After a long tug-of-war negotiation, the two sides were getting closer to reaching a consensus, and Murphy was once again involved in negotiations with Bantam Books and George Martin, and after three heated bargains, a deal was finally reached. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Stanton Studios will pay Bantam Books and George Martin a one-time payment of up to $15 million for the adaptation, but the transfer will no longer be limited to A Song of Ice and Fire: Game of Thrones, but will include Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords.

In addition to the $12 million base royalty, Bantam Books and George Martin also enjoy a 10 percent share of the TV series' revenue.

This is also the most contentious place in the negotiations, where one party wants a full revenue share and the other party does not want to give, and finally an agreement is reached on the profit share.

For Hollywood, which relies heavily on sequels and copyright adaptations, such a deal is not too big a deal.

Paying a high price, Murphy of course will not let George Martin go easily, the agreement stipulates that as long as the TV series is approved, George Martin must participate in the screenwriting work, and the screenwriting fee will not be paid separately, and Stanton Studios has the absolute right of first refusal to buy the later novels and the parts that George Martin is conceiving and have not yet written.

Originally, Murphy wanted to do it all at once, but the other party was not stupid, knowing that once the TV series received a good response, there would be room for bargaining with Stanton Studios.

With little media knowledge and coverage, Murphy signed a formal contract on behalf of Studio Stanton with Bantam Books and George Martin at the Death Star Building, where CAA is located.

However, the project will not start preparing immediately, such a huge fantasy epic takes much longer to prepare than ordinary movies, and compared to commercial films, the script is extremely important in the production of American dramas.

George Martin has been a screenwriter in Hollywood, and his ability and experience in this area are not a problem, but Murphy will not blindly trust him, writing a script and writing a novel are completely different things, in addition to personally responsible for script review, Stanton Studio will also recruit suitable screenwriters, and then spend at least a year to a year and a half to polish the script and develop the most basic shooting draft.

Murphy has figured out that Stanton Studio's job for a long time in the future is to prepare and shoot the "Game of Thrones" series, but this is a long-term plan, according to his plan, before "Game of Thrones", Stanton Studios will complete his new project "Gone Girl".

After getting the rights to "A Song of Ice and Fire", Murphy transferred Paul Wilson, who had been involved in the negotiations, back, and Seth Rogen once again offered to be his assistant, and the three of them completed the first draft of the script and the project plan in the fastest time.

These were sent by Murphy to Bill Rothes and Carla Firth, respectively, and the two were also handed over to the CAA and Twentieth Century Fox departments, respectively.

After the big hit of "Deadpool", Murphy has been different in Hollywood, and the new project is invested by Stanton Studios, and CAA is in charge of packaging, and the work is progressing much more smoothly.

The composition of the shares of large Hollywood companies is complex, the internal power is mutually restricted, and there is a complete set of operating mechanisms, any work is not a project that someone says can be set up casually, which will indeed ensure the return on investment and reduce the risks that may be faced, but on the other hand, it also seems to be a little slow to operate.

Murphy is the only shareholder of Stanton Studios, and he actually has the final say on investment, although in the eyes of outsiders, this mode of operation has low anti-risk ability and great investment blindness, but running a film project is indeed much more convenient and faster than a large and bloated company.

After finalizing the first draft of the script, Murphy first went to Twentieth Century Fox, because the film needed a suitable distributor, and he also wanted to bring in part of the investment from Twentieth Century Fox, the most important reason was that the film depended on Twentieth Century Fox for distribution, and second, after spending a lot of money on the adaptation rights of "A Song of Ice and Fire", even now he feels a huge financial pressure.

He can't put all his money into one basket, this is the simplest truth, investment is bound to come with risks, and the advantages of introducing Twentieth Century Fox as a partner far outweigh the disadvantages.

And with Carla Fez, cooperation will be more convenient.

Twentieth Century Fox also had the intention of investing, and there were not too many problems with the issuance, and after they pushed the investment through the review process, Murphy deliberately called Bill Rothes and Carla Firth together and had a serious talk.

"I've reached out to everyone on your crew."

In the living room, Bill Rothes took the coffee handed over by Gal Gadot, thanked him first, and said, "They're ready to join the project at any time." ”

That's the benefit of having a production team that you are used to, which can reduce a lot of unnecessary hassles and make the preparation work much simpler.

"Where's your side?" Murphy looked at Carla Fez.

