System in Hollywood

However, compared to the revenue from DVD and merchandise sales, the box office returns weren't much.

After all, his box office expectation for *Pirates of the Caribbean* was only around $400 million. The box office would break even, and the main profit would come from DVD and merchandise sales.

Disney also shared this view.

So even if the movie reached $400 million at the box office, 15% of the priority box office revenue would only be about $30 million, which wasn't much compared to the $20 million investment.

If the box office fell below $300 million, Wayne could lose money. So both he and Disney were happy with these terms.

Now it was up to Wayne to see if, as Soderbergh mentioned, the casting of the female lead was the most crucial point.

Just after breakfast, while walking in the garden and planning to work out with Hannah and Jessica, Wayne received a call from Serra.

"What? Jerry Bruckheimer approached me and asked if I wanted to invest in *Pirates of the Caribbean*? And he's offering me the casting rights for the female lead?"

Wayne was stunned.

Especially after hearing the conditions, he was even more baffled.

"If I remember correctly, the global box office for *Pirates of the Caribbean* was around $654 million, with 15% of the priority box office equaling about $49 million."

"A $20 million investment over two years for a $49 million return isn't much, but the female lead in *Pirates of the Caribbean* was outstanding."

"Keira Knightley rose from an unknown to a top Hollywood actress thanks to this role. Her value isn't insignificant."

"But Disney made much more. If I remember right, after *Pirates of the Caribbean 1* left theaters and entered the DVD market, it set a record with 16 million DVDs and 2 million VHS tapes sold. The profits from that alone were around $200 million. Including merchandise sales, the profits easily exceeded $300 million!"

"Unfortunately, that money takes a long time to come in and is hard to track. If Disney wanted to manipulate the numbers, even hiring a professional auditing company might not catch it."

After some thought, Wayne picked up the phone and called Serra back.

"I've thought it over. The other conditions remain the same, but I want the freedom to choose between 16% of the global box office, 33% of the North American box office, or 39% of the overseas box office. Additionally, I want the same terms and percentage for any sequels in the series."

"Understood. I'll pass your conditions to Jerry Bruckheimer as soon as possible."

The freedom to choose between three profit-sharing models was a safeguard against Disney playing tricks.

While box office fraud is easy to uncover, leading to tax evasion issues, which are a huge deal in the U.S., better safe than sorry.

For example, in the original timeline, New Line Cinema underreported *The Lord of the Rings* box office by $3 billion. They were eventually sued, paid massive compensation, and had to pay back taxes and penalties. New Line was then acquired by Warner Bros. and reduced to a production company, shrinking to less than a fifth of its peak size.

So it's wise to take precautions.

Since North American box office revenue is the hardest to fake, as long as Wayne had 33% of it, he wouldn't have to worry about Disney cheating him.

"Still, I haven't even decided who to cast as the female lead in *Ocean's Eleven*, and now I have to think about the female lead for *Pirates of the Caribbean*."

Wayne sighed. Although Keira Knightley's portrayal of Elizabeth Swann in *Pirates of the Caribbean* was iconic, the problem was that he didn't know her yet.

"Well, nothing comes for free. If Disney agrees to my terms, I'll have Mike reach out to Keira Knightley when the time comes."

Putting *Pirates of the Caribbean* aside, Wayne jogged while continuing to mull over the casting for *Ocean's Eleven*.

Unlike *Pirates of the Caribbean*, which wouldn't start filming for another six months, *Ocean's Eleven* was on a much tighter schedule.

What Wayne didn't realize was that *Ocean's Eleven* and *Pirates of the Caribbean* were just the beginning.

Over the next two days, Hemera Studios received more than ten project proposals, all with similar terms—offering priority box office and female lead casting rights in exchange for a share of the profits and the forfeiting of DVD sales revenues.

These proposals even included major projects like *Spider-Man 1*, *Men in Black II*, and *Signs*.

There's no need to talk about *Spider-Man 1*. When it was released, it broke the opening weekend record and grossed $825 million worldwide, single-handedly launching the superhero movie era.

*Men in Black II*, a sequel in a blockbuster franchise, featured the star power of Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith. Despite its $140 million budget, it grossed $445 million globally, and its DVD sales were also huge, making Sony a fortune.

*Signs*, though less well-known than the other two, was still one of the top ten highest-grossing films of 2002. Starring Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix, it reportedly had a budget of $72 million and grossed $408 million globally, earning Disney a hefty profit just from its box office.

Of course, because *Spider-Man 1* had already been filming for a month, replacing Kirsten Dunst as the female lead was impossible unless more money was involved.

As a result, they were offering an even higher profit-sharing percentage.

The budget for *Spider-Man 1* had already grown from $100 million to $139 million, with a shortfall of around $30 million.

If Wayne was willing to invest, they were offering 24% of the priority box office revenue. Based on the previous timeline's $825 million global box office, that would be around $100 million, a 300% return!

Clearly, Sony Columbia never expected *Spider-Man 1* to achieve such a high box office.

Their expectations for the film's box office were likely similar to Disney's for *Pirates of the Caribbean*.

Honestly, Wayne was tempted by such a lucrative return.

But unfortunately, these movies wouldn't hit theaters for a while—the earliest, *Spider-Man 1*, wouldn't release until May 2002.

This meant he wouldn't see any returns for another two years.

(End of Chapter)