Bab 131: Chapter 131: Rights! Rights!
"'The Terminator's' rights are held by Hemdale Film Corporation, a company backed by British tax haven capital, which has a distribution agreement with Orion. John Daly, president of Hemdale, has refused to sell the rights to 'The Terminator' but has expressed willingness to collaborate with Daenerys Media. I think this plan is feasible. If we produce a sequel, Hemdale's funding could help us share the risks."
"For Tolkien's Middle-earth series, the rights to 'The Lord of the Rings' are in the hands of Saul Zaentz, the producer who made 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' and 'Amadeus,' both Oscar-winning films. 'The Hobbit's' rights are held by United Artists, who bought the perpetual rights to both 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings' for £10,000 back in 1969. The rights that Saul Zaentz has were acquired from United Artists. As for 'The Silmarillion,' the rights are with the Tolkien Estate. I have contacted all three parties, and they are open to discussions, but none have accepted our offers. I believe it will be very difficult to secure the film rights for these three books without a concrete production plan and would require a very high bid."
"The comic 'The Rocketeer' creator Dave Stevens won't accept my offer and would like to meet you in person. I've learned that he has been looking to collaborate with a film company since last year to adapt this comic into a high-budget movie. After the box-office failure of the summer adaptation 'Masters of the Universe,' the few companies that were in talks with him have pulled back."
"The rights to 'Charlie's Angels' are held by Columbia Pictures, originally produced by Ronald Goldberg's production company. Before becoming president of Fox, Ronald Goldberg sold that company to Columbia for $40 million. Since the series ended in 1981, the profits from syndication and video sales of 'Charlie's Angels' have essentially dried up. However, if we want to buy out all rights to this TV show, Columbia's asking price is $10 million. That's too high given the limited replay value and dwindling video sales profits now. We should just buy the rights for film adaptations."
"'Mission: Impossible,' the TV series version, was produced by Paramount's television division, and they have been trying to develop a film version. Sidney Ganis said if you are willing to direct personally, Paramount might consider working with Daenerys Media."
"'The Bourne Identity' rights have also been bought by Warner Bros. I specifically called Terry Semel, and his response was similar to Sidney Ganis. By the way, Semel said he has some time this afternoon and will call you."
"Here's some good news beyond these discussions."
"I've secured the rights to 'Spider-Man' from Cannon Films for $200,000, which is the original price Cannon paid to Marvel. After the box office failure of 'Superman IV' during the summer, combined with the company's financial troubles, Cannon has completely abandoned the 'Spider-Man' project. However, the original five-year rights term now has only three years remaining. If we don't produce a film within three years, the rights will automatically revert to Marvel."
"New Line Cinema has offered $300,000 for the rights to adapt 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,' whose animated TV version was very well received this year. I negotiated them down to $200,000, similar to a five-year contract like with 'Spider-Man.'"
"'Dead Poets Society,' the script price is $80,000."
"'Mulan,' I watched a video of the Broadway stage play; it's very touching. We negotiated adaptation rights for $100,000."
"'The Fast and the Furious,' well, I'm not sure how you saw that movie, Simon. It's a 1955 film by Roger Corman, a B-movie. Per your request, for $200,000, Roger Corman sold us all rights to the film. I bargained hard with him; he's really a shrewd businessman. 'The Fast and the Furious' had an original budget of just over $60,000, and I lost interest after watching the tape once."
"As for the rest, negotiations are ongoing."
Inside the Daenerys Media conference room.
Amy Pascal listed the recent successes in rights negotiations and then pointed to a thick stack of scripts on the desk, "Additionally, this week, I received pitches for 60 film scripts from various agencies, and I've selected 19 that I think are decent. They're all here; you might want to look over them this weekend."
At the other end of the conference table, Simon listened to Amy's report, his hands flipping through the 'Spider-Man' contract.
Ah, 'Spider-Man'!
This is 'Spider-Man'!
A globally successful 'Spider-Man' capable of generating
seven to eight hundred million dollars!
In his previous life, not to mention 'Spider-Man,' even Marvel wouldn't have easily parted with rights to second or third-tier superheroes. Now, for just $200,000, Simon had acquired the rights to one of Marvel's hottest superheroes, a thought that seemed almost incredible.