Carla Firth was holding the glass of water that Gal Gadot gave her, took a sip of lemonade, and said, "There is no problem with distribution, the distribution fee will be ten percent, and other aspects need to wait for the review to be done in detail, but the huge amount of money invested by Twentieth Century Fox in "Heavenly Dynasty" and "X-Men 3: Last Stand" cannot be recovered in a short time, and Dave Scola is promoting the Wolverine independent film project, and now financing is a big problem, and the investment cannot reach half of what you expect, at most only one-third." ”

"Fifteen million dollars?" Murphy frowned, he planned to produce around $45 million, and if Twentieth Century Fox reduced its investment, Stanton Studios would face even more investment pressure.

He needs a certain amount of cash reserves as liquidity, while dealing with some unexpected unexpected events, plus the need to pay a one-time payment for the royalties of "A Song of Ice and Fire", the pressure of $30 million is still quite high.

Maybe you can get a loan from a bank? With his fame after "Deadpool", it must not be very difficult.

Consider bringing in some private equity funds......

In short, after a difficult period of initial obscurity, it will no longer be very difficult for a director who has a film that has grossed more than $550 million worldwide to attract investment.

Murphy nodded, "That's fifteen million dollars." ”

Carla Firth put down her glass, "I will urge the company to complete the audit process as soon as possible." ”

"I need you to be a producer again." Murphy was not polite, and said directly, "I need to focus my energy on directing as much as possible, and I need someone I can fully trust." ”

"Yes." Kara Firth first responded, and then said, "I have no problem this time, but I can't do this kind of specific work in your film every time in the future." Murphy, you need to find or develop a trustworthy producer. ”

"I know." Murphy sighed softly, this kind of person is a scarce talent in Hollywood.

He also knew that Carla Firth was an executive at Twentieth Century Fox and had the goal of continuing to move upward, and it was impossible to work in a specific job in a crew for a long time.

"Oh, yes." Murphy changed the subject, "I came up with a marketing plan that fit the theme and plot of the film. ”

As soon as he said this, Gal Gadot, who had been acting as an audience, stood up, took out the two documents that had been prepared long ago from the bookshelf, and handed them to Carla Firth and Bill Rosys, respectively.

Murphy smiled at Gal Gadot and said, "You guys take a look first. ”

Carla Firth and Bill Rothes took a quick look at it, they had already read the script before, and it was not difficult to see that it was a marketing idea based on the plot setting.

"I think there's a certain amount of operability." Bill Rosis was the first to say, "But with the platform of Twentieth Century Fox." ”

A shell company like Stanton Studios simply doesn't have the capacity to execute such a plan.

"It's not maneuverable." Carla Firth couldn't agree with Bill Rosith at all, "It's a very, very good marketing idea. ”

After all, she is a social journalist, "As long as the measures are obtained, Murphy's plan is very likely to cause a social sensation and discussion, and it will be difficult for our film not to attract attention." ”

Bill Rothes thought for a moment and nodded heavily, "Feasible!" ”

"In that case." Murphy said to his two companions, "Then make it as a real executable plan as much as possible." ”

Gal Gadot looked at Bill Rothes, then at Carla Firth, and finally back to Murphy, the three of them...... Well, it's just a similar smell, and it doesn't care about the plan conceived by Murphy, and it is likely to involve false propaganda and bring a lot of negative effects.

Continuing to listen to the three of them discuss the perfect plan, Gal Gadot suddenly found that he was really simple, kind, and a really good person.

"Bill, Kara, one more point." Murphy has stood up, "In addition to the commercial and box office, I want this film to do something during the awards season." ”

"What do you mean......" Bill Rothes immediately understood, "academic awards?" ”

Carla Firth also became interested, "It's a pity not to stir up the same films that are made for the awards season with such an interesting movie." ”

However, this is all next year's business, and the three of them just mentioned it, and they are not in a hurry.

Bill Rothes and Carla Firth quickly leave the place, Murphy sees them off, and Gal Gadot prepares to go out.

"Can I bring a copy of the script?" Before leaving, she said, "I told Nat about you the other day, and she was very interested and wanted to see it." ”

The script has been filed with the Screenwriters' Guild and registered with the Copyright Office, Murphy nodded, but still advised, "Don't show it to too many people, remember to bring it back." ”

"Honey." Gal Gadot leaned over and kissed him hard, "Thank you." (To be continued.) )