On June 10, three new films were released in the new week, namely Disney's family comedy "Four Daughters and Two Moms" and Paramount's thriller and suspense film "Private Base" starring Sean Connery. ” and MGM’s sequel to the horror series “The Haunting 3.”
The strategy of questioning the fairness of "Pulp Fiction" at the Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or failed, and some media pointed the finger at the film's excessive violence and references to many films.
However, in the context that "Pulp Fiction" has once again formed a movie-watching craze like last year's "Run Lola Run", these off-site tricks will actually only increase people's curiosity about the film.
To be fair, for most viewers, especially the mainstream youth viewing group of "Pulp Fiction", it is actually difficult for them to understand the good points of this film without being affected by external public opinion at all. However, when a large number of media and many classmates and friends are discussing "Pulp Fiction", these people often already know about the film and have their own expectations before entering the cinema.
Therefore, the swing dance of Vincent and Mia, the foreshadowing of "The Deer Hunter" in the "Gold Watch" section, Esmeralda and "Taxi Driver" and other countless rich details are very interesting. The novel plot of the film has a closed ring structure, and the whole film was unknowingly labeled as "cool".
Due to the popularity of "Pulp Fiction", the popularity of several big names who participated in the film has increased again. Newcomers such as Samuel L. Jackson and Nicole Kidman have also begun to enter the public eye, even if they only appear in the film for a few For several minutes, Janet became the subject of much media discussion due to her wonderful performance as Taxi Driver Esmeralda. Jonathan Friedman privately even jokingly asked Janet if she was interested in signing a contract with WMA.
Under such overwhelming popularity, in the second week of its release, "Pulp Fiction" continued to maintain its position as the weekly box office champion with only a 15% drop. In the seven days from June 10th to June 17th, the film once again earned US$23.38 million.
In its first two weeks, the North American box office of "Pulp Fiction" has exceeded the US$50 million mark, reaching US$50.91 million.
It easily achieved US$50 million in box office in two weeks. Major North American media and box office statistics agencies generally predict that the total North American box office of "Pulp Fiction" will reach about US$150 million. The film is also likely to achieve the North American box office within six weeks. Breaking 100 million.
Coincidentally, "Pulp Fiction" and "Basic Instinct" were released exactly six weeks apart.
"Crocodile Dundee 2", which ranked second on the list, still saw a box office drop of 31% this week after a sharp 41% drop last week, collecting another US$12.35 million, with a total box office of US$65.15 million.
Although it opened with more than 30 million US dollars, according to the film's current downward trend, the North American box office of "Crocodile Dundee 2" is likely to barely reach over 100 million US dollars, which is far from being comparable to the 174 million US dollars of the first film.
After "Crocodile Dundee 2", "Future" starring Tom Hanks exceeded everyone's expectations and only suffered a slight decline of 4.7% in the next week, almost the same as last week, and collected another $12.01 million. The weekly box office totaled 24.6 million U.S. dollars.
The North American box office of US$24.6 million may not be comparable to "Pulp Fiction" and "Crocodile Dundee 2", but compared with "Funny Farm" which has completely fallen behind to eighth place on the weekly box office list this week, you will know that "Future" This box office data is so gratifying.
In its second week of release, the box office of "Farm", which has a theme similar to "Future", dropped 26%, taking in only 6.01 million US dollars. Counting the 8.11 million US dollars in the first week, the total box office in the two weeks was 14.12 million US dollars.
According to the decline curve of "Funny Farm", the total North American box office of this film may only be about 25 million US dollars.
Moreover, if the box office decline in the next few weeks can be as weak as in the first week, "Future" will obviously hit the North American box office to exceed 100 million again like the original time and space. Fox, which did not expect such a good thing at all, has already begun preparations to increase the film schedule.
Except for "Pulp Fiction", "Crocodile Dundee 2" and "Future", the performance of other films this week was lackluster. Among the three new films, "Four Daughters and Two Moms", which had the best opening performance, only had a box office number of only $9.11 million.
