Los Angeles.
Inside the Sacred Civic Auditorium in the heart of the city.
This is the scene of the 71st Academy Awards ceremony, which takes place on Sunday evening, March 21st.
Zhang Guoshi and several members of the "Hero" crew got a pretty good left-hand front seat. They listened to Cher, the award presenter for the Best Foreign Language Film Award on stage, read out the nominations one by one, and slowly began to open the envelopes, even if they didn't No matter what expectations I had, I still couldn't help but clench my fist slightly.
On stage.
Today, Miss Cher, who was wearing a sapphire blue hollow-cut low-cut evening dress and still looked very charming, opened the envelope, glanced at it, and read out the award result: "The award belongs to "Central Station," congratulations."
Walter Salles, the famous Latin American director from Brazil, suddenly stood up from his seat in the audience, and then he remembered to be reserved and hugged his friends around him.
Zhang Guoshi completely collapsed in his seat the moment he heard the award results.
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" just won the Best Foreign Language Film last year. It is impossible for the Oscars to give this award to a Chinese film for two consecutive years. This is something that everyone could have predicted before. Even Zhang Guoshi himself knew that this chance was slim. .
But, after all, I am not willing to give in.
When he realized that Jet Lee, who was sitting next to him, had kicked him, Zhang Guoshi woke up again, hurriedly applauded along with everyone, and subconsciously glanced at the big screen on the stage. Fortunately, the camera had been completely cut to the winner, and his gaffe was not caught. Otherwise, it would have been even more embarrassing than not receiving the prize.
Zhang Guoshi was not a person who could not afford to take things up and let them go. Since that was the case, he stopped thinking about it and focused on the subsequent steps.
The best foreign language film award was awarded two hours after the awards ceremony began, and the final key nominations were basically entered.
"Elizabeth", which had previously shown great popularity and already won several peripheral awards, continued to sweep the show, which made Zhang Guoshi more or less uncomfortable. In his opinion, "Elizabeth" is not as good as "Saving Private Ryan", and even "L.A. Confidential", which Brian De Palma reached his peak many years later, is not as good as.
However, this historical film just went all the way.
Oscar is nothing more than that.
Of course, the main reason why Zhang Guoshi is unhappy is that, in this case, what's wrong with giving his "Hero" a little gold medal
Before we knew it, the award ceremony came to an end.
Just when everyone thought the outcome was decided, Oscar turned the wheel again, and the Best Director award unexpectedly fell to Spielberg for "Saving Private Ryan."
this…
Share the pork
wrong.
To strike a balance
Sort of.
If you think about it carefully, maybe, probably, it is Oscar's silent protest against Daenerys' entertainment.
Although, "Saving Private Ryan" is still distributed by Daenerys Entertainment.
In fact, Oscar didn't like Spielberg very much back then. After "Jaws" in 1975 directly pushed Spielberg to the top, in the following ten years, Lao Si made many films to cater to Oscar. The film hopes to win awards.
Unfortunately, nothing was found.
Until "Schindler's List" a few years ago, frankly speaking, I didn't dare not give it.
This time, the Olympic judges were probably more sincere. They probably felt that with the rise of Daenerys Entertainment and the latest generation of Hollywood filmmakers, Lao Si was already considered one of their own.
It was the kind of 'front wave' that was photographed on the beach, so we felt sympathy for each other.
After the peaceful Best Director award, the Best Picture, without any suspense, finally fell on "Elizabeth".
Having said that, as of the latest box office week before the Olympic Awards ceremony, from March 12 to March 18, the cumulative box office of "Elizabeth" in North America has reached 95.07 million U.S. dollars. With this time winning the Oscar for Best Picture, this week will directly While exceeding 100 million, it is expected to have a box office potential of 20 to 30 million US dollars in the future.
The final local box office target should be more than 120 million US dollars.
The production cost was US$25 million, and it was already very successful at the local box office.
However, "Elizabeth" is about to make a big impact overseas. After all, the Oscar awards in this era are still very valuable, and overseas audiences are also very enthusiastic about it. Just like "Shakespeare in Love" in the same year, it barely exceeded 100 million in China, but After winning the Olympics, the overseas box office reached 189 million US dollars, and the global total was close to 300 million US dollars.
As for the possible controversies that may arise from this, if the box office can be more than ten times the cost, it will make a lot of money. For other things, you can be as controversial as you like.
Besides, Simon is not too worried about the possible deliberate suppression by Olympic officials. As long as the quality of the films produced by oneself is sufficient, being suppressed by the Olympic Awards is tantamount to a slap in the face.
