Since Simon had no intention of deliberately lowering the budget and gave a very reasonable cost, Jerry Bruckheimer was even more unlikely to have any problems and quickly agreed.
Simon looked at Michael Jordan again.
Michael Jordan also nodded: "I have no problem here."
In fact, the head of Westinghouse Electric still feels that it is a bit small. He only contributed half of it, only 35 million, which is a bit small. However, he also knows that things have to be done slowly.
In any case, if he can get a cooperation opportunity for a blockbuster project directly from Simon Westeros today, he will be confident when facing the Westinghouse Board of Directors.
Those people have always criticized his transformation strategy.
"Very good, that's it," Simon said, turning to Bruckheimer: "Then there's the script, which needs to be revised. The main issue is Edward Lyle, who has been evading U.S. surveillance for a long time. The setting of this character is a bit far-fetched. I I hope to be replaced by a young man, a technical genius."
At this point, after thinking about it for a while, Simon suddenly had an idea and said: "It would be best to be a young woman, um... we can set up a scientist whose parents worked for the federal secret service and were killed for exposing an illegal surveillance network. . Because the woman was also an insider, she was implicated and had to hide all year round. While thinking of ways to take revenge, she happened to find out what happened to the male protagonist and took the initiative to contact him. "
After Simon finished speaking, Michael Jordan was the first to echo: "This is good. Harrison plays a young girl. Well, this is good."
As for the specific advantages, Michael Jordan was not a filmmaker after all. He couldn't describe it at the moment, so he could only repeat the compliment twice with a little embarrassment.
Jerry Bruckheimer also endorsed it.
This setting is much more exciting than two old men being chased around the world by federal secret agents: "It's a great change, and I think this can also pave the way for a possible sequel. I mean, if you change it to a woman, Later, the role of Edward. Simon, which actress do you think is suitable?"
"I haven't thought about it yet. Let's finish the script first," Simon said here, and took the initiative to end the topic: "That's it for today. We will arrange a formal meeting next week to discuss more detailed terms."
They both nodded together.
After the business talk was over, the rest was casual. Simon had plans for later and planned to leave after a short social interaction.
Most of the guests at the cocktail party had the idea of getting close to Simon, but some wanted more. After discussing the Nasdaq situation and the operation of the LinkedIn website with Michael Ovitz, the CAA head He said seemingly casually: "Simon, it would be more in the interests of Daenerys Entertainment to let the Japanese continue to run Colombia like Disney did, right?"
When Vivendi acquired Disney, the domestic response in the Federation was stronger than when the Japanese acquired Colombia. The result still passed Washington's merger review, largely because the Westeros system drew strength from it.
Whether it's a country or an individual, it's our nature to protect our shortcomings.
As other studios have become foreign-owned, Daenerys Entertainment will naturally receive more favoritism from the federal government.
With Ovitz's information-gathering ability, which is enough to serve as the head of the intelligence department, it was no secret to him that Daenerys Entertainment took the initiative to push Disney out.
Simon did not deny it and said with a smile: "That's true. However, Mike, the problem is that nothing can stay the same forever. It is a normal phenomenon in Hollywood that people come and go. In this case, it is better to stop it than to try in vain to stop it. This is an inevitable trend, and I hope to be able to guide it in my own direction. To use a Chinese idiom, it is called, blocking is worse than sparing."
Simon also deliberately changed the last four words into Chinese.
Coming and going is indeed the biggest characteristic of Hollywood. Even major studios such as Warner and Paramount that seem to have existed for a long time, in a hundred years, what is left are actually just labels, and the owners have changed so many times. Starting in the 1980s, this coming and going became more frequent and would continue for many years to come.
Since it is an inevitable industry trend, what Simon has to do is to try to make this back and forth in the interests of Daenerys Entertainment, or, in other words, ensure that this back and forth continues.
Turbulence means chaos and the inability to develop stably.
Just like this time.
In the coming 1998, the Asian financial turmoil hit Japan. This was the weakest moment for Sony to let go of Columbia. At this time, it had the greatest chance of pushing Westinghouse to buy back this major film company. Once missed, it's hard to say whether Sony will take root in Hollywood as thoroughly as it once did.
This is not what Simon wants to see.
Furthermore, Westinghouse Electric is also Simon’s target.
Both Westinghouse itself and Columbia Pictures, which Simon recommended to acquire, would be in a mess in the future.
