Chapter 87: Dividing the Spoils

Getting the North American revenue share for The Rock as quickly as possible wouldn't be easy. Under Duke's contract with Warner Brothers, the studio would pay it out within six months of the film leaving theaters. Compared to Twentieth Century Fox paying the share for Speed early out of deference to Lucasfilm, this timeframe seemed long, but it was actually standard Hollywood practice.

As a director, Duke couldn't rely on Lucasfilm and George Lucas for favors every single time, nor would Warner Brothers necessarily bow to Lucasfilm's influence. Frankly, six months was practically the shortest payment window Nancy could negotiate.

By Hollywood convention, settling investment shares for a film was incredibly tedious. It wasn't uncommon for payments to drag on for years, and outside of a courtroom, there was nowhere to complain. Many film investment companies held out until bankruptcy without ever receiving their rightful cut.

As for directors, if a production company had no intention of continuing the working relationship, their owed compensation was frequently delayed for a long time. People like Michael Bay and Peter Jackson had both encountered this exact situation in the past.

Fortunately, Duke had thrown out a piece of bait early on and proven he had the ability to turn it into a massive catch. Warner Brothers was currently pushing forward with preliminary research for the Independence Day project, meaning the two parties would continue collaborating in the future. Paying the North American share on time wouldn't be an issue. Warner Brothers might pull some underhanded tricks with the overseas revenue, but they would keep it within a threshold Duke could tolerate.

Even with Duke hiring a professional team of lawyers and accountants for oversight, it was impossible to fully guarantee the authenticity of the final overseas revenue; they could only keep the discrepancies within a relatively small margin.

Compared to the overseas market, North America could be subjected to far stricter regulation. Shortly after The Rock ended its theatrical run, Duke's accountants, Rock Studio, and Warner Brothers simultaneously sent over the detailed financial statements.

The accounts were crystal clear. Even someone like Duke, who wasn't particularly well-versed in finance, could easily understand them.

The Rock grossed a total of 157.52 million dollars at the North American box office. According to the signed distribution agreement, after the theater chains deducted taxes and other fixed expenses, Warner Brothers received a total of 76.5 million dollars for their North American box office share.

Although Warner Brothers utilized a tax rebate quota on The Rock to secure 2.8 million dollars in rebates, this money was not factored into the film's revenue per the agreement. However, the 3.5 million dollars in advertising fees obtained from manufacturers like Hummer and Ferrari were counted as part of the revenue.

This brought the film's income to 80 million dollars. Warner Brothers took ten percent of the North American box office as a distribution fee and deducted another 15 million dollars for promotion and distribution expenses, leaving a remaining balance of 49.25 million dollars in this pool of funds.

From this, they still had to deduct the 870,000 dollars' worth of equipment and props destroyed in the fire, as well as pay out the remaining salaries for the cast and crew alongside other industry guild expenses, resulting in a final balance of 45 million dollars.

This time, there was no company like Lucasfilm taking a cut of the production fees. The investors, including Duke Studio, Warner Brothers, and the AUG Film Investment Fund, could all enjoy their rightful shares according to their respective investment ratios.

Duke Studio accounted for one-fifth of the production cost, meaning they would take home 9 million dollars. Although taxes still had to be paid on it, it gave him hope that he could pay off his mother's loan relying solely on the film's North American revenue share.

After The Rock concluded its North American theatrical run, Warner Brothers began negotiating with Blockbuster, the largest video rental chain in North America, over the basic videotape transfer fee and the rental sales commission. The latter was long-term revenue and had little to do with Duke Studio. The former, however, was agreed upon at 8.5 million dollars after four rounds of negotiation.

Then came the North American television broadcasting rights, another area where Duke Studio could claim a cut. The 6.5 million dollar basic transfer fee matched the film's box office performance and market value.

Warner Brothers could take a cut from the long-term income of both streams, but Duke Studio had only signed on for a short-term profit share, which netted them 3 million dollars from these deals!

This meant that in six months, Duke Studio would receive 12 million dollars in revenue share on paper. However, 1.2 million dollars of that would need to be paid out to Nancy Josephson and the team of lawyers and accountants, with both parties each entitled to five percent of Duke Studio's investment returns on The Rock.

