Made in Hollywood

Chapter 87 Dividing the spoils

It is not easy to get the revenue share of "Brave the Dead Island" in North America as soon as possible. According to the contract signed by Duke and Warner Bros., the latter will pay off within half a year of the film's next release. The 20th Century Fox of Sri Lanka's film industry pays the share of "Speed ​​of Life". This time seems to be a long time, but it is actually the most normal situation in Hollywood.

As a director, Duke can't always ask Lucasfilm and George Lucas for help, and Warner Bros. may not buy Lucasfilm's account. Frankly speaking, Nancy can win almost half a year. The shortest payment time to come.

According to the Hollywood practice, it is very troublesome to settle the investment share of the film. It takes a few years or something. Except for the court, there is no place to complain. Even many companies that invest in films have struggled until the company goes bankrupt and often fail to receive the response. earned share.

As for the director, if the production company does not want to continue the cooperation, the compensation that should be paid is often delayed for a long time, which has happened to Michael Bay and Peter Jackson in the past.

Fortunately, Duke threw out a piece of bait early, and also proved that he has the ability to turn the bait into a big fish. Warner Bros. is promoting the preliminary investigation of the "Independence Day" project. The two sides will cooperate in the future. North America will be divided into two. There are not many problems with paying on time. Overseas Warner may make some moves, but it will also be controlled within the range that Duke can tolerate.

Even if Duke hired a professional team of lawyers and accountants to supervise, it could not fully guarantee the authenticity of the final overseas income, and could only control it within a small range.

Compared with overseas, North America can be subject to stricter supervision. Shortly after the release of "Brave Island", Duke's accountants, Rock Studios and Warner Bros. sent account details at the same time.

The accounts are clear enough that even someone like Duke who doesn't know much about finances can understand it.

The North American box office of "Brave Island" totaled 157.52 million US dollars. According to the signed distribution agreement, after deducting fixed expenses such as taxes and fees, Warner Bros. received a total of 76.5 million US dollars.

Although Warner Bros. used the tax credits on "Brave Island" and received a total of $2.8 million in tax refunds, according to the agreement, this part of the money is not included in the film's proceeds, and the film received from manufacturers such as Hummer and Ferrari. The $3.5 million in advertising costs was included in the earnings.

In this way, the film has an income of 80 million US dollars. Warner Bros. takes 10% of the North American box office as a distribution fee, and deducts 15 million US dollars of publicity expenses, and this part of the funds is left at 49.25 million US dollars.

Among them, the equipment and props worth 870,000 US dollars burned by the fire will be deducted, and the remaining salaries of the cast members and other trade associations will be paid, and the balance will be 45 million US dollars.

This time, there is no company like Lucasfilm that takes production fees. Investors such as Duke's Duke Studio, Warner Bros., and AUG Film Investment Fund can enjoy their due share according to their respective investment ratios. .

Duke's Duke studio accounts for one-fifth of the production cost, and will be able to share $9 million in the future. Although he still has to pay taxes, it also allows him to see that the film's revenue share in North America alone can pay off his mother's loan. of hope.

After the release of "Brave Island" from North America, Warner Bros. is negotiating with Blockbuster, the largest video tape chain in North America, about the basic transfer fee and rental sales commission. The latter belongs to long-term income and has no relationship with Duke Studio Too big a relationship, the former reached an agreement on the figure of $8.5 million after four rounds of negotiations.

Then there is the North American TV broadcast rights, which is also where Duke Studios can enjoy a share. The basic transfer fee of $6.5 million is also in line with the film's box office and worth.

Warner Bros. can take a cut of the long-term revenue of both, and Duke Studios only signed a short-term revenue share, which can get $3 million from it!

In this way, Duke Studio can get a share of the income of $12 million on the book after half a year, but $1.2 million of which needs to be paid to Nancy Josephson and the team of lawyers and accountants. Five percent of the investment income on Life Island.

A successful film is by no means the director's masterpiece, it needs the cooperation of the entire team. If there is no agent, Duke will have to go to the major companies to argue with each other, and don't think about the filming and production, and professional lawyers and The supervision and audit role of the accountant team is also indispensable, and capital has never had a conscience.

When these incomes are still in the future, it would be good for Warner Bros. to pay them off before 1994. As for the overseas revenue share, there will be some waiting.

After paying attention to the expected income, Duke has returned to a relaxed state, leaving work and new film projects to Nancy to discuss. In the past two years, his nerves have been too tense. If he keeps it up, maybe there will be The day it broke.

