Before Michael Eisner pitched the idea of a remake of "King Kong" to Barry Diller, he had earlier mentioned the idea to Sidney Sheinberg, the CEO and president of MCA Inc./Universal Pictures. Shortly after, Universal decided to purchase the property as an opportunity to showcase its new sound system technology, Sensurround, which debuted with the disaster film "Earthquake", for Kong's roars. On April 5, 1975, Daniel O'Shea, a semi-attorney for RKO-General, had arranged meetings with Arnold Stane, attorney for MCA/Universal, and De Laurentiis and Sidewater for the film rights to "King Kong"; neither side knew that a rival studio were in negotiation. With a bargain price set $150,000, Stane had negotiated an offer of $200,000 plus 5 percent of the film's net profit. In contrast, De Laurentiis had offered $200,000 plus 3 percent of the film's gross—and 10 percent if the film recouped two and a half its negative cost. In May 1975, the film rights were granted to De Laurentiis.