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After getting off the plane and leaving the airport in Milwaukee, Murphy saw Bill Roses. Since the headquarters of Dark Horse Comics is in Milwaukee, the other party came here earlier than him and had several rounds of formal negotiations with the Weinstein brothers.

"Frank Miller has nodded," Bill Roses told the driver to drive, and then said to Murphy next to him. "The Dark Horse Comics does not mean to refuse to take action. As long as the price and conditions are appropriate, it is not a problem to get the adaptation rights."

"What is Miramax's bid now?" Murphy asked with concern.

"Five million dollars," Bill Roses said that the price was obviously a headache, "and he asked for a one-time buyout."

Murphy frowned slightly, "What about the reaction of Dark Horse Comics?"

The buyout of five million US dollars is to pay the copyright fee in one lump sum. Any profit generated by the adaptation of the movie in the future has nothing to do with Dark Horse Comics and Frank Miller. This is a very favorable clause for the buyer, but the seller rarely agrees.

Sure enough, Bill Rossis said, "The conditions on both sides are far behind. Dark Horse Comics requires an $8 million basic copyright fee, and also enjoys a dividend of 15% of the total revenue of the film."

Hearing this, Murphy frowned even tighter, and it was the lion's mouth.

But they do have the capital to do this, and this is the current Hollywood environment.

In the past five years, especially in the new century, Hollywood original films have shrunk sharply, and the proportion of films adapted from literature or other works in big-selling films has become increasingly high. Last year's box office runner-up "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings Team" are all adaptations. "Spider-Man", which booked in advance this year's box office champion, is not only adapted, but also adapted from comics.

It is no exaggeration to say that Hollywood is never good at original works nowadays. Literature or other works that already have a certain influence are the targets that Hollywood production companies focus on.

For example, after the success of Marvel Comics' two movies, "X-Men" and "Spider-Man", its superheroes have become popular. Marvel Comics itself has learned to be smart and is easily unwilling to sell the copyright of well-known heroes.

There is also DC Comics, which has been rumored in the circle recently, and Warner Bros. and DC Comics intend to restart the Superman series.

Although "City of Sin" is not as famous as the Superman and Batman series, and is not even as good as Wonder Woman, it also has a large number of fans and enthusiasts. To use a word from the past to describe it, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a popular IP.

This kind of negotiation will never be held together. It can be determined in a few words. From the basic buyout fee to the box office dividend to the surrounding income sharing, there will be an inch of land that will be fought for.

The car sent Murphy directly to a hotel in the commercial area and entered the booked suite. Murphy first called Harvey Weinstein. As Bill Roses said, the negotiations were indeed not going well.

All the difficulties are summarized in a single point, and the price cannot be negotiated.

Even after Murphy submitted the budget and project plan, Miramax, after research and estimates, was optimistic about the profit prospects of the project, but still didn't want to pay too much.

On the other hand, Dark Horse Comics and Frank Miller also want to get more possible income.

And in addition to income, they also have more requirements.

In an office building in Milwaukee, Frank Miller sat in a chair and fell into thinking. A fat man with gray hair opposite him said as a reminder, "Sin City is so important to you, Fran! Are you so confident to hand it over to a young director like Murphy Stanton who is less than twenty-three years old?"

Speaking of this name, a face suddenly appeared in front of the fat man. The young man who was ridiculed and rejected by him at the time, who thought that he would become a rapidly rising director...

He shook his head, shook the other person's image from his head, and continued, "I admit that the short film was really good, it was a reappearance of the comic scene, but Fran, aren't you worried?"

Frank Miller took off his cowboy hat and asked strangely, "What are you worried about?"

"Murphy Stanton will not shoot and produce in the style of this short film!" Fatty reminded in a stressful tone, "He just gave you the position of deputy director. If you really get to his crew, you won't have much say!"

Touching the flattened hair on his head, Frank Miller's face showed a thoughtful look, and Bruce Berman's words were not unreasonable.

"Fran, an associate director can't guarantee the adaptation style you want!" Bruce Berman seemed to think about his old friend, "You know where Hollywood is, it's full of lies and fraud, and you have to ask for more power!"

After thinking for a while, Frank Miller recognized his old friend's opinion and nodded slowly.

