Simon and Nancy chatted all the way and soon arrived at the Hilton Hotel near Century City in Beverly Hills.
The car stopped in front of the hotel building. Because of the signing ceremony between Qintex Group and MGM, many reporters who specially squatted outside the Hilton Hotel today noticed the appearance of Simon Westeros' car and quickly surrounded it.
The hotel waiter diligently stepped forward to open the car door, and the two bodyguards in the front row quickly got out of the car.
Ignoring the flurry of questions from reporters around him, Simon patiently waited for Nancy, who was getting off the car on the other side, to turn around and come to him before walking into the hotel together.
News of Simon's engagement to Janet spread a lot during this time. Reporters discovered that he had brought another woman to the Qintex Group's luncheon today. They were obviously in high spirits and raised their cameras.
However, what disappointed the reporters was that Nancy did not hold the man's arm after they were side by side with Simon, but instead kept an appropriate distance. The woman is wearing a black suit, trousers and her blond hair is rolled up in a standard OL style, which makes her not at all like a female companion accompanying a man to a luncheon.
Moreover, because of the dispute between Daenerys Entertainment Consumer Products Department and Alistar Records in recent months and Nancy's frequent appearance in the media during the sales of the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" game, the surrounding reporters are not unfamiliar with her identity.
It seems to be a very common thing for the boss to take his senior executives to a business banquet.
However, because of Simon's identity and Nancy's appearance, the reporters were still unwilling to try to dig out or create some "violent information". Therefore, in the short distance between Simon and the two of them getting off the bus and walking into the hotel, all kinds of ambiguous, misleading and even provocative questions kept ringing around them.
She walked into the hotel lobby with Simon expressionlessly. Nancy felt the flashing spotlight behind her and noticed that the man next to her had an indifferent expression and seemed completely unaffected by the questions. She suddenly asked: "How did I win just now? Hold your arm, will there be a lot of excitement in the newspapers tomorrow?"
Simon looked at Nancy with some surprise and said with a smile: "You don't have to wait for tomorrow, it will be lively right away."
"Then..." Nancy remembered that her boss always had some little tricks in his daily life but had never been caught by the tabloids. She asked curiously in a low voice, "How do you usually eat secretly?"
Simon shook his head without hesitation and said, "I can't tell you this."
Nancy kept asking, "Why?"
Simon did not explain, and said: "In short, I just can't tell you."
Just as he was talking, a group of men and women came forward. Nancy recognized that the middle-aged man in the lead, about forty years old, with neat black hair, was Christopher Scars from the Qintex Group, so she stopped questioning.
Seeing Simon chatting with several people skillfully, I suddenly understood why he refused to talk about his lace experiences.
Perhaps, this is a kind of protection.
No woman would like a man who often shows off his lust-hunting experiences, especially when she becomes the heroine.
If he had just unabashedly confided to himself how he had secretly had sex with a certain actress, even if she took the initiative to ask about it, she would definitely have a bad impression of him later on, or even stay away from him.
Now…
"Chris, this is Nancy Brill, the manager of our company's consumer products division. Nancy, hello, are you still there? This is Christopher Scars, please meet me."
The sound in her ears interrupted Nancy's distraction. She quickly recovered her thoughts and politely greeted Christopher Scars and others.
A total of five people were welcomed out.
In addition to Christopher Scars, there is also Shirley Lansing, who will take over as CEO of MGM-United Artists.
Shirley Lansing was also famous in Hollywood in the original time and space. She was once the first female head of a major studio in Hollywood. After Viacom acquired Paramount Pictures, she was in charge of Paramount Pictures for 13 years. Years long.
Shirley Lansing is now 45 years old. After debuting as an actress in the 1960s, Shirley Lansing quickly entered the field of production. The two consecutive successful productions of "Fatal Attraction", which had a box office of over 100 million in North America the year before last, and "The Kid", which made Jodie Foster the Oscar-winning actress last year, have made Shirley Lansing's reputation rapidly rise in Hollywood. .
Christopher Scars had a disdain for Hollywood, so the reason why Shirley Lansing was able to take charge of MGM was also the result of Simon's involvement.
Shirley Lansing has been running an independent production company for many years and has plenty of experience.
Although MGM is dilapidated, it is still one of the seven major companies in Hollywood. Hollywood, like many industries, is full of discrimination against women, and there has never been much room for career advancement for women. As a woman, being able to suddenly become the head of one of the seven major film companies is very attractive to Shirley Lansing.
