Peter Sanders seemed a little impatient. After greeting Simon, he suggested finding a place to chat.
Simon did not refuse. After greeting Janet and the others, he took Peter Sanders out of the hotel where the crew stayed and went to a nearby coffee shop.
The two sat down and ordered coffee casually. Peter Sanders said: "Simon, I came here this time to discuss the contract between you and Fox."
Simon just nodded slightly and waited calmly for Peter Sanders to continue.
Peter Sanders looked at Simon's expression, paused, but then changed the topic temporarily and said: "Simon, Mr. Goldberg arranged a sample screening of "The Butterfly Effect" on Tuesday. But it wasn’t very good, and several critics at the scene felt the film was a bit scattered.”
Simon gently turned the coffee that the waiter had just served, and said calmly: "If that's the case, Mr. Sanders, I can only say that I'm sorry. However, I believe that my script is a very exciting story, and I I also believe that Brian is capable enough to present this story perfectly. Perhaps you should be more patient and wait for the film to be completely completed."
Feeling Simon's strength, Peter Sanders, who originally wanted to take a crack at it, remembered Ronald Goldberg's instructions and had to say: "Okay, that should be it."
Listening to Peter Sanders' tone, Simon didn't want the other party to be too embarrassed, so he took the initiative to change his title and said, "Peter, what contract did you just talk about?"
Peter Sanders took a sip of the coffee in front of him, put down the cup, and then replied: "Yes, Simon, we plan to fulfill our priority in the contract now and buy your script for "Death Is Coming" , and Mr. Goldberg also hopes that you can direct this film yourself. If you agree, the project can start now and the schedule will be by the end of the year."
The brilliance of "Dead Man" is that it is a very novel idea, but the movie is just an ordinary plasma thriller with limited box office potential. Simon does not intend to waste too much energy on this movie. Moreover, Simon has already signed his next directorial contract with Orion, and it is impossible to cooperate with Fox immediately.
However, Simon did not refuse immediately, but asked: "Peter, what are Fox's conditions?"
Peter Sanders hesitated for a moment, but this time he didn’t go around any more and directly reported the price offered by Ronald Sandberg: “Simon, as long as you are willing to direct it yourself, we can offer you $2 million. The director's salary, plus 10% of the North American box office profit share. This is a very generous offer, Simon. Under normal circumstances, it is impossible for a newcomer like you to get the profit share. Moreover, I can reveal to you that you This contract is exactly the same as Brian's salary for directing "The Butterfly Effect," and he has been a famous director for a long time. Also, the script is quoted at $300,000, and you can enjoy the same share terms as union members."
Simon nodded slightly this time, the conditions offered by Fox were quite sincere.
In this era, except for a few people such as Spielberg at the top of the pyramid, the maximum salary of other first-line directors is only about US$5 million.
This condition from Fox is also an affirmation of his filmmaking ability in "Run Lola Run".
You know, in Hollywood, where the film industry is already very developed, studios can still very accurately evaluate a filmmaker's ability based on his works.
If only Simon had accidentally hit the box office now with a film with no technical content like "The Blair Witch Project." Well, the studios will definitely be wowed, but not unless they want to take a chance and capitalize on the popularity he built up in "Blair Witch." Otherwise, no studio would be willing to offer him a directing contract, let alone the current salary package for a quasi-first-line director.
Speaking of which, this was also the result Simon had hoped to see.
Even though he was thinking this way, Simon could only shake his head regretfully and said, "Sorry, Peter, I have already signed a directing contract with Orion. This is actually a condition for Orion to release "Run Lola Run" for me."
When Peter Sanders heard this, he didn't know what to say for a moment.
If it had been known that "Run Lola Run" would be able to achieve the current box office results, Fox would definitely be willing to sign an equal contract with Simon.
pity.
There are always countless ifs in this world, but there will only be one result.
Peter Sanders does not know the specific details of the distribution contract signed between Simon and Orion. However, due to several consecutive contacts, the content of the contract is not difficult to guess. Now that it has agreed to Simon's conditions, Orion will definitely maintain its share of the North American box office at around 30%.
So, even based on the total box office of "Lola Run" in North America of US$150 million, Orion will be able to obtain a box office share of US$50 million in the future.
As for the cost of publicity and distribution, according to Peter Sanders's observation, the box office of "Lola Run" is basically supported by media buzz and audience reputation. Orion Pictures' expenditure in this area is simply pitiful. Even if Orion Pictures actively increases investment in publicity and distribution in order to obtain more profits in the later stage, it will not exceed US$10 million in any case.
Based on this calculation, Orion Pictures will earn a net profit of US$40 million from pure theatrical distribution.
$40 million.
This is obviously still a very conservative estimate.
However, Fox Studios as a whole did not have a profit of US$40 million last year. In other words, Fox Pictures' film business last year simply suffered a loss.
As the vice president of Fox Pictures, Peter Sanders knows very well that among the movies released by his company last year, the best box office performance was only $85 million for "Alien 2".
Moreover, among the 16 films released throughout the year, there is definitely no one with a box office of over 100 million US dollars, and only five films with a box office of over 10 million US dollars. Among them, 12 suffered losses. Parent company News Corp. has even discussed reducing its film budget this year.
Peter Sanders is just glad that the person who finally turned down "Run Lola Run" was Ronald Goldberg. Otherwise, he is likely to pack up and leave in the next few months.
Seeing that Peter Sanders was silent, Simon continued: "Peter, to be honest, I actually have no interest in directing "Death Comes" myself. However, if Fox wants to get this script now, I have At my own request, I will personally serve as the producer.”