This question is indeed somewhat inappropriate.
When Matt Gilson heard Eric's rhetorical question, his expression suddenly became a little embarrassing.
Everything is still up in the air, and Eric didn't want to talk too much with the three people. He simply set out his own conditions and sent them away.
Looking at the figures of the three leaving, Bruckheimer said: "Eric, many people here have seen you and the three of them. It may be more lively next time. Are you sure they are willing to sell the script for 1 million dollars?" However, Warner has already offered a price of 3 million U.S. dollars."
"If you were an actor who had just debuted and had no reputation, would you accept $1 million to be in my movie, or $3 million to be in a movie directed by some unknown guy?"
Bruckheimer laughed: "Of course it's yours, but there are some differences between screenwriters and actors."
"The reason is actually the same." Eric took a cup of coffee from Fernanda Tavares who came back, and continued: "I give them more than money, but opportunities. One of them will become a gold medalist." Opportunities to write. We all know that in Hollywood, opportunity is the most important thing."
…
On the other side, after leaving the street blocked by the crew of "Public Enemy", the three of them got into a car in silence and fastened their seat belts on the co-pilot, before Terry Rossio finally said: "$1 million, a little low Already."
Ted Elliott started the car and said: "If Eric Williams really wants to turn this script into a blockbuster series, $1 million is still very good. After all, a week ago, we even I never thought I could sell this script.”
Matt Gilson, who was sitting in the back seat, was thinking about how to spread the news of the meeting between the three and Eric Williams as soon as possible. At this time, he also said: "Didn't Eric Williams just say that , if we auction this script, Firefly will also bid."
Ted Elliott said: "But if this is the case, we will not be able to participate in the subsequent development of this project."
Terry Rossio stroked the seat belt fastened in front of his body, thinking while saying: "I think, according to Eric Williams, Firefly should be determined to win this script. As long as this project is successful, we It will still be the most famous screenwriter in Hollywood, won’t it? Now Warner’s quotation has reached 3 million US dollars. If it is auctioned, maybe we can get 5 million US dollars. Even if Firefly makes Pirates of the Caribbean into a trilogy, we can The ones we get should not be much higher than this number. Anyway, we have a reputation and cannot participate in subsequent project development, so we can just focus on writing other scripts."
Ted Elliott and Matt Gilson were silent when they heard the news, and after a while, Matt Gilson spoke again: "Well, I'll spread the news first and see how the other few Let's talk about the reaction of the big studios."
…
The news of the meeting between Eric and the three screenwriters of "Pirates of the Caribbean" quickly spread in Hollywood. Of course, regarding Eric's detailed plan for this project and the fact that he will make major revisions to the script, the three of them agreed choose to hide.
However, just because Eric himself said that he wanted to make "Pirates of the Caribbean" into a series, the reaction caused by this news was much bigger than expected.
Throughout Hollywood, apart from Firefly, other major studios, including MGM and Fox, hope to develop more big-budget series.
After all, once a big production series is successful, it is basically enough for a big film company to maintain a high profit level for several years. Of course, Hollywood has no shortage of big-budget movie scripts. What is lacking is the keen eye for identifying these projects. Because of the extreme uncertainty of the film industry, even big-name directors and producers dare not promise a certain project. However, Eric Williams clearly broke this rule.
So, almost immediately, the major film companies that received the news contacted the three of Ted Elliott one after another to increase their quotations.
…
After the failure of last year's "Godzilla", Sony's situation this year has become increasingly difficult.
The North American box office of "The Patriot" released by Sony Pictures this summer is barely over 100 million. Because it is a relatively small American independent war theme, the film's overseas box office is not even as good as North America. In the end, the world can recover 200 million U.S. dollars even if It’s not bad, but the production cost of this film has already reached 110 million US dollars. Although Sony has controlled the cost of publicity and distribution at 40 million US dollars, but the global 200 million, Sony Pictures will still bear a loss of about 60 million US dollars at the box office , can only look forward to the follow-up videotapes and television rights income to make up for the loss.
Taking lessons from Peter Cooper and Jon Peters, Sony's control of Sony Pictures over the past few years has almost been overkill.
The slightly higher-cost film projects started by Sony Pictures almost all need to be strictly reviewed by Sony headquarters before they can be approved, which inevitably creates a situation where laymen direct experts. Therefore, apart from "Patriot", the box office prospects of several other major productions that Sony is developing are very uncertain.
When Sony bought Columbia Pictures, it was originally the idea of promoting its own video recorders. With the rapid popularization of DVD, the previous plan was naturally impossible to mention, and some directors of Sony even had plans to abandon the film business.
Sony Pictures headquarters in Culver City on Sunday morning.
Howard Stringer flipped through the script of "Pirates of the Caribbean", and Bill Michanik, who was opposite him, was introducing the current situation: "Williams personally contacted the screenwriter of this script yesterday and confirmed that he I really value the news about this script. In the afternoon, it was said that Warner Bros. raised the offer for this script to 4 million US dollars, and several other companies also increased their bids. Now there is a clear trend of bidding wars."
Howard Stringer didn't raise his head, and asked, "Where is 'Men in Black'?"
"Will Smith is filming Firefly's Public Enemy, and nothing has changed, as long as he and Tommy Lee Jones don't give up their $20 million plus cuts, Firefly isn't going to make any concession."
Howard Stringer paused when he turned the page, frowning slightly. As CEO of Sony America, most of his authority is Sony's film and record business.
