After watching Natalie Portman leave, Brad Pitt returned to his desk and leaned back in his spacious chair, mulling over her words.
"Andrew Stanton wants to direct the film..." He drumd his fingers slowly on the desk, his gaze drifting upward in thought. "And it's a top-tier production with a budget of two hundred million dollars or more."
No wonder Matthew hadn't made any major moves since "Cloud Atlas." It seed he was aiming to helm a massive project like this. But could he and David really handle a production of this scale? Together, they could probably raise the funds, but top-tier Hollywood producers weren't impressed by money alone.
His finger-tapping on the desk grew slower and slower. The novel
"A Princess of Mars" was apparently written by the author of "Tarzan." Word was that many of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters had borrowed elents from it, which on its own made it a project worthy of adaptation.
And Andrew Stanton was a ticulous filmmaker. He had produced and written several Pixar animated films, every single one a success, and had directed "Finding Nemo," which was a massive critical and comrcial hit.
By any standard, Andrew Stanton was a proven success.
A project held by a man like that had a relatively high chance of success.
Brad sat in his office and asked his assistant to hold all his calls. He spent a full half-hour in contemplation before summoning the investnt director for Plan B.
"Franco," he instructed the investnt director, "there's a project over at Walt Disney. Andrew Stanton from Pixar wants to direct a film called 'A Princess of Mars.' The project is still in the early planning stages. Have soone look into the specifics, but don't make direct contact with Disney or Stanton for now."
Franco gave a solemn nod and was just turning to leave when Brad added, "Wait."
He went over a few more details, stressing that Franco needed to keep the inquiry quiet.
Since a project of this magnitude was still in the earliest planning stages, its massive budget ant that pre-production was still a long way off. Brad was a very patient man.
***
"I've spent the last few days looking into things at Paramount Pictures."
In the living room of Horner Manor, Helen sat on the sofa and stated impassively, "I've also reached out to the publisher of the 'Twilight' trilogy to get so basic information."
Matthew paced the living room. "Tell more."
"Currently, the series consists of three published novels, 'Twilight',"
"New Moon,' and 'Eclipse,' but it's not a traditional trilogy, and the series isn't finished." Helen's tone was as level as ever. "According to the publisher, the author, Stephenie yer, is working on a fourth book."
She took a sip from her cup and continued, "Stephenie, who's now thirty-four, was originally a stay-at-ho mother of three with no prior writing experience. But her debut novel, 'Twilight,' beca an instant success. Since its release in 2005,"
"'Twilight' has been on the New York Tis bestseller list for fifty-six weeks, including five weeks at the number one spot."
Matthew asked anxiously, "What about the film rights? Are they still available?"
This was his primary concern. He had recently learned that many books that topped the New York Tis bestseller list hadn't yet sold their film rights, which gave him a glimr of hope.
"Regarding the rights..." Helen replied calmly. "There's good news and bad news. Let's start with the good. The rights to the series are still in Stephenie yer's hands. According to the intel I've gathered, she has a very clear vision for the adaptation. She's already hired a screenwriter to work on a script for 'Twilight' and has shopped it around to several studios. Of Hollywood's 'Big Six,' Paramount Pictures was the only one to show any interest."
She gave a slight shrug. "But a bestseller doesn't automatically translate into a successful film. Stephenie yer's script drafts landed on the desks of several Paramount executives early this year, and now, more than six months later, it's still just sitting in Paramount's script library, collecting dust."
Matthew's spirits lifted. This ant he still had a chance. He then asked, "Why didn't they move forward with it?"
"Stephenie has no connections in the film industry, the screenwriters she hired were hardly top-tier, and her literary agency is a minor player that lacks the experience to navigate this process." Helen adjusted her glasses. "So, all her agency submitted to the studios were the novels and the script drafts, without even a basic production plan. Very few scripts get picked up when submitted that way. On top of that, several of the decision-making executives at Paramount think the whole idea of a vampire and werewolf romance is ridiculous. They believe a film in this genre should be pure action, not so teen love story."
Matthew nodded slowly. If Nina's novel hadn't sparked his own faded mories, he would have agreed. Based on Hollywood's track record, a movie about werewolves and vampires should definitely be a supernatural action flick. A vampire love story? What the hell was that?
Helen continued, "The general consensus in the industry right now is that the era of the blockbuster romance is over. In the last five or six years, massive hits in that genre have been extrely rare. Even the queen of romantic codies, Julia Roberts, hasn't been able to launch a successful series. So why would any studio feel confident?"
At this, she fixed her gaze on Matthew. "Are you sure you want to pursue these rights? The issues I just ntioned aren't unique to Paramount; this is the reality of the market."
Without a mont's hesitation, Matthew said decisively, "I'll do whatever it takes to get the film rights."
"Very well." As always, Helen didn't question his reasoning. "Now for the bad news."
Matthew raised an annoyed eyebrow at that.
Ignoring his expression, Helen said, "Stephenie yer and her agency haven't just been sitting around waiting. They've been actively pursuing a film deal. Back in July, they approached Summit Entertainnt, and last month, Summit gave them a definitive answer, expressing interest in the series and a willingness to buy the rights to finance an adaptation of 'Twilight'."
Matthew imdiately asked, "Is the deal done?"
"Considering the market conditions I ntioned," Helen replied, "Summit Entertainnt wasn't willing to invest too much. They're only a mid-sized production company, and they've already made a big gamble this year, investing one hundred and ten million dollars into Kathryn Bigelow's film, 'The Hurt Locker.' A company their size is stretched to its financial limits."
Matthew had no doubt about that. When he'd worked with Summit Entertainnt on "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," he'd heard Akiva Goldsman ntion that the entire company's assets were only valued between two and three hundred million dollars.
To invest in those projects, they must have pushed their financing and pre-sales to the absolute limit.
Helen took another sip from her cup to moisten her throat before saying, "Summit Entertainnt offered just one million dollars for the rights to 'Twilight,' with a production budget of around eight million. That was a far cry from Stephenie yer's expectations, and negotiations between the two parties have been stalled since July without any resolution."
"Isn't that good news for us?" Matthew asked.
Helen slowly shook her head. "With no interest from other studios, her agent has convinced Stephenie to compromise."
Matthew said at once, "Get a eting with Stephenie!"
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