hunt hollywood

Janet nodded, curled her lips again, and said, "It's just the box office. They may get 5000 million US dollars. We even pay for the copy. Orion didn't invest much at all. It's too cheap for them."

Simon brushed Janet's lip line with his finger to prevent her from curling her lips, and said with a smile: "But I don't think they take too much, because they deserve it. If I had chosen to cooperate with Seven, It is impossible to get the conditions offered by Orion. Similarly, you deserve the money you invested in the future, and you deserve it in the future."

Janet looked over again, and said: "But, I always feel that this is a bit unfair to you. You do the most things, but get the least."

Simon poked his head slightly, kissed the woman's lips, and said, "Without you, I couldn't even do these things. So, it's fair. Besides, it's not just money, I actually got much more than you imagined .Remember Sanders who left last night? The "Butterfly Effect" is still in production. Counting the share in the later period, the income I got from it may not be 50. But this time "Death Comes", if I can If it's done, I'll get over $500 million. Look, here's what I got."

Janet finally nodded: "Well, in this case, I will take the money."

Simon thought for a while, and said, "Before taking it away, let me use the money for a while. This time it's a loan, and I won't share it with you if I earn it, okay?"

"Yeah," Janet nodded, and said, "What are you going to do?"

Simon looked at the woman and said with a smile: "I suddenly remembered, Catherine said that you graduated from Columbia Business School, can you play stock index futures?"

This year happened to be 1987. In Simon's memory, the deepest impression of this year is undoubtedly the U.S. stock market crash.That being the case, it is completely unreasonable not to take advantage of such a good opportunity to accumulate some capital for yourself.

"Yes, I earned some pocket money when I was in college," Janet's eyes flashed nimbly when she heard Simon say this, she didn't have the usual laziness at all, she looked at him with bright eyes, and said: " Now many people have started to enter the field, so, North America and Tokyo, which side are you going to press?"

Simon looked at Janet, who had a sudden temperament, reached out and pinched her little nose, and said with a smile: "We won't press either side, just wait. However, since you are so interested, you will help me when the time comes Let's play it."

Janet opened Simon's hand, leaned on him lazily, and said, "I won't help you, I'm so tired. Many of my former classmates are on Wall Street. Let them come when the time comes, um, I can Help you watch. However, Simon, unless you can predict things like stock index futures, no one can be sure."

Sure enough, it's still a labor of love.

Simon pinched the woman in his arms who was born with wealth and fate, and said, "Maybe, I can really predict the future."

Janet suddenly became interested again and asked, "Do you know when humans will become extinct?"

Simon froze for a moment, then shook his head honestly.

"When will the kind of asteroid 6500 million years ago come to the earth again?"

Simon continued to shake his head.

"What about World War III?"

Simon still shook his head.

Janet twitched her lips: "Cut."

Feeling the desire to destroy in the woman's mind, Simon stretched out his hand to stroke her slender neck, and said with a smile, "Jenny, I think it's too dangerous for you to stay on this planet."

Janet gave her neck to Simon's hand and said, "Hmm, strangle me."

Naturally, Simon would not use force, retracted his hand, and said: "Since we are talking about this, Jenny, I hope that the more money this time, the better, so, you go back to Los Angeles tomorrow, and take our contract with Orion to the bank for evaluation , loan out a sum of money as soon as possible.”

"Yeah," Janet nodded, then looked at Simon again, with a little cunning in her eyes, and said, "I'll help you write the IOU, this time it's a lot of money, remember to press it when you come back Fingerprints."

"I've been thinking about whether I should be like some people and do something about it."

"I just want you to renege on your debt." Janet stretched out her finger and nodded on Simon's heart, and said, "In this way, you will owe me in your heart for the rest of your life."

Simon's tone immediately became firm: "Forget it, it's still not bad."

"Ha ha."

Seeing that the surroundings had completely darkened, Simon didn't intend to stay in the field any longer. He jumped off the hood, reached out and picked up Janet's light body and sent it to the passenger seat, before driving back to Coolidge City in the north.

Chapter 072

Simon didn't hear from Fox for three days after Peter Sanders hurried back to Los Angeles on Saturday night.

This result did not exceed Simon's expectations, and his qualifications in Hollywood were still too shallow after all.

A young man under the age of 20 not only asks a big film company for high sharing terms, but also demands absolute control over film production. This kind of thing has never happened in Hollywood.

However, with the success of "Run Lola Run" at the box office, Simon is no longer as short of options as he was a few months ago.

