Hollywood Hunter

Chapter 109: The era of blockbusters

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It's five o'clock in the morning.

There was no alarm, but Simon still woke up on time. Ever since he started building a position with that amount of money, he has been getting up at this time these days.

The woman clinging to his body and the fragrant fragrance in the bedroom instantly made Simon realize that this was not his apartment in Century Tower.

Being hugged by Janet like a pillow, Simon did not get up immediately. He turned his head and looked at the woman who was still sleeping. A few strands of blond hair were slanted on her fair and rosy face. Her lips were slightly pursed, her eyelashes were long, and she looked like she was sleeping. Feeling lazy and content.

After staring for a moment, Simon also felt an inexplicable sense of peace of mind.

perhaps.

This is your own 'mind's peace'.

So he leaned over and kissed Janet gently on the lips, before Simon carefully let go of the woman's arms.

The layout of the villa remains unchanged from the last time I left.

After washing up, Simon went to the gym to jog for half an hour. After taking a shower, it was already six o'clock.

There are currently not many types of futures in North America. This time Simon is completely betting on the S&P 500 Index futures, which he can predict and has the largest trading volume in the market.

S&P 500 Index futures were launched by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in 1982. The current daily contract volume is between 80,000 and 100,000, and occasionally exceeds 100,000. Therefore, Simon's 'butterfly' hiding in it will not be too conspicuous. This is also the source of his confidence that the S&P 500 curve in the next few months will not deviate too much from the data in memory.

Since electronic trading systems have not yet appeared, stock index futures are currently mainly traded by very old-school manual trading on the floor, from Monday to Friday, from 8:30 am to 3:15 pm.

Chicago is in the Central Time Zone of the United States, two hours ahead of Los Angeles. At six o'clock in the morning on Simon's side, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange was approaching its opening.

After making himself a pot of coffee, Simon came to the study, sat down behind his large desk, and dialed Noah Scott's phone number while holding a cup of coffee.

The two were chatting in a low voice about their trading plan after the market opened today. Janet lazily floated in from the door in her pajamas. When she saw Simon, she came over directly, her soft body curled up around Simon like a kitten. In his arms, he narrowed his eyes again.

Simon lowered his voice and continued to talk to Noah Scott on the phone for a while, then ended the call, smiled, patted Janet on the body, and asked, "Would you like some coffee?"

Janet shook her head: "I haven't brushed my teeth yet."

Simon said: "Then I will take you back to the bedroom and sleep for a while?"

"No," Janet shook her head again, cheered up a little, raised her face and asked, "Did you just let Noah buy another 800 contracts?"

Simon nodded and said, "Yes."

"That's 4,500 contracts," Janet squinted her eyes and did some mental calculations before saying: "4,500 contracts, the position opening range from 270 to 275 points, requires about 60 million U.S. dollars in margin, and the position ratio exceeds 80%. Available funds There are only 15 million US dollars left. Well, now Noah wants to treat you as a lunatic. Little bastard, you are not going to continue to add positions, are you?"

Simon hugged the woman's soft body and said, "No more, that's it."

Janet rubbed her little hand on Simon's chest, looked at him with bright eyes, and said: "But, little bastard, you can easily lose money like this. Is it really okay?"

For Simon's current position, every 1-point movement in the S&P 500 index means a profit or loss of $2.25 million.

Although the current futures trading is not daily debt-free settlement, if the accumulated book losses in the Westeros company account exceed the remaining US$15 million in available funds, Simon will need to make a margin call, otherwise the broker will force him to close part of it. contract to ensure sufficient funds in the account.

Based on this calculation, Westeros's 4,500 long contracts, in addition to the 60 million fixed margin, Simon can only withstand the decline of the S&P 500 index by about 15 points, even if all the chips in the US$20 million loan are included. , equivalent to 5% of the index.

Actually.

From the beginning of the year to now, in just four months, the S&P 500 Index has experienced two sharp rises and falls between 250 and 300 points, with the maximum rise and fall approaching 20% of the market.

Given this level of volatility, Simon's current position is completely unbearable.

after all.

