Chapter 104: Securing the Series Rights

Taxes have always been the biggest headache nagging at me.

California’s a tax nightmare. Personal income tax hits you with 39% federal and 9.3% state—totaling 48.3%. That’s basically half my income handed over to the government. Corporate taxes are just as brutal: 35% federal plus 8.84% from California, making it 43.84%. Nearly half of my company’s profits vanish!

Thankfully, corporate taxes aren’t like personal ones—you don’t have to pay them right on the dot. There are ways to delay. My Big Fat Greek Wedding made my company a fortune, enough to buy Marvel. But that was only possible because we pushed back those tax payments.

Right now, my company owes me a $7 million loan, plus a whopping $40 million in taxes to the government. Add in Marvel Entertainment’s $35 million debt, and we’re drowning in over $80 million total!

Hollywood’s a tough gig—not just for the people working in it, but for the companies too. Lionsgate only thrived because its HQ is in Canada, where corporate tax is a sweet 15%. Even with my cheat codes and two monster hits like Titanic and Star Wars, my startup journey’s been a bumpy ride. It’s hard to imagine those online stories where some guy makes it big in Hollywood with just a couple low-budget flicks.

Luckily, I’ve finally scored some tax breaks from the UK and Germany. It’s like a faint sunrise peeking through the endless darkness.

With my company’s current strength, pulling off high-level moves like this isn’t in our wheelhouse yet, so I handed it off to AA to handle. After that, I hashed out some distribution details with Tom Rothman for Wedding Crashers. We locked in August 10th for the North American release, with a global rollout by September.

…

Titanic raked in $1.88 billion worldwide, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding pulled $420 million—totaling about $2.3 billion. That means Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace needs to hit $700 million globally for me to unlock another “Mirror Possession” skill and kick off Spider-Man.

Judging by its box office trajectory, reaching that goal by August looks doable. Prediction agencies are even betting on whether Phantom Menace can top Titanic’s North American record and break the $600 million mark. Globally surpassing Titanic, though? Slim chance.

Week two rolled in, and Phantom Menace was still killing it:

Monday: $13.79 million.

Tuesday: $12.50 million.

Wednesday: $10.90 million.

Thursday: $9.68 million.

Friday: $17.80 million.

Saturday: $25.78 million.

Sunday: $6 million.

Second-week total: $114 million!

After a $133 million opening week, it kept the billion-dollar streak alive, hitting $247 million in just two weeks!

Meanwhile, Universal’s big release The Mummy was tanking hard—weekly drops over 50%, barely scraping $10 million now. And DreamWorks’ The Deep End of the Ocean, which clashed with Star Wars’ release? It’s been swept away in the Star Wars tidal wave. That was a small-budget flick anyway, so the flop wasn’t shocking. Its director’s from Hong Kong—Peter Chan.

“Big bro Chan, I didn’t mean to target you!” I chuckled bitterly when I heard. “Blame DreamWorks for botching the scheduling!”

Foreign directors have it rough in Hollywood. After bombing this $15 million movie, Peter’s Hollywood dreams are pretty much toast.

“Dunn, Mr. Heyman’s got news!” Reese Witherspoon burst in without knocking, practically bouncing with excitement.

“David Heyman?” I shot up, hyped. “He convinced J.K. Rowling?”

Reese nodded hard. “Yup! He got her to hand over the full Harry Potter rights—and even ditched some of those harsh terms we agreed to. He said it’s because Phantom Menace’s box office is insane, and Rowling doesn’t want beef with a big-shot director like you.”

“Hmph! Good thing she knows her place,” I snorted. “So, what’s her new outrageous demand?”

“$5 million, plus 3% of future profits,” Reese said.

Talk about a lion’s share!

Andrew O’Hare’s negotiating for The Chronicles of Narnia rights, and they’ve backed down to $6 million and 5% profits. But Harry Potter right now isn’t even in the same league as Narnia!

I’ve been holding off on Narnia because cash is tight, still in talks. But Harry Potter? I’m not waiting another second.

“Agree to it. Sign the deal now!”

“But we’re strapped for cash,” Reese pointed out.

I gritted my teeth. “Doesn’t matter. Even if I have to sell the kitchen sink, we’re locking this down early!”

Harry Potter’s already stirring up buzz in the U.S. without any media push. I’ve even seen a kids’ play version starring Taylor Swift. Gold always shines, right? I’m not 100% sure, but if Harry Potter does blow up, my whole plan’s screwed unless I snag the rights fast!

I called David Heyman after, tossing him a congrats and a thank-you.

He was all polite about it. He’s genuinely stoked for Harry Potter—with a commercial titan like me steering it, this series is bound to go global.

“Dunn, when do we kick off Harry Potter?” David asked, clearly eager. He nailed my assignment, so the producer gig’s his for sure. Plus, his UK-based Heyday Films will handle the tax rebates once we start shooting.

I rubbed my forehead, stressed. I’m pinching pennies so hard I’d split a dime in half—where am I supposed to find extra cash for Harry Potter? Partner with Warner? Hell no. I’d rather donate to charity and get some good PR. Warner would just swallow me whole eventually.

“Next year, summer,” I said offhandedly, my mind drifting. “You know I just bought Marvel and I’m prepping a superhero flick. I’m stretched thin.”

Thanks to me, Harry Potter didn’t land with Warner, and the movie’s launch is over a year later than in that other timeline. Those original actors—like Emma Watson and her stunning looks—might miss out on the series now.

I felt a weird pang of nostalgia.

Emma’s beauty was something else, after all.

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