In the end, the box office of “Saw” was not able to break through 100 million, just as expected, and stayed at 63 million US dollars.
Compared to the 50.3 million US dollars box office of “Born Killer” released at the same period, it’s a whopping 13 million US dollars higher. The budget for “Born Killer” was as high as 50 million US dollars, which means it couldn’t recoup its costs through the box office alone.
Fortunately, Hollywood film companies have various peripheral incomes. With the peripheral copyright and overseas box office of “Born Killer”, it shouldn’t be a problem to recoup the costs in the end. This is the advantage of Hollywood.
The 63 million US dollars box office of “Saw” is almost impossible to rank in the top ten of this year’s North American box office, and even making it into the top twenty is very difficult.
However, regardless of this performance, both the main actors Helen, Sofia, and the production team, as well as the distributor Fox Searchlight Pictures, are still very satisfied.
With a cost of 1.2 million US dollars, compared to the 63 million US dollars box office, the return rate is more than 50 times, even the most stringent investors would be satisfied.
Next, it’s time to divide the cake. From investors, distributors to theater chains, everyone will get a sufficiently sweet piece of the cake.
Generally, theater companies will distribute the first share of box office earnings around four weeks after the film’s release, and the remaining portion will be settled within a week after the film is taken down.
However, remember, as for when the distributor will settle with the producers, that’s hard to say.
If the producers are relatively strong, the distributor naturally won’t delay too much, and it’s expected to be settled within a year.
Well, delaying for half a year or a year is nothing for Hollywood distributors.
All seven major Hollywood film companies are like this, and Miramax is a standout among them.
As long as it’s an overseas film, once it falls into the hands of Miramax, don’t expect to receive the remaining share of the box office or unpaid copyright fees.
So, never overestimate the reputation of Hollywood distributors.
Fortunately, this is the first time Fox Searchlight Pictures has distributed a film, and it’s expected that there will be more collaborations in the future, and they won’t renege on a mere few tens of millions of dollars.
If Fox Searchlight Pictures defaults, I’m afraid the 20th Century Fox distribution department will be the first to come forward.
The reason is very simple. Helen has been negotiating with the 20th Century Fox distribution department about overseas rights in recent days.
This time, it’s not about sharing distribution, but about buying out all overseas rights at once.
So as soon as “Saw” was released, Ryan hired a well-known third-party auditing firm to check the detailed bills with Fox Searchlight Pictures.
After deducting the share of taxes and other expenses that the theater company deserved, a generous amount of 25.2 million US dollars was deducted. This was already very generous. The remaining 37.8 million US dollars was then transferred to Fox Searchlight Pictures’ account.
Next, according to the film distribution agreement, Fox Searchlight Pictures owns 18% of the North American box office, which is 11.34 million US dollars, including promotional expenses, distribution fees, and so on.
The remaining 26.46 million US dollars will be transferred to Ryan’s studio’s account. However, it still needs to deduct the $500,000 promotional expenses paid by Ryan himself, as well as the cost of printing about 3,000 copies of “Saw”, averaging $650 per copy, which is about $1.95 million. After deducting these expenses, the final amount will be around $24.01 million.
But this is not the end yet. Since the film’s box office sales were high, it’s certain that a big bonus will be given to all members of the crew, estimated to be around $1 million. So, the final remaining $23 million isn’t solely Ryan’s, as taxes need to be paid.
American taxes have always been dauntingly high, and the tax bureau is the last department you want to mess with, so legal tax avoidance is necessary while spending this money as quickly as possible.
As for Helen’s agent’s share, there isn’t any this time.
Last time, the box office share of “Blair Witch” was counted within the director’s share, not the investment, so Helen can receive 10% of the profit from it.
This time, “Saw” is the studio’s investment share, so naturally, it has nothing to do with Helen.
Of course, she still gains a lot, like signing Monica Bellucci, a very good actress.
Moreover, having a hot Hollywood director under her belt also plays an indispensable role in the development of Starry Sky Agency.
This cake cutting is just the beginning. Various copyrights of “Saw” will bring in a large sum of money.
First of all, there’s the offline video tape distribution rights, which are vital for many Hollywood films’ survival. Although according to the agreement, Fox Searchlight Pictures only has 30% of the share, the main negotiation is expected to be led by Ryan’s studio.
However, Ryan knows very well that his studio is just a shell, far less experienced in this aspect compared to Nancy Ettrick.
So Fox Searchlight Pictures still leads the negotiation team, relying on 20th Century Fox’s video tape distribution channels to negotiate from various aspects.
Finally, the North American video tape distribution rights of “Saw” were sold for $3.2 million. Remember, this is only for a seven-year distribution right, and when the time comes, a new agreement will need to be signed.
Even if Ryan no longer ventures into Hollywood in the future, relying on the offline video tape distribution rights of “Saw” alone can lead to a very wealthy life.
But wait, it’s not over yet. The rights for the first round of television broadcasting and TV adaptation were bundled and sold to a television station under the News Corporation for another $2.4 million.
