Beverly Hills.
In a cafe near the WMA headquarters on Camino Street, Simon and Jonathan sat down again after seeing off the other two people.
Turning over the novel "Dances with Wolves" for which the adaptation rights had just been negotiated, Simon glanced at the paparazzi shaking outside the window and said to Jonathan with a smile: "ICM must be nervous, you They just signed Robert De Niro, and they’re going to take action on one of their stars.”
ICM (Innovative International Management) is a talent agency in Hollywood after WMA and CAA. It has big-name stars such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Eddie Murphy, and its strength cannot be underestimated.
The two people who left just now are Michael Blake, the author of "Dances with Wolves" by Simon, and the other is Kevin Costner.
In the era before Simon was reborn, most people's impression of Kevin Costner might only be the role of Superman's adoptive father, Jonathan Kent, in "Man of Steel." But in fact, with a series of hit works such as "Dances with Wolves" and "The Bodyguard", Kevin Costner can be said to be one of the hottest superstars in Hollywood in the 1990s.
Kevin Costner is now a client of ICM. Although he is not as big a name as he was later, he is still relatively famous.
Jonathan Friedman has successfully signed a contract with Robert De Niro last week. Hearing what Simon said, he shook his head and smiled: "Both Kevin and Bob are actors with a reserved style. I am not as good as CAA." Greedy, just one signing is enough. Speaking of which, Simon, counting "Dances with Wolves", you have bought the rights to eight movies during this time, do you want to continue?"
Simon felt the dissuasion in Jonathan's tone, but said: "If there is hope, of course I will continue."
Although he said this, Simon felt a little helpless.
Among the eight novels, remakes or original screenplay rights that have been obtained, Simon is actually interested in only two, "Dances with Wolves" and "Forrest Gump". The others are just randomly collected to make smoke bombs. of.
Due to technical limitations, "Forrest Gump", which once won the Oscar for Best Special Effects, will definitely not be able to start filming in the short term.
"Forrest Gump" was only published last year, and the novel's author, Winston Groom, is relatively well-known in the industry. However, compared to several other works of this author, the sales of "Forrest Gump" can only be described as a failure.
From last year to now, "Forrest Gump" has sold less than 10,000 copies.
After Jonathan contacted the other party, Winston Groom initially proposed various conditions. But when Simon raised the price to $200,000, Westeros Company successfully won the film and television adaptation rights of the novel within 10 years.
As for Dances with Wolves.
In the original time and space, this movie not only achieved a global box office of more than 400 million US dollars with a production cost of 22 million US dollars, but also won a series of heavyweight awards such as Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director.
"Dances with Wolves" does not have the technical threshold of "Forrest Gump".
Still, Simon couldn't rush the project.
Daenerys Pictures now simply does not have the operational strength to support a global box office blockbuster with a global box office of US$400 million, and it is impossible for Simon to transfer the various distribution rights of this project to other film companies.
During this time, Jonathan was mainly negotiating the copyright term with Michael Blake, the author of "Dances with Wolves".
Michael Blake was originally encouraged by his friend Kevin Costner to write this novel. For this reason, the other party insisted that Kevin Costner be the leading actor and even emphasized that this clause should be written in the contract. inside.
In addition, if the rights are sold to Westeros Company, Michael Blake and Kevin Costner naturally hope that "Dances with Wolves" can start filming as soon as possible.
This is not something Simon can agree to.
After weeks of negotiations, the two parties reluctantly agreed on terms, and Daenerys Pictures bought the three-year adaptation rights to "Dances with Wolves" for $100,000. In terms of copyright price, Michael Blake is not as generous as the lion. However, if within three years, Daenerys Pictures cannot launch the project according to the terms agreed upon by both parties, it will need to compensate Michael Blake $500,000 after the contract expires.
In addition to "Forrest Gump" and "Dances with Wolves," the rights to many other films that Simon remembers either cannot be obtained or cannot be found.
and.
Simon couldn't do this with too much fanfare, so he could only eat it slowly and secretly.
In fact, the copyright for eight movies only cost Simon more than one million U.S. dollars. Jonathan's mind flashed to the tens of millions of dollars that the young man in front of him had accumulated at this time. Seeing that he did not listen to his dissuasion, he stopped saying anything. Then he said: "Simon, I'm thinking, since 'Sally' can't be given to Sean, can she try the role of Sally's friend Mary?"
The Sean in Jonathan's mouth is obviously 'Rachel' Sean Young in "Blade Runner".
Some time ago, when Simon had just decided to produce "When Harry Met Sally", Jonathan recommended Sean Young.
Simon was very proud of Jonathan and had a special talk with Sean Young, which even caused a scandal. However, Simon already had his own plans, and the impression Sean Young left on Simon was really not a good one, so the matter was dropped.
Hearing this, Simon said: "Qiao, didn't she join the cast of Oliver Stone's "Wall Street"?"