While the crew of "Blood Corpse Night" was helping, Simon also made some plans for "Reaper" in private. This plasma thriller is very suitable for the Halloween schedule at the end of the year.From the end of February to the end of October, the 2-month preparation, production and announcement cycle also seemed just right.

So Simon doesn't intend to tie himself to Fox.If Fox doesn't respond by the end of the week, Simon plans to break the news and seek another collaborator.

At the same time, as the popularity and word-of-mouth continued to ferment, the box office of "Run Lola Run" not only did not fall in the second week of its release, but increased again.

From February 2th to February 20nd, in the three days of the second week, due to the increase in the number of screens, "Run Lola Run" still achieved a 2% increase in box office compared to the four days in the first week, reaching 22 million Dollar.

Immediately afterwards, after the following four working days, the box office of "Run Lola Run" in the second week finally reached US$956 million, second only to the US$1110 million of "Platoon", and successfully jumped to No. 2 positions.

The two films released by the company occupy the top two positions in the single-week box office rankings at the same time, and the North American box office of the two films is expected to exceed 1 million US dollars.

For a film like "Run Lola Run" that has become the focus of the entire Federation, there is naturally no obstacle to its subsequent release.

Mike Medova, president of Orion Films, originally planned to expand the screening scale of the film as soon as possible, but after a detailed phone conversation with Simon, he quite agreed with his "hunger marketing" concept.In the end, Orion still did not rush to significantly increase the screening scale of "Run Lola Run" in the third week, but only increased the number of screens to 536, and the relevant theaters were still concentrated on the west coast of the United States.

Many years later, when a movie is released for three weeks, either its popularity has faded, or pirated resources are flying everywhere, and it does not make any sense to continue to increase the scale of screenings.

However, in the mid-80s, the speed of information dissemination was far from the speed of the Internet era, and film and television piracy was not as rampant as it was later, and the multi-round screening mechanism from metropolises to small towns still existed. Towns tend to take a month or two to see some blockbusters.

Therefore, the accumulation of word-of-mouth in three weeks does not seem to be a long time for "Run Lola Run", and it will only increase the audience's expectations.

On the other hand, Simon waited patiently until Friday, and Fox Films still did not give any answer, so he called Jonathan Friedman and entrusted his agent to send him the contract he was seeking for a partner for "Death Comes". The news got out.

Los Angeles, Beverly Hills.

The date is Monday, March 3.

Ronald Goldberg, President of Fox Films, walked into Morton’s Restaurant, where Hollywood filmmakers often dine, in the evening. As soon as he entered the door, he felt that many diners looked at him with different eyes.

Although inexplicably feeling a little embarrassed, Ronald Goldberg said a few words to the waiter who greeted him as if nothing had happened, and was then taken to a dining table.

A middle-aged man in his 40s was already sitting at the dining table, a little bald, unremarkable, with the same standard Jewish big nose.However, no one in the entire restaurant would despise each other because of their appearance. The middle-aged man was Barry Diller, the current chairman and CEO of [-]th Century Fox.

Noticing Ronald Goldberg approaching, Barry Diller, who was reading a newspaper, got up immediately, stepped forward with a smile and shook hands with him before the two returned to the table and sat down.

After exchanging casual greetings, after ordering dinner, Ronald Goldberg glanced at the newspaper in front of Barry Diller. An evening newspaper that is also more biased towards Hollywood industry trends, Ronald Goldberg easily judged that this picture should be related to "The Butterfly Effect".

Barry Diller looked at the newspaper in front of him following Ronald Goldberg's gaze, and asked, "I heard that the trial screening of this movie didn't go well?"

Ronald Goldberg said with some hesitation in his tone: "Everyone thinks the story is complete and exciting, but the few film critics who participated in the test screening didn't like it very much. They thought the plot of the film was too fragmented. The main line is not clear enough...”

Barry Diller frowned slightly when he heard this.In this day and age, the most direct perception of a movie by ordinary people is the newspaper movie review. If the movie critics give a bad review, it will undoubtedly hinder the enthusiasm of the audience to enter the movie theater.

After thinking about it, Barry Diller asked, "Then what are you going to do?"

Ronald Goldberg said: "There will be an internal audience screening on Wednesday, and we will make some adjustments depending on the situation. Then, I plan to arrange the schedule for Easter, you know, the "Run Lola Run", Maybe it can gain some popularity."

Ronald Goldberg said so, but there was obvious bitterness in his tone.