After the North American box office exceeded 100 million last week, "When Harry Met Sally", which has slipped to 10th on the list, quietly collected another US$2.15 million, with a total box office of US$102.36 million.
Not surprisingly, the box office figures for "When Harry Met Sally" will fall below one million US dollars next week, and Disney has cut the film's screen size to 635. It is expected that the total North American box office of "When Harry Met Sally" will be around US$110 million when it is released in August.
The summer movie season in North America is in full swing, and the Hollywood writers' strike continues.
On June 13, the Film and Television Producers Alliance proposed a new contract again after another back and forth. Although this plan made some concessions, it still failed to meet the original expectations of the Writers Guild.
The strike has lasted for more than three months, and the autumn schedule of television is destined to be severely affected, but the life of the writers who have not had any income for an entire quarter is becoming increasingly difficult. Therefore, the Writers Guild finally decided to leave the choice to the writers themselves and once again launched a vote to decide whether to accept the new contract offered by the Producers Union.
Simon doesn't feel that his butterfly has reached the point where it can affect the overall situation. The pilot of "Who Will Be a Millionaire" that may have some impact on the situation is June 20. By then, most of the screenwriters have already sent in their votes. .
It was therefore clear from the vote that the strike would definitely continue for another two months.
After several contacts, General Electric, which owns New World Entertainment’s US$220 million in debt, responded positively to Simon’s debt-for-equity swap plan. GE’s CEO Jack Welch also personally communicated with Simon for several times. phone calls.
However, during the communication process, General Electric proposed a plan similar to that of Warner Chairman Steve Ross. They wanted to use New World Entertainment as a bargaining chip to participate in Daenerys Pictures.
Just as a person often begins to pursue fame after making enough money, many large companies in the world like to enter the entertainment media industry. Among the seven major Hollywood studios, half of Columbia Pictures is owned by Coca-Cola, and Paramount's parent company is Gulf Western Industries.
General Electric had similar motives when it acquired the NBC television network two years ago.
Although Daenerys Pictures has just started less than two years ago, the continuous success of many films has obviously aroused General Electric's interest. Trading a debt that might otherwise have been lost in exchange for a stake in a rising Hollywood star is a bargain.
Simon naturally chose to refuse as decisively as he did the last time he contacted Steve Ross.
General Electric proposed to use the shares of New World Entertainment after the debt-for-equity swap to exchange for 49% of the equity of the new company in the future. Although the other party did not ask for absolute control, the price of 220 million US dollars, in Simon's view, was not even the current Daenerys Pictures. You can't even get half of the equity, let alone half of the new company after the merger in the future.
The wealthy General Electric refused to give in during the communication process, so there is no need to continue talking about this matter for the time being. Simon can only hope that "Who Will Be a Millionaire" will achieve the expected success.
Los Angeles.
At the Daenerys Film Headquarters in Santa Monica, Simon had just returned from the morning trip to Bakersfield, a small town north of Los Angeles, to visit the "Scream" crew.
In the large conference room, Simon sat at the head. On both sides of the oval conference table, except for Amy, there were ten other white men aged around 25 to 30 years old. These were the final round of male protagonists in "Batman" Ten candidates auditioned.
In the plan, after confirming the male lead, Simon hopes to train the actor in various aspects for about six months. Therefore, he plans to finalize the matter by the end of the month.
After briefly flipping through the resumes of the ten people around him, Simon raised his head and said to everyone: "Everyone should have seen that you are the last ten. Bruce Wayne will be born among you. Today's meeting is not Audition, just want to chat with everyone.”
Amidst the polite responses in the conference room, Simon quickly continued: "First of all, I must remind everyone again that Daenerys Films will not make any concessions on the conditions proposed by Daenerys Films. If you want to get this role, you must Sign a 15-year contract for five films. I can also tell you clearly that as long as everything goes well, this contract will only take ten years at most to complete. The reason why we ask for 15 years is to prevent you from breaking the contract midway. Once you do this, according to the contract, you will not be able to accept any other films during the remaining period unless you pay liquidated damages that you cannot actually afford. That's right, just like the record companies who are not very obedient. Just like the singers, you will be refrigerated."
