Bab 148: Chapter 148: Contract and Development - Part 1
With Lucas willing to let Ethan develop a video game for his "Star Wars," and Ethan eager to take on the collaboration, everyone sat down together to draft the contract.
Lucasfilm unconditionally granted the game development rights of "Star Wars" to Destiny Game. Although there was no time limitation on the authorization, Destiny Game wouldn't indefinitely retain the development rights, as both parties agreed on a production limit of 'one' game.
After the electronic game developed by Destiny Game was released, the development authorization would automatically terminate. Destiny Game would then own all rights to the released game, limited to fixing issues and selling the already released game without the ability to develop other games under the name of "Star Wars."
Since the "Star Wars" video game was considered a form of soft advertising for the movie, Destiny Game was required to complete the game production before the movie's release, with the release date being jointly decided by Lucasfilm and Fox, preliminarily set for this May.
Of course, everyone understood the challenges of rushing production, so when drafting this clause, Ethan also secured negotiation rights. Destiny Game would, in principle, coordinate with Fox's promotional plans, but if the game truly couldn't be produced within three months, Fox would have to allow more development time, considering it not a breach of contract as long as Destiny Game completed the game within the normal development timeframe of six to eight months. Additionally, Ethan requested that "Star Wars" not be released during the game's production period.
Fox agreed to this additional clause after some consideration.
After all, they wanted to leverage Ethan's popularity.
Moreover, Ethan stipulated in the contract that, to align with the movie's promotion, Destiny Game had the right to use various soundtracks, character names, and locations from the movie.
As for the costs...
They would be borne by the movie's producers.
Lucas found this reasonable.
If the game's portrayal didn't align with the movie's content, what kind of promotion would that be?
Besides these, the contract also included provisions for merchandising development.
It must be said that Lucas was the most profit-savvy person in Hollywood. Even before the movie's release, he was already contemplating the IP's value. In their agreement, Destiny Game did not obtain the rights to develop merchandise based on the "Star Wars" video game, meaning Ethan couldn't develop clothing, accessories, toys, etc., under the "Star Wars" name.
Honestly, Ethan was unfazed by this clause; he never intended to monopolize the "Star Wars" IP.
Still, he harbored doubts.
He couldn't comprehend how Lucas could switch from calling him a brother one moment to discussing interests the next...
Such brotherhood felt too superficial!
Noticing Ethan's confusion, Lucas took the initiative to explain.
"Oh Ethan—I'm not targeting you—it's just that the merchandising rights for 'Star Wars' were sold off before we met..."
"'Star Wars' toys are already in production..."
"'Star Wars' clothing has also been made..."
"So..."
"That's why Fox was furious with the presentation of my movie..."
Lucas smiled helplessly at Ethan, and the folks from Fox nodded earnestly in agreement.
'???'
Ethan was stunned by these words.
He truly hadn't expected Lucas to be so self-assured! Selling merchandise before the movie's release? Was this confidence or arrogance?
Ethan was puzzled.
But he didn't dwell on it, instead saying with a smile, "No worries, it's your movie after all."
Perhaps because Lucas and Fox both seemed desperate to make "Star Wars" a success, they quickly agreed on terms regarding rights during the contract discussions. As for profit sharing, they generously declined any share.
The income from the game would belong to Destiny Game, and the movie's earnings would be negotiated between Fox and Lucasfilm according to Hollywood's norms, with no joint interests between the three parties.
After signing the contract, Ethan's hanging heart finally settled.
"Magnavox? Atari?"
"Hmph—"
"Wait for your demise!"
Given it was early February and the optimal release time for the movie was at the end of May, leaving just over three months for game development, Ethan, aware of the pressing timeline, briefly met with Spielberg and Lucas after signing the contract and then dashed back to Palo Alto.
After greeting his sister and ensuring her peace of mind, he locked himself in his study, spreading out papers to sketch and write. Having already decided to create "Space Invaders," Ethan had mentally reviewed the game content numerous times during idle moments, so even starting from scratch, his drawing speed wasn't slow. After pulling an all-nighter, he completed the content for ten pages.
By 7 a.m. the next morning, he was knocking on his sister's villa door, sharing his creative ideas.
"Oh Ethan—this is your inspiration?" Evelyn's delicate face showed surprise after reviewing the "Star Wars" creative manuscript.
"Players control spaceships and combat aliens?"
"Oh
—how similar is your idea to the story we discussed before?"
Evelyn wasn't a fool; she could see the storyline of "Star Wars" hardly differed from their casual chat after watching "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" last summer. Ethan went out and turned the previous story into a game?
What kind of brain did this entail!
Or rather, what kind of movie was "Star Wars"?
To transform a seemingly ordinary story into a game? Evelyn was filled with curiosity.
"Yeah! It's the story we discussed before!"
Ethan didn't hide his intentions, revealing the pretext he had already concocted—
"The story content we discussed wasn't complete, just a rough outline. Because the motive wasn't clear, I didn't turn it into a game."
"After my trip to Los Angeles and watching 'Star Wars,' the grand scenes were like a spring, enriching the dry story."
"So, it was born."
"Is it that magical?" Evelyn was somewhat incredulous.
"Of course." Ethan nodded with a smile.
"When the movie is finished, you must take me to see it." Evelyn said, "I really want to know what kind of movie can inspire you like this."
"No problem." Ethan agreed without hesitation.
At the same time, he asked, "Is this game difficult to make?"
Indeed, the challenge of game development was Ethan's main concern.
Because it indicated how much time would be needed to create the game.
And to this question—
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