnold Schwarzenegger took over the role of Freezer in "Batman and Robin" last year, trying to find a new way by playing the villain, and even Mel Gibson, who has achieved good results in his directing career, has begun to seek to reboot the "Lethal Weapon" series. Therefore, Tom Cruise seeks to star in "Iron Man" at this time, and the deeper purpose is actually to maintain his position as a first-line superstar for a long time.

Paula Wagner was not embarrassed by being broken by Eric, and still had a decent smile on her face, and said, "Eric, I think it's a win-win thing, as long as you can relax the contract restrictions, everyone can get a lot of benefits." What's more, if the "Iron Man" series is successful, even if the three-part contract expires, Tommy will definitely be very happy to renew it. ”

Eric said that with Cruise's bidding style, the fireflies would be very unhappy at that time.

Shaking his head slightly, Eric said, "Paula, I think we should have a hard time agreeing, but, apart from Iron Man, if Cruise wants to work with Firefly, we are more than welcome." ”

Paula Wagner was a little disappointed, with Paramount, Sony and other companies, Cruise can also get the largest production and marketing resources tilt, but Firefly, which has many high-quality projects, will definitely not give them this kind of preferential treatment, therefore, Eric's solicitation is not very attractive to her, Paula Wagner remembered the recent dispute between Firefly and Paramount, and thought that Eric said this, maybe he was trying to hit Paramount, after all, Cruise/Wagner Productions is basically affiliated with Paramount.

Knowing that it was impossible for Cruise to agree to Eric's proposed compensation package, Eric did not give in the slightest, and the two parties did not continue to negotiate.

After lunch, Paula Wagner left in a hurry, and in the afternoon she had to fly back to New York again in the afternoon to take care of the new film that Cruise was shooting.

Avi Arad is in no hurry to return, he will stay in Los Angeles for a few days. It's just that after Paula Wagner left, Avi Arad was extremely disappointed, he didn't know much about Hollywood, so he was used to the strategy of big productions, big directors and big stars like Hollywood's peripheral investors.

In Eric's memory, Marvel's original superhero 'Dream Team' was Tom Cruise as Iron Man, Brad Pitt as Thor, and Edward Norton as Hulk. The final result is known to all, the full rise of Marvel superheroes, and at the same time proves the correctness of adopting the strategy of potential directors and second- and third-tier newcomers.

If Marvel's original idea of the 'dream team' is achieved, the result will be difficult to predict, just like Warner's "Batman" series in recent years, because the strong creator has to pull with the producer on salary, script and other factors every time, four Batman, three protagonists, two directors, this strong instability of the main creative team, and eventually led to the Batman series is not as good as one.

Eric didn't explain much to Avi Arad, and the two talked about some trivial matters related to the establishment of Marvel Studios, and Eric sent Avi Arad out of the manor.

Christina is a little depressed today, she received a call from Eric yesterday to come to the estate for the weekend, and she was still very happy. It's just that early this morning, the girl named Miranda Kerr came uninvited, forced her way into the 'two's world', and near noon, two more guests arrived, and Eric was leaving Los Angeles tomorrow, so to speak, this weekend was really a bit bad.

It wasn't until after two o'clock in the afternoon, when both guests had left, that Eric was able to relax.

But at this time, seeing Miranda pounce on Eric like a pestering kitten, Christina was even more depressed, she was actually cautious in front of Eric, and never dared to be as presumptuous as the girl in front of her.

Christina even wondered if the 'kitten' on Eric's lap didn't know that she was a lion in front of her, or was she too confident that the lion would not eat her in one bite.

Miranda Kerr didn't bother to pay attention to Christina's small emotions such as tangled depression and resentment, and pounced on Eric affectionately, hugged his neck and said coquettishly: "Eric, I saw in the newspaper that the premiere of "Casino Royale" will be held in London, and you will definitely go there at that time, right?"

Eric held Miranda's waist with both hands, didn't let her get too close, and smiled: "yes, but I definitely can't take you there, so don't think about it." ”

"It's so annoying, I haven't even brought it up yet," Miranda grabbed Eric's shirt collar and tugged at it gently, dissatisfied: "You said you were going to help me celebrate my birthday last year, and I didn't see your shadow at all last month, na, how are you going to compensate me?"

Eric knew that Giselle wouldn't tell Miranda about their trip around the world, so he just laughed and said, "Oh, what compensation do you want?"

Miranda straightened up, twisted her waist slightly, and said, "The Disney Channel TV series I'm participating in now is boring, Eric, look, can I play Gwen, Gwen Stacy in "Spider-Man"?"

"Heh, this can't be done, in this way, it's good for you to play a female classmate next to Gwen when the time comes. ”

"It's so insincere, I don't want these little characters in the corners," Miranda shook her little head dissatisfied, rolled her eyes, and said, "Well, I, Christina and I just saw a lot of cars in your garage, well, so many good cars, what a waste, you haven't driven a few times at all, have you?"

Eric smiled and pushed the girl outward, holding her waist to prevent her from moving, and said, "If you want, at least until you're sixteen, not now." ”

Miranda glanced at Christina beside her, rolled her eyes, and said, "Doesn't I look like I'm sixteen now, Eric, and you're sure you can get me a driver's license, right?"

"yes, so, I can't help you," Eric laughed, pinching the girl's cheek, "Don't be so restless, it's nowhere near your age to drive, and I can't explain anything to your parents if something happens." ”

Miranda pleaded for a while, and seeing that Eric never let go, she changed her condition and said, "Forget it, you drive me, well, how about me and Christina for a ride, right now." (To be continued.) )