Chapter 104: Series copyright
Taxes have always been the biggest pain in Dunn's heart.
California is a heavily taxed area. The personal income tax is 39% federal tax and 9.3% regional tax, totaling 48.3%, equivalent to half of Dunn's personal income, which is handed over to the government.
Corporate income tax, also high, 35% federal tax, 8.84% California district tax, a total of 43.84%! It is also equivalent to taking nearly half of the profits of Dunn Pictures.
Fortunately, corporate income tax does not have to be paid on a due date like personal income tax, and there are many ways to postpone the payment.
"My Great Greek Wedding" created huge wealth for Dunn Pictures, and Dunn also acquired Marvel.
However, this was the result of the delay in paying corporate income tax at Dunn Films.
Now, Dunn Pictures not only owes Dunn $7 million in loans, but also owes the government as much as $40 million in taxes.
Counting the debt of the subsidiary Marvel Entertainment of $35 million, the total debt exceeds $80 million!
Hollywood, it's hard to get along, not only for practitioners, but also for film companies. The reason why Lionsgate can develop is because Lionsgate is headquartered in Canada, and the corporate income tax is only 15%.
With the help of the cheating device, and the blessings of "Titanic" and "Star Wars", the road to entrepreneurship is still stumbling. It is difficult to imagine that the protagonists of many online novels will be established in Hollywood with one or two small productions. How the situation will happen.
Fortunately, now Dunn has finally received tax benefits from Britain and Germany, and he can be regarded as seeing the light of dawn in this endless darkness.
With the current strength of Tang En Pictures, it is not enough to operate such a high-end operation, so naturally, it is handed over to CAA for help.
Afterwards, Dunn discussed with Tom Rothman about the distribution of "Wedding Cracker", and confirmed that the film will be released in North America on August 10, and will be released worldwide before September.
……
"Titanic" has a global box office of 1.88 billion, and "My Big Greek Wedding" has a global box office of 420 million, with a total box office of about 2.3 billion US dollars.
That is to say, the movie "Star Wars Episode 1: The Menace of Ghost Man" will have to accumulate 700 million US dollars at the global box office before Dunn can obtain the "mirror possession" skill again, so as to start shooting "Spider-Man".
With the current box office trend of the film, it is not a big problem to reach this goal before August.
Even many forecasting agencies are calculating whether the North American box office of "Star Wars Episode 1: The Menace of the Phantom Man" can break the myth created by "Titanic" and break the $600 million mark.
As for the global box office to surpass "Titanic", the possibility is very small.
By the second week, the market reaction of "Star Wars Episode 1: The Menace of the Ghost Man" was still strong.
Monday, $13.79 million;
Tuesday, $12.5 million;
Wednesday, $10.9 million;
Thursday, $9.68 million;
Friday, $17.8 million;
Saturday, $25.78 million;
Sunday, $23.6 million.
The next week's box office total was $114 million!
After 133 million US dollars in the first week, the box office continued to exceed 100 million in the second week, and the total box office in the two weeks reached 247 million US dollars!
In contrast, the blockbuster "The Mummy" released by Universal Pictures, the box office continued to dive, with a weekly drop of more than 50%, and the current weekly box office is less than 10 million.
And DreamWorks' movie "Love A Thousand Knots", which was hit with "Star Wars", has disappeared under the impact of the Star Wars frenzy.
This is a small production. The result of the fiasco is not unexpected, but the director of this film is from Xiangjiang, named Chen Kexin.
"Boss Chen, my buddy didn't mean to target you. If you want to blame it, you can blame DreamWorks. The schedule arrangement was seriously wrong!"
After Tang En heard about it, he smiled bitterly.
It is difficult for foreign directors to get along in Hollywood. Lao Chen screwed up this $15 million investment movie, and the road to Hollywood was completely shattered.
"Dawn, Mr. Heyman has news!"
Reese Witherspoon broke in excitedly without knocking on the door, cheering to Dunn.
"David Heyman?" Dunn also stood up excitedly, "Has he got JK Rowling?"
Reese nodded heavily, "Yes, he did persuade Ms. Rowling to transfer the rights to the entire set of "Harry Potter" novels, and also removed some of the harsh conditions we had promised. He said it was because of "Star Wars: Episode 1:" The Menace of Ghosts was a hit at the box office, and JK Rowling didn't want to be at odds with a director like you."
"Humph! It's a shame she still has a bit of self-knowledge!" Tang En sneered, "Tell me, did she speak up again?"
Reese Witherspoon: "$5 million plus 3% of future profits."
Indeed, it was the lion who opened his mouth!
Andrew O'Hare is negotiating with the copyright owner of the fantasy masterpiece "The Chronicles of Narnia", and the other party has retreated to an offer of "$6 million + 5% dividends".
And now "Harry Potter" and "The Chronicles of Narnia" are not at the same level of novels!
Dunn was in no hurry to purchase the copyright of "The Chronicles of Narnia" due to lack of funds, and was still negotiating. But "Harry Potter", he didn't want to delay at all.
"Promise her and sign the contract immediately!"
"But our funds are tight."
Tang En gritted his teeth viciously, "No matter what, even if you smash the pot and sell iron, you have to start as soon as possible!"
The "Harry Potter" novel has not been promoted by any media company, and it has set off a big craze in the United States~www.wuxiaspot.com~ He even watched the adaptation of "Harry Potter" starring Taylor Swift "Children's Drama.
Will gold always shine?
Dunn is not sure, if "Harry Potter" really turns into luminous gold, then his plan will be completely in vain, and he must win the copyright as soon as possible!
Later, Dunn called David Heyman, congratulated him, and thanked him.
David Heyman is very polite. He is really optimistic about the "Harry Potter" project. With the operation of commercial film directors like Dunn Walker, this series will definitely become popular all over the world.
"Dawn, when will the "Harry Potter" project start?" David Heyman is obviously very eager. He has completed Dunn's task well, and the position of the producer is definitely not less.
Moreover, his production company, Shengri Pictures, is a British company. In the future, after the film starts to get tax rebates, it must also be operated through Shengri Pictures.
Dunn has a black line on his forehead. Now he is so worried that he is about to spend a penny in two. How can there be any extra funds to start Harry Potter?
Working with Warner?
Ten thousand Dunn is unwilling, so it would be better to donate money directly to Africa and get a good reputation. Cooperating with Warner will be annexed sooner or later.
"Next year, next summer. You should know that I just acquired Marvel and I'm preparing a superhero movie with limited energy."
Tang En agreed casually, and his thoughts flew away.
Because of his appearance, the copyright of "Harry Potter" did not fall into the hands of Warner, and the film project was launched more than a year later than in the previous life.
Those former starring actors, I am afraid they will miss the "Harry Potter" series, right?
Tang En was a little melancholy.
After all, Emma Watson's prosperous beauty is so heartwarming.
