After attending Robert Downey Jr.'s wedding, Murphy temporarily interrupted the work and temporarily turned his energy to negotiations, preparing to win the adaptation rights of "Song of Ice and Fire" as soon as possible. He and Paul Wilson made a lot of preparations for this, and even formulated a TV series adaptation plan for "Song of Ice and Fire: Game of Thrones" in the shortest time.

Bill Rossis also frequently met with Bantam Books and George Martin's agents, and confirmed that the other party was very sincere.

Adapting novels into film and television works with a wider range of dissemination will definitely have huge benefits for publishers and authors.

The two sides already had a basis for negotiations. With the assistance of Bill Rossis, Murphy started a tug-of-war negotiation with Bantam Book Press and George Martin.

Just as Murphy thought, Hollywood nowadays relies heavily on adaptation, and the direct result is that Hollywood often pays a high price to get the adaptation rights of excellent literary works. Even for some not-so-selling works, the copyright fee is not a small number.

"Song of Ice and Fire" is not very popular now, but it also has considerable sales and influence, so it is impossible to get a bargain price.

This era is a little better. With the shrinking of original movies and TV, Hollywood will pay higher copyright fees in the future. Murphy vaguely remembers that Universal Pictures could spend more than 100 million US dollars in copyright fees for "Grey's Fifty Shadows", a romance novel that originally existed as a fan of the "Twilight" series.

After a few years, not to mention whether Stan's studio will have the opportunity to get the adaptation rights of "Song of Ice and Fire", even if it can be obtained, the price it will pay may be several times higher than it is now.

Therefore, Murphy didn't want to delay the negotiations for too long. The goal was to sign a formal agreement with Bantam Books Press and George Martin as soon as possible within the scope that Stan's studio could bear.

The negotiations were not going well. The Bantam Book Publishing House and George Martin first opened the first series "Game of Thrones" with a basic adaptation fee of $10 million plus a 20% share of the later income. It can be said that it has a sky-high price.

This is very common in negotiations. Although there is no saying that you can pay the money locally, you will definitely do this in actual negotiations.

Murphy could not agree to such a condition. If it was a whole series, it would be almost the same, but this is just the first "Game of Thrones" in "Song of Ice and Fire". What about the next few?

Negotiations are more difficult than expected, and news of such negotiations cannot be completely confidential, and in order to strive for the best interests, Bantam Books and George Martin will inevitably reveal the news to attract buyers who may still exist, and at the same time put pressure on Stan's studio.

Some people were indeed attracted to it. American Classic Film Co., Ltd. also had contact with George Martin and proposed that both parties jointly adapt and produce the TV series "Song of Ice and Fire" series.

Murphy encountered more difficulties in negotiations with George Martin, but he did not give up, and the two sides were still tug of war.

This complex negotiation involving all aspects is not something Murphy can easily solve if he wants to solve it.

The negotiations continue with the efforts of a team composed of Murphy and Bill Roses as the core. Although it is not very smooth, it is always moving in a good direction. However, on the other hand, Murphy is in some trouble.

These troubles come from Sin City and Miramax.

Now, the film has been offline from the global market. According to the agreement between Murphy and Miramax, his last share of nearly three million dollars should be paid at the end of July, but Miramax has not paid the funds until the end of August. After Bill Roses contacted the brothers Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein, Murphy realized that it would be troublesome to get the money back.

"It's not that the Weinstein brothers want to pay for the debt."

In Caa's office, Bill Roses was also a little worried and said to Murphy, "Their credibility in this regard is still guaranteed, and the first few transactions were all paid on schedule. Now they want to pay, but they don't have enough power."

Murphy immediately guessed what might be going on, "Did Walt Disney and Michael Eisner undermine the Weinstein brothers?"

"That's right." Bill Roses nodded. "The Weinstein brothers are not Michael Eisner's opponents. They have been undermined by Walt Disney's management and have lost control of Miramax, especially financial power."

Murphy was not surprised. If it were him, if he wanted to undermine and drive away the Weinstein brothers, the financial power would definitely be the first to get.

