Behind The Spotlight Chapter 196
Second week of January.
Year 2000.
While Collin was in Paris, negotiating with the Beaumont family, watching Princess Chantal's concert, and looking for gigs and projects that his clients could earn money from, Wyatt Bray and Henry Greyson were having a smooth conversation with Uni-versus Pictures. The negotiation progressed faster than expected.
Week On A Cruise Ship was a successful comedy film that grossed over $400 million worldwide and was also loved by critics. It was an R-rated movie that tackled adult humor. For an R-rated film that grossed over $400 million in the mid-90s, Week On A Cruise Ship was undoubtedly a blockbuster and cemented its place in pop culture.
R-rated movies had weaker selling strength compared to PG-13 movies, simply because PG-13 had a higher market share and appealed to a broader demographic. Almost everyone could watch a PG-13 movie, while R-rated films restricted younger audiences aged 17 and under unless accompanied by parents, which limited ticket sales. Hence, a $400 million R-rated movie was considered a success by industry standards.
Naturally, Uni-versus Pictures was thrilled when they heard that Wyatt was interested in starting a sequel to this successful movie. Their excitement was barely hidden. They had long been eager to milk a franchise. At last, Week On A Cruise Ship would be classified as one, with a long-awaited continuation.
A sequel to a successful movie usually made huge profits because it was already a recognized title and had gathered fans through theaters or videotape sales and rentals, a built-in audience. Lately, sales of discs such as DVDs, CDs, and Blu-rays had been increasing as the years went by. Videotapes might become obsolete in a few years.
"If we're talking about the budget, $75 million is passable," an executive said cautiously.
It was true that Uni-versus Pictures was happy about the upcoming project. They had already approved production, and now they just needed further information regarding the budget, the most sensitive part.
If there was one unfortunate thing about the sequel, it was the fact that two of the lead actors had achieved tremendous career growth over the past few years, driving up production costs.
Brody Paige, in particular, had become extremely famous, starring in many successful movies such as Seven Deadly Sins and F*ght Cl*b. These were two of his biggest films, both critically and commercially praised.
Because of that, Uni-versus Pictures was expected to pay him at least $7 million just to star in the sequel, a conservative estimate. That responsibility fell to Henry Greyson, who had been having trouble sleeping because he knew the negotiations would be headache-inducing.
Henry Greyson and Wyatt Bray had collaborated on three projects by now, and their cooperation had always been perfect. Henry had effectively become Wyatt's partner, earning millions per project. On top of that, due to the success of his past works, Henry had become a top producer respected across studios. Some major studios even wanted to hire him to produce high-budget films, but Henry turned them down because he knew his limits. Most of the success came from Wyatt's talent in filmmaking.
Aside from Brody Paige, Axel Gunner was also a superstar now. His latest movie, The Born Identity, grossed over $785 million worldwide. It was a massive success, becoming the highest-grossing movie of 1999 and dominating theaters.
Because of this, Axel's fame skyrocketed and his value multiplied. Despite the heavy criticism he received years ago, his career rebounded to its peak. Like Brody Paige, the least the studio could offer Axel was $7 million.
As for the third lead actor, Cross Pinger, he would already be happy with $1 million. His career was stable but unremarkable.
Of course, everyone knew that this so-called '$7 million' was only a starting point. No one expected these actors to agree without asking for a box office share.
Henry Greyson and Uni-versus Pictures found themselves in a dilemma. Money, it was always about money, the heart of every negotiation.
It was well known that producers and studios sometimes had to beg superstars to star in their films. This time, Uni-versus Pictures was in for a tough ride.
"$75 million is just the initial amount. It's not finalized. It will increase," Henry warned the executives. They frowned but agreed that the budget would likely rise.
After further discussion, they reached the conclusion that the sequel had to be produced no matter what cost.
"Let's end the meeting here. Henry, if Brody and Axel's teams become difficult, talk to me. I'll meet them personally," Noah Nash assured him, prompting a sigh of relief from Henry.
Noah Nash, the Chairman of Uni-versus Pictures, understood this business through decades of experience. He had personally dealt with agents who managed Hollywood's biggest stars and mastered negotiation.
For a studio to make money, it needed a good script. But for a film to truly succeed, it also needed famous actors. A creative and interesting script alone wasn't enough, the movie required stars with strong box office appeal.
Because of this, famous actors often became arrogant. There were times when studios had no choice but to beg actors to participate.
There were precedents.
Tommy Yatch was known for his role in Impossible Mission. For that franchise, Fair Amount Pictures desperately begged him with an enormous salary, but he refused. What he wanted was 30% ownership of the Impossible Mission copyright, an outrageous demand.
Yes, he was being a dick. No other word fit. Thirty percent ownership meant thirty percent of the profit unless contract stated otherwise. His demand nearly made Fair Amount Pictures' executives vomit blood.
But in the end, they agreed. They chose profit over pride so that Tommy Yatch would return for another sequel. The CEO of Fair Amount Pictures was present during the contract signing, gritting his teeth behind a forced smile. Giving such a massive slice of the pie to an actor was a painful compromise.
Being famous, Brody and Axel had the privilege to negotiate box office shares or even copyrights, depending on their leverage. Everything depended on how their agents handled negotiations, unless Uni-versus Pictures had something up its sleeve.
The meeting ended. As the executives left, many of them stole glances at Wyatt Bray, particularly the women. They had to admit that Wyatt was attractive now that he had lost weight, a noticeable change. Unfortunately, the director already had a fiancée, and their relationship appeared strong. He was off-limits.
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[Thank you for reading this novel.]