Chapter 409: The Movie Rights to

After a while, Bu Yunshuanyuan ran over with a backpack, which contained the items he had asked Wei Ming to bring back to China.

Wei Lingling asked, "Are these not confidential documents?"

"No, I plan to continue my PhD here," Bu Yunshuanyuan said. "These are all internationally leading public publications in biology, especially in my field of cell biology. I bought these books myself, and I've corresponded with classmates back home to confirm they haven't been imported yet."

Wei Ming readily agreed—he still needed to buy two computers, so carrying a few extra books didn't matter.

"What about something for your father? I heard you didn't go home for the New Year." Wei Ming asked.

"Nothing else—I just wrote him a letter a couple days ago." Then Bu Yunshuanyuan invited Wei Ming to have lunch at the school cafeteria.

Wei Ming waved his hand: "I still have to fly back to Los Angeles, so I'll skip the meal. Let's get together next year when Xiao Hong comes here for university."

"Next year, Wei Hong is coming to study abroad?!" Bu Yunshuanyuan exclaimed in surprise.

"Probably. She learns fast—graduating a year early won't be a problem." Wei Ming had full confidence in his sister's abilities.

On the way to the airport, Wei Ming flipped through the books Bu Yunshuanyuan had given him. They were filled with technical terms he couldn't understand. Not just him—even Melinda struggled with them. Many medical and legal English terms were entirely different from everyday English.

Melinda didn't know Bu, the Tsinghua student, well, but she had acquaintances in the U. .

"Ming, how about we go visit Xiao Cha?" They'd been roommates for over a year.

Wei Ming pulled out his portable U. . map: "She's at the University of South Carolina, right?"

"Yes. I wanted to visit her when I first came to the U. ., but I was too busy and just passed through."

Wei Ming: "Sure. You're going to Disney World in Orlando anyway—it's not far."

Happy Melinda kissed Wei Ming passionately right in front of Wei Lingling and Gong Biyang: "You're so good."

Wei Lingling thought that if she and Gong Biyang weren't in the car, they'd pull over and have sex right there.

At San Francisco International Airport, as Gong Biyang bid farewell to the three, he specifically made a promise to Melinda: "You must reserve the traditional Chinese edition of Teacher Wei's new book for us."

Melinda: "Of course."

Although Sanlian Bookstore could handle traditional Chinese editions, they couldn't break into the Taiwan market, so except for "The Right Path of Humanity," Wei Ming's novels' traditional Chinese rights were more inclined to partner with Tangren.

Especially now that they knew Tangren was owned by his aunt's family.

After arriving in Los Angeles, they returned directly to Wei Ming's hotel. Li Aiguo had rented a conference room, and negotiations would take place there.

When they arrived, the other side hadn't shown up yet. After waiting about an hour, two men—one black, one white—entered the room. They were from MGM's rights department; Wei Ming didn't remember their names, so he just called them Little Black and Big White.

The older man, Big White, clearly led the negotiation. He first glanced at the two beautiful women, then finally fixed his gaze on Wei Ming.

On the way here, they had already discussed the rights price. Due to MGM's poor production record, it wasn't Wei Ming's ideal buyer. He declared: "No need to beg. Our work is excellent. We'll quote prices at the level of super best-selling authors."

Perhaps because they assumed Wei Ming was Chinese and Melinda British, they offered an outrageous price: $500, 00 for exclusive, perpetual rights to all adaptations except publishing.

Hearing this demand, Wei Ming laughed. Melinda laughed too. Wei Lingling didn't laugh. She closed her open notebook, crossed her arms, and stared coldly at them.

Then Melinda spoke: "'Jurassic Park' has been on U. . bookstore shelves for less than half a year. It topped the New York bestseller list for a month. North American sales have surpassed one million copies; global sales have exceeded two million. This is unquestionably the most successful science fiction novel of last year and this year—possibly the most ever. $500, 00 for perpetual rights? That's a joke."

$500, 00 wasn't cheap in Hollywood—few authors or novels could command that price—but the issue was perpetual buyout. That was taking advantage of outsiders.

After Melinda finished, Wei Lingling also fluently introduced her academic lineage in English. Her Stanford professor was a titan in the U. . legal field. She warned them not to mistake them for naive fools.

Big White and Little Black exchanged glances. Though exposed, they weren't embarrassed. They humbly asked, "Then what terms do you want?"

