Book publishers are now demanding more of a profit in the film versions of books they published. Generally, book publishers make no money at all when one of their books is made into a film, such as The Devil Wears Prada, which is well on its way to making $100 million. Of course, the author got paid when she sold the rights, of course.
But publishers want to find a way to make money off the film versions of books, perhaps even by starting their own film companies or doing joint ventures.
In the boldest of the new ventures, Random House, the nation's largest publisher, has formed a partnership with Focus Features, maker of such literary-based hits as "Brokeback Mountain," "The Constant Gardener" and "The Pianist." The publisher will not only open its vast holdings to the filmmaker, but it will also put up half the money for the movies that result, on projects costing up to $20 million. It marks the first time a major U.S. publisher has gambled on such a scale in Hollywood.
At HarperCollins, a division of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., publishers recently announced a plan to transform books into television series through an aggressive in-house partnership with Fox TV Studios. Elsewhere, Penguin Group (USA) is allying itself with Walden Media to develop movies and television properties based on its books. Simon & Schuster, part of the corporate universe that includes CBS and Paramount, continues to pursue a host of book-to-movie projects, as does Hyperion, which is part of the conglomerate that includes Disney films and ABC.
"We're seeing a lot of new ventures because now, more than ever, content is king when it comes to movies and TV, and nobody has more content than the book world," said Samuel Craig, director of the entertainment, media and technology program at New York University's business school. With the book business flat for years, "the challenge for publishers is to find new ways to exploit material they already have, to tap into an entirely new source of revenue beyond book sales," Craig said.
For both big-name and obscure authors, new approaches to turning books into movies could also be very attractive. Currently, agents sell book and film rights to a manuscript separately, often at different times. But Dean Koontz, for example, sold the film rights for his latest thriller, "The Husband," to the Random House-Focus partnership because he was encouraged by the filmmaker's "courtesy and respect" in adapting his novel. "I haven't had that experience on previous adaptations of my books, to say the least," he said.
An author being treated with "courtesy and respect" by the film's producer. What a lovely concept.
