Universal’s ‘Clockers’ Bid a Shocker

Universal Pictures has agreed to pay a whopping $1.9 million for the screen rights to author Richard Price’s upcoming crime thriller, “Clockers,” sources said Friday.

The Price deal, which includes a $300,000 bonus for screenwriting credit, raised eyebrows in industry circles, because Universal is said to be implementing a rigid austerity program under Chairman Tom Pollock next week. A recent box-office slump has led to cutbacks at most of Hollywood’s major movie studios, including fees to screenwriters.

Universal declined comment on the deal, as did Price’s agent, Geoffrey Sanford. But several sources independently confirmed the details of the agreement, which was signed Thursday night.

Paramount Pictures, Columbia Pictures, TriStar Pictures and Universal were the four finalists in the bidding for the 1,000-page manuscript, sources said. “Clockers,” about a homicide detective who tries to clear a young murder suspect, will be published in April, and production on the film is expected to begin next year, sources said.

The $1.9-million fee puts Price in a league with best-selling author Michael Crichton, who received $2 million last year from Universal for “Jurassic Park,” and screenwriter Joe Eszterhaus, who was paid a record-setting $3 million by Carolco Pictures for the script to “Basic Instinct.”

One studio executive who passed on “Clockers” expressed surprise at the price paid by Universal. The executive argued that the book lacks the blockbuster potential of a project like “Jurassic Park,” a dinosaurs-on-the-loose story set to be directed by Steven Spielberg.

Yet Price is highly regarded in Hollywood and has enjoyed prior success at Universal. His “Mad Dog and Glory” is due out next year. Price’s previous screenplays include “Sea of Love,” “Streets of Gold” and “The Color of Money.”

Price is said to be especially close to “Color of Money” director Martin Scorsese. Sources said Scorsese and Rosalie Swedlin, a former talent agent at Creative Artists Agency who recently signed a production deal at Universal, will probably produce “Clockers.”

Senior executives from MCA Inc., Universal’s parent, were attending a retreat in Ojai this week when the “Clockers” deal was struck. Universal denied reports that Pollock opposed the deal.