In the fiercely competitive Hollywood summer season, my big fat greek wedding, relying on word-of-mouth, IFC Films, a new distribution company, still approved increased investment in promotion and distribution.
By the end of May, my big fat greek wedding was showing in over 1,100 theaters, and its North America box office finally exceeded 50 million US dollars.
Compared to other films, my big fat greek wedding was indeed an anomaly; most films typically earned the vast majority of their box office within the first four weeks, leaving smaller theaters for long-term screenings.
At Capet Pictures, Charles was lost in thought, holding the 500,000 US dollar check Tom Hanks had just sent.
"What's wrong? Didn't you call to ask for the bonus earlier? Tom Hanks doesn't care about this 500,000 US dollars. After it crosses 50 million US dollars, he'll give you at least a 500,000 bonus; it's in the contract," Evelyn asked, seeing her son in a daze.
Charles shook his head and said, "Does Hollywood always like to issue cash checks? Wouldn't it be better to wire it directly to Capet Pictures' account?"
"You don't like it, next time..."
Before Evelyn finished speaking, Charles stood up directly from his chair, "Why wouldn't I like it? I love this nouveau riche way Hollywood operates! Anyone who doesn't like it is definitely bullshitting!"
He flicked his finger, listening to the pleasant sound of the check; it was indeed wonderful.
"Forget it, give it to Sofia," Charles reluctantly handed the check to his mother, to be passed on to Sofia for the preparation of lost in translation.
"The contract has been signed. The director's and actress's salaries, plus the script purchase, add up to about 1 million US dollars! The remaining 3 million will be for production costs. Art house films don't have high salaries, and Sofia, as a new director, also receives a new director's salary," Evelyn explained.
"As your Agent, and I as the producer, is there any problem with this?" Charles understood that for a new director, as long as it wasn't below the union's minimum wage, it was fine. 300,000 US dollars for the script plus director was enough.
Bill Murray 450,000 US dollars, Scarlett Johansson 250,000 US dollars. For a low-budget art house film, this price was acceptable.
Evelyn shook her head and smiled, "It's fine. Right now, you're only developing low-budget films. Scarlett isn't really a star; she's an experienced young actress. For them, opportunity is more important than salary."
"My inbox has countless emails recommending actresses. I also helped recommend some for underworld."
"But you, you seem not to care much about the choice of supporting roles!"
Charles said helplessly, "Independent films, the investment is all external. I'm also a newcomer with very little say. Miramax, Village Roadshow Pictures, and Constantin Film have all sent their own people to participate. How much opinion can I have?"
"After Kate Beckinsale is confirmed, I think they will handle the rest of the actresses. What I need to pay attention to is that the general direction of the film doesn't go wrong!"
"So, independent film financing is not only difficult but also very easy to lose control of, unless it's an experienced producer and director, it will be better," Evelyn certainly agreed.
"In the future, if Capet Pictures grows stronger and Mom has more actresses, she will probably be a senior partner in the company and will definitely switch to manager contracts!"
Evelyn said, writing a check for 100,000 US dollars and handing it to Charles.
"Keep it. 400,000 US dollars is enough for Sofia to prepare the crew!"
"Okay," Charles was truly poor, with less than 10,000 US dollars in hand.
Leaving Capet Pictures, Charles went to Sony Pictures Studios to see how the preparations for underworld were going.
In a soundstage at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, Los Angeles, underworld was using the space for auditions, costume fittings, and other preparatory work.
"How is it going?" Charles asked after Wiseman had seen a few more actresses.
"The vampire lord needs an actress with a medieval aristocratic temperament, a bit older, and the role is very important. The other character actresses are easier to find; the casting director will arrange it!" Len Wiseman, as one of the directors and screenwriters, had put a lot of effort into this film.
"There's still time, look carefully. Have the filming locations been decided?" Charles didn't rush him much.
"Budapest, the capital of Hungary. Not only is the scenery beautiful, but it also has a strong ancient medieval atmosphere with many Gothic buildings, making it very suitable as a filming location!"
"The script story can be more specific, and a larger worldview can be set, with various struggles and conflicts between vampires, werewolves, and humans, leaving proper foreshadowing for sequels," Charles reminded him now, hoping that the future underworld series would have fewer logical contradictions.
Compared to the simplicity of lost in translation, the underworld crew was much more complex, with more action scenes and characters.
Len Wiseman was also a director who disliked using special effects, which meant higher demands on the actresses for certain action sequences.
Sofia Coppola, with the 400,000 US dollars in preparation funds from Capet Pictures, found recruiting crew members quite simple.
By the end of June, my big fat greek wedding's theaters increased to around 1,600, and its North America box office reached 100 million US dollars.
In addition to another 500,000 US dollar check from Tom Hanks, Charles could also receive money from the early box office split.
Under normal circumstances, a distribution company would pay the earnings to the production company within one month of the film's release to help the production company recoup its costs as soon as possible.
However, my big fat greek wedding had a very small initial release, and now, almost three months later, its North America box office was just starting to surge.
At the same time, Charles was short on cash, and now that almost three months had passed, he had every reason to ask the production company to pay the early share.
Fortunately, Tom Hanks was in a good mood and didn't make things difficult for Charles. The early 100 million US dollar North America box office was quickly split.
From 100 million US dollars, after deducting the theaters' share, 61.2 million US dollars remained. After deducting IFC Films' 15% distribution commission of 18 million US dollars, 43.2 million US dollars were left.
According to the current situation, with North America crossing 100 million, Charles's share was a 9.5% ratio. Although institutions predicted the film's box office to exceed 200 million US dollars was a sure thing, no one would pay in advance.
At the same time, the film's promotional and distribution costs had not yet been calculated by the distribution company and would be tallied and deducted later, closer to when the film left theaters.
At 9.5%, Charles received 4.1 million US dollars!
If my big fat greek wedding's final box office exceeds 200 million US dollars, Charles's revenue share would be 12.5%, which would be recalculated, with the currently paid 4.1 million US dollars deducted.
"Mr. Capet, 4.1 million US dollars has been transferred to Capet Pictures' account," the accountant employed by Capet Pictures at an accounting firm on West Hollywood Street said with a smile, reminding Charles, who was on the sofa.
"Thank you!" There are many such firms in Hollywood, mainly specializing in auditing, taxes, and consulting, and they are very familiar with film contracts.