Paramount Pictures famously claimed that the 1994 mega-hit Forrest Gump was a massive commercial failure that lost money, purely so they could avoid paying the original author his contracted share of the net profits.

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Paramount Pictures famously claimed that the 1994 mega-hit Forrest Gump was a massive commercial failure that lost money, purely so they could avoid paying the original author his contracted share of the net profits. Despite the film grossing over $677 million worldwide and winning six Academy Awards, studio executives utilized a shady corporate practice known as "Hollywood accounting" to tack on endless fictional distribution fees and marketing expenses until the movie's spreadsheet officially showed a loss. Winston Groom, the guy who actually wrote the source material, learned the hard way that a promise of "net profits" in the entertainment industry is essentially a legally binding middle finger, which is exactly why A-list actors only ever negotiate for gross percentages to ensure they do not get legally scammed!