"Ovitz means that if we want Steve to continue directing the sequel, he must participate in profit sharing. He is asking for 20%, but I think our bottom line should be around 15%."
After the financial meeting, Simon discussed the sequel to *Jurassic Park* with Tom Pollock, head of Daenerys Entertainment.
In the original plan, *Jurassic Park* was conceived as a trilogy.
Since the film has already been a huge success, preparations for the sequel were naturally put on the agenda quickly.
In the original timeline, *Jurassic Park* was undoubtedly Spielberg's most successful project of his career. Relying on an all-channel profit-sharing contract signed with Universal Pictures, Spielberg received an unprecedented $250 million in salary just from the first *Jurassic Park* film.
This time, Spielberg's compensation package is an $8 million base salary plus 10% of North American box office revenue.
Compared to the high-risk profit sharing, this plan, which directly draws a percentage from the box office, is undoubtedly very secure. Daenerys Entertainment has only offered similar contracts to two people so far.
According to the box office data of *Jurassic Park*, Spielberg will receive over $40 million for this project, which is a top-tier treatment among Hollywood filmmakers.
However, if compared to Daenerys Entertainment's earnings, Spielberg would definitely feel he received a bit too little.
In the original timeline, Spielberg's compensation package is not hard to guess; it should have been 20% of all-channel net profit sharing. One *Jurassic Park* film brought Universal Pictures over $1 billion in profit from global box office, merchandise, video sales, TV broadcasts, and other channels, and Spielberg's salary reached $250 million.
Previously, when collaborating with Columbia Pictures on *Hook*, Spielberg and the two lead actors, Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman, received a contract for a total of 40% of all-channel net profit sharing, with Spielberg himself taking the lion's share of 20%.
Unfortunately, *Hook* barely broke even, and Spielberg's remuneration was only his basic director's fee.
It was precisely because of this that Spielberg agreed to Daenerys Entertainment's seemingly very secure profit-sharing terms for *Jurassic Park*.
As a result, when the film's box office exploded and merchandise sales even rivaled the DC Extended Universe series, Old Steve immediately realized that he had made a rather unprofitable deal.
According to the long-term contract Universal Pictures originally signed with Spielberg, after *Jurassic Park* and *Schindler's List*, Spielberg still owed Universal one film.
In the original timeline, Spielberg, who always claimed he disliked repetitive work, consequently directed the sequel to *Jurassic Park*, *The Lost World: Jurassic Park*.
Anyone with eyes could see that *The Lost World: Jurassic Park* was a half-hearted endeavor. Although the special effects were more refined and the scale grander, the core story was merely a simple replication of the first film, which led to a significant drop in both box office and critical reception compared to the original.
This time, Old Steve probably also thought that with the first film being a box office hit and the two parties having a film contract, Daenerys Entertainment would definitely lean towards letting him continue to direct the sequel.
Traditional Hollywood studio executives would certainly do this.
Because everyone is just a professional manager and dares not take too many risks, continuing with Spielberg at the helm of the sequel is undoubtedly the safest option.
Proposing a profit-sharing plan is also just in accordance with Spielberg's usual stature.
However, Simon is not someone who likes to follow conventions.
Tapping lightly on the desk, Simon pondered and sorted his thoughts for a moment before saying to Tom Pollock, "In that case, let's start looking for other directors."
Tom Pollock was stunned, as if he thought he had misheard.
After two seconds of daze, Pollock finally reacted, still somewhat uncertain, saying, "Simon, you mean, replace him?"
"Exactly, replace him."
Tom Pollock didn't know what to say for a moment.
Judging by the current box office and merchandise sales data of *Jurassic Park*, this is a super-hit project that could bring Daenerys Entertainment no less than $1 billion in profit over the next few years.
With such an astonishing start, for a traditional Hollywood filmmaker like him, he would naturally be crying and begging Spielberg to continue directing the sequel to ensure the overall quality of the series.
As long as the sequel can be guaranteed, 15% net profit sharing is actually completely worth it.
Moreover, it is not at all excessive for a filmmaker who can bring a studio $1 billion in revenue to take home $150 million.
In fact, traditional Hollywood big names often earn more money on many projects than the studios do.
After a moment of hesitation, Tom Pollock finally said seriously, "Simon, I think this decision is a bit rash. You should know that, given the current earnings of *Jurassic Park*, Steven's asking price for the sequel is actually not high."
"Of course I understand, and this is a decision I've carefully considered," Simon's tone also became serious, saying, "Do you think this *Jurassic Park* is perfect?"
Tom Pollock was a bit confused: "We're getting about $350 million at the box office just in North America; isn't that perfect enough?"
"Of course not perfect enough," Simon shook his head, but didn't elaborate, saying, "So, I want to replace him not because of Steven's proposed profit-sharing compensation plan. In fact, if the quality of the sequel could be guaranteed, I would even consider 20% profit sharing for Steven on the sequel to be reasonable."
Tom Pollock understood, but was still a little confused, saying, "But, Simon, in all of Hollywood, besides you, do you think anyone is more suitable to direct the sequel than Steven?"
"Alright, Tom, first tell me, what is the most appealing aspect of *Jurassic Park* to the audience?"
Hearing Simon say this, Tom Pollock thought for a moment and said, "Special effects."
"Exactly, special effects," Simon continued, "and coincidentally, the special effects team for *Jurassic Park* is completely under our control, which is enough to ensure the quality of the sequel's special effects. However, to get audiences to buy tickets for the sequel, special effects alone are certainly not enough. I hope the film will break through in terms of plot and even its underlying meaning. Do you think, given the film's already immense success, Steven would still put in his full effort to seriously work on this project? It's fine if Steven doesn't want to put in the effort; we can completely offer advice and strategies. But do you think, given Steven's personality, he would accept us meddling in the film's creation?"
