One: Don't sign with PA unless you're into obscurity, mockage, and have deep pockets so you can buy your own book many times over.
Two: Legit publishing contracts usually have a clause asking for 50% of the movie rights.
Three: You can--with a
legit publishing house--negotiate that clause and have it
removed from the contract.
Contracts with a legit company are always subject to negotiation.
I doubt PA would ever give up any means to squeeze money from the unwary.
My first 6 books had that 50% clause. There was some interest from a couple studios. They put down a whole 100.00 bucks to secure the rights for a year, then never renewed.
This happens all the time and small amounts of cash are the rule.
Still, the next contract I signed I got the film rights back on the old deal as part of the next deal. I'm still waiting for another movie offer.
Here's a research exercise: check the titles of EVERY movie made in the last 5 years and see just how many of them were based on a book.
Call it a cold splash from the reality bucket.
Unless it's a runaway NYT Bestseller for months on end (see Da Vinci Code), the odds are high against any novel going to film or TV.
The only time I've ever heard of a PA book mentioned in the Times was when they paid for an ad.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA481863.html
http://www.lisamaliga.com/epublishing3.htm
The latter link is an excellent cautionary tale of an author getting screwed over by PA, well worth the read.