Hollywood Hunter

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After a brief two-day break in Park City, Simon returned to Los Angeles, again surrounded by busy work.

Santa Monica.

Simon, Amy and caa president Michael Ovitz sit around a conference table in a conference room at Daenerys' headquarters to discuss Daenerys' upcoming "Rain Man" ” and “Steel Magnolia.”

The main production plan of "Rain Man" has been finalized, only some details remain, and the two parties did not waste much time on this.

When it came to "Steel Magnolia", the atmosphere became tense.

Daenerys Pictures wanted to bring in caa director Herbert Ross and actress Sally Field, who were also the original creators of "Steel Magnolias," for the film. However, the conditions offered by Michael Ovitz made Simon unacceptable.

"Michael, Herbert Ross and Sally Field are packing $10 million, which is way too high. Steel Magnolias is a group show, and if I pay Ross and Field well, the rest of the cast will too. Ask for more, and Daenerys Pictures will have a hard time taking the project. So, we can offer Ross $5 million, and Ms. Field, $1.5 million.”

Herbert Ross is not only the director of the original "Steel Magnolia", he is also the director of last year's Michael Fox's "Development Road" which grossed more than $60 million in North America. Going forward, Herbert Ross 1984 Directed the musical "Freedom" with a cost of 8 million US dollars at the North American box office of 80 million US dollars, which also made the film company a lot of money.

After all, a Hollywood director's worth depends on the box office, so Herbert Ross is totally worth $5 million.

But Sally Field, despite winning two Best Actress Oscars in 1979 and 1984, was largely a box-office hit. In the 1980s, not many Hollywood actresses were worth more than $2 million. Since "Steel Magnolia" was a group show, Simon could only offer $1.5 million.

When Michael Ovitz heard the words, he kept his eyes on Simon, which was his habitual gesture during the negotiation process, and said dissatisfiedly: "Sally is a two-time Oscar winner, Simon, do you think $1.5 million is possible? "

Simon was not affected by Ovitz's eyes at all, and said: "This is a few years ago, Michael, we all understand that no one in Hollywood can get a lifetime first-line salary with one or two gold medals, compared to Ms. Field. $1.5 million is already high.”

"It's impossible," Michael Ovitz shook his head and paused, before he slowed down a little, and said, "Okay, Simon, considering the specific circumstances of this film, I can make a little bit of it. Some concessions, Herbert $6 million, Sally $3 million, but you have to promise me two other conditions, first, the other supporting roles in the film, all of them must be selected from caa. Second, Robin is still very interested in " Dead Poets Society is very interesting, and I hope you can give her the male lead."

"If you insist on that, Michael, my answer is the same as yours, it's impossible. First, I'm not going to make Steel Magnolia a package project for caa. Second, Bob has agreed to star in Death Poetry Society, and I can't possibly give the role to Robin Williams again."

The three-week small-scale screening has accumulated enough reputation. "Good Morning Vietnam" officially opened on a large scale last Friday. It received a box office of 11.75 million US dollars in three days over the weekend. The media predicts that the film's box office will exceed 16 million US dollars, as a popular film destined to go on a long-term, "Good Morning Vietnam" North American box office breaking 100 million is just around the corner.

As the leading actor, Robin Williams has also been successfully promoted from the original second-tier actor to the ranks of first-tier superstars.

At the end of last year, caa temporarily changed her mind on the day of the signing, and Daenerys Pictures failed to pick up the leak. Although Simon regrets this, he does not intend to be led by the nose. At present, the company has negotiated two film contracts with De Niro for "Dead Poets Society" and "The Sixth Sense". Although the contract has not been officially signed, Simon is unlikely to temporarily change his mind like caa.

The voices of the two fell, and no one spoke again. After a stalemate for a moment, Ovitz relaxed and leaned back on the chair, and said, "Perhaps, our meeting today can only end here."

Simon stood up and reached out to Ovitz across the desk: "Then, Michael, I hope we have a chance to work together again next time."

Michael Ovitz was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Simon to be more decisive than himself. The young man said this, which obviously means that Daenerys Pictures will no longer contact caa about "Steel Magnolia". There is no room for change in the case of Dead Poets Society.

Getting up and shaking hands with Simon, Michael Ovitz persuaded: "Simon, you can't be impatient in business. You can reconsider and call me at any time."

"I think I've thought about it."