Very, very bad.
Coupled with the memories of the past, it is no surprise that Michael Jordan completed what was later ridiculed as a 'GE commercial espionage' mission and sold off all of Westinghouse's core businesses, which resulted in a large number of media assets being wasted. , can only come and go again.
So there was turmoil and chaos again.
Everything else is in turmoil and chaos, and the stable Daenerys Entertainment will inevitably become stronger and stronger.
After listening to Simon's explanation, Michael Ovitz just smiled and did not pursue it. He also said: "It seems that I should also take time to learn some Chinese."
"Nice idea."
Simon said, raising his glass to Ovitz, and turned to look at Amy Adams and Jessica Chastain, who had been peeping for a long time not far away.
The two women saw Simon looking at them and walked over quickly.
Michael Ovitz walked away.
When the two women came forward, Simon smiled and said, "I see you guys have been staring at me for a long time. What's the matter?"
Both women felt a little embarrassed immediately. They had just been looking for an opportunity but couldn't find it. Mainly because they felt guilty in front of those big names, and they felt even more guilty about Simon Westeros, so they didn't dare to rush forward.
Now, feeling the warm smile of the man in front of her, and unable to help but relax, Jessica spoke first: "Mr. Westeros, we just want to thank you."
"Um?"
"We were originally selected to participate in "The Ghost Story"."
"No need for this."
Simon said, looking at Jessica in front of him, and suddenly his heart moved, remembering the "Public Enemy" he had just talked about with Bruckheimer and the others.
The image of the young woman in the setting, the Jessica in front of her, seems to be perfect.
You know, in the past, most of Jessica Chastain's screen images were of relatively strong and independent leaders or strong women, such as the CIA agent in "Hunter", such as the spaceship in "The Martian" commander. What Simon needs this time is a strong woman who can emotionally confront Harrison Ford, not the vase Bond girl from the 007 series.
Jessica noticed Simon's sudden look, and her heartbeat sped up inexplicably. She shrank her neck, then quietly relaxed and tried to make eye contact with the man: "Mr. Westeros, is there any problem?"
"I suddenly thought of something," Simon said, coming back to his senses. Then he admired the two women tonight from a man's perspective, and said with a smile, "Also, you are very beautiful tonight."
The two in front of her are exactly the kind of Hollywood actresses that Simon prefers.
With a basic score ranging from 70 to 80, if you dress it up carefully, you can achieve a pleasing score of 80 or more.
Faced with Simon's sudden compliment, Jessica pretended to be shy, and Amy seemed a little embarrassed, looking around subconsciously.
pity.
too many people.
Otherwise, it seems that now is a good opportunity to step forward, um, that, according to Lina...
Simon didn't play step-by-step with the two girls, mainly because he didn't have that much time. He said directly: "I'm going to fly to Mexico for the weekend. A manor has just been built in the southernmost part of Baja California. Do you want to come with me?"
Amy opened her mouth slightly.
Jessica didn't hesitate, quietly holding Amy's arm to prevent her from saying stupid things, and said equally directly: "Okay."
"Then, let's go."
Amy finally reacted and widened her eyes: "Simon, now... now?"
Simon raised his wrist and looked at his watch: "It's mid-eight o'clock in the evening. We are taking off from Los Angeles Airport. It only takes us an hour and a half to get there."
Jessica also remembered a question: "Simon, do you need a visa to go to Mexico?"
Simon thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "I'm not sure, but it's night now and it's dark. It's easy for me to sneak you across."
“…”
The two women didn't know how to take the joke, but they quickly realized that in front of them was Simon Westeros. Is it a big deal to take two people through customs temporarily
Seeing that the two women had woken up, Simon smiled and said, "That's it, I'll go say goodbye to Mike first."
Amy was still a little cautious and called Simon: "Well, we have to bring our passports, right?"
Simon is also very talkative: "Okay, where do you live? We'll pick it up later."
Amy shook her head and said: "Not with us, because we may go overseas to promote "Ghost Story", and our assistant temporarily took it to apply for some documents."
"Then let her be sent to the international airport, and you can make a call yourself," Simon said, pointing outside the villa: "Then wait for me in the front yard."
Seeing Simon walk away, Amy and Jessica took out their mobile phones from their bags and dialed Lena's number while walking outside.
About half an hour later.
