It’s called Hollywood Accounting.
The studio makes a film, and then it finds ways to charge itself for various services to keep from making a profit.
Distribution, marketing, merchandising.
The movie ends up losing money for the studio.
The same studio that promised a share of the profits to the writers and the actors.
Not the director.
The director knows how the game is played.
They never fall for it.
“A share of the gross, not profit.”
These things always end up in the courts.
Of course, the studio gets charged for legal fees.
So they lose even more money.