Hollywood Road

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After getting off the plane and out of the airport in Milwaukee, Murphy saw Bill Rossis. Since the headquarters of Dark Horse Comics is located in Milwaukee, the other party came here earlier than him and went with the Weinstein brothers with Dark Horse Comics. Several rounds of formal negotiations.

"Frank Miller has already nodded," got in the car, Bill Rossis confessed that the driver drove, and then said to Murphy next to him, "Dark horse comics do not mean to refuse to shoot, as long as the price and conditions are right, get the adaptation. Power is not a problem."

"What is Miramax's current bid?" Murphy asked concerned.

"Five million dollars," Bill Rossis obviously had a headache when it came to the price, "and it is a one-time buyout."

Murphy frowned slightly, "What about the dark horse comics' reaction?"

The five million dollar buyout is a one-time payment of copyright fees. Any profit from the subsequent adaptation of the film has nothing to do with Dark Horse Comics and Frank Miller. This is a very favorable term for the buyer, but the seller is very The young meeting agreed.

Sure enough, Bill Rossis said, "Now the conditions on both sides are far worse. Dark Horse Comics requires a basic copyright fee of 8 million U.S. dollars, and also enjoys a 15% dividend of the total film revenue."

Hearing this, Murphy's brow furrowed even tighter. This is exactly how the lion opened his mouth.

But they do have the capital to do this, and the current Hollywood environment is like this.

In the past five years, especially the two years that have entered the new century, Hollywood original films have shrunk sharply, and the proportion of movies based on literature or other works in the top-selling films has increased. Both The Stone and The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship Squad are all adaptations. The "Spider-Man" booked in advance for this year's box office champion is not only an adaptation, but also a comic adaptation.

It is no exaggeration to say that what Hollywood is good at today is never original. Those literary or other works that already have a certain degree of influence are the targets of Hollywood production companies.

For example, after the current Marvel comics succeeded in the two films of "X-Men" and "Spider-Man", its superheroes have become sweet and sour. The Marvel comics themselves have also learned cleverly and easily refuses to sell the comic copyrights of well-known heroes. .

There is also dc comics, which have been circulating in the circle recently. Warner Bros. and dc comics intend to restart the Superman series.

Although "Sin City" is not as well-known as the Superman and Batman series, and even Wonder Woman, it also has a large number of fans and enthusiasts, using a vocabulary once to describe it, saying that it is a popular IP at all Not an exaggeration.

In this kind of negotiation, the two parties will never sit together. It can be determined in a few words. From the basic buyout fee to the box office dividend to the peripheral income sharing, every inch of the land will be contended.

The car took Murphy directly to a hotel in the business district and entered the booked suite. Murphy first made a phone call with Harvey Weinstein. As Bill Rossis said, the negotiations did not go smoothly.

In fact, there is only one point in summing up all the failures, and the price cannot be negotiated.

Even after Murphy submitted the budget and project plan, Miramax was more optimistic about the profit prospects of the project after investigation and estimation, but still did not want to pay too much cost.

On the other hand, Dark Horse Comics and Frank Miller also want to get more possible income.

And besides income, they also have more requirements.

In an office building in Milwaukee, Frank Miller sat in a chair and lost his thoughts. On the opposite side, a big gray-haired fat man said as a reminder, "Sin City is too important to you, Fran! Don't worry about giving it to a young director like Murphy Stanton who is less than 23 years old?"

Speaking of this name, a face suddenly appeared in front of Fatty's eyes. The young man who was ridiculed and rejected at the beginning, who would have thought that he would become a rapidly rising director...

He shook his head, shook the other person's image from his head, and continued, "I admit that the short film was really excellent. It's a reproduction of the comic scene, but Fran, aren't you worried?"

Frank Miller took off his cowboy hat and asked strangely, "What are you worried about?"

"Murphy Stanton didn't follow the style of this short film for shooting and production!" Fatty reminded in a more serious tone, "He just gave you the position of assistant director. When it comes to his crew, you won't have much right to speak! "

Touching the flattened hair on his head, Frank Miller's face showed a thoughtful look. These words of Bruce Berman are not unreasonable.

"Fran, an assistant director can't guarantee the style of adaptation you want!" Bruce Berman seems to be thinking about his old friend. "You know what Hollywood is, it's full of lies and fraud, you have to ask for more. Power!"

After thinking for a while, Frank Miller agreed with the old friend's opinion and nodded slowly.

