hunt hollywood

Some time ago, they were sent to protect their young lady and her boyfriend. Although Neil Bennett and Ken Dixon were reluctant in their hearts, they obeyed the dispatch and traveled across the ocean to Los Angeles.

In the following days, the two became more and more satisfied with Simon.

This young man became famous at a young age, but he is not frivolous, and has a calmness far exceeding his peers.Not only is she very kind to her own lady, but she also takes good care of those around them.

Last month, Simon offered to help their family move to Los Angeles together, as well as arrange the work of the two wives and the schooling of their children.What Melbourne means is that the two of them will follow their young lady from now on. Both of them are middle-aged, and naturally they both have families, so they can't wait for Simon's proposal.

The environment in Los Angeles is definitely much stronger than that in Melbourne.

I don't know how much money was spent back and forth, and basically everything was settled, and the hero and heroine they guarded had an inexplicable breakup.

A certain old man who was worried about his daughter's life-long event had been talking about "my daughter is finally getting married" for several days. Simon's information from childhood to adulthood had already been checked and sent back to Melbourne.

Apart from being younger and worrying about mental problems, there is no other dissatisfaction over there.

Simon didn't know, if it wasn't for Janet's repeated phone calls to explain and warn, a large group of people would have been killed from Australia.In the exact words of some angry old man snarling over the phone: The Johnstons are not easy to bully.

just now.

Like the division of property in a divorce, Neil Bennett became Simon's daily bodyguard and driver, and Ken Dixon took care of Janet.Coupled with the various assignments from Australia, the two middle-aged men were almost exhausted.

Seeing that Simon was still waiting for his answer, Neil Bennett quickly came back to his senses and said, "Mr. Westeros, will you call Miss later?"

Simon smiled and said, "It's a bit late now, Jenny is not someone who can stay up late."

"Call one, the lady is definitely looking forward to it," Neil Bennett said clumsily, and opened the car door, "Mr. Westeros, I will be here on time tomorrow."

Watching Neil drive away, Simon turned and entered the building, returning to his apartment on the 22nd floor.

In less than a year, he moved several times in a row. Simon didn’t bother to bother this time. Except for the study and bedroom, the spacious apartment was empty. The living room was even equipped with a projector, a big screen and a row of The sofa was simply transformed into a private screening room.

There is no woman to take care of it, and the apartment looks a little messy.It's not that Simon doesn't know how to do housework, it's mainly because he's been too busy recently, and he's not used to having strangers enter his residence, so he doesn't call workers to tidy up at all.

At this time, scattered video tapes and various materials were scattered everywhere on the sofa, floor, and coffee table in the living room.

Taking off his leather shoes, Simon stepped on the floor wearing only his socks, and came to the phone as usual.

There is no message today, but there is a summary of last week's box office data on the fax machine. The data has been released this morning. Simon has been busy all day and has not had time to read it. At this time, he took it out and put a video tape in the projector. Turn on the projector and lean back comfortably on the couch.

Chapter 097

After the first weekend of $1431 million, the final box office of "Butterfly Effect" reached $2169 million in the full first week, making it No.1 in the North American weekly box office without any suspense.

In the living room of the apartment.

Simon looked at the box office data report in his hand, and his first thought was the next box office trend.

According to the current media reputation of "The Butterfly Effect", most people are very pessimistic about the film's box office curve, and Simon himself can't say he is too optimistic.

If the box office of "Butterfly Effect" falls by more than 50% in the second week, then, despite the high starting point of 2169 million US dollars in the first week, the total North American box office of the film can only reach about 5000 million US dollars.

5000 million US dollars, relative to the production cost of the film and the average data of this era, the box office performance is absolutely excellent.

The production cost of "Butterfly Effect" is 1000 million US dollars, and the actual publicity budget is usually half of the production cost.In this way, if the box office reaches 3000 million US dollars, Fox has already started to make a profit, not to mention the income from overseas distribution and later video tapes, TV broadcasts, etc. Fox can make a lot of money on this project.

However, this is definitely not a good thing for Simon.

The reason why Fox and Orion approved the sharing agreement of "Death Comes" and "Pulp Fiction" is entirely in the expectation that Simon can "make persistent efforts" after "Run Lola Run".

The box office of "Butterfly Effect" in its first week largely depends on the popularity brought by "Run Lola Run".

just now.

The word-of-mouth of "Butterfly Effect" has collapsed, if the next box office can't match its high starting point in the first week.Then, Hollywood will completely regard "Run Lola Run" as an accidental success, and the halo blessing it brought to Simon will also be invalid after "Butterfly Effect".

Next.

Although the contracts of "Death Comes" and "Pulp Fiction" are irrevocable, it is clear that Hollywood studios will not consider the halo factor of "Run Lola Run" as Simon promotes Daenerys Pictures' follow-up projects. .

Even Simon's age disadvantage of less than 20 years old will be magnified again.