And there’s more, a film company in Sandu Valley acquired the rights to adapt “Saw” into a movie for $800,000. It’s estimated that a derivative blockbuster will appear in no time.
After all these operations, a total of $6.4 million was earned. Fox Searchlight Pictures can take away $1.92 million from it, leaving Ryan’s studio with $4.48 million.
At this point, Ryan’s investment has already earned him $27.48 million.
Not bad. He knows very well that the reason for such a generous income this time is all thanks to Fox Searchlight Pictures’ recent establishment; otherwise, they wouldn’t have agreed to such favorable distribution conditions.
Of course, he has taken a solid second step in Hollywood and has enough bargaining power to negotiate with any distribution company.
However, the overseas distribution rights of “Saw” have been deadlocked. Whether it’s 20th Century Fox or other major Hollywood studios, they have all kept the prices low, with none exceeding $10 million.
The reason is simple. There are dozens of companies in Hollywood that have North American distribution channels, big and small.
However, there are only the seven major Hollywood film companies that have overseas distribution channels, and only one can be selected as the overseas distributor.
In this way, the seven major film companies can naturally lower the price and gain more profits.
Although it has a taste of monopoly, Ryan understands that this is the rule of Hollywood and can only be followed; one must not become a challenger.
Haven’t you seen DreamWorks, once glorious, eventually being acquired by one of the seven major film companies?
Of course, negotiations must continue where necessary. After all, the seven major film companies are not always harmonious.
In the office of the 20th Century Fox distribution department, Ryan sat opposite Colette Singh, and the two talked very casually, without any trace of the confrontation they had just experienced in the conference room.
“I admit that ‘Saw’ is a very good film with commercial value, but the price your female agent offered is a bit unreasonable. No Hollywood distribution company would agree to it,” Colette Singh said frankly.
“The price of $30 million is not actually expensive at all,” Ryan showed no intention of lowering the price.
“It’s too expensive. You must know that the North American box office of ‘Saw’ is only $63 million. Such an unreasonable price, no company can accept it,” Colette Singh shook his head.
“In fact, $30 million is not unreasonable at all.”
Ryan calculated one by one and said, “With the popularity of ‘Saw’, just based on the box office alone, it can easily recoup over $20 million. Add to that the overseas video tape distribution rights, TV adaptation rights, TV broadcasting rights, game adaptation rights, and so on.”
“If 20th Century Fox operates it personally, it’s enough to earn over $20 million again.”
Perhaps it sounded a bit exaggerated, but for 20th Century Fox, the overseas distribution rights of “Saw” were definitely a big cake.
“You can’t calculate it like this.”
Suppressing the urge to roll his eyes, Colette Singh said, “In this way, 20th Century Fox’s income will become very low, and there’s even the possibility of losing money. Remember, we are not Fox Searchlight Pictures.”
“Unless you include all the copyrights of ‘Saw’, and you must have the right to shoot the sequel.”
It was made very clear that 20th Century Fox is not Fox Searchlight Pictures and won’t offer such favorable conditions.
Ryan just laughed; naturally, he wouldn’t agree to such conditions.
“I can step back to $20 million, only including the overseas distribution rights of this ‘Saw’.”
“However, at the same time, we can prioritize signing the distribution rights for the next ‘Saw’.”
The distribution rights for the next ‘Saw’!
Colette Singh couldn’t help but show a hesitant expression, but unfortunately, he still wasn’t satisfied in the end. “Just having the distribution rights is not enough, at least add a 70% investment share.”
Obviously, he not only wants distribution but also wants to invest.
“Okay, but you can only occupy a maximum of one-third of the investment share, otherwise, I will have to personally meet with Mr. Tom Rossman.”
“He would certainly be eager to see me cooperate with Fox Searchlight Pictures again,” Ryan said unabashedly.
Tom Rossman!
Colette Singh’s expression finally changed, looking deeply at Ryan and said, “18 million dollars, not a penny more, otherwise, I won’t be able to explain to the board of directors.”
“As for Mr. Tom Rossman!”
He showed a hint of hesitation on his face and said, “It’s absolutely impossible to compromise 20th Century Fox’s interests to agree to your conditions.”
Unfortunately, the new CEO of 20th Century Fox, Tom Rossman, is very likely to jeopardize some of 20th Century Fox’s interests and seek development opportunities for Fox Searchlight Pictures, even the board of directors may turn a blind eye.
After all, the future development of Fox Searchlight Pictures is a very important plan for 20th Century Fox.
In comparison, the price of the overseas distribution rights of a single film becomes insignificant.
Upon hearing this, Ryan felt relieved and said with a smile, “Deal, for our friendship.”
Colette Singh raised his eyebrows, what an elusive friendship.
That afternoon, the two sides officially reached an agreement. For $18 million, the overseas distribution rights of “Saw” were bundled and sold to 20th Century Fox, including one-third of the investment for the sequel of “Saw”.
Originally, Ryan didn’t want to introduce an investment partner, but thinking about Miramax Films and Wayne Brothers, he always felt something was amiss.
So he brought it up, and with the investment from 20th Century Fox, many troubles could be avoided.