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Even in the face of Walt Disney, one of the six major Hollywood companies, plus Jerry Bruckheimer, a gold medal producer in the industry, with the box office explosion of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Black Pearl" as a premise, Matthew, Johnny -Depp and Keira Knightley are the dominant parties in contract renewal negotiations.

The main actors who appear on the screen like them have an advantage in negotiating even more than director Gore Verbinski.

After finally catching a big-selling movie that is ready to be serialized, no matter the actor or the actor's agent, naturally they want to make as much money as possible.

And as producers and investors, Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer, of course, want to keep paychecks down to avoid astronomical budgets for sequels.

The sequel to a big-selling movie is easy to succeed, but no one can guarantee 100% success. The higher the investment, the greater the risk.

On Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley, Matthew didn't know the specifics of the negotiations. On his side, the negotiations between Helen Herman and Disney Pictures have not been smooth. There is only one real point of disagreement. That's how much the pay is.

Helen Herman initially offered Matthew $12 million to Disney Pictures. Of course, Disney Pictures could not have given Matthew such a high amount. Johnny Depp must have only paid more than Matthew. A lot, and Keira Knightley's side will not be less.

If you agree to Matthew's asking price of $12 million, it will inevitably form a chain reaction of remuneration. Johnny Depp's popularity and character popularity are higher than Matthew's, and the salary is a notch higher. Keira Nye Terry is also second-tier now, and she still has the title of heroine. Even if the salary of actresses is generally lower than that of male actors, it will be a very huge number.

The salary of just three leading actors is more than 40 million US dollars, which is very difficult for Disney Pictures.

And this is only the asking price for the second film. Although the second and third films are sets, the actors and agents will not be so foolish that the third film should be paid the same as the second film. The third film must be paid for. It is normal in the industry to increase the price on the basis of the second film, and it is impossible for Disney Pictures to refuse.

Helen - Herman's third film salary offer is 16 million US dollars!

That's right, she called out an offer of $16 million to Disney Pictures for Matthew. If Disney Pictures agreed, Matthew's income would be a good first line.

Such an offer is of course unacceptable to Disney Pictures.

Therefore, the negotiation on the remuneration between the two parties has been going on for three months.

Just like in negotiations between employers and employees, money is always the key.

After three months of tug of war, Matthew, represented by Helen Herman, finally reached an agreement with the co-producer represented by Disney Pictures.

Then, Matthew signed the agreement.

This is an actor contract with more than 100 pages of clauses that is detailed enough to eat, drink, and sleep, and the core of which is naturally the remuneration.

In order to reduce the up-front budget and investment risk, Disney Pictures proposed to pay Matthew's remuneration in the form of basic remuneration plus post-production share. The basic remuneration is 8 million US dollars, which fully meets the expectations of Matthew and Helen Herman.

According to "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" after the box office explosion, Matthew's popularity in the industry and his actual appeal and influence, he received a salary of 6 million in a commercial film with a relatively sufficient budget Very reasonable, but for the sequel movie, the salary will automatically increase by about 20%, and it is reasonable to say $8 million.

However, the first part of the series was too successful, which also gave the starring the cost of starting the price on the ground. Although Disney Pictures was not very happy, it still appropriately agreed with Helen Herman that "the basic salary can be reduced, but a later share must be added." conditions of.

It's just that the share is very low. When the North American box office reaches the cost line, 1% of the box office is divided, and if it exceeds 300 million US dollars, it is 2%. At most, it is 2%.

Then there is the remuneration for the third part. The calculation method of the remuneration for the third part is more complicated. Matthew saw the contract at the time and read it for a long time before he figured it out with Helen Herman's simplified explanation.

In Helen Herman's succinct words, Matthew's third film's pay is directly linked to the second film's box office.

His base salary is $11 million, with an automatic increase of $3 million if the second film surpasses the first at the North American and global box office.

There is a later split. The critical point of the split between the two parties is still the cost line. The North American box office of the film reaches the cost, and the split will be the same as that of the second film, except that a remarks clause has been added!

If the North American box office of the second film exceeds 400 million US dollars, Matthew's share will exceed the 2% cap and reach 3%.

There are other sharing agreements such as TV, DVD and Internet broadcast, but the proportion is very low, none of which exceeds 1%.

