"The rights to The Terminator are held by Hemdale, a film company backed by British tax-shelter capital, with a distribution deal with Orion. Hemdale's president, John Daly, refuses to sell the Terminator rights but has expressed willingness to collaborate with Danielews Pictures. I believe this plan is feasible. If we produce a sequel, the funding Hemdale provides could help us share the risk."
"Regarding Tolkien's Middle-earth series, the film rights to The Lord of the Rings are with Saul Zaentz—the producer behind Oscar-winning films like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus. The rights to The Hobbit are with United Artists, who bought the perpetual rights to both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings for £10,000 back in 1969. Saul Zaentz acquired his rights from UA. As for The Silmarillion, the rights are with the Tolkien Estate. I've contacted all three parties. They're all open to discussions but haven't accepted our offers. I believe securing the film rights for all three books without a concrete production plan is very difficult; we'd likely have to offer a sky-high price."
"Dave Stevens, the creator of the comic The Rocketeer, rejected my offer. He wants to speak with you personally. I've looked into it; this cartoonist has been seeking opportunities with studios since last year to adapt his comic into a big-budget film. After the box office failure of the comic adaptation Masters of the Universe this summer, the studios he was in talks with have backed off."
"The rights to Charlie's Angels are with Columbia Pictures. The original TV series was produced by a company owned by Barry Diller. Before becoming president of Fox, Barry Diller sold that company to Columbia for $40 million. From the series' end in 1981 until now, the syndication and home video profits for Charlie's Angels have largely dried up. However, if we want to buy out all rights to the series, Columbia's asking price is $10 million. That's too high. Even though the series ran for 6 seasons, it has little rerun value now, and home video profits are minimal. We could simply purchase the film adaptation rights."
"Mission: Impossible: The TV series was produced by Paramount's television division. They've been trying to develop a film version. Sidney Ganis said Paramount would consider collaborating with Daenerys Pictures if you were willing to direct personally."
"The Bourne Identity: Warner Bros. acquired the rights long ago. I specifically called Terry Semel about it; his response was similar to Sidney Ganis's. Oh, and Semel mentioned he might call you this afternoon."
"Now for the good news."
"I acquired the Spider-Man rights from Cannon Films for $200,000—the original price Cannon paid Marvel. After Cannon's Superman IV failed at the box office this summer, coupled with the company's own financial troubles, Cannon has completely abandoned their Spider-Man plans. However, the original 5-year option period only has 3 years left. If we don't produce a film within 3 years, the rights automatically revert to Marvel."
"Mirage Studios is asking $300,000 for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film rights. The TV animation based on this comic has been very well-received this year, but a live-action adaptation is quite challenging. I negotiated it down to $200,000, with a 5-year option similar to Spider-Man."
"Dead Poets Society: The script price is $80,000."
"Steel Magnolias: I watched the videotape of the Broadway play. Very moving. The negotiated adaptation rights price is $100,000."
"The Fast and the Furious: Heh, I'm curious how you even found out about this film, Simon. It's from 1955, a Roger Corman B-movie. As you requested, $200,000, and Roger Corman sold us all rights to the film. I haggled with him for a long time; he's truly a shrewd businessman who never loses money. The Fast and the Furious had a production budget of just over $60,000 back then. I watched the videotape and had no desire to watch it for a second time."
"As for the others, discussions are still ongoing."
In the conference room at Daenerys Pictures.
Amy Pascal finished listing the results of the recent rights negotiations, then pointed to a thick stack of scripts on the desk. "Additionally, this week alone, I've received pitches for 60 film scripts from various agencies. I've selected 19 that I think are decent; they're all here. You can look them over this weekend."
On the other side of the table, Simon listened to Amy's report while flipping through the Spider-Man contract.
Spider-Man!
This is Spider-Man!
A franchise that can easily gross seven to eight hundred million dollars worldwide per film!
In the era he came from, let alone Spider-Man, even second or third-tier superhero rights wouldn't be transferred by Marvel. Now, for just $200,000, he had acquired the rights to Marvel's hottest superhero. It felt almost unbelievable just thinking about it.
But this was reality.
