Specific benefits

In the second week of April, after the recording and broadcast of The Oprah Winfrey Show, Paramount Pictures and Happy TV Station both released related news updates. Under the baptism of this wave of popularity, the film "3 Idiots", which had experienced a slight decline in box office performance, regained momentum. In just three days over the weekend, it made a strong comeback, grossing $8.845M and ultimately defending its position as the box office champion of the week.

At this time, the film was being shown in 1,320 theaters across North America. The stunning performance of "3 Idiots" in the market, even after nearly a month, left the recently premiered film "Hart's War" feeling embarrassed.

By the third week, with other new releases entering theaters one after another, "3 Idiots" only grossed $5.321M for the week, ending its three-week reign as the box office champion and ranking ninth.

Based on the downward trend in box office percentage, the potential of "3 Idiots" in the North American region was nearly exhausted, and Paramount Pictures gradually began reducing the number of theaters showing the film. Media attention on Lyman also started to fade, and one important reason was his refusal to cooperate.

For example, Vanity Fair magazine wanted to invite him for a photoshoot to use on the cover and for a small interview, but Lyman declined. He preferred to stay in his hotel, watch old movies, imitate filming techniques, or contemplate new film ideas rather than participate in a photoshoot.

Firstly, he didn't want to invest his energy in such trivial matters, and secondly, photoshoots and interviews wouldn't contribute much to his career. The latter was the most important factor.

He was a director, not an actor or celebrity who relied on his looks or potential image value enhanced by the spotlight. He couldn't get caught up in magazine interviews or celebrity parties. What he needed was to maintain dedication to his work and strive for progress, rather than getting lost in the temptations of success and waking up only when he hit rock bottom. That would be foolish.

Therefore, Lyman readily rejected the request from Vanity Fair and turned down many party invitations. He knew that the success of a film depended not on how many celebrity parties you attended or how many magazine covers you appeared on, but on the film itself.

By the time the film was taken off screens, "3 Idiots" had grossed a total of $97.26M in North America. In this region alone, Lyman could potentially receive a dividend of up to $2.95M.

With the film's release coming to an end, EuropaCorp, driven by their strong demand, prepared to divide the cake among the film's production, investment, distribution, and theater aspects.

According to relevant regulations in North America, if a film is shown for a long period, around one month, the theaters will pay the distributor the first share. Subsequent shares will change according to agreements and the duration of the film's release. However, in most cases, the distributor will receive all box office shares within the first week after the film's release. However, when and how the distributor will pay the producers and other beneficiaries is unknown. Especially for independent filmmakers, delays and payment defaults from distributors are not uncommon, even for the reputable Hollywood Six. There have been countless cases brought before the Delaware Commercial Arbitration Court.

In other words, never overestimate the moral standards of Hollywood film companies.

That was why Lyman insisted on securing EuropaCorp first. Just like how Paramount Pictures would never sacrifice their reputation and risk losing tens of millions of dollars for a few million dollars.

In the late stages of April, an accounting firm commissioned by Lyman became fully involved in the profit distribution process, engaging in close financial transactions and reconciling numerous accounting documents and box office data with Paramount Pictures and EuropaCorp.

Lyman had no direct involvement in such matters. Besides causing trouble, he wouldn't have any effect. Although PricewaterhouseCoopers' professional accountants charged high fees, their business capabilities and the company's reputation were worth entrusting. Furthermore, Lyman also invited a law firm to represent Mann Studios and supervise on his behalf.

Having double insurance was not excessive. After all, with so many interests at stake, it was better to be cautious.

Paramount Pictures and the theater chains signed a conventional profit-sharing agreement. After deducting fixed expenses, the theaters would share the profits with the distributor based on different percentages during different periods of the film's release. After deducting miscellaneous fees and taxes, Paramount Pictures received a little over $52M.

In this part, EuropaCorp didn't have the first-hand right to use the money. As the legitimate distribution channel, Paramount Pictures could extract $31.2M from the amount. Fortunately, there was no need to recalculate expenses such as publicity and film copying. The remaining $20.8M was successfully delivered to EuropaCorp. Looking at it this way, Paramount Pictures only incurred a cost of around $12M and earned a return of $19.2M.

