"The rights to 'The Terminator' are held by Hemdale Film Corporation, a film company supported by UK tax-haven capital and with a distribution agreement with Orion Pictures. John Daly, president of Hemdale, refused to sell the rights to 'The Terminator' but expressed willingness to cooperate with Daenerys Films. I believe this plan is feasible; if we produce a sequel, the funds provided by Hemdale can help us share the risk".
"The rights to Tolkien's Middle-earth series, 'The Lord of the Rings,' are held by Saul Zaentz, the producer behind two Oscar Best Picture winners, 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' and 'Amadeus.' The rights to 'The Hobbit' are with United Artists, who acquired the perpetual rights to both 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings' for £10,000 in 1969. Saul Zaentz also obtained his rights from United Artists. As for 'The Silmarillion,' the rights are held by the Tolkien Estate. I contacted all three parties; they all indicated they were open to discussion but did not accept our offers. I believe it would be very difficult to acquire the film and television rights to these three books without a concrete production plan, and we would have to offer an exorbitant price".
"Dave Stevens, the creator of the comic 'The Rocketeer', did not accept my offer. He hopes to speak with you personally. I've heard that this cartoonist has been looking for opportunities to collaborate with film companies since last year, hoping to adapt this comic into a high-budget film. After the box office failure of the summer blockbuster comic adaptation 'Masters of the Universe,' several companies that were in talks with them backed out".
"The rights to 'Charlie's Angels' are held by Columbia Pictures. This TV series was originally produced by Ronald Goldberg's production company. Before becoming president of 20th Century Fox, Ronald Goldberg sold that company to Columbia for $40 million. From the series' conclusion in 1981 until now, the profits from 'Charlie's Angels' syndication and video sales have largely been exhausted. However, if we want to buy out all the rights to this TV series, Columbia Pictures is asking for $10 million. This price is too high. Although the TV series ran for six seasons, it has little rerun value now, and video sales profits are minimal. We could simply buy the film and television adaptation rights".
"'Mission: Impossible', the TV series version was produced by Paramount Television. They have been trying to develop a film version. Sidney Ganis said that if you are willing to direct it yourself, Paramount would consider collaborating with Daenerys Films."
"'The Bourne Identity', Warner Bros. also acquired the rights long ago. I specifically called Terry Semel to discuss it, and his response was similar to Sidney Ganis's. By the way, Semel also said he would call you this afternoon if he had time".
"Aside from these, here's the good news".
"I acquired the rights to 'Spider-Man' from Cannon Films for $200,000, which was the original price Cannon paid Marvel for the rights. After Cannon Films' investment in 'Superman IV' failed at the box office this summer, coupled with the company's own financial difficulties, Cannon has completely abandoned its plans for 'Spider-Man'. However, the original five-year rights period only has three years left. If we don't produce a film within three years, the rights automatically revert to Marvel".
Mirage Studios' asking price for the film and television rights to 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' is $300,000. The TV animated version of this comic has been very well-received this year, but live-action adaptation is very difficult. I negotiated it down to $200,000, with a five-year contract similar to 'Spider-Man'".
"'Dead Poets Society,' the script price is $80,000".
"'Steel Magnolias' I watched a videotape of the Broadway play, and it was very moving. The agreed adaptation rights price is $100,000".
"'The Fast and the Furious,' ha, I don't know how you even saw this movie, Simon. It's a 1955 film, and a Roger Corman B-movie at that. As per your request, for $200,000, Roger Corman sold us all the rights to this film. I haggled with him for a long time; he truly is a shrewd man who never loses money. The original production budget for 'The Fast and the Furious' was only a little over $60,000. I watched the videotape and then had no interest in watching it a second time".
"As for the others, we are still in contact".
In the Daenerys Films conference room.
Amy Pascal listed all the results of recent rights negotiations, then pointed to a thick stack of scripts on the desk and said, "Additionally, this week, I received pitches for 60 film scripts from various agencies. From those, I selected 19 that I thought were decent, and they're all here. You can take a look this weekend".
Across the conference table, Simon listened to Amy's report, but his hands were flipping through the 'Spider-Man' contract.
'Spider-Man'!
This was 'Spider-Man'!
A 'Spider-Man' that could easily gross seven or eight hundred million dollars globally!
In the era before his rebirth, let alone 'Spider-Man,' even some second- or third-tier superheroes would not have been easily transferred by Marvel. Now, for just $200,000, Simon had acquired the rights to Marvel's hottest superhero. It felt almost unbelievable.
But it was reality.
