Delanceyplace, Delanceyplace: Master Of The Game
There is an irresistible allure when one high profile executive
makes a business deal with another high profile executive or star -- the headline-grabbing story of one "big guy" negotiating with another, usually at some glamorous location,
and sketching out a mega-deal on the back of a napkin. But sometimes these deals don't work out. Such was the case in 1982, when Steve Ross, the man who built Time Warner into an entertainment powerhouse, entered into an agreement with the suddenly red-hot director Steven Speilberg to create a video game based on the movie E.T., writes Connie Bruck.
[By 1981, Steven] Spielberg was an established wunderkind who had directed Jaws,
written and directed Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and directed Raiders of
the Lost Ark, among others. Spielberg had started out at the age of twenty with
an exclusive term contract at Universal, and over the years he developed an almost
filial relationship with Sidney Sheinberg, the CEO of MCA (Universal's parent company).
Virtually all his movies (with the notable exception of Close Encounters) had been
made there.
According to several people close to Ross, he was determined to find a means to
loosen the Universal-Spielberg bond and bring Spielberg to [Time Warner subsidiary]
Warner Brothers. Spielberg would have been an alluring asset for the Warner studio
at any time, but the early eighties were especially fallow. ...
In the summer of 1982, when the issue arose at MCA of licensing E. T. to a video-game
manufacturer, Sidney Sheinberg would later recall, 'Steven [Spielberg] had promised
Steve Ross that he would have the first opportunity to acquire it. Steven wanted
(Time Warner subsidiary) Atari to have it.' Sheinberg said that he had had discussions
with Coleco Industries, as well as another manufacturer, and he believed that he
might be able to make a deal in the range of $15-$20 million. That, in any event,
is what he told Charles (Skip) Paul, the president of Atari's coin-operated games
divislon, when Paul came to see him.
'I offered MCA $1 million and 7 percent of royalties, which was far more than
Atari had ever paid before for a license,' Paul said. 'And I was thrown out of Sid's
office.'
'Then I was told that the deal had been done over a weekend, at East Hampton,
between Steve and Steven -- and that it was for $23 million,' Paul continued. 'I
thought, 'Yes, I understand the $1 million. But what is the other $22 million for?
It must be for some other reason.'
'[Atari CEO Raymond] Kassar, who had very little contact with Ross, learned about
the 'E.T.' deal when Ross called him. 'He said, 'I've made a deal with Spielberg
to make a game out of E.T. -- what do you think?'
'I said, 'Okay. We've never made a game out of a movie before. But, okay.'
'Then he said, 'Part of the deal is, Spielberg says it has to be out for Christmas.
'I said, 'It can't be.' This was July. With the lead time of delivery, it meant
doing the game in four or five weeks, instead of our usual six months.
'He said, 'Also, I've guaranteed a $23 million royalty.'
'I said, 'We've never guaranteed a royalty! This is terrible!'
'And he said, 'Well, it's done.' I think he was annoyed at me for not saying how
wonderful it was,' Kassar concluded.
What Atari had bought was the right to use the title, 'E.T.,' and also its image;
engineers at Atari, with Spielberg's input, were now to design a game. The project,
however, was blighted from inception. Its engineers told Kassar the movie wasn't
suited to become a video game ('They said that it was a lovely, sweet movie, and
kids like to kill things,' Kassar recalled). Once the game was done, it was established
in focus groups that, in all likelihood, the company would be able to sell only
one third of the 4 million that were slated for production (a quantity that Atari
needed to sell in order to make a profit, considering the costs of the guaranteed
royalty, production, and advertising).
'E.T.' exceeded the most dire predictions. According to Kassar, of the 4 million
they shipped, about 3.5 million were returned. 'It wasn't a game,' Paul recalled
ruefully, 'it was a thing waddling around on a screen. It was shipped in time
to be on stores' shelves for Thanksgiving weekend -- typically a significant retail
weekend, the start of the Christmas season. But the news on 'E.T.'; on another new
cartridge, 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'; and on the rest of Atari's games, as well
as its new, much delayed home computer, known as the '5200,' all became increasingly
stark by the beginning of December . On November 17, Atari revised its projections
downward for the fourth quarter by $81 million; this reduced Atari's predicted fourth-quarter
net income by more than 50 percent from the August forecast.
Author: Connie Bruck
Title: Master of the Game: Steve Ross and the Creation of Time Warner
Publisher: Penguin
Date: Copyright 1994 by Connie Bruck
Pages: 177-180
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