There was silence for a moment, and finally someone asked: "Mr. Westeros, what should I do if Daenerys Films breaks the contract?"
"We will not breach the contract," Simon shook his head and said, "If the project does not go well, we can actively choose to terminate the contract with you."
"That doesn't seem fair."
"Unfortunately, there are not many fair things in the world." Simon glanced at the other party, then scanned the surroundings, and said: "Most of the ten of you have only starred in a few movies. Supporting roles may only be able to maintain this status in the future. "Batman" gives you a chance to reach the top in one step. As long as this film is successful, you can immediately become Tom Cruise, Eddie Murphy, A-list stars like Michael J. Fox. I would like to remind you again that playing Bruce Wayne will not bring you a very high salary. This will also be written into the contract, but you can do it through advertising endorsements and other roles. Films make a lot of money. So if anyone feels that this contract is not worth the price I just said, you can leave now."
After Simon finished speaking, he waited patiently for a moment and no one walked out of the office before he continued: "OK, then, let's get down to business. First of all, congratulations to everyone, you have entered the final round of auditions. But next, Daenerys The film company will conduct certain background checks on you to ensure that you do not have any past history of racial discrimination, sexual assault, robbery, etc. that may cause huge trouble for your upcoming role. We have already reminded you of this at the beginning of the audition , now, if you have a past that you don’t want us to know about, please take the initiative to withdraw, so that both of us can avoid unnecessary trouble."
There was another moment of silence, but still no one left.
Simon nodded with satisfaction and said: "Secondly, once he gets this role, Daenerys Films will arrange for half a year of training in all aspects, including physical training and acting courses. Of course, we know everyone's The state of the economy, so the bills are being paid by Daenerys Films. But this process is definitely not going to be easy, and if anyone thinks they can't handle it, please leave now."
Ten people were still sitting neatly in the conference room.
Simon continued to talk about some requirements and answered some questions from everyone. After more than ten minutes, he said seriously again: "Then, I think everyone has no questions. For the last step, you have also made it before the audition. Be reminded that if you want to get this role, you must not have any addiction to drugs or drugs. Now, the team of doctors we invited is next door. Those of you who are sure that you can pass the test can go next door to have the doctor take a blood sample , otherwise, you can leave directly.”
After saying this, and ignoring the sudden changes in the faces of several men among these people, Simon nodded to Linda Vargas, the casting director who had been helping him with the casting work since "Run Lola Run". After a moment, he stood up and walked out of the conference room with Jennifer.
Returning to the floor of his office, Simon came to the outer door and saw a curly-haired girl wearing a navel-baring T-shirt and tight jeans sitting on the sofa in the secretary's office. The girl's name was Valerie Golino, from the original version of "Rain" The heroine of "People".
After Simon's intervention, "Rain Man", which was still in the final stages of filming, also chose Valerie Golino to play Tom Cruise's girlfriend. However, her role was completed last month.
Seeing Simon appear, Valerie Golino stood up quickly, took the initiative to come over and stretched out her hand to Simon: "Hello, Mr. Westeros."
Simon looked up and down at the girl in front of him, showed a satisfied expression, shook her hand and said, "Isn't your agent here?"
Valerie Golino shook her head and said: "My agent went to New York. I talked to Mr. Friedman and he said I can come here by myself."
Simon didn't ask too much. He asked Susan to bring two cups of coffee, and then said to Valerie Golino: "Come in with me."
Valerie Golino nodded, holding her satchel in both hands and following Simon into his office with some restraint.
After walking to the desk and sitting down, before Simon could talk to Valerie Golino, Susan's voice came from the phone on the desk: "Mr. Westeros, Mr. Friedman's phone number."