The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 337

At this point, Matthew and Zack Snyder had neither the money nor the leverage to deal with Frank Miller. The four million dollars they had counted on wouldn't be enough to satisfy his demands, and Frank was no fool—he was deliberately stalling negotiations until after the release of Sin City, positioning himself to have the absolute upper hand in any future talks.

Neither Matthew nor Zack had any real experience producing a film, and they were unprepared for many of the challenges involved.

Chief among them was money.

It was simply impossible to impress Frank Miller without offering enough money. Sin City had been well-received, and while no one had yet paid much attention to his other works, Matthew knew it was only a matter of time before other studios came knocking.

And he and Zack held no advantage against mid-sized or major production companies.

They needed to close the deal with Frank as soon as possible.

In the short term, Matthew couldn't have hoped for a better source of funds than David.

After his and Helen's initial conversation with David, Zack had flown in from New York specifically to meet with him. He and Matthew had finished editing their proof-of-concept short, which they presented to the prospective investor.

David had money, but he had never managed to break into Hollywood. Now that an opportunity to collaborate had presented itself—and with a star of Matthew's caliber, no less—he was tempted.

In mid-April, David himself came to Matthew's office to confirm that he wanted to work with him and Zack Snyder."I can join you in negotiations with Frank Miller and finance the film rights for 300."

Seated on the office sofa, David told Matthew plainly, "I can also cover the entire production budget for the film."

Matthew personally brewed David a cup of tea and set it on the table beside him. "I’m confident we’ll have a successful collaboration," he said.

"But I have one condition," David stated firmly.

Matthew's brow furrowed slightly, but he said, "Go on, David."

"We need to add one clause to our agreement," David said, looking at Matthew with a serious expression. "You have to be the lead actor in this film."

At those words, Matthew relaxed.

David stressed, "This is a prerequisite for our collaboration. Most of my confidence in this project comes from you. If you don't play Leonidas, I won't invest."

To him, factors like the highly stylized visuals or the adaptation of a classic Frank Miller graphic novel were far less compelling than the unprecedented box office success of Matthew's last three films.

He was wealthy enough that even a loss of tens of millions wouldn't break him. But having come to Hollywood to invest, he had no intention of failing. He wanted a success story to prove to his father that he had chosen the right path.

And Matthew was practically a guarantee of success.

Since their first meeting, David had studied Matthew's track record and discovered that the actor, despite his humble origins and limited education, possessed an uncanny eye for picking projects. Not a single one of his starring vehicles had flopped; on the contrary, every one had been a box office hit.

David had attended film school—the USC School of Cinematic Arts, not far from Hollywood—so he was a semi-professional, to put it mildly. But he also came from a family of businessmen and knew that such a consistent string of successes could never be explained away by mere luck.

"I'll star in the film," Matthew replied, completely calm. "I've been planning on it all along."

"Good." David smiled. "It's a deal."

Of course, neither party would be content with a mere verbal agreement, and their subsequent actions would naturally need to be cemented by an official contract.

Matthew added, "David, I have a condition as well."

David replied immediately, "Let's hear it."

"I want to add a clause to our agreement, too." Matthew was no fool. "Zack has to be the director of this adaptation."

"You're that set on Snyder directing?" David was a little puzzled. "He's only directed one film, Dawn of the Dead, right?"

"That's true," Matthew said honestly. "But you've seen the test footage, the concept, the soul of this project—it all comes from Zack. I doubt anyone else could pull it off."

David thought for a moment and said, "Alright, I agree."

Matthew stood up and extended his right hand. "I'm lucky to be working with an investor like you."

David also stood and shook his hand firmly. "Our collaboration will definitely be a success."

Later, Zack and Helen arrived at the office, and the four of them gathered to iron out the details. Afterward, they brought in a lawyer who, in short order, drafted an agreement based on the terms they had reached.

...

Two days later, David signed the official agreement with Matthew and Zack.

The core of the agreement was that David's company, Skydance Media, would finance the adaptation of the graphic novel 300 and be responsible for the film's production, among other things.

The agreement also stipulated that Zack Snyder must be the project's director, that Matthew would be the lead actor, that the majority of the film's cast would be represented by Helen and the Angel Agency, and that three percent of the future revenue from 300 would be brokered and distributed by the Angel Agency.

To be more specific, due to David's inexperience and lack of Hollywood connections, Helen and the Angel Agency would be providing a simplified all-in-one package for the project.

This also meant that the Angel Agency would be responsible for contacting distribution companies for the film.

David's company, Skydance Media, had money but no distribution channels, and it was unlikely to establish them anytime soon.

The contract contained hundreds of detailed clauses, and signing an agreement involving an eight-figure investment was no small feat.

Once the agreement was reached, Matthew, Zack, Helen, and David, along with a team of PR experts, headed to New York to begin the tug-of-war negotiations with Frank Miller.

Frank was genuinely impressed with Zack's test footage and production concept, and he agreed in principle to license the film rights for 300. The main points of contention between the two parties, however, were the licensing fee and the share of the film's profits after its release.

Both Matthew and Zack were creatives at heart—an actor and a director—and lacked a deep understanding of the film adaptation market. The initial offer of a four-million-dollar royalty, which would have been generous two years ago before any of Frank Miller's work had been adapted to film, was now nowhere near enough to satisfy Frank's demands.

Frank was demanding a base licensing fee of $15 million, plus a ten percent share of the worldwide box office gross.

These terms were too steep.

But David was unfazed. After the initial contact and negotiations, he declared he would simply solve the royalty issue with money.

According to him, any problem that could be solved with money wasn't a problem at all.

The good thing was that despite his youth and rich-kid attitude, he wasn't so foolish that he didn't understand the concept of a return on investment.

Over the next three days, the two parties held three more rounds of negotiations, gradually narrowing the gap between them on the core issue of the adaptation rights. By the end of the third day, they had finally reached an agreement on this crucial point.

Skydance Media would contribute a base adaptation fee of $9 million for the film 300 and grant Frank Miller five percent of the North American box office revenue after the film's release.

With the biggest points of contention resolved, the subsequent negotiations moved more swiftly. Terms such as Frank Miller receiving a producer credit and a corresponding salary package were all settled within a range acceptable to both parties.

And David, as the financier, wasn't too concerned about such ancillary costs.

Seeing that things were settled, Matthew prepared to leave New York and return to Los Angeles. He couldn't miss the shoot for the Mercedes-Benz G-Class commercial, which had been delayed by a script change from Michael Bay and was now set to begin at a Disney studio.

On the day he left New York, Skydance Media had already signed a draft agreement with Frank Miller, with the final contract to be signed once the last few minor details were ironed out.

Barring any unexpected catastrophes, like the outbreak of a world war, the film rights to 300 would be secured without a hitch.

After returning to Los Angeles, Matthew took a day off before heading to a small Disney studio on the day scheduled by Mercedes-Benz.

Before breaking into the film industry, Michael Bay had spent years directing commercials and music videos for MTV. Even after becoming a feature film director, he still occasionally took on commercial work for major brands.

Matthew arrived at the Disney studio and met the man who was born when a comet fell to Earth—Michael Bay.