America gains both fame and fortune

Chapter 589: Warner's Account Period Changes
In May, Charlize Theron left the crew first after finishing filming her scenes as the heroine. She will fly directly to South Africa to participate in a series of activities before the opening ceremony of the World Cup.

Afterwards, Martin received an invitation from the World Cup Organizing Committee.

But the timing of the World Cup in South Africa coincided with the promotion and release of "Inception", and Martin had no time to go.

Pre-screening promotion for Inception has already begun, but Martin will not join the crew until the filming here is finished.

On the first weekend in May, Elizabeth, Lily, and Thomas came to Cape Girardeau to visit the studio.

Inside the hotel, after kissing Elizabeth, Martin turned to look at Lily and said to Bruce, "Where is the gift I prepared for Lily?"

Bruce secretly complained about Martin's inhumanity and dragged out a small box. When he opened it, he found it was full of orange herring stones.

He acquired them all through the fishing and hunting club.

Lily is now famous and well-informed, so she asked, "What kind of stone is this? I've never seen it before."

Martin said, "This is for you. Please take some time to make it into a heart shape for me. And add a platinum necklace. I'll pay for it later."

Lily curled her lips but did not refuse. She took out a few and looked at them carefully, wondering what she could carve on them.

Thomas winked at Martin at this moment.

Elizabeth knew they had something to discuss, so she went with Lily to see the stone.

Martin called Thomas into the study together.

Thomas said directly: "Gillian Flynn's new work has been signed directly with Warner Pictures, and the adaptation rights are in the hands of Warner."

Martin nodded slightly: "I know, she came to me first. I felt that the part of the work that had not been completed was just average, so I didn't give her a clear answer."

"So that's how it is." Thomas thought that Warner Bros. had snatched the deal by relying on its financial resources.

"I have no objection to Gillian working with Warner. It is her freedom." Martin couldn't stop her. After all, Gillian was the first to bring the work to him for his review.

Thomas asked, "Did the news spread to Warner Bros. so quickly?"

Martin was not surprised: "There are many people in the crew who talk a lot, and many of them have worked with Warner." He thought: "The day Gillian came to see me, we were in the cafeteria. It's normal for someone to hear what Gillian said."

"I thought Warner was targeting us." Thomas said another thing: "Warner Bros. has completed the acquisition of Castle Rock Pictures and obtained absolute controlling rights. Castle Rock has become a subsidiary of Warner Bros.."

Martin understood what he meant. "Do you think Warner Bros. is trying to put pressure on me to sell the studio in some special way?"

Thomas explained: "Not only that, Warner Bros. has officially sent a letter to WMA, saying that the profit sharing period for the two films "John Wick" and "Benjamin" will all need to be postponed due to overseas channels and bank settlement issues."

Martin asked, "How long do they plan to extend this?"

"It ranges from three months to six months," Thomas said roughly. "The payment terms for each share are different. Warner's intention is very clear. All the shares involving Davis Studio will be paid at the end of the payment period."

He added: “That way, they can squeeze the Davis studio’s cash without defaulting on the contract.”

Hollywood's payment terms have a time frame. At first, Martin took advantage of Louise's many years of cooperation with Warner Bros., and later he had market appeal as support. Warner Bros. would usually pay him and the studio's share in the middle of the payment period.

Martin asked, "Just me and the Davis studio?"

Thomas responded: "No, it's mainly works that are not subsidiaries of Warner Bros."

Martin could only sigh: "Warner is no longer the Warner it used to be."

Thomas said: "After years of being the top performer in Hollywood, the new management of Warner Bros. is confident that Warner Bros. will continue to lead Hollywood in the next decade."

Martin stood up, turned around, and said, "As for our share, it's all in the tens of millions of dollars. The interest alone is a considerable income."

Bruce, who had been silent the whole time, remembered his responsibilities as a manager and interrupted, "Warner Bros. is not suitable. Let's find another distributor."

Thomas reminded: "As far as Hollywood is concerned, Warner Bros. is the label with the strongest comprehensive distribution capabilities."

Martin said: "There is another one that is catching up."

Thomas understood what Martin meant: "You mean Walt Disney?"

"That's right, Disney." Martin said simply, "Disney acquired Pixar and Marvel. I got the exact news from Kathleen Kennedy that their next target is Lucasfilm."

Bruce followed up with, "Is there going to be a new Star Wars movie?"

Martin ignored him and continued, "The most important point is that Disney Pictures, which is controlled by Alan Horn, not only merged production companies such as Hollywood Pictures and Touchstone Pictures, but also integrated Disney's distribution channels."