Limited by special effects technology, superhero rights, which were difficult to adapt into film and television in this era, were far less sought after than they would be later. Although he had ambitions for the entire Marvel from New World Entertainment, Simon still decisively bought the 'Spider-Man' rights in advance.
At the same time, he secretly resolved that no matter whether he could successfully acquire Marvel in the future, Daenerys Films would hold onto the 'Spider-Man' rights tightly.
As for the remaining three-year rights period, that was not an issue at all. He could always learn from the methods used by Constantin Film to preserve the 'Fantastic Four' rights in his memory, just spend a hundred thousand or so dollars to produce a B-movie, and that would extend the contract for another five years.
Thinking this, as soon as Amy finished speaking, Simon quickly brought his thoughts back.
Having earned over a billion dollars through operations in the stock index futures market, Simon once again began to collect rights during this period, and no longer so covertly. After all, now could be said to be the best opportunity for Simon to easily buy many rights.
Suddenly becoming a billionaire, or rather, a 'fat sheep' worth a billion dollars, many people were very willing to sell him some rights at a high price. But going forward, if Daenerys Films continuously produced more blockbusters, any project Simon was interested in could spark a bidding war. At that point, it would become very difficult for him to acquire certain rights.
Of the rights Amy had just reported acquiring, 'Spider-Man' and 'The Fast and the Furious' go without saying. 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles', 'Dead Poets Society', and 'Steel Magnolias' were all box office hits in the original timeline in the coming years. 'The Rocketeer,' which hadn't been acquired yet, was a 'grain of sand' Simon had casually thrown in.
After his immense wealth was exposed, Simon actually no longer deliberately engaged in such 'sand-mixing' activities. Anyway, most of the rights he was interested in belonged to very popular projects, and their future box office success was only natural.
Closing the 'Spider-Man' rights contract in front of him, Simon said to Amy, "Continue negotiating for 'The Terminator' and Tolkien's works. As long as they name a price, we'll buy them. As for 'The Rocketeer', I'll make time to talk to that cartoonist. For 'Charlie's Angels', try to push the price down again. $10 million is indeed too high, but make sure we get it. Finally, for 'Mission: Impossible' and 'The Bourne Identity,' since Paramount and Warner are already developing them, let's just let them go for now."
Being able to acquire 'Spider-Man' and 'The Fast and the Furious,' and with 'Charlie's Angels' just a step away, Simon was already very satisfied. For 'The Terminator' and Tolkien's Middle-earth series, he would definitely have to grind them down slowly; both works had great renown, and the rights holders would not easily let go.
As for 'Mission: Impossible' and 'The Bourne Identity,' the Writers Guild would launch the longest strike in Hollywood history next year. Even if development had already started, these two projects would likely be shelved due to the strike, eventually even being dragged out for a decade, just like in the original timeline.
Although the longer it dragged on, the more disadvantageous it was for Simon, he still had many opportunities.
Amy jotted down Simon's instructions in her memo and then said, "So, what do we do with the rights we've already acquired?"
"'Dead Poets Society' and 'Steel Magnolias' will be added to the company's production slate. The others will be shelved for now" Simon said, stroking the 'Spider-Man' rights contract in front of him. He suddenly remembered something and asked, "Amy, do you think we can acquire DC's 'Superman' and 'Batman'?"
"The rights to 'Superman' are held by European producer Alexander Salkind. I happen to know about this. Alexander Salkind bought the film and television rights to the 'Superman' series for 15 years, and also had an automatic renewal clause. But after 'Superman III' in 1983 and 'Supergirl' in 1984 both failed at the box office, Salkind stopped producing the 'Superman' series, but he still holds onto the rights. What Cannon Films obtained earlier was only a filming license. Counting from the first 'Superman' in 1978, there should be about five years left on the rights. If you want to make it, like Cannon, we should also be able to get a license," Amy said, thinking aloud, then added, "As for 'Batman,' the rights are still with DC. Warner seems to have been brewing this project for a while. Earlier this year, I even heard they planned to produce a TV series version, with Bill Murray playing Bruce Wayne. I don't know the latest news".
Simon imagined Bill Murray, known for comedy, playing Batman, and found it somewhat comical.
Due to his later memories, Simon instinctively felt a natural distance from superhero rights. But now, hearing that the 'Superman' rights were not with DC, and Warner was planning to turn 'Batman' into a TV comedy, he quickly felt moved and looked at his female executive across the conference table again, saying, "Amy, do you think there's any chance I could buy DC from Warner?"