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Originally Posted by pdurrant
Which is why Alex Guiness's deal of 0.4% of the gross takings for Star Wars was such a good deal. It made him wealthy enough that he could "live for the rest of my life in the reasonably modest way I am now used to, that I have no debts and I can afford to refuse work that doesn't appeal to me."
While 0.4% of the net takings would have been worthless...
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Smart.
Even smarter, Lucas retained ownership of the IP, including merchandising rights.
That was the last time any studio gave up merchandising rights.
http://www.celebritynetworth.com/art...a-billionaire/
Even Rowling only got (limited?) veto power over the amount and type of Potter movie merchandise.
Most studio movies are effectively work-for-hire and the studio generally owns the IP for both remakes, sequels, and derivatives but Lucas retained them and built an Empire off that smart move. He got most of the benefits of going indie before Indie movies were common.
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In total, the Star Wars empire has sold $4 billion worth of DVDs and VHS, $3 billion worth of video games, $2 billion worth of books and another $1.3 billion through various other licensing deals. That brings the grand grand revenue total after 35 years worth of Star Wars licensing to $27 billion. After expenses, taxes, fees etc… George Lucas had earned himself an impressive $3.3 billion net worth by 2012. Then, Disney came calling and gave him another $4 billion to purchase the entire franchise outright. The moral of the story? Without retaining these rights, Lucas would have done very well but his earnings would have been a tiny fraction of what they became. This windfall would not have been remotely possible if it wasn't for that single brilliant decision made back in 1973. George Lucas essentially traded $350,000 for more than $7 billion. That might be the smartest business decision of all time! So the lesson here is, if you believe in your idea, don't give up your rights easily!
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