"Then I can only wish you good luck."

After sending Ovitz away, Simon sat back at the conference table, raised his wrist and looked at his watch, and said to Amy Pascal beside him: "Give up Herbert Ross and Sally Field, we will start from wma and Several icm families pick people."

According to Herbert Ross and Sally Field, Daenerys' budget for "Steel Magnolia" was $15 million. But according to Ovitz's quotation, the film budget will definitely balloon to 20 million or even 25 million US dollars.

"Original Time and Space"

The North American box office of "Steel Magnolia" is 80 million US dollars. Even if it is calculated according to the production budget of 25 million US dollars, Daenerys Pictures can still make a profit, but relative to the total investment of the company's planned independent distribution, Simon can only look forward to the follow-up. Other channels of issuance bring profits, which will greatly extend the payment cycle.

Although Amy Pascal likes "Steel Magnolia", a story about the lives of women in a small town in the American South, her box office expectations for the film are far lower than Simon. For commercial reasons, Amy actually wanted to make the film a low-budget movie with a budget of less than $10 million.

Therefore, hearing Simon's decision, Amy did not refute, but said something else: "Simon, we have to talk about the company."

Simon regained his energy and said, "What's wrong?"

Amy handed over a folder and said, "You look at it first. Simply put, the company's funds are not enough."

Simon took the folder and opened it, which contained Daenerys Pictures' budget statement for a series of film projects and various other expense reports.

In addition to "When Harry Met Sally" and "Pulp Fiction", which have basically completed post-production, Daenerys Pictures has officially approved films such as "Instinct", "Scream", "Steel Magnolia" "," Thunderbolt Blue Angel", "Rain Man" and "Dead Poets Society" six.

Among them, except for "Instinct" with a budget of 20 million, which was co-produced by Daenerys Pictures and Fox Pictures, all the other five films were invested by Daenerys Pictures alone.

The five films had budgets ranging from $10 million to $25 million, with a cumulative funding requirement of $75 million. With the funds set aside, Daenerys Pictures' $100 million loan from Wells Fargo is left with just $25 million.

But out of the $25 million, just $7 million was spent on buying out the copyright of "Charlie's Angels", and the two scripts for "The Hobbit" and "Rain Man" in the deal with United Artists were $2 million. Millions of dollars have been spent on copyright purchases such as "Spider-Man" and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". Taking into account all aspects of the company's operating expenses, the working capital that Daenerys Pictures can use is only 1,000. Over $10,000.

Amy looked at Simon, who was reading the document, and added next to it: ""Death is Coming" was released last week, and the North American box office totaled 72.61 million US dollars. According to the contract, we can get 10% of the box office share next month, which is $7.26 million. But if you're going to buy the rights to The Lord of the Rings franchise, or the Silmarillion from the Tolkien Legacy, as you've offered Saul Zaenz, we've got the money in our hands. It's not enough. The few scripts you picked in Park City, and the TV show planned and the distribution costs for the future Scream movies, it's going to take a lot of money. Simon, I can feel it You're so anxious about a lot of things, but I think you should slow down. You're only 20 next month, and you've got plenty of time relative to most people in Hollywood."

Simon flipped through the documents in his hand, and immediately realized more deeply why Canon Pictures, De Laurentiis Entertainment, and now New World Entertainment were suddenly in trouble amid the 'booming fire'.

The entertainment industry is really burning money, and the repayment cycle of film and television projects is extremely slow. Once the income brought by the project cannot cover the expenses, and no funds can be replenished from the outside world, a company will immediately collapse.

If it weren't for the fact that he already owns a large amount of assets, if not for the prophetic advantage in selected projects, Simon is sure that Daenerys Pictures will definitely follow in the footsteps of companies such as Canon Pictures in the next few years.

Simon actually understood the admonition in Amy's tone very well.

But can you slow down?

When he's done with this, he's going to meet with Warner Bros. Pictures CEO Terry Semel to discuss "Batman".

If he slows down, if he abandons "Batman", according to the original timeline, the film will be directed by Tim Burton at the end of this year, and it will be released next summer and become the annual box office champion next year.

At that time, "Batman", "Superman" and even the entire DC will no longer have anything to do with Simon Westeros.

Due to the failure of "Superman 4" last year, Warner's confidence in the adaptation of "Batman" is at its lowest point. This is also the last opportunity for Simon to take the opportunity to intervene in this top superhero copyright. How could he slow down.

same.

