Chapter 173: A Small Matter
Chapter 173: A Small Matter
Eric pushed open the door and walked into the living room. Hearing the sound, Drew immediately jumped up from the sofa and excitedly pounced into Eric’s arms. But after twitching her little nose twice, the smiling expression on her face instantly soured. Amid Eric’s speechless attempts to dodge, the little girl disgustedly puffed a breath onto the left side of Eric’s cheek, wiped it with her sleeve, then smacked a kiss onto it.
Eric was both amused and exasperated by the girl’s actions. He walked forward two steps, pulled the little girl wrapped around his waist off him, and tossed her onto the sofa before sitting down beside her. “Alright, why were you in such a hurry to call me back?”
As Eric spoke, he had already noticed the conspicuous black folder on the coffee table in front of him. He casually picked it up and opened it. A copyright transfer contract appeared before his eyes.
“Heh, the copyright for An Affair to Remember. You moved pretty fast. I thought it’d already be good enough if you managed to get it before summer vacation ended.”
Drew grinned and sprawled herself over Eric, resting her chin on one side of his shoulder. “This is Hollywood. As long as you have money, a lot of things become much easier.”
“How much did it cost?” Eric removed the contract from the metal clip inside the folder and asked casually.
“3.5 million,” the girl replied somewhat uncertainly, though she quickly explained, “But it’s the full copyright. Permanent ownership. Even some of the original music copyrights are included.”
Eric nodded. If what Drew said was true, then the price was still acceptable. At worst, it could be considered an addition to Firefly’s film library. Besides, once Sleepless in Seattle became a hit, perhaps they could even invest in remaking this film.
Originally, Eric had only wanted Drew to secure the film’s copyright for five years. But he could imagine that the company holding the rights had finally encountered a fat sheep interested in a thirty-year-old movie and naturally intended to fleece them hard.
Five years? Not selling. If you want it, take the whole thing. It’ll just cost more.
Seeing Eric nod, Drew let out a sigh of relief and began chattering away in explanation.
“This movie was originally produced by an investor named Jerry Wald through his own company. But the guy had terrible luck. Even though he made several good movies after starting the company, he died of a heart attack a few years later. The copyrights to several of his films were sold by his widow to another film company. Then later that company went bankrupt too, and after changing hands several times, the rights eventually ended up with Fox.”
“Whoa.” Seeing the words Twentieth Century Fox in the contract and hearing Drew’s explanation, Eric nearly jumped up.
Drew had been speaking enthusiastically and was startled by Eric’s sudden outburst. Her eyes widened as she asked, “W-what’s wrong? Is there a problem?”
“You’re saying… this movie was bought from Twentieth Century Fox?” Eric asked again, still holding onto a sliver of hope.
The girl blinked innocently and nodded. “Yeah?”
Eric gave a bitter smile. “Now we’re in trouble. Fox is definitely going to hate us in the future.”
That night, after being pestered endlessly by the little girl, Eric had only temporarily come up with the idea of finding her a “summer part-time job.” He had never considered the ownership of An Affair to Remember’s copyright.
If it had been Warner, Universal, or Paramount, companies unrelated to him, then tricking them would have been fine. Film was business. If you made money, you celebrated. If you got tricked, you accepted it.
But after all his calculations, he had never expected the copyright for An Affair to Remember to be in Twentieth Century Fox’s hands.
His relationship with Fox was still in its honeymoon phase, and he did not want to sour things between them. That was why, when Columbia wanted Running Out of Time, Eric had personally explained the matter to Barry Diller and compensated them with a television series.
But reality loved making jokes. God Himself clearly did not want him maintaining a good relationship with Fox.
If, after Sleepless in Seattle was released, the VHS sales for An Affair to Remember truly reached two million copies like the friend from his previous life had once mentioned, then that would mean sixty million dollars in sales revenue, equivalent to a blockbuster film.
Although film companies always publicly claimed that VHS profits were less than twenty percent while more than eighty percent went to costs, anyone with even a little understanding knew that was complete nonsense. VHS profit margins could easily exceed fifty percent, even higher than theatrical profit margins.
That meant Eric could earn at least thirty million dollars from this business through An Affair to Remember’s VHS sales alone.
Eric could practically picture certain people exploding in fury over such a windfall.
Seeing Eric’s constantly shifting expressions, Drew curiously asked, “How could that be? We paid 3.5 million dollars. Fox made money. Why would they hate us?”
“Yeah, but although we spent more than three million, if less than a year later we make thirty million from this movie, what do you think Fox will think?”
The little girl covered her mouth in shock.
When Eric had originally told her to secure the copyright for this film, he had said they could make a profit from it. Drew had assumed making one or two hundred thousand dollars would already be good enough. That was why she had been nervous just now about the 3.5 million dollar price.
But if they could really make thirty million…
“But… I think… Eric, the people at Fox don’t know it was us who bought it. I was afraid if I appeared directly, they’d connect it to you, so I deliberately used an agent. He acquired the rights first and then transferred them to me. From beginning to end, Fox never knew we were the ones buying the copyright…”
As Drew spoke, her voice grew quieter and quieter. She quickly realized that if the film later made a fortune because of Sleepless in Seattle’s influence, then as long as the people at Fox were not idiots, they would definitely connect it to Eric.
Thinking of this, the girl stuck out her tongue. “Then, Eric, what do we do now?”
Eric rubbed his temples and thought for a moment.
Sleepless in Seattle would release at the end of the year, which meant An Affair to Remember’s VHS sales miracle would not happen until next year. By then, his contract with Fox for this year would already have been fulfilled, so there was no need to worry about Fox sabotaging film distribution.
At most, when the time came to split profits, Fox might play some tricks, like delaying payments. But Eric was not worried.
The contract signed last year had extremely detailed clauses. If Fox breached the agreement, they would have absolutely no chance of winning in court.
Eric was not like those filmmakers from his previous life who only discovered after their films became huge hits that the profit-sharing contracts they had signed with studios were not detailed enough, leading to disputes lasting years.
“Forget it. Let’s just leave it as it is. There’s no way we can spit out meat that’s already in our mouths. Besides, Fox sold it willingly, and we offered such a high price.”
“Hehe.” The little girl immediately wrapped herself around Eric with a triumphant grin, rubbing against him in a spoiled manner. “But, Eric, there’s still one more tiny little matter…”