A successful film was never the masterpiece of a director alone; it required the collaboration of an entire team. Without an agent, Duke would have to personally haggle with the major studios, leaving him no time to even consider filming and production. Similarly, the supervisory and auditing roles of professional lawyers and accountants were absolutely indispensable, as capital never had a conscience.

These earnings still belonged to the future. It would be quite good if Warner Brothers managed to pay them off before 1994. As for the overseas revenue share, that would be a long wait.

After checking over his expected income, Duke returned to a relaxed state, leaving all the work and negotiations for his new film project to Nancy. Over the past two years, his nerves had been strung far too tight. If he kept that up, they might just snap one day.

In fact, after his mother finished her business in New York and returned to Los Angeles, Duke temporarily moved back to his home in Santa Monica.

"Do you remember the suggestion you made regarding Victoria's Secret?"

During dinner, Mrs. Leah suddenly brought up something Duke had almost forgotten. "Saintphia has formulated a detailed promotional campaign, and Victoria's Secret's management has basically agreed to our plan. If nothing unexpected happens, next year's Super Bowl halftime show will be a lingerie runway."

"If I have the time," Duke said, highly intrigued, "I could go check it out in person."

'It seems like the most famous Angels are all still little girls right now, aren't they?'

After chatting a bit more with his mother, Duke learned that the finale models would be Naomi Campbell and Claudia Schiffer. In this era, the biggest names still belonged to the top five supermodels.

"Next month, I'm planning to take a trip to Israel."

Setting down her knife and fork, Mrs. Leah added, "If you have the time, come over and keep an eye on the house here."

"I know, Mom." Duke stood up alongside his mother. "Stay safe."

In his impression, Israel was a war-torn region where terrorists could rush out and act as human bombs at any moment.

Thinking it over, Duke simply said, "Mom, if work isn't too busy around then, I'll just go with you."

Well aware of Duke's dedication to his work and knowing that his new film project was moving forward, Mrs. Leah waved her hand casually. She clearly didn't take his offer seriously and walked straight out of the villa to take a stroll along the oceanfront promenade.

His mobile phone suddenly rang. Duke picked it up and hit the answer button. It was Naomi Watts.

"Hi, Duke. It's been a long time."

Her voice carried a faint trace of softness and sweetness. Only then did Duke realize he truly hadn't seen the Australian actress in quite a while. "Yeah, it has been a long time, Nami. What have you been busy with lately?"

"I... I moved!" The voice on the other end hesitated for a moment before continuing, "I just wanted to call and let you know."

"Oh? Where did you move to?" Duke asked on cue.

"The outskirts of Beverly Hills." There was some static in the receiver, so Duke switched the phone to his other hand as Naomi Watts went on. "I rented a detached house."

Naomi Watts had more or less established a foothold in Hollywood now. Being a star wasn't as easy as it looked on the surface. Whatever status one held had to be matched by corresponding attire and housing. This was especially true for actresses, whose images were even more critical. Expenditures in this area were absolutely massive; many newly famous stars even had to go into debt just to afford it.

"What made you move there?"

If Hollywood was a massive dye vat, then Beverly Hills, the residential hub for Hollywood stars, was practically a microcosm of it.

"It was Mary's suggestion, and Nancy helped me with the paperwork."

As if afraid Duke wouldn't understand, she added an explanation. "Mary is Nicole Kidman. She suggested we live closer together so we could look out for each other."

"Look out for each other?" Duke curled his lip.

Right now, Naomi Watts's industry status and fame were far inferior to Nicole Kidman's. With this dynamic of one weak and one strong, the two of them could still coexist harmoniously. However, if one day Naomi Watts rapidly ascended and became a direct competitor to Nicole Kidman, their sisterly bond would inevitably vanish into thin air, just as it had in the past.

Relatively speaking, even when male actors competed against each other, they mostly wouldn't completely abandon all pretenses. Actresses were different. Perhaps driven by female nature, if there was a direct or even indirect competitive situation, they would absolutely be eager to draw blood behind closed doors.

Of course, this also had to do with actresses having a shorter shelf life and narrower career paths in Hollywood. After all, even twenty years later, this industry would still be a patriarchal world.

Leaving a note for his mother, Duke drove away from Santa Monica, heading straight for the west side of Beverly Hills. A relationship like this—devoid of emotional pressure and responsibility—was simply the best form of relaxation for him.

Time slowly drifted into August. Right around the time The Rock's global box office surpassed 320 million dollars, good news arrived from Nancy's end.