Not bothering to pay attention to the box office of other movies, Simon put aside the report in his hand and looked at the big screen opposite him casually.

What is playing on the screen is the Hollywood classic black and white film "Casablanca".

As a movie ranked very high on [IMDB] TOP 250 in the original time and space, Simon has watched it more than once in his memory. "When Harry Met Sally" also mentioned this film in many details, so I bought the video tape and planned to review it.

Looking at the bright eyes of Ingrid Bergman on the screen, Simon suddenly thought of Janet and what Neil said before he left.

After hesitating for a moment, Simon took the phone over, leaned on the sofa and dialed a series of numbers.

After a series of beeps as usual, the phone was picked up, and a kitten-like snort came from the receiver, with obvious impatience.

Hearing the woman's reaction, Simon curled his mouth and said softly, "Honey, it's me."

In the bedroom of the mansion in Palisades, Janet huddled in a daze on the big bed in the bedroom, and the phone cord on the bedside table was stretched out to the bed.

Hearing Simon's voice, Janet cheered up a little bit, touched and picked up a pillow next to her and hugged it in her arms, as if she was hugging someone, but she said unforgivingly: "Who is it?" Your baby is called Jenny."

Simon followed suit: "Okay, Jenny."

Janet immediately became dissatisfied and criticized: "I really have no position."

Simon smiled and said, "I just wanted to call you to say good night."

Janet twisted her body under the quilt, hugged the pillow in her arms tighter, and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Watching a movie," Simon glanced at the big screen, and said, "Casablanca."

"Because of "When Harry Met Sally"?" Janet asked, without waiting for Simon's answer, she said, "I've seen it before. However, I don't like this story very much, and everyone is cautious. Yes, not at all."

Simon unknowingly also fished out a pillow from the side, but just put it on his knees, and said, "That must be because you didn't understand."

"Ok?"

"Actually, "Casablanca" is definitely the most obscure love story in Hollywood history, and the ending is very perfect."

"uh-huh?"

A smile appeared on the corner of Simon's mouth, and said: "Look, the story should actually be like this. In the chaotic small town of Casablanca, Sheriff Renault fell madly in love with the bar owner Rick. In order to attract Rick's attention, he deliberately disguised himself as A playboy who keeps changing women one after another. The arrival of Rick's ex-girlfriend Elsa made Sheriff Renault feel a very strong crisis. However, Renault is very smart. But secretly pushed, not only succeeded in driving Elsa away, but also used this incident to make Rick understand his intentions. In the end, the two left Casablanca together, and they have been hand in hand since then, wandering the world."

On the other side of the phone, Janet listened to Simon's narration, recalling the movie plot in her memory, her beautiful eyes blinked, blinked, and suddenly she screamed: "Ah, Westeros, you , I will never watch "Casablanca" again."

Complaining like this, Janet suddenly became overjoyed, rolled on the big bed for a while, and suddenly realized something, the woman's joy stopped abruptly in an instant, and quickly caught the dropped microphone: "Hey, you are still there ?"

Simon said: "Yes."

Janet hesitated for a moment, then asked weakly: "You, you can't hold back too hard recently, and you're starting to be interested in men, right?"

Simon felt a black line floating in front of his eyes, and immediately said: "No."

Janet was obviously worried: "Really?"

"Of course it's true," Simon nodded again. He didn't want to continue discussing this kind of topic, but instead said, "However, without you by my side, my place has been a bit messy lately. How about taking some time to come and help me clean it up?"

Janet refused without hesitation: "No, you find a cleaner yourself."

"You know," Simon felt that the topic had been diverted, and continued decisively: "I don't like strangers appearing in my home."

"But," Janet grabbed the pillow in her arms, changed her position on the bed, and said, "I'm also looking for a cleaner to clean the villa here?"

Simon didn't pay attention to these before, so he had to say: "This, I pretend not to know if I don't see it."

"Hehe, let Kate clean it up for you."

Simon said helplessly: "Are you really a good girlfriend like this?"

"Or you can solve it yourself," Janet curled her lips, but said again: "You don't allow strangers of the same kind to appear in your territory. From this point of view, you really look like a lion."

Simon was thinking about taking time to tidy up on the weekend. Hearing Janet's words, he remembered something again, and said, "I always hear you talking about lions. I recently conceived an idea about lions," he said. So, Simon got up, rummaged around, found a stack of drawings, put them on his knees and looked at them casually, and said: "This is a cartoon called "The Lion King", the story template of "The Prince's Revenge" How about I make it for you as a birthday present. By the way, when is your birthday?"

Janet said in a soft voice, "It's not my birthday, and I feel sad when I think of my age."

Simon said softly: "Of course, birthdays, every year. Come, tell me when is your birthday?"

Janet's tone became softer, and she said softly: "March 3th, this year has already passed by secretly. Well, if the story is not good, I don't want it."

