hunt hollywood

$4000 million.

This is obviously still a very conservative estimate.

However, the entire Fox film industry did not make a profit of 4000 million U.S. dollars for the whole of last year.In other words, Fox Films' film business last year was a loss at all.

As the vice president of Fox Films, Peter Saunders is very clear that among the films released by his company last year, the best box office performance was only the $2 million of "Alien 8500".

Moreover, among the 16 films released throughout the year, there must be none with a box office of more than 1000 million US dollars, and only five with a box office of more than 12 million US dollars.Among them, [-] were at a loss.News Corporation, the parent company, has even discussed reducing its budget for this year's film business.

Peter Saunders is now just thankful that it was Ronald Goldberg who ultimately rejected Simon's decision to let Run Lola Run go.Otherwise, in the next few months, he will probably pack up and leave.

Seeing that Peter Sanders was silent, Simon went on to say, "Peter, frankly speaking, I don't actually have any interest in directing "Death Comes" myself. However, if Fox wants to get the script now, I have According to my request, I will be the producer myself."

Chapter 070 $1

Hearing Simon's request, Peter Saunders almost blurted out: Do you know what a producer actually does?

Ordinary people's impression of Hollywood filmmakers is often such and such a big star, such and such a big director.But in fact, since the rise of the American film industry in the early twentieth century, Hollywood has always been a producer-centered system.

Except for a few directors and stars who are strong enough, in most cases, a crew, the one with the most power is usually the producer, and they are the final decision makers who control the creative direction of a film.

Even those powerful directors and stars who want to exert their own influence on a movie often need to name the position of producer, which means that they still haven't broken the producer-centered system.

Simon watched Peter Saunders' changing expression, waited patiently for a moment, and said, "Peter, I know what you are thinking. However, since I have finished "Run Lola Run", I can also write "Death Comes" "Do it well. And, surely no one in Hollywood knows better than me what kind of movie "Death Comes" should be made into."

Peter Saunders calmed down a little, and said, "In this case, Simon, why don't you act as the director yourself? Orion should also be flexible."

"Because it's not worth it, I have to focus on movies that I am more interested in. However, "Death is Coming" is my script, and I also hope to be able to personally control the production of this movie."

Peter Sanders thought for a while, but still shook his head, and said, "Simon, you should know the situation in Hollywood. Fox will not give the control of a movie to a young man like you."

Simon shrugged indifferently: "In this case, maybe other film companies will agree to do this."

Peter Sanders was at a loss for words.

The contract signed by Simon and Fox is, in the final analysis, just a first option.With the box office explosion of "Run Lola Run" and the popularity of Simon, there will definitely be a film company in Hollywood who will not hesitate to break the tacit understanding of the option contract for the sake of profit.

If other studios agree to let Simon take control of the film himself, and Fox is unwilling to follow up, it will have to choose to give up.

Fox has already given up on "Run Lola" before, and now it will give up "Death Comes". If this movie is still very successful in the future, then Fox will definitely become the laughing stock of Hollywood.

After a moment of hesitation, Peter Sanders said, "Simon, what's your condition?"

"Including production, screenwriting, etc., I only need a basic salary of $1," Simon finished, and before Peter Saunders could respond, he continued: "However, after the movie is released, I need to take 10% of the salary." North American box office share and 5% videotape sales share, the operating cycle of TV broadcast rights is too long, so I don’t want this.”

Hearing that Simon proposed a basic salary of $1, Peter Saunders already showed a surprised expression. When Simon finished talking about the follow-up conditions, Peter Saunders' expression turned into astonishment.

This little guy really dared to open his mouth.

Peter Sanders heard very clearly that what Simon asked for was not a profit share with a lot of room for manipulation, but a direct share of box office revenue and a commission on video tape sales.

In Hollywood, Spielberg is probably the only one who dares to make such a condition.

After being stunned for dozens of seconds, Peter Sanders said, "Simon, this is impossible."