Hindered by special effects technology limitations, the film rights for superheroes, which were difficult to adapt, were far less sought-after in this era than they would become. Although he had ambitions for the entire Marvel catalog held by New World Entertainment, Simon seized the opportunity to acquire the Spider-Man rights early.
He also secretly resolved that, regardless of whether he could successfully acquire Marvel in the future, Daenerys Pictures would hold onto the Spider-Man rights tightly.
As for the remaining 3-year option period, it wasn't a major issue. At worst, they could follow the method used by Constantin Film in his memory to retain the Fantastic Four rights: spend a mere million or so producing a low-budget B-movie, which would extend the contract term by another 5 years.
Thinking this, as Amy finished speaking, Simon quickly brought his focus back.
After making over a billion dollars in the index futures market, Simon had recently begun aggressively acquiring rights again, and this time without much concealment. After all, this was arguably the best opportunity for him to easily purchase many rights.
Suddenly becoming a billionaire, or rather, a 'billion-dollar fat sheep,' many people were very willing to sell him certain rights at high prices. But later, if Daenerys Pictures continuously produced more hit films, any project Simon showed interest in could trigger bidding wars, making it very difficult for him to acquire certain rights.
Among the rights Amy just reported acquiring, Spider-Man and The Fast and the Furious went without saying. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dead Poets Society, and Steel Magnolias were all projects that achieved major box office success in the next few years in the original timeline. The Rocketeer, which they hadn't acquired yet, was a 'decoy' Simon had casually thrown into the mix.
After his massive wealth was exposed, Simon wasn't overly concerned about planting such decoys anymore. After all, most of the rights he targeted were for very popular projects; it would be if they became box office hits later.
Closing the Spider-Man rights contract in front of him, Simon said to Amy, "Keep negotiating for The Terminator and the Tolkien works. If they name a price, we'll buy them. As for The Rocketeer, I'll find time to chat with that cartoonist. Try to negotiate the price for Charlie's Angels down further; $10 million is indeed too high, but make sure we secure it. Finally, regarding Mission: Impossible and The Bourne Identity, since Paramount and Warner are already developing them, let's set them aside for now."
Being able to acquire Spider-Man, The Fast and the Furious, and being within reach of Charlie's Angels was already very satisfying for Simon. For The Terminator and Tolkien's Middle-earth series, it would undoubtedly be a slow grind. Both works were highly prestigious, and the rights holders wouldn't let them go easily.
As for Mission: Impossible and The Bourne Identity, the Writers Guild of America would launch the longest strike in Hollywood history next year. Even if development had started now, these projects would likely be stalled due to the strike, potentially being delayed for a decade, as happened in the original timeline.
Although the longer the delay, the less advantageous it was for Simon, he still had plenty of opportunities.
Amy noted Simon's instructions in her memo, then asked, "So, what do we do with the rights we've already acquired?"
"Add Dead Poets Society and Steel Magnolias to the company's production slate. Shelve the others for now," Simon said, stroking the Spider-Man contract in front of him. Suddenly, he remembered something and asked, "Amy, what about DC's Superman and Batman? Do you think we can get them?"
"The Superman film rights are with European producer Alexander Salkind. I happen to know about this. Alexander Salkind bought the film rights to the Superman series for 15 years back then, also with an automatic renewal clause. But after Superman III in 1983 and Supergirl in 1984 both failed at the box office, the Salkinds stopped producing the Superman series, though they still hold the rights. Cannon Films only obtained a production license before. Counting from the first Superman in 1978, there should be about 5 years left on the rights term. If you want to make a film, we should be able to get a license, just like Cannon did," Amy explained, thinking as she spoke. Then she added, "As for Batman, the rights are still with DC. Warner seems to have been brewing this project. Earlier this year, I heard they were planning a TV series version with Bill Murray playing Bruce Wayne, but I don't know the latest news."
Simon imagined Bill Murray, known for comedy, playing Batman and found it somewhat absurd.
Due to his memories of the future, Simon instinctively felt a natural distance from superhero rights. But now, hearing that the Superman rights weren't with DC and that Warner was considering making Batman into a TV comedy, he felt a stir of ambition. He looked back at his female executive across the table and asked, "Amy, do you think it's possible for me to buy DC from Warner Bros.?"
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