Ronald Goldberg nearly laughed out loud when Peter Sanders brought back Simon's demands for the "Death Comes" project from Arizona a week ago.

That young man really dared to speak. Ronald Goldberg has worked in the media industry for 30 years, and he has never seen a guy who dares to make such a condition to a film company. Does he think he is Spielberg? ?

So, Ronald Goldberg simply chose to ignore the other party.

However, with the news that Simon Westeros was looking for a new partner for "Death Comes" over the weekend, and the box office data for the three days of last weekend came out this morning, Ronald Goldberg hesitated again. Not sure.

Leaving aside the news released by Simon Westero, as long as Fox does not let go and voluntarily give up, it is impossible for the other party to reach cooperation with other film companies.

but.

The box office data of "Run Lola Run" in the past three days has really caught many people's attention.

In the third week of its opening, the number of screens increased to 536, but the box office of "Run Lola Run" still reached US$20110 in the three-day weekend.

According to a report from Inside Hollywood, due to the recent media buzz, "Run Lola Run" has not only attracted interest from audiences of all ages, but has also created a wave of movie-watching among teenage audiences. Everyone thinks that "Run Lola Run" is a very cool movie, so they generally choose to watch it repeatedly.

The results of the report even show that the scarcity of screening theaters has inspired many people to queue up to grab tickets to watch the film.

In the end, the box office of "Run Lola Run" reached 1078 million US dollars in the third weekend, easily overpowering "A Nightmare on Elm Street 1343" which opened with 3 screens this week by New Line Pictures, and strongly won the top spot in the weekend box office rankings .

So far, the total North American box office of "Run Lola Run" has reached 2731 million US dollars.Just this box office figure has left most Hollywood movies in the dust.

Moreover, now that it has topped the weekend box office rankings, it is easy for "Run Lola Run" to maintain its championship position for a long time in this off-season of movies.

No.1 is always the most concerned.

"Run Lola Run" already has a very high degree of topicality, and if it continues to maintain its position as the weekly box office champion, it will definitely attract more people's interest in this movie, and then form a virtuous circle.

The box office of the film has reached 2731 million in two and a half weeks.Then, if the "circulation" continues, the final box office of this film is likely to be even better than the general expectations of the media.

Ronald Goldberg's thoughts came here, and he didn't even want to continue thinking about it.

Sorry for the first time.

The waiter brought the dinner at this time, but Barry Diller didn't pick up the cutlery. He looked at Ronald Goldberg opposite, but didn't know what to say for a moment.

Barry Diller and Ronald Goldberg have known each other for 20 years.

It was Ronald Goldberg, who was still working in the ABC production department, who promoted Barry Diller, and this led to Barry Diller's continuous success in ABC Television Network and Paramount Pictures.

Three years ago, Barry Diller was kicked out of the company by Martin Davis, the jealous chairman of Paramount's parent company. Chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation.

Twentieth Century Fox Corporation is in charge of the Fox Television Network and Fox Films, Ronald Goldberg is tantamount to single-handedly electing his former subordinates to be his immediate boss.

This is the grace of knowing you twice.

So Barry Diller has always been grateful to Ronald Goldberg.

However, as the top leader of Fox Films, Ronald Goldberg managed the film company unsatisfactorily. Fox Films has not produced a film with a North American box office of over [-] million for three consecutive years.

Due to his deep personal friendship, Barry Diller would never drive Ronald Goldberg out of the company under any circumstances, and he even rarely interfered with Ronald Goldberg's management of Fox Pictures.But both parties are very clear that if the situation continues, Rupert Murdoch, the company's major shareholder, will not tolerate Fox Pictures' continued tepidity.

After a moment of silence, Barry Diller said, "Ronald, I've already heard about that young man, as well as news from the weekend."

Ronald Goldberg smiled wryly, and said, "Barry, do you think I should agree to him? That's just a boy under 20 years old, but he proposed that even Spielberg would not easily The harsh conditions of the opening."

"Isn't there a premise?" Barry Diller said: "1600 million US dollars, although the guarantee is a little lower, but if it only needs 800 million US dollars in production costs, Fox will definitely be able to make a profit."

Ronald Goldberg said: "If it's just like this, of course we can talk about it. It's just that he also requires absolute control over the project. The director, actors, shooting, and final editing are all up to him. .How can I rest assured."