Seeing how Peter Sanders was about to stare out his eyes, Simon made a calm gesture and said, "Peter, actually, I have already had someone make a copy of my ideas for this project in advance. A simple budget estimate. Give me "Reaper" and $800 million will do it. As for the cost of publicity and distribution, of course it is as much as you say. Moreover, I don't have the energy to calculate the cost of "Reaper" Break-even point. So, let’s keep it simple. In the future, the domestic box office in North America will be calculated as twice the production cost of 1600 million US dollars. With Fox ensuring the schedule, the number of screens and the investment in publicity and distribution, the film’s North American box office will be less than 1600 million. I only get a basic salary of $1. If it is higher than $1600 million, my salary will be paid according to the conditions just now.”

Peter Sanders calmed down a little when he heard Simon's words.

However, thinking of the North American box office expectation of "Run Lola Run" which is likely to exceed 1 million U.S. dollars, he quickly shook his head: "Simon, if you want to get the sharing conditions you just mentioned, 6000 million U.S. dollars is Absolutely not enough, at least $1600 million is needed.”

According to the information in memory and the popularity accumulated by "Run Lola Run", Simon's North American box office expectation for "Death Comes" is indeed 5000 million US dollars.However, in this world, movies have always been the most unpredictable kind of business, so naturally he would not set such a high threshold for himself.

Moreover, according to the production cost of "Reaper" is 800 million US dollars, as long as the North American box office can reach 1000 million US dollars, Fox can easily make a profit through subsequent overseas distribution, video tape sales and TV rights income.

Simon gave a guarantee of 1600 million US dollars, which is already very high.

"Peter, if I remember correctly, of the 16 films released by Fox last year, only five had a box office of more than 1000 million US dollars. Others, such as Kate Capshaw's "Space Station", had a budget of 2000 million US dollars and a North American box office of 969 million. Sean Connery's "The Name of the Rose", with the same $2000 million budget, had a North American box office of 715 million. "Manhattan Project", with a $1800 million budget, had a North American box office of 390 million. Look, you spent so much money investing so much Rubbish project, why wouldn't you want to spend a little less money to invest in a very secure movie?"

Peter Saunders twitched the corners of his mouth when he heard Simon suddenly mentioning "Space Station". He didn't know if the young man did it on purpose, but he immediately retorted: "Simon, before the movie is released, no one can guarantee that it will success."

Simon nodded and said, "Of course, Peter. But I can guarantee that if the movie doesn't succeed, I only want $1, not five million."

Peter Saunders insisted: "Simon, there are a lot of people in Hollywood who are willing to take a dollar for a chance."

"According to the box office results of "Run Lola Run", let's push forward three years, "Top Gun" in 86, "Back to the Future" in 85, and "Beverly Cop" in 84, so, what do you think? Is it Tom Cruise who will take $1, or Robert Zemeckis who will take $1, or Eddie Murphy who will take $1?" Simon stared at Peter Sanders, and after speaking, Then he stood up and said, "Peter, that's my condition. You can discuss it with Mr. Goldberg, and you'd better give me an answer next week. By the way, the hotel has been booked by the crew. If you want to stay overnight , I can ask someone to clean up a room for you."

After Simon finished speaking, he greeted the waiter to settle the bill, then got up and left.

Peter Sanders didn't get up, and was still sitting in the coffee shop, frowning and thinking.He came here on a Saturday afternoon. In addition to discussing the contract with Simon on "Death Comes", he actually also had the intention of establishing a relationship with this up-and-coming Hollywood rookie. Therefore, he originally planned to stay in Coolidge for two days. .

However, recalling the strength of Simon's conversation just now, Peter Saunders understood that it didn't make much sense for him to stay here.

As for the conditions proposed by Simon, calming down at this moment, Peter Sanders realized that the other party's contract was not strictly speaking too much.

