Right after the New Year holiday, Matthew headed to the Skydance Pictures office building in Burbank to talk with David Ellison about The Fast and the Furious.
David Ellison got straight to the point as soon as Matthew arrived. "Skydance Pictures' marketing departnt, along with a professional research agency I commissioned, conducted a market analysis specifically for The Fast and the Furious franchise," he explained. "The racing and drag-racing genre definitely has a broad audience here in North Arica."
Matthew settled onto the sofa, his eyes pulling away from the lavishly decorated lounge. "So, have you made a decision?" he asked.
David answered calmly, "I trust your vision."
But those were just words for now. David laid out the actual plan, "We'll each finance half and jointly acquire the rights to The Fast and the Furious franchise."
His goal was simple: to tie Matthew to the franchise and ensure they shared the risk.
David genuinely considered Matthew a friend, but he knew that in business, friendship took a backseat. Shared interests were a much better insurance policy.
If he acquired the rights on his own, what would he do if the project went sideways and Matthew walked away?
After a mont of consideration, Matthew replied firmly, "Yeah, I can find the money. As long as Universal doesn't get too greedy with their asking price."
"Excellent!"
As long as he could pull Matthew in as an investor, David could rest assured that Matthew would be fully committed to the franchise's success.
Matthew easily understood David's reasoning and found it perfectly normal. They were talking about an investnt in the tens of millions; even Larry Ellison himself would weigh the risks and potential returns.
"David..." Matthew began, "what if Universal won't release the rights to..."
"The Fast and the Furious?"
"I've already thought about that possibility," David said, his expression turning serious. "Leonidas was killed off, so you won't be involved in a sequel, right?"
Matthew nodded. "A sequel to 300 will have nothing to do with ."
David sighed, having co to a decision. "Alright, Matthew, here's the plan. We'll approach this in two phases."
Matthew remained silent, letting David continue.
"We'll start by trying to buy the sequel rights for The Fast and the Furious franchise from Universal Pictures," David explained. "But they won't be easily swayed. If that approach doesn't work, we'll use the sequel rights for 300 as leverage."
Matthew followed up, "You ntioned last ti that Universal was interested in the sequel rights. Have you confird that?"
David nodded slowly. "I've looked into it. Both Sin City and..."
"...300 were successful, and the industry has a lot of faith in adaptations of Frank Miller's work. As I ntioned before, quite a few companies are considering a sequel to the..."
"...300 comic from Frank Miller, and Universal Pictures is one of them."
Matthew considered this, then added, "Have soone on your team speak with Helen. Since this will be a joint acquisition, we need to sort out the terms between us first."
David smiled. "That would certainly put my mind at ease."
Matthew didn't say anything else. When it ca to a business partnership, it was always best to get the agreent down in writing.
They proceeded to discuss the finer details of the plan. Matthew ended up staying at Skydance Studios for nearly the entire day before finally leaving.
The very next day, Helen began communicating with David's representatives. Both parties swiftly ca to an agreent and signed an official contract.
At the sa ti, the CEO of Skydance Pictures made a $30 million offer to Universal Pictures for the rights to produce sequels for the franchise.
Just as Matthew had anticipated, Universal Pictures promptly rejected the offer.
However, to Matthew and David Ellison's relief, after Skydance increased its offer to $40 million, Universal didn't shut down the negotiations and remained in contact.
Matthew and Helen suspected that Universal Pictures had sothing they wanted from Skydance in return.
***
On the top floor of a Universal office block, Ronald yer paced back and forth across his spacious office. A departnt head stood silently behind him, waiting.
Ronald paused his pacing and turned to the departnt head. "What do you think? What are the chances of that franchise reclaiming its market share? Over fifty percent?"
The departnt head gave a bitter laugh. "Fifty percent? Ronald, that's impossible. The first film grossed one hundred forty million dollars at the dostic box office, the second brought in one hundred twenty, and the third couldn't even break fifty million."
He took a sip of his coffee and continued, "On top of the declining box office, the word-of-mouth for the trilogy only got worse. The third film, Tokyo Drift, is universally considered a flop. At the sa ti, the production budgets kept climbing, so we shelved the franchise."
Ronald turned, pulled out his chair, and sat down. "So, there's not much value for us in continuing the series?" he asked.
"It barely made sense starting with the second film," the departnt head answered honestly. "We own the rights to the trilogy, but it's just a back-catalog title at this point. The only revenue it generates is from long-term television rights, DVD sales, and the like."
Ronald propped his chin on his hand, appearing deep in thought.
The departnt head added, "Actually, for the right price, a deal with Skydance might be worth considering."
"Go on," Ronald said, his interest piqued.
"Initially, Skydance Pictures wanted the complete rights to The Fast and the Furious franchise, including the rights to the trilogy we currently hold," the executive clarified. "But after our outright refusal, they adjusted their strategy. Now they're only asking for the rights to produce future installnts, not the rights to the first three films."
He smiled. "If this deal goes through, we keep the rights to the original trilogy, so our existing revenue streams from it are completely unaffected. We'd only be selling the production rights for future sequels to Skydance Pictures. They're currently offering forty million dollars, which would be pure profit for us."
Either way, it was a win for Universal Pictures.
But Ronald knew that the major Hollywood studios were extrely cautious about selling the rights to any of their properties, films or sequels alike. They wouldn't even entertain the idea unless the price was exceptionally high.
After all, Universal had a history of successfully reviving dormant franchises, most notably The Mummy.
If they had sold off the sequel rights, The Mummy and The Mummy Returns would never have beco the hits they were.
Selling off sequel rights wasn't out of the question, but the deal had to be exceptionally lucrative.
"Ron, what are you thinking?" the departnt head asked.
"Get soone to open a dialogue with Skydance," Ronald said, his expression unreadable. "I ran into Frank Miller in New York not long ago. He's already working on a graphic novel sequel to 300, but according to the original agreent, Skydance Pictures holds the option rights for the film adaptation..."
The departnt head instantly grasped Ronald's intention. "You an we should trade them? Swap the rights for the sequels in exchange for the rights to the sequel of..."
"...300?"
Ronald nodded. "I confird it with Frank Miller. Skydance Pictures holds the sequel rights for ten years, assuming they don't give them up. Of course, if they don't produce an adaptation within five years, the rights automatically revert."
But Universal couldn't afford to wait five years. After the success of both Sin City and 300, Frank Miller's properties were in high demand. Even if they waited for the option to expire, Universal would face fierce competition from other studios. It was far better to acquire the sequel rights from Skydance Pictures directly.
The sequel to a blockbuster like that was far less risky and infinitely more valuable than continuing the floundering Fast and the Furious franchise.
"One more thing," Ronald insisted. "Keep these negotiations under wraps. If word leaks and other studios get involved..."
The departnt head nodded in understanding. After all, 300 had been a massive success.
***
Ronald negotiated for a while longer and finally established his bottom line: Skydance Pictures would have to offer a royalty fee plus the sequel rights to 300 in exchange for the sequel rights to The Fast and the Furious.
After all, Skydance Pictures only held the option to the 300 sequel; they hadn't even started negotiating the actual rights deal with Frank Miller. If Universal acquired that option, they would be the ones on the hook for Miller's hefty fee.
Matthew and David wanted the sequel rights for The Fast and the Furious, which were held by Universal. In turn, Universal coveted the option rights for the 300 sequel.
It seed the two sides had found common ground for a deal, but things weren't as simple as they appeared.
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