Of course, when the deal was signed, there was a clear cost figure on the contract. Using the budget that Disney Studios had announced as a standard, the budget for the second film was $225 million, and the third was as high as $250 million.

Reducing the pre-production remuneration and appropriately adding the post-production share is the desired result of Disney Pictures, because it can effectively control the scale of investment, reduce unnecessary risks, and at the same time firmly tie the stars to the project.

Similarly, this is also the result of several discussions between Matthew and Helen Herman. It seems that they have given in, and the remuneration that can be safely obtained has been reduced, but Matthew knows that there are more than three "Pirates of the Caribbean" series, and these two The sequel was sure to be a huge success.

What he and Helen Herman asked for was the North American box office share, not the North American box office profit share. The North American box office figures are counted by many authoritative organizations, as well as announced by the North American Cinema Alliance, even if the North American box office share is much lower than the profit share by several times , but don't worry about Disney's manipulation of profit numbers.

The next two sequels were also produced by Disney Pictures, and publicized and distributed by Disney Pictures and Walt Disney’s Bowei Pictures. Many of the costs were poured from the left to the right. Walt Disney wanted to do something. It's really convenient.

The six major Hollywood companies are reputable, and they will not be soft-hearted at all when it comes to tricking people.

Under normal circumstances, it is not difficult for a Hollywood star like Matthew to participate in the later stage of the film, but it is very difficult to ask for a North American box office share, but "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" was so successful, Matthew and John Depp's character is too popular, causing Disney to be relatively passive in the negotiations.

In addition, Helen Herman also inquired some news about Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley. Johnny Depp was paid $15 million and $20 million in the two sequels respectively. , and Keira Knightley at $4 million and $5 million.

As for whether the two have a later share, that is a trade secret, and Matthew and Helen Herman don't know.

Just like Matthew's contract, in addition to the basic salary, those later agreements are all confidential terms, and he can't disclose it to the outside world.

It can also be seen from the remuneration that Matthew, Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley are divided into three grades. Johnny Depp, the most popular and the most popular, enjoys the treatment of first-line stars. Because of the sequel, Matthew's treatment can be said to be second-tier.

Keira Knightley is also second-tier, but Elizabeth Swan has a bad reputation, and she is an actress, and this figure is basically a real reflection of her worth.

It is also second-tier. It is normal for female stars to be paid less than half of male stars. Different pay for equal work between men and women is a Hollywood practice, and actresses are generally not treated as well as male actors.

In terms of the 20 million club, only Julia Roberts has reached it in Hollywood history, and then she will shoot a new film with a male star who is not as good as her, but the salary will be reduced to that of the male lead.

This is the reality of Hollywood, not to mention Keira Knightley, even the most powerful and iconic actresses in Hollywood today are powerless to fight.

After Disney Pictures secured the casting contracts of Matthew, Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley, they called a press conference to officially announce Jerry Bruckheimer, Gore Verbinski, Johnny - Depp, Matthew and Keira Knightley will return for the sequel to "Pirates of the Caribbean", and the second and third films will be released in the summer of 2006 and 2007 respectively.

"I'm very happy to return to "Pirates of the Caribbean", it will be a great journey." Matthew was interviewed by reporters, looking eager to return to the crew, "The crew has the best director, the best actors, The best photographer ever..."

He complimented everyone on the crew in general, and finally said, "I believe that "Pirates of the Caribbean" will definitely become one of the most successful series of movies in film history!"

After saying this, Matthew did not ask the reporter the so-called question of whether he and Keira Knightley would get back together, turned around and left the press room, and entered the adjacent conference room with Johnny Depp.

"Hi, Keira." Matthew walked in and met Keira Knightley who came first, glanced at her, and said, "You're darker than before."

Keira Knightley said naturally, "It was tanned in the open air."

Matthew leaned closer and asked in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "Do you have time at night?"

Keira Knightley hesitated, then shook her head slowly, "My flight back to London at six o'clock."

Jerry Bruckheimer walked in at this time and said loudly, "Everyone, we are going to start working together again, I only have one thing, you must coordinate the schedule, the filming of the film is tentatively scheduled for the end of 2004 to 2005, The specific timetable will be passed on to your agent after I confirm it."