Although it is still too young, although it has just made a movie, although there is still some luck in the success of that movie.But "Run Lola Run"'s expected box office is just astonishing.Even if the movie doesn't win this year's North American box office champion, as long as it breaks [-] million, Simon is qualified enough to call out the offer just now.

Peter Saunders also understands that relying on the popularity of "Run Lola Run", "Death Comes", a creative, commercial and strong horror movie, can easily achieve a North American box office of 1600 million US dollars.

Moreover, even if the expectation is higher, the North American box office of "Death Comes" has reached 5000 million, and Simon's share of the box office is only 500 million US dollars.Sean Connery was paid $500 million for his part in "The Name of the Rose," but that film's domestic box office of just over $700 million in North America made Fox lose money.

Of course, there is also a 5% share of video tape sales, which is also an asking price that should not be underestimated.In the "Basic Agreement" of the screenwriters' union, film screenwriters can only extract 0.3% of the sales share from the video tape income of a film's later stage.

In the past 1986, the video sales of Hollywood movies have successfully surpassed the North American box office.Coupled with the fact that popular horror films are generally more popular in the video market than other genres, Simon's 5% offer is likely to be equivalent to 10% of box office revenue in the future.

but.

One thing that Peter Sanders cannot ignore anyway is that Simon's offer was made entirely on the premise of ensuring Fox's profitability.

In all fairness, that's fair.

It's just hard for Peter Saunders to accept that a teenager will break into the top of the Hollywood pyramid so soon and become a class on an equal footing with himself.

This is simply too unacceptable.

Chapter 071 What a Coincidence (Revision)

Giant's Columns National Park west of Tucson, Arizona.

It was already the evening of the second day.

sunset.

Simon leaned against the front of the Chevrolet SUV, smiled and saw Janet holding up the camera and taking pictures around several giant saguaro cactus with a height of seven or eight meters.

Early this morning, Simon was pulled up by a woman.

The two drove away from Coolidge, all the way north to the famous Grand Canyon National Park, and had a good time playing all day.Returning in the afternoon, Janet obviously had more than enough to say, and clamored to see the giant saguaro, so she came here.

Calculated, the two of them drove more than 700 kilometers during the whole day, crossing half of Arizona.

Feeling that Simon was watching her, Janet quickly ran back and said, "It's such a big cactus. I really want to take one home. It must be cool to plant in the yard."

Simon imagined how a cactus with a height of seven or eight meters would appear in his yard, and said with a smile, "I don't know if it's cool or not, but someone will definitely trouble us. Well, after playing for a day, let's Should we go back?"

Janet dropped the camera in the car, turned around and climbed up the hood again.

Simon looked at Janet who was sitting on the hood, patted her calf, and said, "Sit down, I'm driving."

Janet smiled and grabbed Simon, saying, "Little boy, come up too."

Simon didn't refuse, and sat up with a support.

The hood of the Chevrolet SUV is very wide, more than enough to squeeze two people.

Simon sat down on the hood, leaned against the front window glass, looked through several tall cacti, watched the sunset on the edge of the endless wilderness that was about to sink into the horizon, and unwittingly felt some inexplicable emotions

Janet leaned over like a cat, touched Simon's cheek, and said, "Little boy, do you think I'm too pestering?"

"No," Simon shook his head and said, "I still like this feeling."

Janet lay down, pillowed on Simon's shoulder, and whispered: "Actually, I don't want to, I just can't help it. And, don't you really remember what day it is?"

Simon thought for a while, but still shook his head.

Janet reached over, took the wallet from Simon's coat pocket, opened it, and displayed it in front of him.

Simon carefully looked at the driver's license in front of him, and said, "So it's my birthday, I forgot."

Simon didn't care much about his birthday in his previous life, and he didn't take it to heart after his rebirth. He didn't expect Janet to remember it, and even rushed over from Los Angeles.

Somewhat moved, he stretched out his arms to hug the woman, exerting a little force.

