From some details, Rowan can see that it alludes to the Franco-German relationship after World War II, which is very typical French humor.
Rowan could sense that French humor was weak.
It doesn't go down the three way vulgar like American sex comedies.
French humor does not have vulgar lines or exaggerated body language. It only gives you a slight smile.
A tight rhythm combined with French jokes, a French feast with the flavor of car racing and gun battles.
Worth a gamble!
Rowan closed the script and said, "I like it very much. In fact, my father has some French blood. He has always liked the romance and style of Paris. I have always been interested in this and taught myself French."
All of this was said in French, His French was very fluent, which surprised Luc Besson.
Luc Besson even felt that he was really lucky right now.
Mary saw the right moment and said, "We are very inclined to invest, but we still need to discuss some details of the investment."
Luc Besson simply handed over his business card "Sure, you can go find him."
Kings are not ministers, and they will not confront each other directly when discussing contracts. This way, even if they get angry, it will not affect the relationship between the bosses.
After chatting for a while, Luc Besson Ieft with Milla Jovovich.
Mary made the call.
After a few pleasantries, she got down to business " The $2 million investment counts as 20%, and the $500,000 salary for the leading actor counts as 5% of the investment, so the total copyright share is 25%."
The producer refused without a second thought "Impossible, this is too much, and Rowan's salary hasn't increased to $500,000, right?"
"With an investment of 2 million US dollars, the male lead's salary is at most 100, 000 US dollars."
"If Rowan is willing to serve as the action director, I will give him another $50,000, and the total salary will be $150,000. The total of $2.15 million will be your 15% share of the box office."
They were pulling them one by one. Rowan had nothing to do, so he called a friend to learn about Luc Besson.
After understanding it, he realized that their business capabilities are really strong.
He has worked in various positions behind the scenes, including director, screen writer, producer, supervisor, photographer, Iighting technician... He is a very comprehensive behind-the-scenes expert.
He became famous at the age of 25. His first feature film "The Last Battle", directed by Luc Besson, is a black-and-white science fiction film without dialogue. It won the Jury Prize and the Critics Award at the Avoriaz Film Festival.
After that, he won many awards one after another.
The most famous work in the United S tates is the action drama "Léon: The Profes sional" starring Jean Reno, Gary Oldman and Natalie Portman.
The film received seven nominations including Best Film at the 20th César Awards, and Luc Besson was nominated for Best Director.
In 1995, when he was 36 years old, he put the script "The Fifth Element" written in his youth into operation, and attracted 90 million US dollars in funding from Columbia and action star Bruce Willis.
The promotion has already begun, and if nothing unexpected happens, it will be released in the summer vacation in two or three months. It can be said to be very ambitious.
It is not clear what the results will be, but the fact that it was able to raise so many US dollars shows the trust that big companies have in Luc Besson.
The script "Taxi", also written by him, is a high-quality project just because of Luc Besson's name.
Rowan was curious "Why can't he attract investment?"
Mary took the time to explain "This is a French film. The French company is not optimistic about it, which will affect its future prospects."
Rowan understood.
Familiar companies are not optimistic, so everyone will naturally wait and see.
There may also be influence from The Fifth Element here.
If this huge investment of $90 million fails, it would be too risky to invest in Luc Besson now.
It's not too late to invest after Luc Besson succeeds... This is probably the idea of many wait-and-see investors.
In Hollywood, there are very few people who help others when they need it, most of the time they just add icing on the cake or make things better.
However, in Rowan's view, there are some risks but they are not a big problem.
There have been too many failed film investments. Even if Luc Besson's project has risks, they are lower than others, and the script is a good one along with his knowledge about the fact that it is going to be a series of movies Rowan didn't worry much.
"Speaking of The Fifth Element."
Rowan talked about gossip "Luc Besson invented a fictional language to help the heroine Milla Jovovich practice writing Ietters to each other frequently. I heard that the two of them have secretly married."
"He is 16 years older than Milla Jovovich."
"At least Milla Jovovich is an adult."
Mary was used to it.
Rowan thought about it and nodded "That's right."
But I still sighed in my heart.
It's great to be a director.
No girl is always 18 years old, but there are always 18-year-old girls.
He likes a good big sister, but it doesn't affect him being liking A good little sister. Just be an adult.
Actors can also do this, but it won't be as convenient as the director.
Being a famous actor is so great, I wonder what it feels like to be a director.
Having the superpower of dream copies is equivalent to having a director's cheat.
Theoretically, Rowan is very suitable to be a director, but the staff behind the scenes cannot participate in the dungeon and can only be spectators. The experience is average and there are no loot. Though he can't say anything about the director or producer. He wants to know if being a director or producer will give him any loot from Dream Dungeon or not
Then he will have to direct a movie to find out about it.
It's a bit difficult, but worth the challenge!
For an 18-year-old girl...bah, for challenging myself!
Rowan, who had always looked up at the starry sky, had a higher goal.
First upgrade to a capital actor and then upgrade to a capital director!
By this time, Mary had negotiated the terms.
The investment is 2 million dollars, including 300,000 dollars for the leading actor and action director.
A total of $2.3 million, including 17% of the advance European box office share and full North American copyright.
"We were able to negotiate 20% but we made some concessions for the full North American copyright. For this, I only asked for an upfront share of the box office and did not ask for all media authorizations."
Mary said "Media licensing includes movies, DVDs, multimedia entertainment systems, computer games, etc. These peripherals are important, but they are not as valuable as full North American copyright."
Rowan agreed with Mary.
It would be great to be able to join the box office sharing club, and it would be the initial box office sharing, not the net profit sharing with many tricks.
Strictly speaking, box office share is a risk pay, which transfers the early investment risk to the considerable box office share in the later stage to attract stars.
It is divided into box office bonuses, award bonuses and film profit sharing.
The film profit sharing is divided into the advance box office share, the total box office before the producer deducts any costs, which only a very few people can get. Then there is net profit - the profit after deducting any costs and expenses.
Anyone who knows Hollywood's account books knows that the latter has too many tricks and is just a pie in the sky, but most actors are not eligible. Only a small number of them can get a share of the net profits.
Rowan is already very satisfied: "It is not easy to negotiate such conditions, but fortunately I have a very capable agent."
Mary said calmly "I want to share part of your income, it's my duty."
The flattery was useless. Rowan smacked his lips and suddenly thought of something: "How can the funds go? Can taxes be avoided reasonably?"
"Okay. You should consider taxes, too." Mary nodded
Rowan was decisive "We'll avoid as much tax as we can."
The best way to love America is to blend in.
Billionaires use various means to pay Iess than 1% tax a year, and Rowan would certainly follow suit.
If you really pay those tens of percentage points of tax, no one will say you are patriotic. They will just call you an idiot. Then you can happily order a sheep worth 6 million... I just don't know whether it is for eating or for use.