Deal: $30 Million

As the director of a blockbuster film, he received a warm welcome from New Line Cinema.

The moment he entered, someone led him into a lavishly decorated reception room.

Dawson was already waiting inside with a lawyer.

After resting for a while and having some snacks in the office, Dean hurried over.

"Kevin, have you been having fun these past few days?"

"Pretty good. These past few days have taught me one thing: it feels great to be rich!"

Kevin deliberately let his extravagant itinerary show on his face, every word implying that he intended to demand a hefty price.

A bitter smile immediately appeared on Dean's face, and he stopped beating around the bush.

The other side had even brought a lawyer. There was nothing more to say—they had come to sell the sequel rights to Saw for a good price.

"Kevin, how much do you want for the sequel rights to Saw?"

Kevin slowly held up three fingers.

"$30 million? Impossible!"

Dean's expression changed abruptly.

Kevin's asking price was undoubtedly outrageous.

"Don't be in such a hurry. By preliminary estimates, Saw itself will bring you nearly $100 million in revenue. You can't deny that, can you?"

Just from the box office alone, after revenue splits and marketing costs, New Line Cinema could earn nearly $100 million in profit at this rate, not to mention all the additional income afterward.

However, with Kevin retaining part of the rights, that income would naturally be much lower.

Now, Kevin was packaging all future revenue and rights together for sale to New Line Cinema. Although $30 million was a little steep, it would not actually be a loss.

They would merely make less money.

At Kevin's reminder, Dean's expression eased somewhat. Just as he was about to continue negotiating the price, Kevin spoke again.

"Two Saw scripts, and I'll be credited as producer. I'll also fully cooperate with your promotional campaign."

Kevin directly laid all his sincerity on the table.

Scripts were the foundation. For low-budget films, everything depended on telling a good story.

Two scripts that continued the Saw universe, plus the ability to keep promoting the films under Kevin's name—this guaranteed, to the greatest extent possible, that the next two Saw films could make money.

At the very least, barring any surprises, they should be able to earn back that $30 million.

Of course, this time Kevin could only receive fixed compensation as a writer and producer. A percentage of the profits was out of the question.

"This..."

Dean hesitated before saying, "I'll step out for a moment."

Kevin nodded. Clearly, Dean was going to find someone who had the authority to make that decision.

"Kevin, will they really pay $30 million?"

After Dean left, Dawson finally could not hold back any longer and asked.

He knew the price would not be low, but he had assumed that $10 million would be the absolute limit.

He had not expected Kevin to ask for three times that amount—$30 million.

Even he, Kevin's agent, had been startled. Still, he also hoped the deal would go through.

CAA could take 5% of Kevin's income, the standard rate for an A-list client. As Kevin's direct agent, Dawson could share 1.5% of that 5%, while the rest would be divided among the company and the other CAA agents serving Kevin.

In other words, if this deal went through, his commission alone would start at several hundred thousand dollars.

For the first time, Dawson truly realized what it meant to have a high-end client like Kevin.

He could not help praising himself once again for recognizing Kevin's talent, signing him early, and maintaining such a pleasant working relationship with him.

Kevin had no objection to them taking commissions from his income. After all, CAA's help had been quite valuable.

Without CAA's help, his start could never have gone so smoothly.

To say nothing else, if he had taken his project proposal around seeking investment by himself, he had no idea how many walls he would have hit, and he still might not have secured funding.

Kevin greatly valued mutually beneficial cooperation. CAA's resources were worth the money he paid.

"Believe me, they will. I've calculated it all in detail!"

"Other than the time needed to recoup the investment, this deal is almost pure profit. If they aren't willing, I wouldn't mind handing the sequel rights to Saw over to someone else."

"At the Beverly Hills party, Warner Bros. president Jeff Robinov expressed interest in the sequel rights to Saw..."

Kevin spoke slowly, his tone filled with confidence.

"Who said anything about giving the rights to Saw to someone else?"

Shaye strode in and teased Kevin over his words.

"Isn't it just $30 million? New Line Cinema will buy them!"

With Kevin's promise of two sequels as a foundation, Shaye decided after careful consideration to buy the sequel rights to Saw outright for $30 million.

Put simply, Shaye chose to make big money rather than quick money.

A smile appeared on Kevin's face as well.

"Deal."

Once the partnership was finalized, the atmosphere immediately became much more harmonious. In that pleasant atmosphere, Shaye naturally brought up Kevin's next project.

"Kevin, let New Line handle and invest in your next project as well. Believe me, New Line Cinema will always have your back."

"You'll handle the project entirely yourself. No one else will be allowed to interfere. The producer will only handle the money and nothing else. You'll decide the entire cast!"

Those words gave Kevin the greatest possible authority as a director. Of course, the most direct reason was that Kevin's second film would still be a low-budget production.

Otherwise, once an investment of tens of millions of dollars was involved,

even Steven Spielberg would not be able to obtain that much authority.

"In principle, there shouldn't be any problem. But so that the new film can get a better release window and more screens when the time comes, I suggest giving a portion to other film companies with sufficient strength."

Kevin made the suggestion seriously.

For Kevin, that was the option that maximized his interests.

Shaye only considered it briefly before agreeing immediately.

The unexpected success of Saw had made countless film companies envious. If Kevin still tried to keep everything for himself with his next film, there would probably be problems with screens, promotion, or even the release schedule when it came out.

Saw had stood alone during this Halloween season, drawing who knew how much resentment while New Line made a fortune.

If they did not share some of the profits as protection money, they would be targeted sooner or later.

After all, they were not one of Hollywood's Big Five.