If the S&P 500 suffers another sharp drop of about 20%, a drop of more than 50 points, the theoretical loss per contract at the lowest point will exceed US$25,000. For 4,500 contracts, the loss amount will be 112.5 million, which is far more than the US$75 million principal in the Westeros company account.

certainly.

As long as there is no big crash like the one in his memory, Simon can clear his position in advance and escape, but he will definitely face huge losses.

If that happens, even if you lose half of it, that's $37.5 million.

In this day and age, U.S. dollars are still quite valuable.

The Palisades mansion where Simon and Janet live now would be unthinkable if it didn't cost $20 to $30 million in twenty or thirty years. But even now, at the height of the American real estate bubble in the 1980s, the price was only $4 million.

It's obvious.

Simon is now in danger of losing 10 of the most luxurious houses of this era at any time.

It's no wonder that he is regarded as crazy by Noah Scott.

but.

Danger and opportunity always coexist.

Although many Wall Street analysts now judge that the stock market has been weak and may turn to a sharp decline at any time, this is indeed the case. However, Simon clearly remembers that the current S&P 500 index of around 270 points is the lowest point in the next four months.

Compared with the repeated sharp rises and falls in the previous four months, in the next four months, the S&P 500 Index will completely show a very stable upward trend, and basically there will be no large fluctuations.

Therefore, Simon will probably not need to use the just-in-case loan, and the remaining $15 million in available funds in the Westeros company's account will be enough to withstand the slight fluctuations in the overall upward trend of the market.

at this time.

Looking at Janet in his arms, who was trying to look worried with her eyes wide open, Simon couldn't help but lower his head and pecked the woman on the lips, and said with a smile: "You don't think that I will lose everything, do you? By then, Wei Stroll can only use himself to pay off the debt."

Janet raised her little hand and pushed Simon's head away. The original worried look disappeared in a blink of an eye, revealing a smile. She came over and touched the man's cheek, saying: "I will definitely treat you well, little one." Simon.”

That's indeed the case.

Simon sighed in his heart, and suddenly stretched out his hand to hold Janet's outstretched arm. Feeling the woman melt into his arms in an instant, he said, "Look, let's face the reality."

Janet stared at Simon with watery eyes, and murmured in a soft voice: "You little bastard."

Simon smiled and pulled Janet into his arms, who was about to slide off him after losing his strength. Listening to her completely harmless accusation, he inadvertently noticed a pair of burgundy-red nail polish exposed between the woman's movements. Beautiful feet, suddenly my heart moved.

Holding up the woman's fair face with one hand and looking at it for a moment, Simon suddenly felt as if he had broken through iron shoes and found nothing.

Janet belongs to the type who likes to look bare-faced, and a woman's well-maintained appearance is enough for her to appear in front of others without any makeup.

but.

As long as she puts on bright red lipstick and adjusts her way of speaking, she will be coquettish, charming, with an accent, and even the danger and madness suppressed beneath the surface. This is exactly what Simon needs as a female taxi driver.

He lowered his head and pecked her lips again, and Simon said: "Baby, there is still a role missing in my movie. How about you play it?"

Janet, who had recovered a little, twisted her body and asked in her soft tone, "Which one is it?"

Simon said: "Esmeralda Villalobos."

Janet's eyelashes flickered a few times and she said, "Okay, but I can't perform."

"It doesn't matter, I'm the director. Mr. Director likes to personally guide actresses the most."

"Haha, little bastard," Janet smiled, pinched Simon lightly, and said, "By the way, how is that cartoon you mentioned last time? I'm looking forward to it."

Although they had not met before, Simon asked Neil to forward the manuscript to Janet the next day after that night's phone call, and the two talked about it on the phone more than once during this time.

Hearing this, Simon shook his head regretfully and said, "Disney only wants to buy the script and is not willing to produce it for us."

Janet tilted her head: "What should we do?"

Simon thought about a certain animation company still located in the corner of San Francisco and said, "That's okay. Maybe we can try to make this movie in another style."

Janet was confused: "Huh?"

Simon didn't hide anything and said, "What do you think of making this animated movie look like this in 3D?"

