Peter Sanders seemed somewhat impatient. After exchanging pleasantries with Simon, he suggested they find a place to talk.
Simon didn't decline. He greeted Janet and the others, then led Peter Sanders out of the crew's motel to a nearby coffee shop.
Once seated, they casually ordered coffee, and Peter Sanders said, "Simon, I came here hoping to discuss that contract between you and Fox."
Simon merely nodded slightly, calmly waiting for Peter Sanders to continue.
Peter Sanders studied Simon's expression, paused, then shifted topics abruptly. "Simon, Mr. Goldberg arranged a test screening of The Butterfly Effect on Tuesday, but the response wasn't great. The critics there felt the film was a bit disjointed."
Simon gently stirred the coffee the waiter had just brought, saying evenly, "If that's the case, Mr. Sanders, I can only say that's regrettable. But I believe my script is a truly compelling story, and I trust Brian has the skill to bring it to life perfectly. Perhaps you should have a bit more patience and wait for the film to be fully completed."
Sensing Simon's assertiveness, Peter Sanders—who had intended to apply some pressure—recalled Leonard Goldberg's instructions and conceded, "Alright, it must be that."
Not wanting the other man to feel too awkward, Simon switched to a more casual address. "Peter, you mentioned the contract?"
Peter Sanders took a sip of his coffee, set down the cup, and replied, "Yes, Simon. We're ready to exercise the priority rights in the contract now and buy your script for Final Destination. Moreover, Mr. Goldberg hopes you'll direct it yourself. If you agree, the project can start immediately, with a release slotted for the end of the year."
The brilliance of Final Destination lay in its highly original concept, but the film itself was just a standard slasher thriller with limited box office potential. Simon had no intention of wasting much energy on it. Besides, he'd already signed his next directing deal with Orion and couldn't collaborate with Fox right away.
Still, he didn't reject it outright, instead asking, "Peter, what's Fox's offer?"
Peter Sanders hesitated briefly but didn't beat around the bush this time, quoting Ronald Goldberg's terms directly. "Simon, if you're willing to direct it personally, we can offer a $2 million directing fee, plus 10% of North American box office profits. That's a generous quote—newcomers like you typically don't get profit shares at all. And I can tell you, this matches exactly what Brian's getting for directing The Butterfly Effect, and he's been an established director for years. As for the script, $300,000, with the same profit terms as a guild member."
Simon nodded slightly this time; Fox's terms did show sincerity.
In this era, aside from the very top like Spielberg and a handful of others, even first-tier directors topped out at around $5 million.
Fox's offer was an affirmation of his filmmaking abilities as demonstrated in Run Lola Run.
After all, in Hollywood's highly developed industry, studios' assessments of a filmmaker's capabilities based on their work were remarkably accurate.
If Simon had struck gold with something like The Blair Witch Project—devoid of technical merit—studios might marvel, but unless they wanted to gamble on leveraging the buzz he'd built, none would offer him a directing gig, let alone terms approaching first-tier pay.
In a way, this was the outcome Simon had hoped for from the start.
Even so, he could only shake his head regretfully. "Sorry, Peter. I've already signed a directing deal with Orion—it's actually a condition attached to them distributing Run Lola Run."
Peter Sanders fell silent for a moment, unsure what to say.
If they'd known Run Lola Run would achieve its current box office, Fox would have jumped at signing a similar deal with Simon.
Too bad.
The world was full of what "if," but only one outcome.
Peter Sanders didn't know the specifics of Simon's distribution deal with Orion, but from their repeated interactions, it wasn't hard to infer. Having agreed to Simon's terms, Orion would likely keep their North American box office split around 30%.
So, even at a conservative $150 million total for Run Lola Run in North America, Orion stood to take $50 million in splits.
As for marketing costs, from Peter Sanders' observations, Run Lola Run's grosses were largely driven by media buzz and word-of-mouth—Orion's spending had been minimal. Even if they ramped up promotion later for more gains, it wouldn't exceed $10 million.
By that math, just from theatrical distribution, Orion would net $40 million in pure profit.
$40 million.
And that was a very conservative estimate.
But all of Fox Studios' profits last year hadn't reached $40 million. Or rather, Fox's film division had operated at a loss.
As Fox's vice president, Peter Sanders knew well that their top grosser last year was Aliens at $85 million.
Out of sixteen releases, none broke $100 million, only five topped $10 million, and twelve were outright losses. Parent company News Corp was even discussing budget cuts for film operations this year.
Peter Sanders was just glad the final call to reject Run Lola Run had been Ronald Goldberg's. Otherwise, he might be packing his bags in the coming months.
Seeing Peter Sanders silent, Simon continued, "Peter, honestly, I have no interest in directing Final Destination myself. But if Fox wants the script now, I have my own condition: I want to serve as producer personally."
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