But it was reality.
Given the constraints of special effects technology at the time, the rights to superheroes, which were challenging to adapt into films, weren't as hot as they would become later. Although Simon harbored ambitions for the entire Marvel universe held by New World Entertainment, he decisively purchased the rights to 'Spider-Man' in advance.
He also made a firm resolution to keep the rights to 'Spider-Man' tightly in Daenerys Media's grasp, regardless of whether he could acquire Marvel later.
As for the remaining three-year rights period, that was hardly a concern. If necessary, he could emulate Constantin Film's tactic to preserve the 'Fantastic Four' rights by spending a million or so to produce a B-movie, thereby extending the contract term by another five years.
With these thoughts, as Amy finished speaking, Simon quickly brought his attention back.
Having earned over a billion dollars through stock index futures, Simon had begun to aggressively gather rights again, no longer being secretive about it. After all, now was the best opportunity for Simon to easily acquire many rights.
Suddenly becoming a billionaire, or rather a billion-dollar 'fat sheep,' many were eager to sell him rights at high prices. However, if Daenerys Media continued to produce more blockbuster hits, any project Simon was interested in could spark bidding wars, making it very difficult to acquire certain rights later.
The rights Amy had just reported, like 'Spider-Man' and 'The Fast and the Furious,' not to mention 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,' 'Dead Poets Society,' and 'Mulan,' were all proven blockbuster hits in the original timeline. 'The Rocketeer,' which Simon had casually thrown into the mix, was another potential hit.
After the exposure of his vast wealth, Simon was no longer as cautious about these strategic maneuvers; after all, most of the rights he was interested in were highly popular projects that were naturally expected to be successful.
Closing the 'Spider-Man' contract in front of him, Simon told Amy, "Keep negotiating for 'The Terminator' and Tolkien's works; we'll buy them at whatever price they set. As for 'The Rocketeer,' I'll talk to the comic artist myself. Try to push down the price for 'Charlie's Angels'; $10 million is indeed too high, but make sure we secure it. Finally, for 'Mission: Impossible' and 'The Bourne Identity,' since Paramount and Warner Bros are already developing them, let's drop them for now."
Securing 'Spider-Man' and 'The Fast and the Furious,' and nearly 'Charlie's Angels,' Simon was quite satisfied. For 'The Terminator' and Tolkien's Middle-earth series, he knew it would be a slow process; both were highly famous works, and the rights holders were unlikely to let go easily.
As for 'Mission: Impossible' and 'The Bourne Identity,' with the Screenwriters Guild expected to launch the longest strike in Hollywood history next year, even if these projects had already started development, they could very likely stall due to the strike, possibly dragging on as they had in the original timeline until a decade later.
While the longer the delay, the less advantageous for Simon, he still had plenty of opportunities.
Amy noted down Simon's instructions and then asked, "So, what do we do next with the rights we've acquired?"
"Put 'Dead Poets Society' and 'Mulan' into the company's production schedule, leave the others on hold for now," Simon, touching the 'Spider-Man' contract again, suddenly thought of something else and asked, "Amy, what about DC's 'Superman' and 'Batman'? Do you think we could secure them?"
"'Superman's' rights are held by European producer Alexander Salkind. I happen to know that Salkind bought the rights for a 15-year term and also has an automatic renewal clause. After the box office failures of 'Superman III' in 1983 and 'Supergirl' in 1984, Salkind has stopped producing the 'Superman' series but still holds the rights. Cannon Films had only obtained production authorization. Counting from the first 'Superman' film in 1978, there should be about five years left in the rights period. If you want to make a film, like Cannon, we could likely obtain authorization," Amy pondered and continued, "As for 'Batman,' the rights are still with DC. Warner seems to have been brewing this project. Earlier this year, I heard they were planning to make a TV show version with Bill Murray playing Bruce Wayne. I don't know the latest news."
Simon, imagining the comedic Bill Murray as Batman, felt it was somewhat
humorous.
Due to memories from later, Simon instinctively felt a natural distance from superhero rights. But now, hearing that 'Superman's' rights weren't with DC and Warner was planning to turn 'Batman' into a comedy TV show, he quickly became interested again, looking across the conference table at his executive, "Amy, do you think it's possible for me to buy DC from Warner?"
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