Janet blinked her eyes again, obviously unfamiliar with the concept of 3D animated movies. This is not surprising, so far, Pixar has only produced one "Naughty Jumping Light" that is only more than two minutes long.

Simon explained patiently: "Remember the cartoon title of "Lola Run"?"

Janet paused and said, "I remembered, Pixar."

In fact, Janet had more in mind.

for example.

I once saw a page of newspaper clippings in Simon's study, and it clearly had Pixar's name on it.

snort.

The little bastard must have had this idea for a long time.

He also used the excuse of giving gifts to deceive himself.

Hum hum.

However, a smart woman will definitely not expose this.

Then I won’t expose it.

Simon didn't know Janet's thoughts. Looking at the charming and innocent look of the woman in his arms, although he instinctively felt that she was having some thoughts in this state, he also did not ask further questions and nodded: "It's Pixar. If If possible, we will buy it then and make a 3D version of "The Lion King"."

In the past, "The Lion King" had a global box office of more than 900 million U.S. dollars, and it had maintained its position as the top-grossing animated film for more than ten years before it was broken by animated films such as "Toy Story 3" and "Frozen."

Now.

Unless you are willing to give up the script, it is unlikely that Disney's original team will help you 'contract' "The Lion King". What Michael Eisner said at the time was right. Outside of Disney, Simon wants to find Another excellent 2D animated film team is basically impossible.

then.

These days, Simon gradually came up with another bold idea.

Produce a 3D animated version of "The Lion King".

Although based on Simon's understanding of current 3D animation technology, it is not easy to achieve the smooth effect of 2D animation, but Simon is not in a hurry. At worst, it will take a few more years.

Technical issues are not a problem as long as they can be solved.

Too many excellent animated films later proved that Disney is definitely strong enough to solve this problem.

As for whether the future 3D version of "The Lion King" can still achieve the box office miracle it once was, Simon is not too worried.

Movies are the riskiest business in the world.

But at the same time.

Movies are the purest business in the world. As long as the quality of a movie is good enough, audiences will be willing to buy tickets and enter the cinema.

therefore.

Whether it's 2D or 3D, "The Lion King" is "The Lion King."

Even if Simon perfectly copies the original 2D version of "The Lion King", there are still too many variables whether it can achieve the previous box office results. In comparison, the 3D version of "The Lion King" can actually add some selling points to the movie.

After chatting about "The Lion King" for a while, Simon and Janet left the study.

Janet ran to change clothes and wash up, and Simon went downstairs to start preparing breakfast.

At about 8:30, the two left the Palisades mansion, Simon rushed to Daenerys Film Headquarters in Santa Monica, and Janet's destination was her studio in Venice Beach.

The two suddenly reunited a month after they broke up, which inevitably caused the paparazzi to chase them again.

However, as they were used to this state, neither of them sighed too much.

It's already mid-May.

The next day, the movie "Isda" produced by Columbia Pictures was officially released on 1,139 screens, heralding the official start of the 1987 summer season.

"Isda" stars Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman and French actress Isabelle Adjani and cost $55 million. When Simon saw the budget size of this movie in the newspaper, he was filled with emotion.

Half of the top ten movies at the North American box office last year cost less than US$10 million to produce.

Now.

It seems that all of a sudden, Hollywood has entered the blockbuster era.

Catherine's first theatrical feature film "Night of the Dead", which Simon just watched yesterday, is also scheduled to be released on June 19th. Despite being squeezed into the summer schedule and having Simon as a director's assistant, De Laurentiis Entertainment only secured 500 opening screens for the film.

In this regard, Simon clearly raised doubts with Martha Schumacher, president of De Laurentiis Entertainment, yesterday. He didn't mind if Catherine's movie used his name to promote it. In this case, it is obviously better to postpone the film to August or September. The competition in unpopular schedules is not fierce, and at least it can win more than 1,000 opening screens.

Martha Schumacher told Simon that Night of the Dead should be the last film released by De Laurentiis Entertainment before it went bankrupt, and they couldn't wait a few more months.

In this regard, Simon can only be helpless.

Instructing Noah Scott to buy the last long contract, Simon also temporarily let go of the matter and devoted all his energy to the production of three movies under Daenerys Pictures.