Oliver Stone won the Oscar for Best Director in March for "Platoon" and last month started filming another new film of his, the business war film "Wall Street" invested by Fox Films.
Jonathan nodded with a wry smile and said: "Sean plays Michael Douglas's wife in the movie. However, neither Oliver nor Michael like her very much. Originally it was only a small role of less than ten minutes. It is estimated that she will play no more roles in the film in the future. It will be cut shorter."
"Sean is too beautiful and not suitable for the role of Mary. Besides, Joe, you don't think she can get along well with everyone on the set of "When Harry Met Sally", do you?" Simon could only shake his head. He refused, thought for a while and then said: "Actually, Sandy, Liz and Nicole all have great potential. Joe, Sean's mean and perverse character is not suitable for this circle at all. There is no need for you to be in her Too much thought was put into it.”
Seeing that Simon did not mention Courteney Cox, whom he first met, Jonathan couldn't help feeling a little emotional, but explained: "Sean's father, Donald Young, is a TV producer, and I was still working in New York back then. I was a good friend with him, and Donald helped me more than once."
Favors are exhausting.
Simon was thinking this, but he couldn't let go rashly and let in a character who might make the entire crew uneasy.
After continuing to chat for a while, Simon and Jonathan said goodbye and rushed to the headquarters of De Laurentiis Entertainment, also located in downtown Beverly.
Today is already May 13th.
Wednesday.
After more than a month of intense post-production, "Night of the Blood Corpse" has officially completed the final cut. Catherine called yesterday to invite Simon to watch the finished film.
Speaking of which, Simon originally wanted to help Catherine as much as possible in the later stages of "Night of the Blood Corpse". However, after he and Janet broke up, the woman seemed to have done something wrong. During this period, she had declined Simon's help, but occasionally she would contact him by phone if she had some questions.
then.
During this time, Simon and the two women he was most familiar with after returning to this era have never met again.
After leaving Camino Street and driving for less than five minutes, Neil Bennett parked his Chevrolet SUV under a three-story office building on nearby Alden Street.
Before Simon got out of the car, he noticed another burgundy Range Rover parked in front of his car.
Compared with his own Chevrolet SUV, the Range Rover, known as the British royal family's exclusive vehicle for outdoor activities, is definitely several grades higher. The bright burgundy body is likely to be a customized model.
the most important.
After being together for so long, if Simon couldn't discover Janet's preference for burgundy, it would be a failure.
really.
After getting out of the car, Simon took a few steps forward and found Ken Dixon, who was sitting leisurely in the cab reading a newspaper. This was the bodyguard who stayed with the woman after Simon and Janet 'divided their property' last month.
Noticing Simon's appearance, Ken Dixon opened the door and got out of the car, greeting: "Mr. Westeros."
Simon nodded towards the other party and asked: "Where's Jenny?"
Ken Dixon pointed to the office building on the roadside and said, "The lady has already entered."
As the two of them said this, the paparazzi who had obviously noticed the 'serious situation' had gathered around and started snapping at Simon who was talking to Ken Dixon. Neil Bennett stepped forward in time to stop the crowd that wanted to come forward. The paparazzi were separated, and Ken Dixon was equally adept on Simon's other side.
Ignoring all the messy questions in the photo booth of a group of paparazzi, Simon quickly walked into the office building of De Laurentiis Entertainment Company, but he couldn't help but think in his heart, he would never be able to get rid of these guys, right
Simon entered the office building and was greeted by Edward Feldman, the producer of "Night of the Blood Corpses" and another tall blonde woman in her thirties. After introduction, Simon learned that the blonde woman was Martha Schumacher, the president of De Laurentiis Entertainment.
After a brief exchange of greetings, Edward Feldman noticed Simon's searching eyes and took the initiative to explain: "Catherine was here just now, but she was pulled in by Miss Johnston. Simon, let's go upstairs."
Simon nodded and followed the two of them upstairs.
In a spacious office on the third floor, Janet and Catherine were sitting on the sofa in the reception area chatting quietly. When Simon walked in, the two women immediately stood up.
Edward Feldman smiled and said he was going to prepare for the broadcast of the demo, and left with Martha Schumacher. Catherine stepped forward and hugged Simon, and also found an excuse to disappear.
Soon only Simon and Janet were left in the office.
After everyone left, Simon looked at Janet, who was still standing there. The woman had a big wavy hair perm today, and a long bang on her forehead. She was wearing a wide-checked blue long-hem shirt and white casual pants. On her feet Wearing high-heeled sandals.
After being looked at by Simon for a while, Janet finally couldn't bear it anymore. She took two steps forward, raised her chin slightly and stretched out her hand towards Simon, saying, "Hello."
Simon glanced at the beautiful little hand that was stretched out, raised his hand to take it, but held it directly on Janet's white wrist.