Just like next year's "Chicago", a musical masterpiece that Miramax once suppressed for several years after 1999 and once again reached the top spot. If the Oscars don't award it, not to mention the public will criticize it, and the critics will also criticize it.
So stick to it for a year at most.
In addition, there is also the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy that is ready to go. The first two can be ignored, but what about the last one
Beverly Hills.
In the bar on the top floor of the Sunset Tower Hotel, after the awards ceremony, there was a lively Melisandre Party as usual.
Zhang Guoshi and others came here to socialize and soon found someone on the terrace outside the bar.
Simon was sitting on the sofa next to the railing, chatting with several people from the "L.A. Confidential" crew, and in his arms was Christina Aguilera, who was petite and as supple as a cat.
Just as Palma was talking about the preparations for "The Black Dahlia," the most famous film in the "L.A. Tetralogy," which had entered the casting stage, when he saw Zhang Guoshi and the others, Simon greeted them with a smile and motioned for them to sit over directly.
Zhang Guoshi did not expect Simon Westeros to stand up and greet him. After greeting Brian De Palma, Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman in fairly good English, he sat on the sofa next to him. sit down. On the other hand, Li Youhu, who was also a member of the "Hero" crew, had already approached a certain man, and seemed to want to squeeze a certain kitten away, but of course Aguilera would not give in.
In the end, Simon pushed the kitten up in his arms and rushed elsewhere temporarily.
After continuing to talk about some project details of "The Black Dahlia", Simon turned to Zhang Guoshi: "About the documentary project of climbing Mount Everest, the general plan has been made. Daenerys has invested US$5 million and plans to use IMAX to shoot as much as possible. If When the time comes there is still a shortfall in funds, and China will make up for it. As a producer, if you have any questions, you can convene a production meeting to discuss them in detail in the next two days, and then take them directly to China when you leave until the project is completed. "
Zhang Guoshi quickly did some calculations.
5 million US dollars is more than 40 million yuan.
In China, even if it is a movie, it is still high-cost, not to mention it is used to make a documentary. If other people in the industry hear this, their first reaction will probably be that it costs a lot of money.
However, having learned about it in advance, Zhang Guoshi certainly knew that Simon Westeros did not have too much money to spend, but that Daenerys had been releasing good blockbuster documentaries over the years, just like the "Imprint of Gucci" ", which sold more than 50 million U.S. dollars in box office in North America alone, is a small miracle in related genres, and it also stimulated a surge in Gucci brand sales.
In comparison, the US$5 million investment in the Everest climbing project can be easily recovered with the distribution capabilities of Daenerys Entertainment as long as it is done well.
Moreover, didn't Westeros say that if it's not enough, China will make up for it. Obviously it is not limited to this 5 million US dollars, and can continue to be added.
Zhang Guoshi has recently become familiar with IMAX technology. Compared with ordinary film movies, the cost of this shooting method will definitely increase significantly. Perhaps, US$5 million is really not enough.
Of course, there is really no shortage of money for this project.
With Daenerys Entertainment's signature slogan in China, no matter whether it is a state-owned enterprise or a private enterprise, a large number of people are rushing in with money in their hands.
Thinking like this, Zhang Guoshi nodded and said: "Simon, regarding the budget, news of this project has spread in the country recently. Many entrepreneurs have contacted me, hoping to sponsor, and the prices given are very generous. I want Jinshu Over there, there will definitely be more brands hoping to sponsor, what do you think?"
Simon glanced at Zhang Guoshi's expression and roughly understood what he was thinking. After all, Zhang Guoshi has always been very artistic. He said with a smile: "Forget about sponsorship. Since it is planned to be made into a commercial film for distribution, too obvious advertising placement will make The audience was disgusted.”
Listening to Simon's tone, Zhang Guoshi understood that he had seen through his own thoughts, but he didn't notice anything and directly admitted: "I think so too. Ha, at first I was worried that you would agree. After all, Hollywood is very business-oriented. change."
Simon just smiled and added: "Actually, there is another implanter, the king of Vanke. If he is really sure that he will participate in the whole process, you can promote it appropriately when the documentary is released in China. Others who want to have advertisements implanted are free of charge. We have talked. In addition, I also know that China Film and CCTV are also interested in cooperating on this project. This can be discussed. I always welcome cooperation, but all the terms must be listed in the contract. . According to China, brothers settle accounts openly to ensure that there will be no disputes in the future."
Zhang Guoshi nodded in agreement repeatedly.