In the first half of the year, due to the impact of music piracy on the Internet, Sony Records' revenue and profits both plummeted. Now, Sony Pictures is also in deep trouble, and rumors have even spread from the headquarters that they want to sell the film company. All these have made Howard Stringer's position within Sony very unstable. Not to mention competing for the position of Sony's first non-Japanese CEO in the future, it is still unknown whether he can keep his current position.
Due to the proliferation of music piracy on the Internet, it is difficult to reverse the operating conditions of Sony Records in the short term. Howard Stringer can only hope to boost the film business.
However, Sony Pictures currently has the only "Men in Black" series that can greatly improve the performance of the film company in the short term, but the initiative is in the hands of Firefly Group.
The Firefly Group is thriving. Even in this summer, when many people thought there would be a short-term low period, on the basis of the box office hit of "The Day After Tomorrow", there are box office dark horses like "Midnight Ring", making Firefly so far. once again topped the North American box office total.
New Eric Williams film, Lord of the Rings trilogy, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Public Enemy, Sleepy Hollow…
Not to mention Pixar Studios and Disney Animation Studios, as well as New Line Films’ production scale is larger and there is no lack of box office dark horses such as "Midnight Ring", just think about this series of live-action films that Firefly Group is producing Blockbuster, Howard Stringer was envious and frustrated at the same time.
Compared with Firefly Group, the gap between Sony Pictures is really too big.
Seriously read the script in his hand. Although he was not interested in pirate movies at all, Howard Stringer thought about it for a while, and quickly made up his mind. He said to Bill Michanik: "Bill, we must do whatever it takes. Take this script down, so that you contact the other party immediately, and we will offer 5 million US dollars."
Bill Michanik was slightly surprised when he heard Howard Stringer's order. Compared with Howard Stringer, who is more distracted, he has been working in Hollywood since he joined the company, so he also knows the status quo of the script market in Hollywood and knows what it means to buy a script for $5 million.
In recent years, as more and more international speculative hot money has flowed into the film industry, the prices of scripts written by Hollywood gold screenwriters have also risen.
In terms of the screenwriter's worth alone, there is no doubt that Eric Williams is definitely the highest. However, the other party's situation is quite special, and it is completely priceless and marketless. It is impossible for other film companies outside the Firefly system to get it. Screenplay by Eric Williams.
Then there are other first-line gold medal screenwriters. Although the average script price in Hollywood is still around 100,000 US dollars, the scripts of these gold medal screenwriters in recent years have frequently sold for a sky-high price of more than one million dollars. Three years ago, "Lethal Weapon" Series screenwriter Shane Black's "Spy and Louise" broke through the $4 million mark, becoming the most expensive original screenplay in Hollywood history. .
Now, Howard Stringer's asking price is equivalent to setting a new record for the highest price of a Hollywood script.
However, although the price of 5 million US dollars has broken the record, Bill Michanik still seeks truth from facts: "Howard, to be honest, we may not be able to get this script if we pay 5 million US dollars. Warner's current offer is 400 10,000 US dollars, but this should not have reached their limit. Perhaps, the opponent's hole card should also be 5 million US dollars. I think 5 million US dollars is probably the upper limit. After all, this is just a script. The next competition should be other conditions , such as investment scale, director candidates, cast members, and even follow-up announcements, these factors can affect the final performance of the film, and we have no advantage in this regard.”
Howard Stringer was silent for a moment, and quickly made up his mind again, saying: "That's $7 million."
Bill Michanik gasped suddenly.
7 million US dollars, which is already 70 times the average Hollywood script price, enough for those small companies to make a good low-cost independent film, Hollywood first-line superstars, starred in non-sequel A-level productions, most of the salary is about 7 million Dollar.
"Howard, this price is a bit...excessive," Bill Michanik originally wanted to say outrageous, but he changed his words to a milder word and continued: "Also, will the headquarters agree?"
"Wait until you get the script and then notify the headquarters. I still have this authority."
Howard Stringer actually hesitated about this offer in his heart, but he quickly made up his mind and did not intend to waver.
If he can't reverse the decline of Sony Pictures, maybe he won't even be able to sit firmly in his position. In short, it is necessary to take risks and continue to develop blockbuster films. If you grab a script approved by Eric Williams, the success rate will definitely be much higher.
"But," after a pause, Bill Michanik said, "This script was chosen by Eric Williams. Our bid is too high, and Firefly may be very dissatisfied."
"Everyone competes fairly. Firefly doesn't want to pay, so we can't complain that our price is too high." Howard Stringer thought of Firefly's refusal to start the sequel of "Men in Black" due to salary reasons, and his attitude became more determined. Pressing the script in front of him, looking at Bill Michanik with a hesitant expression, he said with emphasis: "Bill, you have to know that if the situation at the film company continues to be sluggish, both of us may lose our jobs."
Due to the strict control of Sony headquarters on the film company, and Howard Stringer, the immediate boss who is in charge, often dictates, Bill Michanik feels that he is definitely the seven most useless heads in Hollywood. It's not that the salary contract offered by Sony is quite generous, and Bill Michanik himself is unwilling to continue to stay in this position.
In all fairness, he really doesn't care about losing his job now, and it's impossible for Sony executives to blame Sony Pictures' current dismal management on him. If he doesn't make too many mistakes, Sony will unilaterally terminate the contract, but To pay him huge severance compensation.
Therefore, I have reminded myself of everything I should remind. Since Howard Stringer is firm, Bill Michanik nodded and said: "Okay, I will contact Ted Elliott."