Coupled with Simon's help, Shirley Lansing quickly agreed to join after receiving the invitation.
After everyone exchanged greetings, they went to the banquet hall in the hotel.
Christopher Scars is a person who pays great attention to ostentation. The banquet hall was filled with Hollywood celebrities and superstars. The luncheon was a buffet style. Everyone chose the people they were interested in to communicate with each other. It was more lively than a serious banquet.
Simon briefly greeted some guests, picked some food, and sat down at a table with Christopher Scars, Shirley Lansing and others. Nancy sat next to her boss naturally and didn't say much. She just listened quietly to the conversation between Simon and Scars.
With the purchase of MGM-United Artists for US$1 billion, the size of Qintex Group almost doubled in an instant.
However, the Australian company's liabilities have also increased significantly. As investors and creditors tightened supervision of the Qintex Group, Christopher Scarce's control of the company was significantly weakened after the acquisition.
Among the five people who just welcomed Simon, except for Christopher Scars and Shirley Lansing, the other three are all investors and creditor representatives from Australia.
Because of Simon's inextricable connections with Australian capital and the series of miracles he has created in Hollywood, these people are more interested in Simon than Christopher Scars.
Simon learned through some connections in Australia that although he is the founder of Qintex Group, Christopher Scars is now in a state of being expelled at any time due to the continuous dilution of the company's shareholding and the substantial increase in debt ratio.
If you want to indirectly control MGM, these investors and creditors of the Qintex Group are the key.
The two parties had clear intentions and naturally hit it off.
However, Simon did not immediately agree to give MGM a quota for the 10 external cooperation films. He only suggested that Shirley Lansing resolve the copyright dispute of the 007 series as soon as possible after taking over MGM and restart the project.
007 series creator Ian Fleming published the 007 novel "Thunderball" in 1965 because it involved the use of the creativity of another screenwriter Kevin McCrory, and related copyright lawsuits have been entangled for decades.
As a result, Kevin McCrory obtained the copyright of Blofeld, the important villain in the 007 series. In 1983, McCrory also collaborated with Warner Bros. on a 007 spin-off "Missile", the first generation of 007 Starring Sean Connery, it did pretty well at the box office.
Perhaps he got a taste of the sweetness from "Missile", or as some media reports indicate that he has a personal financial crisis and is on the verge of bankruptcy. This year, Kevin McCrory once again asked 007 copyright holders Fanglian Artists and the British Broccoli The family filed a lawsuit seeking the rights to film another 007 spin-off project based on "Thunderball."
That year's "Cruiser" had already made United Artists and the Broccoli family very angry, and naturally they would not agree to Kevin McCrory doing this again.
Neither side is willing to give in easily, and the lawsuit is still ongoing.
Since it fell into decline in the early 1980s, the 007 series has always been a tool of death for MGM, and this was the case until twenty or thirty years later.
Resolving the copyright dispute as soon as possible and restarting the 007 series can, on the one hand, maintain the normal operation of MGM, and on the other hand, it can also prevent the company from going bankrupt with this large-scale production series that is very profitable.
After talking about business, lunch was almost finished, and everyone started to get up and socialize in the hall.
While chatting with George Miller, who came specially to support today, Shirley Lansing came over with a man and woman, but it was Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner.
A series of disputes between Daenerys Entertainment and CAA were eventually resolved when CAA took the initiative to terminate the contracts of Barry Levinson, Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise and Meg Ryan.
When Shirley Lansing did this, she obviously meant to make peace with Tom Cruise.
Tom Cruise has a very close relationship with Paramount. Shirley Lansing has frequently cooperated with Paramount over the years. The producer of "Fatal Attraction" two years ago was Paramount, and Simon did not It's no surprise that Lansing would befriend Cruise and stick up for him.
Although Shirley Lansing had already made a potential statement that she was obviously leaning toward Simon during the lunch, Simon would not let go of some things easily. There were too many things involved, so he only talked lightly with Cruise. Say hello and walk away.
Nicole Kidman has been paying attention to that man since he appeared in the banquet hall.
As an Australian who has a good career in Hollywood, she naturally received the invitation to this banquet. However, most of the lunch was over, and she didn't even find a chance to say hello to the man.
