Chapter 88

It is not easy to get the North American revenue share of "Break into Death Island" as soon as possible. According to the contract signed between Duke and Warner Bros., the latter will be paid in the second half of the film, compared to Luca. The 20th Century Fox paid by S. Pictures for "Speed ​​of Life" may seem to be a long time, but it is actually the most normal situation in Hollywood.

As a director, it is impossible for Duke to ask Lucasfilm and George Lucas for help every time, and Warner Bros. may not buy Lucasfilm's account. Frankly speaking, Nancy can win almost half a year. The shortest settlement time has arrived.

According to Hollywood practice, it is very troublesome to settle the investment share of films. There is no place to complain except for the courts for a few years. Even many companies that invest in films have suffered until the company goes bankrupt and often fail to receive responses. The share of money received.

As for the director, if the production company does not want to continue to cooperate, the compensation that should be paid will often be delayed for a long time. Once Michael Bay and Peter Jackson have encountered this situation.

Fortunately, Duke threw out a piece of bait early and proved his ability to turn 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 and North America will share There is not much problem with paying on time. Overseas Warner may move a little, but it will also be controlled within the range that Duke can tolerate.

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

Compared to overseas, North America can be subject to stricter supervision. Soon after "Break into Death Island" was released, Duke's accountants, Rock Studios, and Warner Bros. sent account details at the same time.

The accounts are so clear that even people like Duke who don't know much about finances can understand it.

The North American box office of "Death Island" totaled US$157.52 million. According to the signed distribution agreement, after the theater party deducted fixed expenses such as taxes and fees, Warner Bros. received a total of US$76.5 million in North American box office shares.

Although Warner Bros. used the tax rebate quota on "Death Island" and received a total of 2.8 million U.S. dollars in tax rebates, according to the agreement, this part of the money is not included in the income of the film, and the film is obtained from manufacturers such as Hummer and Ferrari The 3.5 million US dollars in advertising costs are included in the revenue.

In this way, the film has earned 80 million U.S. dollars. Warner Bros. took 10% of the North American box office as a distribution commission and deducted 15 million U.S. dollars in publicity expenses. This part of the fund left 49.25 million U.S. dollars.

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

This time there is no company like Lucasfilm that still needs to draw a production commission, including Duke's Duke Studios, Warner Bros., and aug Film Investment Fund. Investors can enjoy their due share according to their respective investment ratios. .

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

After "Break into Death Island" was released from North America, Warner Bros. was negotiating with North America's largest video tape chain company, Blockbuster, about basic video tape transfer fees and rental sales. The latter is a long-term income and has no relationship with Duke Studio. It's too much. The former reached an agreement on the figure of 8.5 million US dollars after four rounds of negotiations.

Then there is the North American TV broadcast copyright, which is where the Duke Studio can enjoy the share. The basic transfer fee of 6.5 million US dollars is also in line with the film's box office and net worth.

Warner Bros. can take a draw from the long-term income of both, and the Duke Studio only signs a short-term revenue share, which can get 3 million US dollars!

In this way, the Duke's studio can get a share of 12 million US dollars on the book after six months, but the 1.2 million US dollars of this need to be paid to Nancy Josephson and the team of lawyers and accountants. Five percent of the investment income on "Fate Island".

A successful film is by no means a masterpiece of a single director. What it needs is the collaboration of an entire team. If there is no agent, Duke will have to go to the major companies personally, and don't consider the filming and production of the film. Professional lawyers and The supervisory and review role of the accountant team is also indispensable. Capital has never had a conscience at all.

When these incomes are still in the future, it would be good for Warner Bros. to be able to pay them off before 1994. As for the overseas revenue share, we have to wait.

After paying attention to the expected income, Duke returned to a relaxed state. Work and new film projects were all left to Nancy to discuss. In the past two years, his nerves have been too tense. If it continues to be maintained, maybe there will be The day it broke off.

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

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

At dinner, Mrs. Leah suddenly mentioned something that Duke had almost forgotten, "Santa Fea has formulated a detailed publicity plan, and the management of Victoria's Secret basically agrees to our plan, if nothing else , Next year's Super Bowl halftime performance will be an underwear catwalk."

"If you have time." Duke was very interested, "I can go and see it on the spot."

Those angels that seem to be the most famous are still little loli, right?

After saying a few words with his mother, Duke learned that the finale models will be Naomi Campbell and Claudia Schiffer. Today, the five most famous supermodels in this era.

"Next month, I am going 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 careful."

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

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

Knowing Duke's focus on work, and knowing that his new film project is advancing, Mrs. Leah waved her hand at random, obviously not taking this sentence seriously, and went straight out of the villa and went for a walk on the promenade.

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

"Hi Duke, it's been a long time since I saw you."

Her voice was faintly soft and sweet, and Duke remembered that he hadn't seen this Australian actress for a long time, and asked, "Yeah, it's been a long time, Nami, what have you been up to?"

"I... I moved!" The voice over there hesitated for a while, and continued, "I just want to call you to inform you."

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

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

Naomi Watts has also opened up the situation in Hollywood. The star is not as good as it seems on the surface. What kind of status needs to have a matching outfit and residence, especially for actresses. More importantly, the cost in this area is definitely a huge sum of money, and there are even many new stars who have to borrow for this.

"How did you move there?"

If Hollywood is a big dye vat, then Beverly Hills, which is a neighborhood of Hollywood stars, can be called a microcosm of it.

"Mary's suggestion, Nancy helped me with the procedures."

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

"Taking care?" Duke curled his lips.

Now Naomi Watts's status and reputation in the circle is far inferior to Nicole Kidman. A combination of weak and strong, the two sides can still coexist harmoniously. If one day Naomi Watts rises quickly, and Nicole Kidman · Kidman has a competitive relationship, and the sisterhood between the two will inevitably disappear as it once was.

Relatively speaking, even if the male actors compete, most of them will not completely tear their skins. The actresses are different. Perhaps it is due to the nature of women. If there is a situation of direct or indirect competition, in private, I definitely can't wait to see you. The situation of blood.

Of course, this is also related to the shorter shelf life of actresses and narrower roads in Hollywood. After all, even in the past two decades, this circle is still the world of male chauvinism.

Compared to 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. It's just a tentative question on the other side. At the midnight snack, I should come down.

Leaving a note for his mother, Duke drove away from Santa Monica and drove directly to the west side of Beverly Hills. This kind of relationship without feelings and responsibility pressure is simply the best relaxation for him. the way.

This weak woman is far less powerful than Shania Dunn, but she also has her own charm, especially when Duke puts her under her body, and when she begs, she can always inspire more people. Impulse and desire. Hope, and even want to crush her to pieces.

Although Naomi Watts is not a particularly good bed companion, Duke will show up in her apartment from time to time while waiting for Nancy's news, and occasionally meet friends in her circle. The other party does not have any strange colors, perhaps in their opinion, Naomi Watts can get the most important female role in "Break into Death Island", and it is definitely inseparable from the director of Duke.

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

Time slowly flickered to August, when the global box office of "Break into Death Island" exceeded $320 million, good news came from Nancy.