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1. When M. Night Shyamalan's script began making the rounds, it came with a few stipulations: "I have to be attached as director, and we're going to have [a] $1 million minimum bid," he told The Hollywood Reporter of his demands. "If they want to read it, they have to know that this is going to start at $1 million." When then-president of production of The Walt Disney Studios, David Vogel, read the script, to avoid the bidding war that was coming, he bought the rights to the script for $2.25 million without obtaining corporate approval. Disney did not respond so favorably to his rogue decision-making. They asked him to restructure his contract and give up some of his presidential power. He refused and was fired in July of 1999. Disney had such little faith in the film that they sold production rights to Spyglass Entertainment, while retaining distribution rights and only 12.5 percent of the movie's box office receipts.