On the second day after arriving in Manhattan, Murphy joined the negotiations as the initiator and future director of the project. However, just like the negotiations between Planet Terror and international publishers, he was on the sidelines most of the time. Those who do not directly involve the director, nor do they have the right to speak.

Negotiations were still going on around the price. Both parties had a certain degree of sincerity and made appropriate concessions. Miramax’s bid was increased to 6 million U.S. dollars, and the asking price of Dark Horse Comics was also reduced to 8 million U.S. dollars. Ten thousand U.S. dollars is not a difficult gap, but there are still huge differences between the two parties in terms of the sharing clauses attached to the basic adaptation costs.

"Fifteen percent of the full income share is unacceptable to Miramax," Harvey Weinstein stood up directly in the conference room when Dark Horse Comics reiterated this condition. "This is not in Hollywood. Precedent! Up to three percent!"

"Three percent?" Nilek, the director of the copyright department responsible for negotiations on the dark horse comics, looked at Harvey Weinstein and shook his head. "You have no sincerity in the negotiations! This negotiation can end here!"

Negotiations between the two sides immediately reached a deadlock.

Murphy wanted to say something, but at this time it was very inappropriate.

He winked at Bill Rossis. Caa was the middleman who facilitated this cooperation, and it could not be more appropriate as a party to ease the atmosphere of the negotiation.

In fact, Bill Rossis is also ready to speak. Whenever the previous contacts and negotiations reached a stalemate, he was in the middle of the mediation.

"Negotiations, the conditions must be negotiated slowly." He is one of the people who most want to make the project happen. "The 15% income share is indeed a bit high."

Just as Nilek was about to say something, Bill Rossis preemptively said, "The three percent share is indeed a bit low."

"Why not," he suggested, "how about a 15% profit share?"

"It's too low!" Nilek said.

Harvey Weinstein glanced at Nilek. "It's too high!"

Although there were still differences between the two sides, the atmosphere eased and negotiations continued.

Enjoying dividends from the profits of future films has also been recognized by both parties.

Although they found a common starting point for the negotiations, Miramax and Dark Horse Comics still disputed over the percentage of shares, and there was no tendency to reach consensus in this negotiation.

Today's negotiations are coming to an end, and the two sides are preparing to fight another day. Frank Miller, who has been silent and has not come to speak, suddenly speaks.

"I have one thing to explain," his eyes looked at Murphy, "If the cooperation can be achieved, I need to enter the crew and participate in the whole process of filming and production."

Murphy and Harvey Weinstein exchanged glances and said, "No problem, Fran, I promised you this at first."

Frank Miller smiled, remembering the suggestion made by his old friend to ensure that the project is carried out in the comic style, and said again, "I want to be one of the directors of the film and sign the subtitles!"

Harvey Weinstein asked immediately, "Named director?"

Frank Miller nodded, "That's true, but I ask..."

He turned his head and glanced at Murphy, knowing that this is not a comic book, some things can not be too much, "In terms of the director, I demand the power second only to Murphy."

Hearing these words, both Harvey Weinstein and Bill Rossis turned to look at Murphy. Frank Miller is the prerequisite for cooperation. If he repents, there is no need for subsequent negotiations.

Although it is extremely rare to ask for a signature on the director, it is not uncommon for the original author to ask for certain power in the adaptation crew. Harvey Weinstein doesn’t think much. Even if he promises Frank Miller, it’s nothing. The filming of this crew is definitely It is Murphy who is the main producer, and his producer is sufficient to restrict Frank Miller, and the crew is very flexible in this aspect in actual operation.

In fact, it was Murphy who was most affected. After all, the other party asked to sign on the director.

Bill Rossis frowned. Frank Miller's request was completely beyond his expectation. Murphy had previously agreed to let him be the assistant director, and now he also requires the director's signature right...

Murphy didn’t say anything, just thinking. From his point of view and the final style of the film, even if Frank Miller is given more power, it’s not a big deal. If the other party asks for this, the biggest possibility is that he is worried about his chaos. Change the style of the movie.

He turned his head and glanced at Bill Rossis, who was shaking his head slightly.

"Fran," Murphy looked at Harvey Weinstein again, and then said, "We need to discuss it, and we will get back to you in a few days."

Today's negotiations ended here. On the way back to the hotel, Murphy and Bill Rossis rode in the same car.

"The power he asked for is actually easy to solve, and Harvey doesn't oppose it in principle," Bill Rossis said. "With your ability, it's not difficult to deal with him, and you originally planned to make a movie similar to the comic style. The biggest trouble is that he asks the director to sign it!"