Chapter 63: Signing for the Film Adaptation

The next morning, Akiwara Yuto woke up early. After a simple wash, he changed into a suit and leather shoes.

After confirming his appearance was in order, he stepped out of his house and walked toward the nearest bus stop. After a ride of about 20 minutes, he finally arrived at the Mantanshe headquarters and took the elevator to the *New Novel* editorial department.

Asano Aiko was already waiting for him at the entrance of the editorial department. Seeing him approach, she greeted him and then led him directly toward the conference room outside the floor.

"Akiwara, the other party is very sincere, but whether or not to accept their proposal is something you must decide for yourself."

Akiwara Yuto nodded, indicating he understood.

Last night, Asano Aiko had told him that a film company wanted to adapt his work. He was shocked at the time; after all, his work hadn't even finished serialization, yet a company had already come knocking.

However, he recalled that Otsuichi's *ZOO* series had also been adapted into a film in his past life. This made him sigh at how many coincidences there are in the world sometimes.

He calmed his mood at the time and asked Asano Aiko in detail about the other party's conditions, learning about many other aspects of the situation. After all, once adapted into a film, the work would undoubtedly attract more attention, which would make the future sales of the collected volumes even more explosive.

This point, presumably, was also something the editorial department, or rather the publisher, would be happy to see.

While pondering this in his heart, he continued to walk forward with Asano Aiko. On the way, the two would occasionally encounter other editors. When these people saw him, they would often stop and bow in greeting.

"Good morning, Teacher Akiwara!"

"Thank you for your hard work, Teacher Akiwara!"

Akiwara Yuto could only stop to return the bows. Although it was a bit troublesome, it also made him feel happy—the attitude of these editors hadn't been this polite before.

It seemed that after his work helped *New Novel* sell well, his status had also risen accordingly.

Although Akiwara Yuto felt a bit excited, he did not become complacent because of it. He knew that the change in these editors' attitudes was merely brought about by the influence of his work.

In other words, if his work were just ordinary, then he guessed others would just give a simple nod and greeting.

He didn't let his mind wander for long before he and Asano Aiko arrived at the large conference room. As soon as they opened the door, they saw the Editor-in-Chief Kikuchi and two men in suits sitting face-to-face. When they saw Akiwara and Asano, they stood up immediately.

Kikuchi Tai took the initiative to step forward and introduce the two sides. Through his words, Akiwara Yuto learned that the two men in suits—one fat and one thin—were named Toyama Naoto and Shima Ryosuke, from the Tōshō Film Co., Ltd.

When the other two learned that Akiwara Yuto was the original author, their attitude was very polite. They addressed him as "Teacher Akiwara," bowed, and handed over their business cards. Akiwara Yuto also politely returned the gesture and handed over his own card—this card had been printed for him by Asano Aiko, who claimed that he must use one when dealing with others.

After exchanging business cards, Kikuchi Tai invited everyone to sit down. Akiwara Yuto was arranged by him in the main seat.

Akiwara Yuto didn't stand on ceremony; after all, he was the main signatory of the contract today.

The thinner man in the suit took the initiative to hand over a contract. "Teacher Akiwara, thank you very much for accepting the proposal to adapt your work into a film. These are the conditions we can offer. Please take a look."

Akiwara Yuto nodded and took the contract to read it.

In the contract, the other party's requirement was to hand over the film and television rights for the five stories—*ZOO*, *Kazari and Yoko*, *SO-far*, *Seven Rooms*, and *The Poem of the Sunny Spot*—to them, for them to arrange a director and produce them as an anthology-style film for release.

For this, the other party offered a series of conditions: a signing fee (one-time usage fee) of about 800,000 yen. In addition, if the filmed work was purchased by a television station or made into videotapes for sale, earning secondary usage fees, he would also receive 3% of the net profit.

For example, if a videotape sold for 6,000 yen and 30,000 copies were issued, he could receive 5.4 million yen.

Akiwara Yuto lowered his head and began to think. Although the other party's conditions did not include a share of the box office revenue, it was slightly better than he had imagined.

Because of the situation in Nihon, the vast majority of writers' film adaptation contracts could not get a share of the box office; it seemed to have become an unspoken rule. Besides, as far as he knew, the film shot based on Otsuichi's work was only relatively popular on the internet, and the box office seemed quite average, so there wasn't much money to be shared.

He pondered for a while and found that the most useful thing for him was the promotional effect of the film adaptation on his future collected volumes. After all, the royalties from the collected volumes were the bulk of his real income.

After weighing it repeatedly, he felt quite satisfied. After all, although he carried the title of "genius," he was still a newcomer who hadn't published any collected volumes and hadn't won any awards. Being able to get this return was already acceptable.

Presumably, the editorial department on Asano Aiko's side had already helped him fight for some of the conditions.

The fatter man in the suit saw that Akiwara hadn't replied for a long time and took the initiative to stand up and bow. "Teacher Akiwara, these conditions are already the greatest sincerity we can offer. If you still feel dissatisfied, please let us know."

To be honest, as a representative of the film production company, he had actually shown great sincerity. After all, as the film production side, they had to be responsible for costs in all aspects, including the film's shooting costs, actors' remuneration, and channel distribution shares.

Akiwara Yuto nodded and did not answer directly, but instead asked a question: "Mr. Toyama, I would like to ask, regarding the promotion of the film adaptation, does your company have any relevant plans?"

This point could not be left unasked. After all, what if the other party bought the rights but didn't film them for several years? Judging from his experience in his past life, there were really quite a few such examples.

To his surprise, the other man in the suit stood up and took over the conversation: "Teacher Akiwara, we already have a detailed plan for this aspect."

After saying this, he took a proposal out of his briefcase and handed it over. Akiwara Yuto took it again and read it carefully.

In this proposal, although the specific investment amount was not yet stipulated, it guaranteed that the production cost would not be lower than 30 million yen. In addition, information regarding the film adaptation would be announced to the outside world as soon as the contract was signed.

Akiwara Yuto weighed it again for a while. Although he was the original author, the executing party for the film shooting was the other party after all, so he didn't have the right to interfere too much, and it was unrealistic to demand the shooting time in the contract.

And in his view, although the scale of this film company was only medium, the sincerity had indeed been shown, so it shouldn't be very likely that they would maliciously delay the shooting, right?

After confirming, he said with a smile: "I have seen your company's sincerity. No problem, I will sign the contract now."

After saying this, he took the pen handed over by Asano Aiko, signed his name, age, and other information on the contract, and finally stamped it with his seal.

He looked at the red seal on the contract, and another question came to his mind.

By the way, after this film is made, what level of box office can it reach? ===== CHAPTER 64 =====