The Split

Surrounded by praise and adoration, Irene did not let success go to her head. She continued her filming schedule as planned, knowing she was not meant to be a fleeting meteor in the sky, so she had to keep working hard.

Besides, if the money wasn't in her pocket, everything else was just an illusion.

Whether it was the subsequent international releases, television broadcast fees, or offline rental fees, none of it had anything to do with her. She could only profit from the North American box office, and the only reason she could benefit from that was because she was the investor's daughter. If she weren't, she would have only received a measly $200,000 for a $136 million gross.

One must realize that from the initial concept to the script, and finally to the actual filming of the entire movie, Irene handled everything herself. Yet, without her background, she would have only received that insignificant salary, which is the norm in Hollywood.

After entering October, Irene's brain was occupied solely by filming, and the only time she rested was to look forward to the day of the official profit distribution.

Normally, within half a month of a film leaving theaters, the theater chains transfer the corresponding share to the distributor.

However, once the distributor receives the money, when they choose to pay the production company and investors is entirely an unknown variable.

Fortunately, the Coppola Family's Zoetrope Studios was not some nameless or newly established personal production house in Hollywood. Even if MGM gave up on a second collaboration with Irene, as long as Francis Coppola was there, they wouldn't dare drag out the payment deadline indefinitely.

After the theater chains deposited the 50% box office share—amounting to $68 million—into MGM's account, Zoetrope Studios dispatched a professional accounting team to verify all movie-related accounts with MGM.

As the distributor, MGM was entitled to 12% of the North American box office as a distribution fee per the signed terms, which came to $16.32 million.

Beyond that, MGM had to deduct the advanced marketing and PR expenses, as well as various costs for film prints, publicity, storage, audits, and a myriad of other miscellaneous items. There was no telling how much insider manipulation was hidden within those figures.

Fortunately, with Britney's help early on, the promotional costs were not particularly high compared to Eyes Wide Shut and Runaway Bride released in the same period. MGM calculated these miscellaneous costs to be a total of $9.6 million.

Irene didn't know if these charges were reasonable, but none of it was something she could voice an opinion on.

After MGM took their share, $42.08 million remained. From this, the salaries for the actors and relevant staff still needed to be paid, including the remaining compensation for Irene, which totaled over $1 million.

The final remaining amount of nearly $40 million was the actual harvest for Zoetrope Studios.

According to the contract Irene signed with Francis at the time, if there were profits from the North American box office, 80% of those profits would go to Irene. That amounted to $24 million. After deducting relevant taxes, the actual money she could take home was around $20 million.

A year ago, no one would have imagined Irene could secure such a sum. Fortunately, the agreement between father and daughter was known to only a very few, and Irene had made a killing.

It might look like Francis's Zoetrope Studios did all the work for nothing, investing $10 million only to end up with less money than Irene.

But in reality, the North American box office was just the beginning of their harvest. While the North American home video rights and television broadcast fees had to be shared with MGM, the overseas rights were firmly held by Zoetrope Studios. With a $136 million North American box office, they would likely fetch a high price.

Irene did not show her face at all during the entire distribution and negotiation process, but she had Shelly follow it from beginning to end. After all, every cent she earned had a portion belonging to Shelly, so he was more than happy to do it.

In the end, according to what Shelly saw and heard, Zoetrope Studios gained roughly $60 million in profit from this investment, while the initial investment cost was only $10 million.

In just one year, that was a 6x return on investment. It was precisely this kind of return ratio that kept outside investors clutching their cash and desperately trying to squeeze into Hollywood.

At lunchtime, Irene took her phone from Vera and saw an unread text message.

She tapped it open, and a bank deposit notification greeted her eyes.

Seeing the eight-digit transfer, Irene was instantly overjoyed, with fireworks going off in her mind.

She looked at everyone with favor for the entire afternoon, and even when an actor messed up a take, it couldn't dampen her good mood.

Filming ended early that afternoon, and she used the excuse of celebrating her previous movie's successful theatrical run to invite the core creative team out for a meal.

Everyone didn't quite understand what there was to celebrate about a movie leaving theaters—wouldn't it be better to celebrate the box office breaking $100 million?

But regardless of whether they understood, they were all very enthusiastic about the director treating them to a meal.

Only her assistant Vera and her best friend's boyfriend, Edward, likely knew the real reason she was so happy.

"I think she looked more beautiful in Notting Hill, and Hugh Grant was more handsome too."

"Exactly, exactly. I think so too. Richard Gere looked too old."

"What are you all chatting about?" Irene returned from the restroom to find her actors in a heated discussion.

"Director, we were talking about Julia Roberts's two movies," said Jessica Alba, who played the friend of Regina, Karen Smith.

She was a new actress recently signed by CAA, and this time she had been packaged into the crew as well.

Irene raised an eyebrow. Aside from themselves, only Edward knew about the bad blood between her and Julia Roberts, but she wasn't about to bring it up herself.

"This year has truly been a year dominated by Ms. Roberts. Both movies were hits. When will we ever become actors like her?" Rachel McAdams took the lead when she saw Irene didn't respond.

"To become an actor like her, you need the right time, the right place, and the right people—all are indispensable. However, you don't need to belittle yourselves. After all, you are still young, and the future is in your hands." Irene picked up her glass and took a sip of champagne, her evaluation of Julia Roberts devoid of any personal emotion.

"The internet is saying that you, Director, will be the next Garry Marshall—someone who deeply understands the psychology of ordinary audiences and excels at creating warm, optimistic, hopeful stories with a fairy-tale quality. And it's rumored that Director Marshall is collaborating with Ms. Roberts for the third time, with another masterpiece coming out next year."

Upon hearing this, Irene's first reaction was: Are they going to go head-to-head again next year?

It wasn't fear, just a feeling that this ill-fated connection had been going on for a bit too long.

"Oh? What movie are they collaborating on this time?" Irene ate her steak nonchalantly, not appearing particularly interested.

"It seems to be an adaptation of a novel, called something..." Jessica tapped her head. "Oh right, it's called The Princess Diaries!"