— General POV —
"We want you… to star in your own movie" The CEO of Vought said.
"My own movie? Really?" Adem asked with a widened eyes.
It was one thing if he had to make a small cameo, that was simple, but to star in a movie?
His acting was barely passable for commercials let alone big budget Hollywood movies.
Seeing his reaction Ashley could tell he seemed nervous and a little annoyed by the proposal.
"I know this change from small screen to big screen can be demanding. But I will personally ensure you will have the tools necessary to make this transition easier."
Adem was speechless for a moment. To him this came out of nowhere. Eventually he spoke up. "Look Ms. Barrett, I appreciate you coming in person to discuss this with me. But I feel like it would be better if you would discuss this topic with my Manager first. Her name is Cate Dunlop, Vought should have access to her contact information but I can give it to you right now."
Ashley's smile faltered for a moment. This was not the direction she wanted the meeting to go. Homelander told her to get it done. And it should have been easy. Most Supes would jump at the chance of appearing in a VCU movie let alone star in their own film.
But, after thinking about it for a second she realized it made sense. This was a Supe second only to Homelander. He was not one of those bottom feeders like the Deep. He would not just agree without doing his due diligence.
"I'm sure we do. But I would appreciate it if you would." She said as he leaned inside his jacket and pulled out a card containing Cate's contact info.
He passed it to her and she accepted it gracefully.
Before he could leave Ashley told him more "The movie will be an Origin story regarding how you discovered your powers, came to Godolkin, became the Top Student, and come to your own as a Hero. Homelander himself will make a post credit appearance teasing your acceptance to the Seven. I will send the Script to your manager by EOD, as well as the offer Vought has prepared for your appearance. Just know time is of essence as we would like to get the film ready for release by 4th of July weekend, the day we are planning to announce your acceptance to the Seven."
Adem thanked her as he left the meeting room. Not sure what to think about the offer.
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— That Night, Adem's Apartment, Cate's POV —
Vought CEO herself had come to meet with Adem. She had send the contract, which stated for his services they would pay him 5 million dollars, as well as 5% back end participation.
"Have you finished going over the contract yet?" He asked as he was still skimming through the scenario.
"Almost. Although they want to sign you for a 3 picture deal, and the base pay doubles with each. Admittedly it is fair rate, the highest starting base pay Vought offer to a Supe- even higher than Starlight's and she was in the Seven at the time." I then flipped the pages in the contract and showed him the one part of it that was bugging me. "They want to have the net participation agreement."
Seeing the cute clueless look on his face I explained it to him "Net Participation means you get percentage of profits after Hollywood accounting deducts production, marketing, and distribution costs. You would be left with close to nothing. Instead of Net Participation we will be asking for Gross Participation. I'll start by asking 5%, but I think we should be willing to go as low as 2%. Most established Supes get between 2 to 5% and this is your first movie. Not to mention big budget VCU movies can make as high as 3.34 billion although taking a conservative approach, if we take A-Train's first movie post induction to the Seven as a base and adjust it for inflation your movie is likely to make 800 million to 1.2 billion in box office. And 2% would still leave you with an estimated 16 to 24 million pre-tax and since we already established Florida as your primary residency, if we used 40% effective tax rate… you should have 9.6 to 14.4 million left after taxes." I explained to him, he still looked like a lost puppy.
"You know money doesn't matter to me much." He said with a shrug. Trying to hide the fact he didn't really understand how movie compensations work. "I just wanna know how long the filming will take. And if there is anything weird hidden in the contract."
I looked over the contract once again, making sure I did not miss anything, "There are a few ambiguous language regarding promos, but that can be hashed out by lawyers. They plan to have the filming completed in 2 months, but since you are starring you should be in the set for about a month, maybe a little less or more, I haven't exactly read the script." I told him.
"I just skimmed through. They make it seem like I was a relatable high school who wanted to do good his whole life, and my life entirely changed when I survived a car crash and lifted a car to save two kids. Then I would join God U, form rivalries with 'Golden Boy' 'Polaris' and 'Phantom', as well as fall for a blond girl. She apperantly is kidnapped by a Telekinetic Asian Super Terrorist who I beat up, save the girl, and end the movie with a kiss. Not too far fetched everything considered. At least they didn't try to make it seem like I am an alien- like they did in the first Homelander Origin story." He mumbled as we then decided to talk about the elephant in the room.
"Are you sure joining the Seven is safe? You know, considering you know who is there."
"Jeez Cate, he isn't Voldemort. You can say Homelander. And as for whether or not it's safe… I don't know. But it's also our best shot at taking him down."