The Weinstein brothers are indeed very powerful, especially Harvey Weinstein, who is famous because of the Oscars, but facing behemoths like Walt Disney and people like Michael Eisner, Beverly Hills wants to compete with the Rockies.

They do have many means, such as hollowing out Miramax and transferring the copyrights of some projects or works they are optimistic about, but they are no match for Disney after all.

“Milamax is very confused now,” Bill Roses said. “Many projects under preparation have been suspended, and many people’s salaries have been suspended.”

His voice became low, "and Walt Disney signed a series of contracts and agreements before reexamining the Weinstein brothers, including you and Sin City, which will not be paid until the review is completed."

"What should we do now?" Murphy asked.

In this regard, Caa and his agent have more experience than him, and they must have encountered similar situations in the past.

"Wait." Bill Rossis gave his own opinion, "Wait for the time being and see what Walt Disney will do later."

Murphy thought for a while and nodded slightly. Now Miramax is at the most chaotic time. The delay in this share may be a fire at the city gate that will affect the pond fish. When the dispute between Michael Eisner and the Weinstein brothers comes to an end, the problem may be solved.

Putting this aside for the time being, Murphy continued to negotiate with Bantam Books and George Martin, and also attended a premiere.

The Fox monster movie "Alien vs. Predator" promoted by Cara Fais is also released.

"Paul, Mira, this is Murphy Stanton."

In the vestibule of the Chiefs Stone Theater in Hollywood, Cara Fiss introduced, "Murphy, this is the director of the film Paul Anderson, and this is the heroine Milla Jovovich."

Murphy shook hands with the two and looked at the couple, "Paul, Mira, I'm your fan."

Paul Anderson and Milla Jovovich didn't expect Murphy to say that, and both showed some doubts.

“I really like Resident Evil.” Murphy immediately explained, “I am a loyal fan of this film.”

"I also like your Saw and Deadpool," said Paul Anderson.

Mira Jovovich smiled at him, "I like your style very much and I always want to work with you."

Murphy immediately showed a surprise expression, "There will definitely be a chance."

Although I have never played the "Resident Evil" game and the films in this series have become worse and worse, the first two movies left a very deep impression on Murphy, especially the heroine Alice, just like Optimus Prime in "Transformers", as long as the protagonist is still her, she will not lack supporters.

Unfortunately, because of some messy things, he did not see the final chapter of this series.

"The second part, when will "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" be released?" Murphy remembered seeing the trailer some time ago.

"September." Paul Anderson did not direct but was the producer. Seeing that Murphy seemed to really like the series, he asked tentatively, "Can you invite you to the premiere then?"

Mira Jovovich also said, "You can go with Kara."

"I am honored." Murphy said politely, "I will definitely participate as long as time allows."

After all, time is still far away, and he cannot give a definite answer now.

Someone came to greet Paul Anderson and Milla Jovovich. Murphykara Fis simply left the place and walked into the screening hall together.

After sitting down, Kara Fis asked with concern, "Have the negotiations progressed?"

"There are some." Murphy knew she was asking "Song of Ice and Fire", "but the other party's asking price is still too high, and Bill is still talking to them recently."

Kara Fis asked curiously again, "When did you become so interested in TV series production? Fantasy dramas are different from fantasy movies, and have always been sub-categories of viewing."

"There will always be a work that changes this situation." Murphy seemed confident. "Aren't superhero movies in the past also a subcategory of Hollywood movies?"

"If I can take it down," Carla Fais seemed very concerned, "when will I start making it?"

"Wait for a while." Murphy thought for a while, "This series is huge, my investment is limited. The first "Game of Thrones" cannot exceed ten episodes. I will shoot one episode to pilot first."

Speaking of this, Murphy turned his head and looked at Cara Fais, "Here's help me contact Fox Cable."

This large-scale TV series cannot be broadcast on public TV stations. Cable stations are a must-have choice. Fox Cable TV is a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox. It specifically attracts the attention of viewers who are dissatisfied with the wireless TV network, especially young viewers, by challenging the scale of program review.

Because of its bold program scale, the series played by Fox Cable has always been a favorite series by young audiences and advertisers.
Chapter completed!