Wei Lingling said directly: "First, an option fee of $100, 00 per year. If a script is completed and filming begins within a year, the final purchase price is $1, 00, 00. This covers film adaptation rights only. If you want to hire us as screenwriters, that's a separate fee."

An option fee means the producer pays a small sum to secure development rights to the original work for a set period. If no film is made, rights revert to the author.

Also, if the producer fails to complete pre-production within the term, they may extend it.

Little Black said: "We'll hire our own screenwriters from the Writers Guild. Thank you." And $100, 00 per year for the option fee was also unacceptable to them.

Wei Ming shrugged. Joining that guild wasn't hard for him, but it didn't matter—he doubted they'd succeed anyway.

Wei Lingling continued: "Fine, no screenwriting fee. But we want a share of box office revenue and global merchandising rights. We accept profit-sharing, but our legal team must audit the film's costs and revenues. As for global merchandising rights..."

Hearing these outrageous terms, Big White grew angry. Audit by lawyers? Did they think such a big company would falsify accounts? And they demanded global merchandising rights too?

Even Mark Twain wouldn't have dared ask this!

"Miss Wei, you lack sincerity. No Hollywood studio has ever offered such terms for a novel, let alone one from Red China. Don't you think $1, 00, 00 is too hot to handle?"

Wei Ming smiled: "I have more than a million. I don't find it hot at all. Our country isn't as hostile as you think—we now allow some people to get rich first."

Wei Lingling: "We've studied the proportion of script development costs in Hollywood films. If 'Jurassic Park' is made into a movie, it will be a massive production. This royalty is reasonable—I even think I quoted too low. If you won't even spend this much, we seriously doubt your commitment to perfectly realize 'Jurassic Park.'"

Melinda smiled: "Think carefully. If the movie becomes a global hit, the giant dinosaur props can be displayed in MGM's hotel. Your boss, Kirk Kerkorian, will be thrilled."

Big White's heart skipped. This deal was ordered by the boss himself—his real goal was to place a giant dinosaur model in the hotel. But a regular model meant nothing. If it was a prop from a global blockbuster, that would be meaningful.

Still, the three's sky-high demands crossed the line for these two Hollywood professionals. Too harsh. Impossible to work with.

If the film ever became a hit—even not at "Star Wars" level, but even at "Jaws" level—Wei Ming could earn tens of millions, rivaling Hollywood top star Eastwood!

Big White and Little Black stepped out to discuss. Inside, the three whispered in Chinese.

Melinda: "They won't really run away, will they? We quoted high—they can counteroffer."

The terms they proposed were their maximum expectations—the ideal contract based on Wei Ming's prediction that "Jurassic Park" would earn $900 million globally.

But it was unrealistic. No one in Hollywood believed any film could surpass "Star Wars"' global box office—unless it was "Star Wars III."

Soon after, Big White and Little Black returned. They said they needed to consult their superiors.

Wei Ming didn't know if this was just an excuse to refuse, but he remained calm.

"Of course. But next we're heading to the East Coast. If you have news, leave a message at this hotel. Before leaving the U. ., I'll return to Los Angeles. I hope by then you'll make a decision. I'm sure other Hollywood studios will see the value of 'Jurassic Park.'"

Hearing Wei Ming was leaving Los Angeles, the two men exchanged glances. The remark about other studios recognizing the book's value made them uneasy.

Right after seeing them off, Li Aiguo appeared.

"Ming, I've got good news—Elton John is in Los Angeles and came to visit you!"

Wei Ming didn't think his single Grammy could make this British superstar fly over. He probably just got tired of New York—Los Angeles had better music vibes.

Elton John had booked a room at the same hotel. Since the conference room was still available, Wei Ming asked him to bring Elton in and continue talking.

Elton John still dressed a bit flamboyantly. He came out in 1976, when American society was still conservative—his behavior was then considered daring; some radio stations even held events burning his records.

Now he was much more subdued and called himself bisexual, trying to revive his severely declining career.

But above all, it was his work. When he learned that the woman who launched Sarah Brightman had a new song, he became very enthusiastic.

He was eager, and Wei Ming trusted his talent. After reviewing the sheet music of "Wake Me Up" and hearing Wei Ming describe the style he wanted, Elton declared Wei Ming a genius. Their collaboration was quickly agreed upon.