Chapter 139: Worth Emulating

The day after meeting with Paul Greengrass, Michael Davenport received a visit from his agent, Dean, and formal negotiations began.

The talks regarding the director's fee went relatively smoothly, as Paul Greengrass had clearly convinced his agent. How exactly he managed to do so, Michael wasn't sure, but in Hollywood, agents are ultimately service providers. If a client is determined to pursue something, the agent can rarely stop them. If things get really bad, it's not uncommon for actors and directors to fire their agents.

Perhaps the creators of the "Entertainment Law" learned from the experiences of the studio system era, ensuring that agencies couldn't lock actors into contracts that they couldn't get out of.

There was a hot topic recently circulating about two of CAA's most important clients, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, planning to leave CAA and have their business managed by their own professional managers instead. If Michael remembered correctly, it wasn't long into the new century when both Scorsese and DiCaprio left CAA, transitioning their management entirely to personal managers, facilitating their long-term collaboration.

As long as Paul Greengrass insisted on directing "The Bourne Identity" and Dean strongly opposed it, Michael wouldn't need much effort to join forces with Greengrass to let him rid himself of Dean. However, this could cause problems later since Dean was with William Morris.

Fortunately, Dean was smart and understood that given Greengrass's situation, it would be difficult to find another big-budget action film directing job outside of Michael's project.

Nevertheless, Dean still made efforts regarding the director's fee, and Michael made some concessions. If "The Bourne Identity" surpassed its production budget at the North American box office, Paul Greengrass would receive a bonus equivalent to his fee. For the subsequent two films, Greengrass's fee would rise to 3.5% and 7% of the total budget.

The payment method remained casual, common in the independent film circle: 30% upon signing the contract, 30% before shooting started, and the remaining 40% upon completion of all production.

After settling the fee, other aspects of the negotiations took two days, primarily involving Michael's requirements for Greengrass and Dean securing corresponding rights for him. This being a commercial cooperation, any promises would only be effective if written into the contract.

Dean requested various rights for Greengrass, including director credit, insurance, travel expenses, additional living allowances, and post-production editing rights. Michael did not quibble over these minor issues, even granting Greengrass the right to oversee post-production editing.

This right, however, did not include final cut authority. Greengrass could submit one or more versions he was satisfied with, but as the one holding final cut rights, Michael had the authority to modify and re-edit it, even making major changes like altering the ending.

With rights came corresponding obligations. Michael would not completely trust a director, given the many commercial nightmares from directors' free play in his previous life. Greengrass's directing rights would be confined within the boundaries Michael set.

Michael required Greengrass to start pre-development and formal preparation for "The Bourne Identity" immediately after signing; to collaborate with screenwriter Tony Gilroy to complete the script; to produce a submitted edit no shorter than 90 minutes and no longer than 120 minutes; to stay within the budget; to adhere to the script; and to ensure the theatrical cut met PG-13 rating requirements.

Before the new weekend arrived, Michael, representing Sandsea Entertainment, officially signed the director contract for the "Bourne" trilogy with Paul Greengrass, solving a crucial part of the series' preparation and production.

Filled with enthusiasm, Greengrass dove into the pre-development of "The Bourne Identity" the day after signing the contract.

With "The King's Man" promotion long over, George Clinton also joined "The Bourne Identity" crew, continuing his role as production manager to coordinate daily operations.

With the director sorted, Michael turned his attention to the cast, sending an invitation to Matt Damon's agency. Damon was now considered a second-tier star. If he could be cast as Jason Bourne, it would benefit securing third-party completion bonds and insurance from the Fireman's Fund and raising production funds overseas.

However, there was no immediate response from Matt Damon's side.

Michael did not repeatedly invite them, as this might lead the other party to demand an exorbitant fee or other conditions. Damon was the first choice, not a must.

"What about the female lead?" George Clinton asked. "Get a German actress?"

Michael thought for a moment and said, "There's no rush for the female lead. It's easier to find someone for a decorative role."

He remembered the female lead in the previous life being the actress from "Run Lola Run," but couldn't recall her name, as she wasn't a particularly famous star.

George Clinton then brought up the director again: "Signing a three-film contract with Paul Greengrass at once will save quite a bit on fees later."

"It will save some," Michael admitted. "But if 'The Bourne Identity' succeeds, Greengrass and his agent will inevitably demand a contract revision, and we'll have to make some concessions."

Clinton understood and said, "If it gets to the point where it's like Edward Norton and Paramount, it'll end up as a lose-lose situation."

Michael didn't want to see that happen. In a business partnership, both parties needed to profit.

Of course, if someone behaved as unreasonably as Edward Norton, he wouldn't agree either.

Years ago, when Edward Norton was an unknown actor, he signed a three-film contract with Paramount to secure a role in "Primal Fear." As everyone knows, opportunities are hard to come by in Hollywood.

Like Paul Greengrass, when faced with a pivotal film role, Norton had no choice but to sign the contract and then became famous through "Primal Fear."

Subsequently, "The People vs. Larry Flynt," "Everyone Says I Love You," and "Fight Club" further boosted his reputation.

After collaborating with Paramount for a second time, Norton and the studio had fundamental differences in vision. Paramount offered Norton commercial films, while he was a typical art film enthusiast. This led to sharp conflicts, and Norton outright denied the existence of the three-film contract, repeatedly rejecting Paramount's projects.

Last month, Paramount sued Edward Norton.

The lawsuit might drag on, but Paramount and other Hollywood studios would keep an eye on Norton until he lost the case. Norton's behavior challenged the industry's unwritten rules.

In the previous life, Norton lost the lawsuit and had to play a sleazy villain in "The Italian Job," the character who kills Charlize Theron's father.

It was a typical lose-lose case: Paramount didn't offer suitable projects or roles for Norton, who then violated contractual obligations in frustration.

Michael often studied classic Hollywood cases, combining them with his past memories to learn and draw lessons.

Some of these were worth emulating.

By Friday, "Final Destination" had entered its second weekend of release, competing with Disney's "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" and Warner Brothers' "The Green Mile," the latter starring Tom Hanks.

However, "The Green Mile" wasn't the type of film to have an explosive opening weekend. Its relatively artistic style was more suited for a long-term run. Despite Tom Hanks' presence, it grossed only $18 million in over 2,850 theaters in its first weekend.

"Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" grossed less than $10 million, lacking significant competitive power.

In contrast, the two older films, "Final Destination" and "Toy Story 2," remained exceptionally strong.

In its third weekend, "Toy Story 2" grossed $18.64 million, reclaiming the box office top spot.

Second on the box office chart was "Final Destination," with its second weekend grossing only 32% less than its opening weekend, earning $18.35 million.

"Final Destination" had accumulated $54.2 million in North America.

Michael saw the potential for the film to break even solely through its North American box office.

Such box office results were driven by high marketing and promotion expenditures. Michael didn't know how much was spent on marketing for "Final Destination" in the previous life, but Embassy Pictures' spending was certainly higher, having invested $11 million so far.

More investment would follow, with total projected spending of $13 million.

Fortunately, "The Blair Witch Project" had provided ample cash flow for Relativity Entertainment; otherwise, Michael would have to look for loans or funding again.

After this weekend, the success of "Final Destination" became irreversible, allowing Michael to temporarily set aside work on this film. He began to frequent the bustling areas of Los Angeles, centered around Beverly Hills, participating in various parties hosted by stars or film companies to observe firsthand how Hollywood's awards season was played out.

At the same time, he aimed to meet more people and further expand his network.