"I also just watched "Run Lola Run" this afternoon," Barry Diller said. "For an 18-year-old young man, it is indeed a very good movie. So, Ronald, if you can confirm "Run Lola Run" was really completed by him himself, perhaps, you can agree to it."

Ronald Goldberg still hesitated: "That's for sure. But, Barry, you know, this kind of thing has never happened in Hollywood."

"This just happens to be a publicity point in the future," Barry Diller said with a smile: "It's like he's 18 years old. Speaking of which, this is really a very good movie marketing. If he is not 18 years old, this The movie would have made $2000 or [-] million at the box office at best. But now, it's making $[-] or [-] million. It would be amazing if the marketing plan was also planned by that young man. So, Rona De, I suggest you try to win over this young man to Fox Films as much as possible, maybe, you will get a second Spielberg."

After listening to Barry Diller say so much, Ronald Goldberg naturally understood that Barry Diller had good intentions, and he was also very clear about his own situation.If the situation of Fox Films cannot improve as soon as possible, he will not only have to pack up and leave when his contract expires next year, but it will also be difficult to find a comparable position in other studios in the future.

Winning over the young man who had just made his mark in Hollywood might feel like going to the doctor in a hurry, but Ronald Goldberg really had no better choice.

He really wanted to win over Steven Spielberg.In fact, he has indeed done this, that is, last year's "Space Station" starring Spielberg's fiancée, as the film failed at the box office, there was no more.

Thinking of this, Ronald Goldberg nodded, and said, "Okay, then I'll talk to him as soon as possible."

Chapter 073 Boom Boom

With the release of "Run Lola Run", these days, Simon finds it difficult to stay in the crew of "Blood Corpse Night".

Because more and more media reporters appeared in the small town of Coolidge one after another.

At first, it was just local reporters in Arizona, and later even media people from the surrounding states, such as California, Nevada, and New Mexico, began to come, hustling around the crew either seeking an interview with Simon, or directly interviewing the crew. Follow up.

Many times, when the crew is shooting at night, the surrounding flashes will suddenly light up, and the result can be imagined.

Although there is no evidence, Simon is basically sure that this incident was probably provoked by Edward Feldman, the producer of "Blood Corpse Night".The opponent's purpose could not be more obvious, in order to increase the exposure rate of the crew of "Blood Corpse Night".In the first few days, Edward Feldman was obviously very excited about the reporter's presence, and he also took the initiative to accept an interview with a reporter from the "Arizona Daily Star".

During this time, according to the news circulating in the crew, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, the investor of "Blood Corpse Night", was on the verge of bankruptcy due to the continuous deterioration of its financial situation.

Due to the sudden popularity of "Run Lola Run", Edward Feldman or the top executives of De Laurentiis Entertainment obviously regarded "Blood Corpse Night" with Simon's participation as the last straw. The income can alleviate the company's plight, so in private, he took the initiative to disclose the fact that Simon was in the crew.

Now, the name of "Blood Corpse Night" has indeed started to appear frequently in many newspapers taking advantage of the wind of "Run Lola Run", and it has attracted a lot of attention for a while.

However, Edward Feldman obviously did not expect that, since most of the scenes of "Night of the Blood Corpse" were outdoor scenes, the crew simply did not have enough manpower to seal off all the shooting scenes located in the wild, and a large group of reporters surrounded the scene every day. Around the crew, there is no way to continue filming this movie.

A parking lot in the west of the small town, also on Monday, March 3.

11 o'clock late at night.

Today's filming is an explosion scene. The actor Kalebo drove an oil tanker into a vampire, and then the oil tanker exploded.

The crew had spent the entire weekend preparing for the current scene. Simon originally planned to leave last Friday. In order to help Catherine prepare this group of more difficult shots, he stayed until now.

In the parking lot, he and Catherine re-checked the layout of the various places. Simon gave Catherine an encouraging look, raised his hand and pointed to the distance, and said with a smile: "You start, I'll go there Watching."

Catherine nodded, watching Simon walk towards a group of reporters who were stopped outside the isolation line at the edge of the parking lot, and then began to order everyone to take their seats.

On the other side, Simon came to the surrounding media reporters and saw someone holding up the camera. He gestured quickly and said in a loud voice: "Guys, this set of shots is worth at least 10 US dollars. If it is destroyed by the flash again, the crew will be killed." I can only send you a lawyer's letter. So, please put down the cameras, I can chat with you for a while."

He came to Coolidge to stay here for more than a week. The young man in front of him, who had already aroused heated discussions in the entire Federation, had never had direct contact with the media.