Mitchell sold the motion-picture rights for Gone With the Wind to producer David O. Selznick for $50,000, the highest amount ever paid to a debut novelist at the time. She quickly soured on the deal, though, and resented the situation: she bristled at rumors that Selznick had been willing to pay $100,000 and that other producers had offered to acquire the rights from him for $150,000, and she was upset by what she considered the shoddy wording of the contract she had signed with Selznick. Mitchell also worried that the film would not be true to her novel or live up to public expectations. She ultimately declined to be publicly associated with the movie’s production.
After its release in December 1939, the film quickly became a popular and critical success. Selznick offered Mitchell his Academy Award statuette for best picture, which she declined. But in 1942 she did accept a bonus payment of $50,000 that he sent her as a gesture of appreciation.