Simon suddenly grabbed her wrist. Although the man didn't exert any force at all, a feeling that was almost carved deep into the bone marrow suddenly surged into her heart. Janet's whole body felt a little weak, her face turned crimson, and her watery eyes showed no signs of it at all. Staring at Simon with a lethal look, he said in a soft voice: "You little bastard, you are bullying me."
Simon originally just wanted to scare Janet, but feeling that the woman was going to be so soft, he quickly stepped forward to hug her, and Janet immediately hugged her like a koala, and even kicked off the sandals from her feet twice. on the ground.
Simon held Janet's soft body and felt the woman's delicate face buried in his neck, rubbing and caressing him, and finally nibbling on his neck a few times like a mouse, as if he was Confirm anything.
So he said softly: "Do you still want to break up?"
Janet did not answer the question, her voice was still soft, and she murmured: "Little bastard."
Simon carried the woman to the sofa and wanted to put her down, but Janet's hands and feet wrapped around Simon's body tightened immediately, showing no intention of separating from Simon. Simon had no choice but to turn around, sit on the sofa, put his hands around the woman's waist, tried the feel, and said with a smile: "I'm fat. It seems that you don't miss me at all during this time."
Janet changed her position and pressed against Simon, with some slight dissatisfaction: "I don't want to miss you, a little bastard who does bad things all day long."
Simon defended: "I didn't do anything, really."
Janet's little head drilled into Simon's neck again, and she said venomously: "It's really useless."
Simon could only smile, smell the delicious fragrance of the woman, and said, "Come to my place tonight?"
Janet twisted slightly before saying, "No, go to Palisades."
Simon nodded: "Okay."
After hugging each other quietly for a moment, Janet took the initiative to find a topic: "What do you think of Noah?"
Simon shook his head honestly: "Not familiar. Where is he?"
Janet said: "You met last week, and he called me and said you were very difficult to get along with."
Simon turned his head and placed a kiss on Janet's face, saying, "I don't know what's going on, but I just feel like I can't get along with him."
Janet paused, then laughed suddenly, scratched Simon with her little hands, and said, "Lion."
Simon was puzzled: "Huh?"
Janet raised her face from Simon's neck and looked at him with bright eyes. With a thick smile on her face, her voice was still soft and she said: "A lion king can accept many females around him, but We will never tolerate the presence of another adult male lion in the territory that threatens its status."
Simon said helplessly: "Is this true?"
Janet came over, opened her mouth and bit Simon's lips gently, and said, "Didn't you notice? You don't even have a same-sex friend of the same age, and you obviously prefer to get along with girls."
Simon knew that Janet had just bit her lip, which was obviously a hint about Sandra. In the last scandal, a paparazzi happened to capture the details of Sandra biting Simon, which was greatly exaggerated.
After baring his teeth at the woman in his arms, Simon said: "I think this has nothing to do with lions, but rather looks like a guy in an Oriental novel."
Janet asked curiously: "Who is it?"
Simon smiled and said: "You don't know even if I tell you. However, that guy's theory is that women are made of water and men are made of mud. He feels very happy when he is with women, and feels uncomfortable when he sees men. "
Janet's eyelashes flashed and she said: "It's true, haha, it's just like you. I must read that novel when I have time. You can find it for me."
Simon nodded: "Okay."
Janet pecked Simon on the lips again, then buried her face into Simon's neck, enjoying the feeling of their ears and temples rubbing together. After a moment, she changed the topic and said: "Noah called me again this morning. Little bastard, you Have you really bought 3,700 long S&P contracts?”
Simon nodded: "Yes."
Janet obviously laughed again and said: "Noah said you are crazy."
Since last week, the S&P 500 Index has basically remained between 270 and 275 points during this period. Simon has been instructing Noah Scott to continue to buy long S&P 500 futures in September in recent days. contract.
Now.
With a total of 3,700 contracts, Simon has consumed more than $50 million in funds based on a margin of about $13,600 per contract. Excluding the $20 million loan still reserved in his personal account, Simon's current position ratio is as high as 67%.
The stock index futures contracts are divided into March, June, September and December. Simon did not buy the recent June contract, but the September contract four months later, just for the long term.
Noah Scott apparently saw this too.
Most stock index futures traders tend to prudently keep their long-term position ratio within 30%. Simon directly increased his position to 67%. With such a high position ratio, even with the current loose futures trading rules, it is easy to lose everything.
No wonder people think of him as crazy.
With these thoughts flashing through his mind, Simon gently stroked Janet's soft body and said, "Then do you think I'm crazy?"
Janet nodded: "Yeah."
Simon gave up on himself and said: "Well, it seems that I am really crazy."
"Haha," Janet chuckled, wrapped her arms tightly around Simon, and said with undisguised determination: "You are my boyfriend, little bastard. Janet Johnston's boyfriend, How can it be normal?"