Thanks to the decent box office for Wrong Turn, Hollywood's major companies had reacted with remarkable speed.
In just one day, as many as three major companies had called to inquire about buying the overseas rights to Wrong Turn.
As for hoping to get a share of the overseas box office, that was out of the question.
In reality, if a film's North American box office didn't exceed $50 million, the major studios wouldn't even bring up an agreement to share the overseas box office revenue. That was the harsh truth. Of course, Zucker understood. Putting himself in their shoes, if he were in charge of a major studio, he wouldn't offer anyone a share of the overseas box office, either.
But.
Zucker wasn't in charge of a major studio!
So, faced with no choice but to sell the overseas rights, Zucker was quite unhappy. But no matter how unhappy he was, he still had to sell them.
"Zucker, my old friend, if you won't sell us the overseas rights to Wrong Turn, are you going to sell them to Warner Bros. again? If you do that, you'll really break my heart!"
Jordan, a representative from Paramount's overseas distribution department, put on a deeply wounded expression.
"Give it a rest, Jordan."
Zucker smiled and chided him. "Jordan, it's true we're old friends, but Warner Bros. and I are friends, too. You're all my friends, and you're all major studios. I can't afford to offend any of you! In this situation, how do you expect me to choose?"
What a sly old fox. Who did he think that pitiful act was fooling?
Jordan frowned slightly. "Zucker, Paramount is determined to get the overseas rights to Wrong Turn. Even if Warner Bros. competes with us—and even if Fox joins them—we won't give up."
At that, Zucker nodded.
As one of the Big Six Hollywood Studios, Paramount certainly had the confidence to say that!
"All right, my old friend. I won't be involved in the negotiations themselves. I'm leaving all of that to Victor. You can talk to him in a bit. I have some things to take care of. Sorry!" Zucker said suddenly.
An excuse!
A blatant excuse!
But there were plenty of advantages to it, too. With Victor handling things, there'd be room to maneuver no matter how the negotiations turned out.
In the first round of negotiations, Paramount offered $7.5 million.
Victor turned them down.
As Jordan was leaving, he passed Zucker's office and said with a pointed look, "Zucker, $7.5 million isn't a low offer."
"Oh? I understand. But, buddy, you should also understand that even though I own the company, I can't make every decision by myself. I have to take Victor's opinion into account, too. Don't you think?" Zucker replied, feigning helplessness.
Liar!
Damn liar!
You're telling me you can't make the call? Who do you think you're fooling?
You're just saying all that because the money isn't enough!
Bastard~!
Jordan smiled on the outside, cursing him in his heart.
"Zucker, we didn't reach an agreement in this first round of talks, but you have to keep the rights available for us. Don't go and sell them before I can get approval for a higher offer."
Near noon.
Another group of guests arrived in the conference room at Wald Pictures.
—Sony Columbia!
"Mr. Wald, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Jiro Sakai from Sony Columbia's overseas distribution department. I look forward to working with you!"
Jiro Sakai was Japanese.
He was short, only about 1.65 meters tall, and looked quite capable. Of course, his bow when they met made Zucker feel especially respected.
"Mr. Sakai, welcome. And welcome to everyone from Columbia Pictures." Zucker extended his hand. He wasn't about to turn away someone who came smiling—especially when they were there to bring him money.
Zucker still didn't take part in the negotiations that followed.
He left everything to Victor.
"Mr. Jones, I think Sony Columbia's offer of $8.5 million shows our sincerity. And, based on what I know of Paramount's stinginess, I'm sure their offer won't exceed $8 million."
At this moment, Jiro Sakai was no longer the polite man he'd been earlier.
He looked confident and shrewd.
Victor nodded and smiled. "I certainly trust Mr. Sakai's judgment, and I appreciate your company's sincerity. But I can't make a decision too hastily. That wouldn't show proper respect for our partnership, would it?"
"Of course, of course." Sakai wasn't offended.
To be honest, the major studios were ruthless!
Given the state of the North American and overseas film markets, a film's overseas box office was usually 1.5 times its North American box office. Analysts estimated that Wrong Turn would ultimately earn between $30 million and $32 million in North America. That meant its overseas box office was expected to reach $45 million.
With $45 million in overseas box office, after deducting the costs of prints, theater splits, distribution, and other expenses, the major studios could still take about a third of the revenue.
That was around $15 million.
Yet all they had to do to buy the overseas rights to Wrong Turn from Wald Pictures was offer $8 million to $9 million. That alone would earn them several million dollars.
What's more, they were buying the complete overseas rights to the film. That included not only overseas distribution rights, but also rights to overseas DVDs, videotapes, merchandise, and more.
The profits from those would be substantial, too.
They'd bring the major studios at least several million more dollars.
That was right: the major studios took most of the profits!
Old Man knew all this, but what good did it do him?
The major studios were using their well-established overseas distribution channels to openly exploit smaller companies. What could he do about it?
Unless he didn't want the money and was willing to let the film go to waste.
Zucker felt helpless.
That afternoon.
Another group of guests arrived at Wald Pictures.
—Time Warner!
Their representative was Reed, the assistant to the head of the distribution department.
"Mr. Wald, Mr. Jones, looks like we'll be working together again," Reed said.
"We hope to work with you again, too."
Zucker and Victor Jones warmly welcomed Reed and the others.
Reed continued, "You two, last time Warner Bros. bought the overseas rights to your company's Hard Candy, we paid a full $2 million. You know the result, of course: Warner Bros. took a loss."
A loss?
What a load of nonsense!
"Yes, if you only count the overseas box office revenue, you lost a few hundred thousand dollars. But with Hard Candy's merchandise and DVD market, haven't you made over a million dollars in these past two months?" Zucker said with a broad smile.
"Hahaha!"
Reed's embarrassment lasted only a second before he changed the subject. "What's past is past. Let's talk about our deal for Wrong Turn."
Three days later.
The overseas rights to Wrong Turn 1 ultimately went to Time Warner!
Time Warner paid a full $10 million for them!
It wasn't that Zucker didn't want to keep negotiating. It was just that every one of them was so crafty that none would budge and offer more.
So, why hadn't Paramount and Fox, the two studios that had stopped pursuing the overseas rights, offered more?
Sure, in theory, they could have paid $15 million and still made a profit.
They could even have made some money!
But they still chose to walk away.
That was because Hollywood released far too many films every year!
For the same price, they could get other, better films that would bring in more profit, so it was no surprise that they gave up on Wrong Turn.
Keep in mind, of all the films Hollywood released each year, at least 75% never made it to overseas theaters. So selling the overseas rights at all was no small feat.
Here's the second update.
Before you continue