Hollywood is filth. Its fanatically greedy denizens make Goldman Sachs look like relative paragons of financial honesty:
J.R.R. Tolkien sold movie rights to his “Lord of the Rings” novels 40 years ago for 7.5 percent of future receipts. Three films and $6 billion later, his heirs say they haven’t seen a dime from Time Warner Inc.
This is why I have so little interest in the film industry. It’s full of talentless, unimaginative thieves. I’ve been contacted at least four times that I can recall about the possibility of turning one or more of my novels into movies, and each time I tell them the same thing. I have absolutely no interest in the industry whatsoever, so thanks for your interest and have a nice day.
This thievery, combined with the brutal vivisection of one of my favorite Susan Cooper novels, only confirms my contempt for the industry. The lesson every creator should take from this is to refuse to accept any “cost” deductions from their royalties. If they can’t make money on their 93 percent of the take or whatever, then that’s really just their problem. I don’t go to movies or buy movie DVDs, but if I was interested in watching them, I’d feel an absolute moral duty to pirate them.