"You can take a look first," Simon kept this date in his heart, and continued: "How about tomorrow? I'm going to a party at Madonna's house tomorrow night, and you will be my female companion. We will discuss this together after we come back." story."

"No, I'm not your girlfriend now," Janet resisted a little, and then asked, "What are you doing at Madonna's house?"

"I'd like to invite Madonna and Sean Penn to be in Pulp Fiction, the bunnies and the pumpkins in the opening."

"Hehe, invite the two of them," Janet pouted mockingly, and said, "I happen to remember the "Magic City" they played together last year. The review said that the only advantage of that movie is that the audience can be alone. enjoy a movie theater."

Hearing what Janet said, Simon couldn't help laughing.

"Magic City" is a movie starring Madonna and Sean Penn last year. The production cost was 1700 million US dollars, but the North American box office was only 231 million.

Before sending invitations to Madonna and Sean Penn, Simon specially found the videotape of "Magic City" and watched it. It really can only be described as horrible. Madonna also won her first golden acid at the beginning of the year. May Worst Actress.

Eventually, though, Simon decided to give it a try.

Simon has always believed that there has never been a completely hopeless actor in this world, and the key is to look at the role.Otherwise, Madonna would not have won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress through "Mrs. Peron".

Because of the episode on ABC's "Good Morning America" ​​last month, after Simon finished the "Pulp Fiction" script, the first thing that came to mind was the little bunny and the little pumpkin in the opening scene, the Madonnas.

Madonna's bold and avant-garde, Sean Penn's fiery personality, it is perfect to play a pair of mandarin duck robbers together.

The most important thing is that Madonna's film salary will not be too high, and Sean Penn is not a grand slam actor right now.If it's just a guest appearance, this idea has very high feasibility.

Thinking in his heart, Simon asked: "Then will you go tomorrow?"

Janet refused again: "No. We have broken up now, and we are still preparing for a lawsuit. It would be embarrassing for me to be taken out by you so soon."

"Okay," Simon had to say, "That's it, good night."

"Well, good night."

PS: Set a small goal today, 10000 words in three chapters.

Chapter 098

Monday, October 4.

Just after spending Easter with his family, before eight o'clock in the morning, Peter Saunders received a call and rushed to Fox Studios.

Ronald Goldberg's assistant was in a hurry on the phone and hung up before he could elaborate.Peter Saunders is very clear that things must have something to do with the second weekend box office of "Butterfly Effect".

Walking into a meeting room in the studio's administrative building, Peter Saunders found that there were already five or six people waiting here, basically all executives from the publicity department, but Ronald Goldberg hadn't Appear.

Before sitting down at the conference table, Peter Sanders keenly caught a certain number mixed in the crowd's discussion.

"...1186 million..."

1186? !

Feeling strongly that he might have misheard, Peter Sanders snatched the folder from the secretary of the conference, and opened it while standing still.

The first page is the box office data report for the latest weekend three days.

"The Butterfly Effect," $1186 million, 17%.

Sure enough, it was 1186 million US dollars!

Moreover, compared with the box office data of 1431 million US dollars in the first weekend, the decline of "Butterfly Effect" in the second week was far beyond everyone's expectations, only 17%.

Peter Saunders couldn't help doing a quick mental calculation.

The box office fell by 17% the following weekend. If this trend continues, it is absolutely possible that the total box office in North America will exceed [-] million US dollars.

The question now is, what happened?

Peter Sanders was standing there in a daze, and Ronald Goldberg walked in with a few people in a hurry, and sat directly at the conference table.Seeing the appearance of Peter Sanders, Goldberg said kindly: "Peter, what are you doing standing there, sit down."

Peter Sanders came back to his senses, nodded to the other party with a smile, walked to the conference table and sat down.

The secretary of the meeting began to distribute another document.

Ronald Goldberg and everyone sat down, and said directly: "Everyone should have seen that, yes, the box office fell by only 1186% for 17 million U.S. dollars in the next week. As for what happened? I let people Temporarily summarizing the recent audience survey results of the company's publicity and distribution department, it may be able to explain the reason. However, this is not the most important thing. The key now is how to maintain this box office trend and how to make "The Butterfly Effect" box office surpass $1 million threshold."

After several years in charge of Fox Films, the company is finally about to usher in a work that is expected to exceed [-] million at the North American box office. Ronald Goldberg's tone is full of excitement that cannot be concealed.

Peter Saunders listened to Ronald Goldberg start discussing with everyone about increasing the screening scale of "The Butterfly Effect" and adjusting the marketing strategy of the film as soon as possible. He opened another document he just got and read it with two hearts From Fox's publicity department's analysis of the reasons for the box office trend of "Butterfly Effect" in the next week.

In the summary of the report, several sets of data from the audience survey of "The Butterfly Effect" across North America are specially marked.

"18 to 26-year-old audience ratio: 43%."

"Audience Rating: 10 out of 7.7."