The films that Daenerys Pictures is developing and the copyrights that have been bought are basically projects that are sure to explode in the next few years.

Once these projects are successful one after another, Simon will definitely cause looting if he reads other novels or scripts, and it will be even more difficult for Daenerys Pictures to continue hoarding more copyrights. Simon must take advantage of the fact that many people still regard him as a "fat sheep" to win as many IPs as possible at a lower cost.

Even, many things outside of Hollywood, he is also impossible to slow down.

Can't slow down.

After flipping through the information in his hand, Simon had already made a decision, saying: "Amy, the expenses for buying The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion will go directly to the Westeros Company account, and I will let George Responsible for negotiating these matters with the copyright owner. The company continues to move forward as planned, the three scripts I brought back from Park City, Michael Hoffman's "Sisters" and Whit Stillman's "Metropolis" The cost of these two films is very low, and they may not cost 6 million US dollars together, which will not affect the overall situation. The script of "3000" is temporarily put on hold, and I have other arrangements. Moreover, these are just budget expenditures, account

The money will not be spent all at once, so there is a lot of room for operation. "When Harry Met Sally" will be released at the end of March, and we will definitely make money in the future. If it doesn't work, I will transfer some funds from the Westeros company, or I can continue to apply for a loan here. "

Amy felt Simon's resolute attitude and knew that persuasion was useless, so she could only say: "Plus two movies, this is eight, and I'm completely overwhelmed."

Simon thought for a while and said, "After completing Pulp Fiction, I will focus on the company's projects for the rest of the year, and it will definitely be enough to sign a few more producers."

For example, in projects such as "Steel Magnolia" and "Dead Poets Society", since the original version of the people has been abandoned, in order to maintain the original style and standard of the film, Simon himself must invest more energy into it.

Simon actually wants to try it out, and see if these films can still be as successful as the original time and space without using the original creator.

After all, there will be a lot of movies to come, and Simon may not be able to get the original team together. He also doesn't like this invisible feeling of being bound, and he doesn't want to be pinched by agencies such as caa because of a certain actor problem.

Continued to discuss with Amy for more than half an hour, worried that the traffic congestion at noon would cause him to be late. As it approached eleven o'clock, Simon set off from Santa Monica and rushed to Burbank in the San Fernando Valley, north of the city.

Simon and Terry Semel agreed to lunch at a restaurant near Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank.

Arriving at the appointment restaurant, Terry Semel was already waiting for Simon.

The two sat down and ordered a meal. Terry Semel asked Simon with a smile, "I heard that you gave up on acquiring New World Entertainment?"

Simon nodded helplessly and smiled bitterly: "Yeah, the fat sheep are going to be slaughtered, and a group of people speculates the stock price to the point where I can't afford it at all, so I can only let it go."

Today is Wednesday, January 20th.

In New York, Westeros Company has already liquidated the stock of New World Entertainment yesterday. However, perhaps those investors who have heard the news on Wall Street are still expecting Simon to kill the carbine. Therefore, when the market closed yesterday, the stock price of New World Entertainment remained unchanged. A high of $11.5, far exceeding the $7.50 before the news was released.

In a short half-month operation, after selling all the shares, Westeros made more than 11 million US dollars, which is not a waste.

New World Entertainment tried to formally initiate acquisition negotiations with Westeros Company without success. Larry Kupin learned that Simon had liquidated all his stocks. In an interview with a newspaper yesterday afternoon, he threatened to sue Westeros Company for malicious manipulation. New World Entertainment stock, this matter has not been followed for the time being.

In any case, Simon will definitely not give up New World Entertainment, at least Marvel in the hands of New World Entertainment.

However, Simon does not plan to make another shot in the short term.

Compared with the stoic film division, New World Entertainment's main profitable business is TV program production.

What soon followed, however, was the longest-running general strike in Hollywood history. Hollywood studios, who often stock up on large volumes of scripts, aren't too badly hit by a strike. Because TV shows are usually produced alongside writing, the TV industry is going to be in a bleak situation.

Once the strike continues, even if the funding problem can be solved and the lack of screenwriters, the TV production department of Shinsegae Entertainment will absolutely come to a standstill, which will further deteriorate the operation of the company.

therefore.

In the second half of the year, when the strike reached a certain level, it was the best time for Simon to make another shot.

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