The day after the 71st Academy Awards ceremony, the controversy remained, and the box office of "Elizabeth", which won the first place, also rose as expected.
However, most of the public's attention was quickly attracted by another major event.
The United States’ third punch in order to gather the euro.
For several days in a row, the market indexes of major global financial markets such as North America, Europe, and Asia have fallen. In addition, it stands to reason that energy prices tend to rise in the context of war, but this time it was uncharacteristically the international crude oil price fell instead of rising, once falling to a low of less than 9.5 US dollars.
Regarding this war in Eastern Europe, Simon was actually more concerned about only one thing.
Will a certain period of history repeat itself
Even if Simon pays attention, he can't do anything.
You can't just ask people to go to Washington to find out whether there are any plans against China in this military operation
The person being spied on must be confused.
If a war breaks out in faraway Eastern Europe, what does it have to do with China
Could it be... Simon Westeros, do you think there will be a relationship between the two, or do you hope there will be a relationship between the two
In order to avoid self-defeating, Simon could only sit on the sidelines.
The big deal is that the cooperation project on climbing Mount Everest will be postponed for a year or two.
New York.
Igret Corporation Headquarters in Rockefeller Center.
Same on March 24th.
Wednesday.
After finishing an investment meeting with the Brazilian sovereign fund team, James Raybould returned to his office, where two guests with Asian faces had already arrived.
The two are from CNOOC’s IPO team.
CNOOC's IPO road show started last week, starting from Hong Kong, first going to Europe, and then to North America.
After circling the earth, arriving in New York, and sorting out the purchase intentions during the entire road show, CNOOC's IPO team fell directly into dire straits.
The planned issuance of 2.2 billion new shares, after a round of road shows, was not compared with the over-subscription of China Telecom, which was more than three times the planned issuance amount. In fact, the total subscription amount was less than double the amount required to meet the listing conditions. The total subscription intentions amount to less than 500 million shares.
what to do
I was in a hurry and went to the doctor. I made some last-minute arrangements and made some contacts, and finally found the Westeros system.
After all, Simon Westeros is not only wealthy, but also has good relations with China. If the Westeros system is willing to come forward, not to mention the other capital partners who respond in full, the Westeros company alone can easily take CNOOC's financing share of US$2.5 billion.
Hence the meeting today.
After politely shaking hands with each other, everyone sat down in the reception area. James got straight to the point and said to one of the round-faced middle-aged people: "Mr. Wei, I carefully read the prospectus of CNOOC last night. In order not to waste the time of both parties, My answer is, unfortunately. Even if we put aside the current environment of turbulent stock markets and plummeting oil prices, CNOOC's valuation price-to-earnings ratio of 21 to 24 times is really too high."
The round-faced middle-aged man surnamed Wei did not expect to be hit with a basin of cold water, but he did not give up. He did not need the help of a translator and said directly in English: "Mr. Raybould, we can talk about the price."
"Sorry," James insisted, paused, and then said: "Mr. Wei, the reason why you contacted us is obviously because of the good cooperative relationship between the Westeros system and China. We were initially very touched by the IPO of CNOOC. If you are interested, the two parties have just cooperated on the listing of China Telecom, but you did not give us this kind of cooperation opportunity at that time. Now, the CNOOC IPO is about to be stranded, and you have come here again, hoping that the Westeros system can help to save the situation. Frankly, this is not something friends should do."
When the middle-aged man surnamed Wei heard this, his expression was unavoidable, and he felt regretful in his heart. He subconsciously defended: "Mr. Raybould, I am just an executor. This matter is actually not something I can decide."
James probably understands this too.
China is so large.
When a country is large enough, it is impossible to go up and down a line, there must be multiple ropes twisted together.
After taking a sip of the coffee sent by the secretary, James was not in a hurry to see off the guests. After putting down the coffee cup, he said, "Actually, I asked Simon about this."
The middle-aged man named Wei subconsciously straightened his waist again.
James shook his head slightly, extinguishing the other party's hope, and said: "What Simon means is that the current environment is really not suitable for energy companies like CNOOC to go public. Even if we help to cover the bottom and force it into the stock market, the stock price will continue to fall. Not to mention the losses of investors, if such a stock price trend occurs, it will definitely affect CNOOC's own development. I think you definitely don't want to see this happen, right?"
The middle-aged man surnamed Wei could only nod.
James patiently said: "So, Simon hopes you will wait two or three years before trying again. By then, if CNOOC feels that we can cooperate, we are very welcome."