On the second day after coming to Manhattan, Murphy joined the negotiations as the initiator of the project and the future director. However, just like the negotiations between "Horror Planet" and international publishers, most of the time, he was a bystander, and did not directly involve the director's affairs, nor had the right to speak.

The negotiations were still on the grounds of price. Both sides had some sincerity and made appropriate concessions. Miramax's bid increased to $6 million, and the offer price of Dark Horse Comics was also reduced to $8 million. These two million dollars were not a difficult gap, but there were still huge differences between the two sides on the additional share clauses after the basic adaptation fee.

"Fifteen percent of the total income share is unacceptable to Miramax," Harvey Weinstein stood up in the conference room when Dark Horse Comics reiterated this condition. "This is without precedent in Hollywood! At most three percent!"

"Three percent?" Nilek, the copyright director of the negotiations in Dark Horse Comics, looked at Harvey Weinstein and shook his head, "You have no sincerity in negotiations at all! This negotiation can end here!"

The negotiations between the two sides suddenly reached a deadlock.

Murphy wanted to say something, but it was very inappropriate for him to speak.

He gave Bill Roses a wink. Caa was the middleman who led to this cooperation and was the most appropriate party to ease the negotiation atmosphere.

In fact, Bill Rossis was also ready to speak out. Whenever the contact negotiations were in a deadlock, he was mediating in the center.

"As for negotiations, the conditions must be negotiated slowly," he was one of the people who most wanted to promote the project. "Fifteen percent of the income share is indeed a bit high."

Nellek was about to say something, but Bill Roses said first, "The three percent share is indeed a bit low."

"It's better," he suggested, "how is the profit share of fifteen percent?"

"Too low!" said Nilek.

Harvey Weinstein glanced at Nilek, "It's too high!"

Although there were still differences between the two sides, the atmosphere eased and the negotiations continued.

Enjoying dividends from the profits of future films has also been recognized by both parties.

Despite finding a common starting point for negotiations, Miramax and Dark Horse Comics still argued about the percentage of the negotiations, and there was no trend of reaching a consensus in this negotiation.

Today's negotiations are about to end, and the two sides are preparing to fight another day. Frank Miller, who has been silent and has not spoken suddenly.

"I need to explain something," he looked at Murphy, "if the cooperation can be achieved, I need to join the crew and participate in the production of the entire process."

Murphy and Harvey Weinstein exchanged glances and said, "No problem, Fran, I made a promise to you at the beginning."

Frank Miller smiled, remembering the suggestion mentioned by an old friend that would ensure the project is in the comic style, and said again, "I asked to be one of the directors of the film and sign it on the subtitles!"

Harvey Weinstein immediately asked, "Title director?"

Frank Miller nodded, "It's right to say that, but I ask..."

He turned his head to look at Murphy, knowing that this is not a comic book, and some things should not be too much, "In terms of directors, I demand power second only to Murphy."

Hearing these words, Harvey Weinstein and Bill Rossis both turned to look at Murphy. Frank Miller was the premise of cooperation. If he regretted it, the subsequent negotiations would not be necessary.

Although it is extremely rare to ask for signatures on the director, it is not uncommon for the original author to ask for certain power in the adapted crew. Harvey Weinstein doesn't think anything. Even if he promises Frank Miller, it's nothing. The filming of this crew must be based on Murphy. His producers are enough to limit Frank Miller. The crew has very elasticity in actual operation.

Murphy was actually the one who was most affected, after all, the other party asked to sign on the director.

Bill Roses frowned, Frank Miller's request was completely beyond his expectations. Murphy had promised him to be the deputy director before, and now he also asked the director's right to sign...

Murphy didn't say anything, but was just thinking. From his perspective and the film's final style, even giving Frank Miller greater power is nothing. The other party's request for this is the biggest possibility that he is worried about changing the style of the film.

He turned his head to look at Bill Rossis, who shook his head gently.

"Fran," Murphy looked at Harvey Weinstein again before saying, "We need to discuss it and give you a reply in a few days."

Today's negotiations ended. On the way back to the hotel, Murphy and Bill Roses took the same car.

"The power he asked for is actually easy to solve, and Harvey doesn't object in principle," said Bill Roses. "With your ability, it's not difficult to deal with him, and you originally planned to shoot a movie similar to the comic style. The biggest problem is that he asked the director to sign it!"
Chapter completed!