Spielberg is a person with a very strong desire for control; the entire Hollywood understands this.
After rising to prominence with *Jaws*, Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment not only produced projects directed by Spielberg himself, but also had the celebrated filmmaker personally serve as producer for a large number of other films each year. These projects were essentially firmly held by Spielberg, and other film creatives had to produce entirely according to Old Steve's own will, otherwise they might be fired.
There's nothing wrong with such a decisive production mechanism.
If a film project constantly has differing opinions, and various people are always meddling, the result could be disastrous. The most typical example, in Simon's memory, is Warner's DC Extended Universe series, which was a good hand played terribly.
Daenerys Entertainment, to a large extent, is also decided solely by Simon himself.
Now, *Jurassic Park* has had a very impressive start. If Spielberg could ensure the sequel's quality was even better, or even just maintained the standard of the first film, Simon would be inclined to let him continue to control the series.
While it might be somewhat unfair to apply past events to the current Spielberg, considering all factors, Simon felt that continuing to let Spielberg control this series, and thus follow the previous sequel standards, was almost inevitable.
If Spielberg were someone who accepted others' opinions, this might not be too big of a problem.
Precisely, Because he is also a very controlling person who would not allow a film company to meddle in his projects, especially when the first film was so successful.
Therefore, Simon's decision to replace the director of the *Jurassic Park* series was not because Old Steve's salary demands were too high, but rather to fundamentally reclaim creative control over the *Jurassic Park* series.
Tom Pollock quickly understood his boss's intentions after hearing Simon speak.
It's just, this is really a bit risky.
Knowing that the young man in front of him had made up his mind, Tom Pollock thought for a moment, did not try to persuade him further, but instead brought up another issue: "If that's the case, Steven's side, and the media, will both be very troublesome."
*Jurassic Park* is still showing, and overseas box office is also showing an explosive trend.
Having just made such a successful project for Daenerys Entertainment, and then being directly fired before the sequel was even properly discussed, would be a great blow to the reputation of a legendary Hollywood director.
If the media got wind of the news, it would definitely be even more sensational.
More seriously, Daenerys Entertainment doing this could also lead to discontent among other Hollywood filmmakers.
This was something Simon hadn't thought of initially, but with Pollock's reminder, Simon quickly formulated a plan.
Daenerys Entertainment must indeed take this issue seriously.
Tapping his fingers on the desk, Simon thought for a moment and said, "Alright, let's not make too much of a fuss about the sequel's preparations for now. You continue to negotiate with them, but don't give in. Hmm… wait until Steven finishes *Schindler's List*, and then we can part ways citing reasons like an inability to reach an agreement on compensation and creative differences."
Apparently, this is the only way.
Dragging it out for more than half a year, the hype around *Jurassic Park* will have cooled down by then.
As long as the reasons are appropriate, both sides will be able to exit gracefully.
In any case, the consequences would be much smaller than directly announcing Spielberg's dismissal now.
Having settled the matter, Tom Pollock was about to get up and leave when Simon suddenly called out to him again, fixing his gaze on the veteran Hollywood executive's eyes, and said, "Tom, there's one thing you need to understand: you are now an executive at Daenerys Entertainment, and you work for me. So, I absolutely do not want our conversation today to be known by the wrong people prematurely, understand?"
Tom Pollock paused, not offended by Simon's sudden questioning, but rather breaking out in a cold sweat.
He had indeed had certain thoughts just now.
As a professional manager who had been in Hollywood for many years, he instinctively felt a certain closeness to established big names like Spielberg, and was more inclined to consider them "his own people."
In contrast, Simon's rise was too rapid, and to Hollywood natives, he still seemed very much like an outsider.
If not for Simon's sudden reminder, Tom Pollock would have found it very difficult to resist prematurely revealing something to Spielberg. While it might not have been the entire content of their conversation today, it would have been enough for Spielberg to know the general inside story.
As for the outcome.
Having just filmed a super-hit movie, and before the film even left theaters, he was fired. Anyone with even a slight temper would definitely harbor resentment towards the person who fired them.
From the childish clause of writing someone who rejected him into every film contract, it's not difficult to see that Spielberg is definitely not a magnanimous person.
Facing Simon's gaze, Tom Pollock ultimately did not argue or express his dissatisfaction, but instead said, "I understand, Simon, I definitely won't do that."
Simon nodded in satisfaction and said, "Also, discuss this privately with Amy again and come up with a detailed plan."
Tom Pollock nodded again, and after confirming Simon had no other instructions, finally got up and left.
Leaving Simon's office and walking through the breezy corridor of the office building, feeling the coolness on his body, Tom Pollock gradually calmed down and couldn't help but think of another matter.
The young man sitting in that office seemed to understand many things about Hollywood a bit too clearly.
If he remembered correctly, his young boss wouldn't turn 25 until next month.
Even a young person from a Hollywood family wouldn't likely know so many ins and outs at 25.
However, thinking again about the various miracles his boss had created since his debut, Tom Pollock quickly felt relieved. His boss was, in fact, a rather uncanny presence.
Perhaps, he could even be clairvoyant.
With Tom Pollock's departure, it was almost quitting time.
Simon, as usual, had no intention of leaving on time. Instead, according to his work schedule, he rushed to the post-production center to review the recent sample footage of *Se7en*, which had already begun filming.