Negotiations for the Sequel Rights to Saw

Kevin smiled and shook his head.

"Let's talk after Saw finishes its run. By then, I'll be in a better position to launch my new project."

Jeff Robinov nodded and did not press the matter. Given his relationship with CAA president Ovitz, as long as Warner Bros. offered the right price, Kevin had no reason to choose another film company.

And given Warner Bros.' position in Hollywood, there were very, very few forces that could compare with them.

They feared no one in fair competition.

"Kevin, have fun. Ovitz and I have business to attend to, so we won't keep you from enjoying yourself here."

As he said this, Jeff Robinov cast Kevin and Angelina Jolie an ambiguous look.

Then he left with Ovitz.

"Kevin, you're amazing."

The moment the two men left, Angelina Jolie said excitedly.

Kevin had held his own completely while speaking with those big shots, and Angelina Jolie, watching from the side, had felt her heart surge.

There was not only admiration in her eyes when she looked at Kevin, but also a hint of affection.

Faced with that look, Kevin could no longer resist. He left the party early with Jolie and headed for the hotel where he was staying.

The moment they entered the room, Angelina Jolie eagerly pounced on Kevin on the bed, and then...

The next day, the warm October sunlight shone over the two of them.

Waking Kevin and Jolie from their sleep.

"Darling, go close the curtains."

Hearing Kevin's instruction, Jolie obediently got up, generously displaying her body before him, then walked to the window and drew the curtains shut.

At Kevin's beckoning, she returned to lie in his arms.

Kevin was just about to get some morning exercise with Jolie when the phone rang. He answered it, and his agent Dawson's voice came from the other end.

"Kevin, Shaye, the president of New Line Cinema, wants to talk to you about the rights to Saw."

Kevin instantly perked up. The big fish had arrived.

The rights to Saw were when he would really make his fortune. What was a revenue share worth, anyway? Just a few million dollars.

"No problem, Dawson. Come over too. And help me hire a legal adviser."

"Okay. CAA works with plenty of lawyers. I'll find one."

"Okay. Two-thirty this afternoon, at New Line Cinema."

Only then did Kevin hang up, unable to hide his excitement.

"Kevin, what's wrong?"

Seeing how happy Kevin was, Jolie could not help asking.

It was no secret, and Kevin had no intention of hiding it from anyone. He said directly,

"I hold the sequel rights to Saw. New Line Cinema wants to buy them all outright."

This was Kevin's bottom line. The sequel rights to Saw were easily worth one or two hundred million dollars.

But to make that kind of money, one needed enough of a foundation in Hollywood to handle it.

Only a dozen or so film companies in Hollywood had that kind of strength, and they had their own internal rules.

They could not possibly pay too high a price for those rights.

Twenty to thirty million dollars was already their limit, and the only one willing to pay the highest price for those rights was New Line Cinema.

In fact, Kevin had never intended to sell them to anyone else.

Twenty million dollars?

Angelina Jolie was utterly stunned.

The average monthly income in the United States was around three thousand dollars, and given Americans' habit of spending in advance, most people probably could not even scrape together a thousand dollars in cash.

The same was more or less true for lower-middle-class models like her.

Twenty million dollars was money she could not earn in ten lifetimes. No, not even a hundred.

At that moment, Angelina Jolie suddenly had the thought of becoming Kevin's wife. Under United States law, once the two of them married, all of Kevin's income would be considered joint income.

That way, Angelina Jolie could instantly become the wife of a multimillionaire.

The idea was far too tempting.

She acted as soon as she thought of it.

"Kevin~~~"

"?"

Kevin looked at Jolie in confusion, only to see her roll over on top again, trying to take the initiative.

Kevin could not help marveling that youth really did mean a strong body. Then he turned the tables and began battling Jolie once more.

There was still plenty of time before the afternoon. He could go another round before getting up to eat...

Sitting in an upscale Chinese restaurant, Kevin ordered several dishes. After instructing someone to send some good food to the hotel, he began eating slowly and savoring every bite.

Chinese food had never been something commonly eaten by the lower classes in the United States.

It was different from China.

Thanks to the development of animal husbandry—or rather, the use of drugs—

meat in the United States was much cheaper than vegetables.

And the Chinese model of balancing meat and vegetables clearly required many vegetables that were not cheap, which made it impossible for Chinese food to be inexpensive.

This meal cost more than two hundred dollars, clearly beyond what ordinary wage earners could afford.

But for Kevin now, it was naturally not an expensive expense.

After eating, Kevin took a taxi to New Line Cinema.

New Line Cinema.

Inside the president's office.

Shaye was furious with Dean.

"How could you let Kevin have the sequel rights? Is that how you do your job as New Line Cinema's acquisitions manager?"

"Idiot, fool..."

A stream of insults poured forth.

This was typical workplace blame-shifting. Before Kevin succeeded, the sequel rights to Saw had been worth little. Given Kevin's insistence, even accepting only a revenue share, Dean's decision to let the sequel rights go had actually been perfectly normal.

If Saw had not achieved success far beyond their expectations, there would have been nothing wrong with Dean's handling of the matter.

Of course, since Saw had achieved such success, it had invisibly diminished Dean's contribution in the matter.

Shaye's tirade also carried a certain intention to suppress him.

Dean naturally felt deeply wronged, but having become an executive at a film company of this level in his early thirties, he was obviously not going to resign just because of one scolding.

So he obediently endured the verbal lashing.

After the tirade, Shaye continued,

"When we negotiate with Kevin later over Saw's sequel revenue, you go in first. Once the talks reach a certain point, I'll step in."

"Yes!"

Returning to New Line Cinema once again, Kevin had an entirely different feeling.