"We are going to cooperate with Warner Bros." Thomas asked, and then he quickly said, "Louise's negotiations with Warner Bros. on John Wick 2 are not going smoothly. Warner Bros. has just increased the distribution commission and payment period, and is unwilling to make concessions."

This was also within Martin's expectations. As soon as Warner Bros.' policies were announced, they made concessions to others. Naturally, these policies were in name only, and even CEO Kevin Tsujihara would lose his authority.

Martin has basically given up hope on Warner Bros.

But Warner Bros. had high hopes for him. Thomas said, "Kevin Tsujihara contacted me and asked you to meet him at the Warner building when you return to Los Angeles."

Bruce could tell something was wrong: "What did he say?" Thomas took out his cell phone and played the recording directly.

"You tell Martin to come to see me at Warner as soon as he gets back to Los Angeles. Got it?"

Although the other party's tone was like treating a subordinate, Martin didn't say anything. He thought for a moment and said, "I'll talk about it when I get back to Los Angeles."

He turned to something else: "Jessica is negotiating with Disney Pictures on behalf of the studio. You will assist her when you return. Louise will also join the negotiations later."

Thomas responded: "I will go back tomorrow."

The study fell into a brief silence, and all three people knew that they were drifting away from Warner Bros.

The senior management changes at Warner Bros. have affected all levels of the industry chain.

Hollywood, like many business circles, likes to follow the successful. According to Thomas, even if Warner Bros. increased the distribution commission and extended the profit-sharing period, most of the original partners still chose to cooperate with Warner Bros.

The fact that Warner Bros. has been number one in the industry for many years in a row is the best convincing evidence.

The three chatted for a while, and Thomas was the first to say goodbye and leave.

Bruce asked, "You heard that Warner Bros. was going to get the rights to Dark Place, why didn't you sabotage it?"

"Not making trouble now is to make big things happen in the future." Martin didn't say much, but only mentioned one thing: "Warner Bros. sent someone over to negotiate the copyright issue so quickly. Why?"

Bruce thought for a moment and said, "Because Gillian talked to you? No, it's more than that. Also, Gillian is now a top-selling author on the best-selling list, and Gone Girl is being adapted by you and David Fincher, and it is likely to become a hit movie."

Martin said: "The more popular Gone Girl is, the more adaptable Gillian's new work will be."

Bruce has understood: "This movie is very likely to be the last movie that the studio will ask Warner Bros. to distribute."

Martin nodded: "Warner Bros. will have enough motivation if they can see the potential huge profits."

Gillian Flynn's two works are bundled together.

…………

Burbank, Warner Building.

McDonald arrived at his office early in the morning, waiting for his immediate boss, Jon Berg.

Although he returned to Los Angeles last night, he stayed up all night on purpose.

The eye bags are heavy, the eye sockets are sunken, and the eyes are bloodshot.

Just like this time in the past, a heavy price was paid to achieve the goal.

McDonald knew Jon Berg to some extent. Not only did he have to do his job well, but he also had to let his boss see his hard work and dedication.

Hearing the noise at Jon Berg's office door, McDonald hurried over with the manuscript.

"Done?" Jon Berg asked.

MacDonald placed the copied manuscript on his desk and said, "The novel is called Dark Places. Gillian Flynn has only written half of it. I followed your instructions and quietly obtained the film adaptation rights as quickly as possible."

Jon Berg took the manuscript and flipped through a few pages. In fact, the content was not important to him or Warner: "Gone Girl has topped the New York bestseller list for four consecutive weeks. Gillian Flynn is in great demand, and it will be easy for her new work to attract attention."

“And the film with Martin Davis and David Fincher,” MacDonald said.

Jon Berg nodded: "As long as Gone Girl is successful, the new work we bought at a high price will naturally attract market attention when it is adapted."

MacDonald said no more.

Jon Bourne waved his hand and said, "Go back and have a good rest for two days."

After his subordinates left, Jon Berg went upstairs to the small conference room for a meeting.

There were not many people participating in this meeting. Except for Kevin Tsujihara, the rest were all bigwigs of core subsidiaries.

Hamada from DC, Jon from Warner Pictures, and Daniel from Warner Distribution.

At the beginning of the meeting, Jon said: "Let me tell you a good news first. The film company has obtained the film and television adaptation rights of Gillian Flynn's new work "Dark Places"."

Daniel was not clear and asked, “Isn’t she working with Martin?”

Jon said: "Warner Bros. is more sincere than Martin."

"Well done." Kevin Tsujihara nodded to his brother-in-law Jon and asked Daniel, "Are you not making progress?"

“We might lose the rights to John Wick 2,” Daniel said.

(End of this chapter)