At the same time, he understood in his heart that compared to the initial encounter, his power in Hollywood had reached an unprecedented peak. Even the big bosses who single-handedly founded major Hollywood film companies in the blockbuster era may not have the same power. His influence at this time.
Thinking about Meg Ryan, she was even more scared.
Meg Ryan quickly rose to the top with her role in "When Harry Met Sally." However, in the past six months since her contract with CAA was terminated, out of fear of Daenerys Entertainment, Meg Ryan, who has gone completely solo, has not only not been accepted by a new talent agency, she has not even been offered a new film contract. Didn't get it.
Competition in Hollywood has always been fierce and cruel, especially for actresses. Hollywood happens to have the least shortage of sweetheart actresses like Meg Ryan.
Now, many people have seen that the box office performance of "The Rocketeer", which will be released on December 29, is a matter of life and death for Meg Ryan.
If "The Rocketeer" does well at the box office, Meg Ryan, as the film's heroine, can allow Hollywood studios to continue using it despite the pressure from Simon Westeros. Once "The Rocketeer" fails at the box office, leading actor Tom Cruise may still be able to make a comeback, but Meg Ryan is destined to be quickly eliminated by Hollywood.
Then look at yourself.
After the original "Pulp Fiction", she was not satisfied with the script arrangements provided by Daenerys Entertainment. She just wanted to get rid of the option contract so that she could run her own career more freely.
Now.
In addition to regret, I still regret.
I just hope that he doesn't mind too much about his little actions in the past.
The deeper you get involved in this circle, the more you understand how powerful he is now, and the more you understand how weak you are in front of him.
The filming of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" has been completed, and now Nicole is just waiting for Daenerys Entertainment to arrange her next movie, and does not dare to have any other thoughts.
Seeing the man casually chatting with Cruise for a few words before walking towards her, she quickly took advantage of the situation and went up to him, with the GUCCI bag in her left hand more clearly displayed.
"Hi Simon."
Simon looked at Nicole, who was wearing a white one-shoulder dress with her exquisite collarbone exposed, and smiled: "Hi, you are so beautiful today."
"Thank you," she raised the red wine glass in her hand towards him and said, "The day after tomorrow is the premiere of "Batman", I'm looking forward to it."
"Oh, remember to come and support me then."
"Definitely," he nodded, remembered something, and added, "Also, congratulations on your engagement to Miss Johnston."
"Thank you. What about you, have you found a boyfriend recently?"
"No, I've been with four turtles for several months, how can I have time?"
She showed a faint expression of resentment as she spoke, but in fact, she certainly had no shortage of suitors, and there were still people she was trying to get along with, but in front of this man, she cleverly put herself in a single state.
Naturally, Simon would not pursue this matter, and after chatting for a few more words, he turned and walked away.
After sorting through the details of the conversation just now, I found that he had no emotions towards me, so I felt relieved. Although he had a cold attitude and obviously didn't care much about her, she didn't expect too much. It was good to be able to ignore the existence of her little shrimp, which was better than Meg Ryan.
Now that she was talking about the "Batman" premiere the day after tomorrow, after the luncheon, she immediately called her public relations manager to discuss the details of attending the premiere the day after tomorrow. This time she would definitely prepare a Gucci dress. .
Being busy, Monday and Tuesday pass quickly.
December 20th came in a blink of an eye.
Wednesday.
All eyes in Hollywood are focused on tonight's premiere of "The Batman" at the Sacred Civic Auditorium.
As another heavyweight new work directed by Simon Westeros, the comic book movie has received overwhelming publicity in recent months, which can be easily seen from the premiere venue of the Holy Civic Auditorium. You know, the Sacred Civic Auditorium has always been the venue chosen to host large-scale ceremonies such as the Oscars.
Moreover, according to news from some internal channels, both the producer Daenerys Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures, which is responsible for distribution, appear confident in the film.
The two companies were very strict about keeping the details of "Batman" secret in the early stage. However, because of their confidence in the quality of the film, the film will be open to media reviews tomorrow after the premiere.
In fact, with more than a thousand people watching the premiere, after tonight, it is destined that the film’s reputation will no longer be hidden.
The red carpet ceremony for the premiere begins at 6 p.m.
However, as soon as it got dark today, the area around the Sacred Civic Auditorium quickly became overcrowded, and the number of movie fans gathered even exceeded that of previous Oscar awards ceremonies.