Distribution companies have vast promotional channels and strong distribution capabilities. There is a reason they stand at the top of the industry, and making money so effortlessly is truly enviable.

Once the money arrived in EuropaCorp's account, they began dividing the cake according to the director agreement signed with Lyman. Compensation, profit sharing, and an additional bonus. Lyman received $3.4M.

However, the matter in the North American market wasn't over because he still had to pay federal and California personal income taxes to the tax authorities. The United States has too many types of taxes, and ordinary people can't even figure them out, let alone understand how to handle them according to the regulations. It was only with the arrangements of the hired accounting firm that they finally understood that he would probably only receive $2.95M.

After settling the financial matters in the United States, the accumulated box office income of over $30M from overseas markets had yet to be calculated.

As of now, the film had already been taken off screens in France due to the limitations of the market's capacity. "3 Idiots" only achieved a box office performance of over €40M.

Globally, it accumulated over $170M in box office revenue. And these were only a part of the film's revenue. The peripheral operations of "3 Idiots" were also valuable.

First, the rights to TV broadcasting and video tapes, where the distributor naturally enjoyed a 50% share. EuropaCorp took complete control of the entire negotiation process.

After several rounds of bidding, the French videotape rights were sold for €7M, and the TV rights earned €5M. EuropaCorp was the first to extract €6M from these deals.

With the revenue sharing reaching this stage, Lyman entrusted the accounting firm to urge EuropaCorp to settle the remaining portion that belonged to the director as soon as possible. The payment had to be made within one month.

It wasn't that Lyman was eager for his share of the earnings; rather, he didn't trust EuropaCorp's integrity. No, it wasn't just EuropaCorp; he didn't trust the moral standards of any film company.

His Mann Studios was just an empty shell, incapable of exerting any strong supervision over EuropaCorp. He also didn't have effective financial control measures. Meanwhile, as a distributor, EuropaCorp had numerous methods like inflating costs and offsetting taxes. There was nothing they couldn't do. Especially in the operation of long-term revenue like videotapes and peripheral rights, there were more opportunities for manipulation, and they were more concealed.

Yes, France had various laws with explicit regulations to protect the interests of all parties involved, but even in the more strictly regulated North American market, Hollywood giants dared to deceive Wall Street vampires' funds, let alone EuropaCorp, which came into contact with the film's revenue in overseas markets all around the world before anyone else.

Nowadays, it wasn't the era of limited information flow. Hoping for effective supervision was just a pipe dream. Instead of relying on EuropaCorp's company ethics, it was better to settle one's share of the earnings as soon as possible and deliver them. As for any missing or lesser amounts, it didn't matter. As long as he received the part of the revenue that he could already see.

As a result, Lyman, as the director, had a clear understanding of his earnings. He had a surplus of $8.84M from the box office (after including North America and overseas portions and deducting taxes), and an additional $7.6M from various rights earnings, totaling $16.44M.

Regarding the remaining long-term earnings, it would depend on EuropaCorp's willingness to provide. In any case, he had received the batch of money first. Among that, his personal remuneration was reduced by $2.44M (including bonus and additional earnings). The remaining $14M was deposited into Mann Studios' account.

Public affairs were separate from private matters. The boundary between them couldn't be blurred. Even René, who worked as the on-set manager and part-time producer, had his remuneration settled separately, which wasn't included in the studio's account. Although they were friends, they made a clear distinction between public and private affairs. When doing business, involving personal matters was the last thing one wanted.

After receiving this huge sum of money, Lyman's life didn't change much. He still lived in the same apartment.

Yes, he had returned to North America again. The last time he went back was just to reconcile accounts with EuropaCorp.

Apart from that, René bought a new car for convenient transportation. It was a business car under the Mercedes-Benz brand, much larger and more comfortable than his previous one.

In early May, Paramount Pictures sent an invitation as promised, inviting Lyman and the main creative team to a party.

They had come for this event.