At an entrance to Los Angeles International Airport, she noticed one of the two black cars pressing down the window. Jessica waved to her, and Lena Kane, who had rushed here in a hurry, ran over.
When she came to the car, Lina took out two passports and handed them over, and said excitedly: "You guys are so awesome..."
At this point, the round-faced assistant had noticed the man sitting between the two women in the car, and she was immediately embarrassed. She thought that a certain boss was in the car in front. Fortunately, the girl was thick-skinned and quickly revealed what she thought was the most appropriate thing. With a big smile, he lowered his body and waved to the carriage: "Good evening, Mr. Westeros."
Simon didn't care at first, but when he found that the girl outside the window looked a bit like Selena Gomez in his memory, he became interested and asked with a smile: "Are you of Latin descent?"
"Yes," Lina nodded quickly. She wished she could have a few more words with the big boss. After handing the two passports to Jessica, she raised a few slender fingers in a somewhat chaotic manner: "Probably. One in eight, my grandmother was from Mexico.”
"Oh, we are going to your grandmother's hometown for the weekend. Do you want to go there and have a look?"
"ah… "
This came out of the blue, and Lena Kane, who was completely unprepared, didn't know how to answer.
Then I saw the man reaching out and opening the car door: "Come up."
"I, um..." Lina said, squeezing into the car neatly, making Jessica and Amy roll their eyes, but she said, "I didn't bring my passport?"
Simon smiled and said, "That's just right. I'll take you to sneak across."
The bodyguard in the front row got out of the car at some point and signaled Lina to go further in. Lina then stood up, passed Jessica, and sat down directly on the man's lap with her petite body of just over 1.6 meters tall, saying something very embarrassed. Looks like: "Sorry, Mr. Westeros, it's too crowded."
Jessica: “…”
Amy: "..."
It seemed that the round-faced assistant’s encouragement to them before the reception was totally innocent.
Clothes!
Simon felt a small hand that was originally on his thigh fumbled its way to finally support his shoulder, and he was a little speechless.
I thought I accidentally caught a stupid cat, but I found out it was a little wild cat.
Still very wild.
The car door was closed again and it started again. In just a moment, it arrived at a runway in the airport, where a Boeing 767 was already waiting.
The three women got out of the car and followed Simon. They looked at the private plane in front of them against the airport lights, and suddenly felt a little unreal.
Arriving at the gangway, Simon pointed to the two female guards next to him and said, "I'll wait for you up there."
He said and went up the gangway first.
One of the female guards stepped forward, stopped the three women for a moment, and said politely: "Young ladies, if you have any inappropriate items with you, please let us save them for you first."
When the three girls saw another female guard coming forward with a metal detector in their hands, they knew it was a security check, so they cooperated and let the other person do what they did. Amy raised her arm to cooperate with the detection and shook the bag in her right hand: "Does the key count?"
"The key doesn't matter."
The female guard who had just spoken said, apologized again, took the three women's bags and began to rummage through them carefully.
After a few minutes of this, after Jessica was taken away a two-inch long knife as a key chain pendant, the three women finally boarded the plane and were led by the waitress to sit down in a living room in the middle cabin. Seeing the man's figure, Lina took the initiative to ask. The waitress did not answer, but just reminded them to fasten their seat belts, indicating that the plane was about to take off.
After the waitress left temporarily, the three women who were restrained by seat belts looked at each other in confusion. Lina was the first to laugh, her round face flushed, obviously still excited, and she muttered: "This is great, We are tied here, Jesse’s self-defense weapons have been taken away, and we can’t resist whatever Simon wants to do.”
Jessica was speechless.
She was so embarrassed just now. Her pocket knife was only used occasionally to open packages and pick nails. It was less than two inches and not as long as her little finger. However, the female guard seemed to have found a handful of Damascus. He seemed to be looking at her like a terrorist. Is it that serious
Amy saw that her round-faced assistant was speaking pitifully, but her expression was obviously looking forward to it. Thinking about the brief situation in the car just now, Amy could only roll her eyes.
This is a real goblin.
Can't compare.
I even started to resent myself a little. I had to get a passport. Isn’t it bad to smuggle in
As a result, this goblin was attracted.
Amy originally thought that the words her assistant told them before the reception were just to encourage them. Just like many people always like to tell others some big truths that they can't do at all.
However, she is very sure now that this one will definitely take action later and even steal the limelight from her and Jessica.
What's this