Janet came over very cooperatively, and the two kissed together.

After being obsessed with each other for a while, they separated, but Janet still stuck to Simon's body, reached out and touched his cheek, and said, "After today, I can no longer call you a little boy. In fact, I originally wanted to prepare carefully Just a little bit. But since you don't care, you won't prepare. I always thought it was silly to blow out candles on a cake."

Simon just smiled, feeling Janet's soft body, suddenly remembered something, and said, "Speaking of which, I don't know your age yet, come on, show me your driver's license."

"It's rude to ask a lady's age," Janet patted on Simon, but she simply took out a card from her pocket and handed it to him: "Hey."

Simon took it, held it up in front of his eyes and looked at it.

DOB: 02/22/68.

Ok?

Something seems wrong.

So he held up his driver's license again.

DOB: 02/22/68.

Janet also moved her face to look together, and then said in surprise: "Wow, what a coincidence, our birthdays are exactly the same."

"Yeah, what a coincidence."

With a helpless expression on his face, Simon casually pulled the woman over and slapped her on the buttocks twice.

"Hehe, it hurts, it's really violent."

Janet giggled and twisted her body, snatching back her 'driver's license'.

Simon has never cared about Janet's age, and just asked casually just now. Since the woman doesn't want him to know, she doesn't pursue it anymore.

After being reborn, Simon found that he looked down on too many things.Although very hard to do something.But deep down, he has an indescribable alienation and indifference towards everything around him.

Janet pressed her face against Simon's chest, listened to the man's strong heartbeat for a while, and suddenly murmured: "Little boy, I love you, do you know?"

Simon looked at the burning clouds left behind after the sunset in the sky, nodded and said, "I know."

"But, I also know that you don't love me," Janet continued to mutter, raised her hand, and pressed it on Simon's heart, and said in a low voice, "It's so cold here, I really want to help you melt away."

Simon hugged the woman and said, "It's getting dark, let's go back, you can try the hot compress at night."

"It's not funny at all," Janet slapped Simon lightly, and said in a low voice, "Actually, I really want to know everything about you, but you won't tell me, will you?"

"Ah."

Janet rubbed her face lightly on Simon's chest, and said, "Little boy, no matter what, I won't be your bondage. However, you have to promise that even if you don't love me in your heart, you will always be like this." Accommodate me, pamper me, pamper me."

"Of course, I will," Simon nodded, and said, "However, I think you'd better be my bondage. Without the bondage, I will probably run to destroy the world."

Janet laughed lightly when she heard Simon say this, and said, "Little boy, do you know what my dream has been since I was a child?"

"what?"

Janet raised her head, met Simon's eyes, and said seriously: "Destroy the world like those big villains in the movie."

Simon showed an expression of lingering fear, and said, "Fortunately, you are too lazy, otherwise everyone will be out of luck."

Janet curled her mouth and pressed it back to Simon's chest, saying, "However, now you can help me fulfill this dream."

"This one, it's a bit difficult. Besides, this world is bad enough, let's just let it linger."

Janet's tone suddenly became a little stubborn, and she insisted, "No."

"How about we change to a less difficult goal and conquer the world first?"

"Hmm."

Simon smiled and looked up at the sky that was about to darken, and said, "So, before we conquer the world, should we go back quickly, this is a wilderness, I don't even know if there are wolves in Arizona."

"Hehe," Janet chuckled, but hugged Simon not to let him move, and said, "No, I haven't stayed enough yet."

Simon pinched Janet's delicate face indulgently, and said, "Well, who made today be your birthday?"

Janet opened her mouth and bit Simon's extended finger before saying: "Simon, there is one more thing. Regarding the contract we signed, there will be a lot of money this time. I thought about it, I can't ask , you just need to return the original 40 US dollars to me."

Simon didn't answer, but asked instead: "Have you calculated how much money Orion can make this time?"