Even Duke temporarily moved back to his home in Santa Monica after his mother returned to Los Angeles from her New York business.

"Remember the advice you gave about Victoria's Secret?"

During dinner, Mrs. Leah suddenly mentioned something Duke almost forgot, "Santa Feia has drawn up a detailed publicity plan, and Victoria's Secret management basically agrees with our plan, if nothing else. , next year's Super Bowl halftime show will be a lingerie show."

"If I have time." Duke was very interested, "I can go to the scene to see it then."

It seems that the most famous angels are still little lolitas, right?

After a few more words with his mother, Duke learned that the finale models would be Naomi Campbell and Claudia Schiffer. In this day and age, the most famous are the top five supermodels.

"Next month, I'm going to go to Israel."

When putting down the knife and fork, Mrs. Leah said again, "If you have time, come and take care of the house here."

"I know, Mom." Duke stood up with his mother. "Be safe."

In his impression, Israel is a war-torn place, and terrorists will rush out at any time as human bombs.

After thinking about it, Duke simply said, "Mom, if I'm not busy with work then, I'll go with you."

Knowing Duke's focus on his work and the progress of his new film project, Mrs. Leah waved her hand casually, obviously not taking this sentence seriously, and went straight out of the villa to take a walk on the seaside promenade.

The phone rang suddenly, Duke took it, pressed the answer button, but it was Naomi Watts.

"Hi Duke, long time no see."

Her voice was vaguely weak and sweet, and Duke remembered that he had not seen this Australian actress for a long time, and asked, "Yeah, long time no see, Nami, what have you been up to lately?"

"I... I've moved!" The voice over there hesitated for a while, and continued, "I just wanted to call to let you know."

"Oh, where did you move to?" Duke asked in time.

"The periphery of Beverly Hills." There was some noise in the receiver, Duke changed his hand, and Naomi Watts over there said to himself, "I rented a detached house."

Naomi Watts is also considered to have opened up a situation in Hollywood. Stars are not as easy to do as they seem on the surface. What kind of status must have matching outfits and residences, especially for actresses, the image More importantly, the cost of this is definitely a huge sum of money, and even many stars who have just become famous have to borrow for it.

"How did you move there?"

If Hollywood is a big dye vat, then Beverly Hills, a Hollywood star settlement, is the epitome of it.

"Mary's suggestion, and Nancy's paperwork for me."

As if afraid that Duke couldn't understand, she explained again, "Mary is Nicole Kidman, and she suggested that we live closer and take care of each other."

"Take care?" Duke pouted.

Now Naomi Watts' status and fame in the circle are far inferior to Nicole Kidman. With a weak and a strong match, the two sides can coexist harmoniously. If one day Naomi Watts rises rapidly, and Nicole There is a competitive relationship between Kidman, and the sisterhood of the two is bound to disappear as it once did.

Relatively speaking, even if there is competition between male actors, most of them will not completely tear their faces. Actresses are different. Perhaps it is the nature of women. If there is a situation of direct or even indirect competition, in private, I definitely want to draw a knife to see you. blood situation.

Of course, this is also related to the shorter shelf life of actresses and the narrower road in Hollywood. After all, even in the past 20 years, this circle is still dominated by patriarchy.

Compared with Nicole Kidman, Duke is more like an outsider. He has only a very simple physical relationship with Naomi Watts. He won't be stupid enough to say anything, but he is only asking if he can use it together. At supper time, it should come down.

Leaving a note for his mother, Duke drove away from Santa Monica and headed directly to the west side of Beverly Hills. This relationship without the pressure of emotion and responsibility was the best relaxation for him. Way.

This weak woman is far less powerful than Shania Twain, but she also has her own charm, especially when Duke pressed her under his body, and when he begged hard, he could always inspire more people. Impulsivity and desire, even wishing to smash her to pieces.

While Naomi Watts wasn't a particularly good bed companion, Duke would show up at Nancy's apartment from time to time and occasionally run into friends in her circle while he waited for news from Nancy. The other party doesn't have any strange colors. Perhaps in their opinion, Naomi Watts can get the most important female role in "Brave Island", which must have something to do with the director Duke.

On one of these occasions, Duke also met Nicole Kidman, and the relationship between the two sides was not deep, and it was just a smile.

Time moved slowly to August, when "Brave Island" surpassed $320 million at the global box office, good news came from Nancy.

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