Chapter 248: Box Office Share

Akiwara Yuto was unaware of the fact that the people of the New Honkaku school had already become his followers; in fact, even if he knew, he wouldn't care.

After "there would be no more artificial obstacles" for his future award winning, he no longer intended to get involved in the factional disputes of mystery.

After all, just like Gao Tianzhijiu said, no matter which school occupies the upper hand, it will inevitably suppress the other school.

And Hehe's so-called "fair development" is also another form of unfairness.

However, since he had accepted quite a bit of help from Hehe, Akiwara Yuto didn't intend to say anything about ending the cooperation, but he wouldn't continue to "charge into battle" like before.

Compared to these things, he now pays more attention to his next step of work, such as the film company that came to the door after the "Akiwara Yuto Fever" phenomenon.

"Teacher Akiwara, regarding this work *The Devotion of Suspect X*, we at Dong Ying Film are very interested."

In the newly rented office of Anjiu Bookstore, a round-faced man with a smiling face handed over a document with a smile, "This is our planning proposal; please take a look."

Akiwara Yuto took the document and lowered his head to look at it carefully. He didn't expect that *The Tokyo Zodiac*, which was currently very hot, didn't attract much interest, but *The Devotion of Suspect X* attracted attention instead.

Compared to the *Zoo* series copyright he sold during the *New* period, the conditions proposed in this plan, whether it was the signing fee or the primary and secondary usage fees, had been greatly improved and could be considered sincere.

But Akiwara Yuto proposed to increase the box office share on the condition of reducing the signing fee and primary and secondary usage fees.

This point actually didn't quite conform to the regulations here in Japan; according to past conventions, the sale of copyright by writers is often based on copyright fees.

But Akiwara Yuto knew the box office performance of *The Devotion of Suspect X* in his past life, so naturally, he couldn't let his own interests go in vain, so after thinking, he proposed a ratio of 3%.

In his view, this number was already a very conscientious price.

"Teacher Akiwara, this isn't quite appropriate, right?" The round-faced man's smile converged, and then he said: "If possible, we can increase the amount of the signing fee."

Akiwara Yuto shook his head and continued to insist on his own view: "A 3% box office ratio, I think it's already very reasonable."

On the premise of having over 100 million yen in royalties every month, he really didn't look at that bit of signing fee.

Hearing Akiwara Yuto's request, the round-faced man's face stiffened; he couldn't agree to this condition, and in fact, even if he agreed, he estimated that the higher-ups wouldn't pass it.

In every industry in Japan, there are some conventional industry rules, such as the specific fees for artists on TV, such as the royalty share of writers, all have consistent regulations.

So he felt that Akiwara Yuto was completely opening his mouth like a lion, wanting to break industry rules by relying on a bit of fame.

However, he didn't turn his face and leave immediately.

Commercial negotiations are "good things take time" after all; he estimated that after a few days, if no one offered higher conditions, Akiwara Yuto would recognize reality and agree obediently.

After all, Akiwara Yuto's works that have been filmed so far, besides the *Furuhata Ninzaburo* TV series, only have the movies filmed based on the *Zoo* series.

And the copyright for many other works in the other party's hands is still reserved for filming.

He didn't believe Akiwara Yuto could endure loneliness and never sell.

"Teacher Akiwara, then let's do this for today." The round-faced man stood up and said again: "If you change your mind, please contact me as soon as possible."

After finishing this sentence, he left with his two subordinates, and Akiwara Yuto looked at his back, his face also sinking.

By now, he was speechless about the deep-rooted industry conventions in Japan; he never expected that his request would encounter such great resistance.

One must know that the cumulative sales of *The Devotion of Suspect X* had already exceeded 1 million copies and had a large number of loyal fans.

As long as this IP isn't filmed too badly, it can basically guarantee that the box office performance will reach the passing line. If a suitable director and actors can be found, a box office hit is also easy!

But even so, whether it's Dong Ying Film or other film companies, none could accept his request for box office share.

Asano Aiko, who was sitting on the side, persuaded: "Akiwara, if it's not suitable, let's forget it."

She had always participated in the relevant negotiation matters regarding Akiwara Yuto's copyright.

Akiwara Yuto waved his hand to indicate he knew, but he didn't give up, instead preparing to participate in relevant negotiations again.

"Akiwara, the movie adapted from the *Zoo* series is going to be released soon; do you want to go watch it together?"

Asano Aiko suggested with a smile, and Akiwara Yuto considered it and agreed.

After all, this work was the result of the two's cooperation during the *New* period, and he was a newcomer at the time, so he sold it very cheaply in order to drive sales.

But honestly, he was also curious about the quality of this work now, because he heard that the filming process of this movie could be said to be full of setbacks.

After selling this work at the time, the Mantan Agency Literature Award incident happened, which caused him to fall out with the Mantan Agency and suffer a series of "bans."

This made the upper management of the Mantan Agency become indifferent to this movie work—after all, if the movie really became a hit, it might bring extra income to Akiwara Yuto.

The film company as the filming party also abandoned this project for a time.

Because compared to the investment cost of the movie, that bit of copyright fee paid didn't count for anything.

And besides good sales, the *Zoo* series didn't have any award-oriented halo.

But what surprised the film company was that Akiwara Yuto reached a reconciliation directly with the Mantan Agency a few months later, and his name also became the focus of public opinion with the help of events like the Burakumin parade.

After weighing the pros and cons, the film company coordinated the relevant work for this movie again, and after spending more than half a year filming, prepared to release it recently.

Akiwara Yuto sighed about good things taking time, and then suddenly thought of a problem.

If the box office of this movie could become a hit, his idea of requesting box office share might have a chance.

The *Harry Potter* series by British writer Rowling in his past life seemed to have been given the right to box office share by the film production party only after the first two became hits.

Thinking of this, Akiwara Yuto's mood improved.

He and Asano Aiko made an appointment and prepared to go watch this movie properly after it was officially released.

Although he made an appointment, Akiwara Yuto forgot one thing, which was that as the original author, he had the right to participate in the preview screening.

One week before the official premiere of the movie, which was June 10th, the crew of Dong Sheng Film Company sent an invitation, inviting Akiwara Yuto to participate in the preview screening.

The so-called preview screening is actually the film being screened in a certain range before public screening to listen to opinions.

And in order to "show off," preview screenings often invite some famous artists and social figures to participate, creating a false atmosphere that these celebrities are optimistic about this work.

However, because it has the two words "preview," it is different from the premiere held on a truly large scale.

After Akiwara Yuto told Asano Aiko about the preview screening invitation, the latter declined because she had something to do, changing it to Akiwara Yuto and Sato Maki going to the scene to watch.

After arriving at the scene, staff soon led the two to the first row of seats, and after exchanging pleasantries with the director and many leads, this movie soon began screening.

But as Akiwara watched, his face became strange.

The movie itself seemed to be filmed quite well, but it was a bit different from what he thought... ===== CHAPTER 249 =====