Simon naturally did not have as much leisure as Terry Semel in the afternoon. Since Semel did not leave after lunch, he simply took him with him to Culver City, east of Santa Monica.
One of Highgate Pictures' key projects this year, "Intersections of Life," has begun filming in Culver City.
Simon has been busy these days since he returned to Los Angeles. Although he has been in contact every day, Terry Semel has never been able to find an opportunity to have an in-depth talk with Simon. He obviously wanted to confirm something today.
The two of them took Simon's car and rushed to Culver City together. Simon didn't keep any secrets and once again revealed many of his thoughts about the DC movie universe, including of course Warner's "The Flash" and "Cyborg".
"If you want to ensure the integrity of the DC cinematic universe and allow all the films in this series to interact with each other to achieve the effect of one plus one greater than two, you must ensure that there is no second voice during the execution of the entire plan. Terry, Since Warner is unwilling to open up investment in "The Flash" and "Cyborg" to Daenerys Entertainment, then I will serve as the producer of these two films, and the control of the project will be under my control. Daenerys Entertainment will not participate in profit sharing. I will only take my share of the remuneration. You can discuss the details with Amy and the others. What do you think?"
In the carriage, after hearing what Simon said, Terry Semel couldn't help but look happy on his face.
This is the plan Warner hopes to obtain during internal discussions.
However, because he rejected Simon's proposal for joint investment, Terry Semel was worried that Simon would leave "The Flash" and "Cyborg" alone.
Now, Terry Semel is absolutely certain that Simon really cares about the DC Cinematic Universe plans.
Otherwise, even if Warner is willing to pay generous remuneration, with Simon's current wealth and status, there is no need for him to spend time busy on unrelated projects for other companies.
"I'll go back and discuss it with Amy later," Terry Semel quickly agreed, then thought about it and said, "But, Simon, do you still plan to use new people for these two projects?"
Simon did not answer directly, but asked: "How much money did Marlon Brando get in the end for that "Superman" movie?"
In Christopher Reeve's version of "Superman" in 1978, Marlon Brando played Clark Kent's father. He only had less than 10 minutes of scenes in the film, but in the end he received a very outrageous salary because of the sharing clause signed in advance. .
Speaking of which, without Simon appearing, years later, in the first "Batman," Warners would have made the same mistake again with Jack Nicholson.
Terry Semel was stunned for a moment, thought for a while and said: "Probably, close to 20 million."
Simon asked: "Do you think it's worth it?"
"It's not worth it," Terry Semel said, and then immediately added: "But as long as we don't sign the share-sharing terms easily this time, it will be fine."
"Terry, you still don't understand. In fact, superheroes such as Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are themselves more popular stars than Hollywood stars. There is no need to recruit popularity through real stars. What we have to do is, It’s just about making these movies as good as possible.”
Terry Semel nodded knowingly.
Simon continued: "On the other hand, in the first phase of the 10 DC cinematic universe films starting next year, take The Flash as an example. This superhero will be in "The Flash", "The Flash 2" and "Justice". "League" appeared in the three movies. If they sign A-list stars, they will definitely not accept long-term contracts. By "Justice League", the salary will definitely be sky-high, and then, there will probably be no more. Now, when signing new people, it is Like the Batman series, Daenerys Entertainment has 5 film contracts, which can just complete the first phase of the plan."
According to recent discussions, Daenerys Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures will launch 10 DC cinematic universe films in the next few years, namely "The Dark Knight", "The Flash", "Wonder Woman", " Superman," "The Dark Knight Rises," "Suicide Squad: Mystery Mission," "Batman v Superman," "The Flash 2," "Cyborg" and "Justice League."
Terry Semel suddenly thought of a question and said: "Simon, Adam Baldwin only has 5 film contracts, what about after the first phase?"
Simon said: "Everything has an end. The first phase is completed, "Batman" is suspended for a few years, and then replaced."
"This is such a pity," Terry Semel said: "If everything goes well, after "Justice League", Batman's popularity will definitely reach a higher level, and there will be other heroes. By then, we will make a "Justice League" "League 2" is definitely very marketable."
"It depends on the situation. If Adam Baldwin is still willing to participate in the show and the salary proposed is relatively reasonable," Simon shrugged and said, "One thing is for sure, Daenerys Entertainment will not work for celebrities. I will only pay them what I think is fair.”
Terry Semel also remembered that the creators of the "Batman" series tried to renegotiate the contract some time ago. At that time, he publicly stated his position in the media under Amy's entrustment.
Adam Baldwin is now bound by a contract and can only fulfill the agreement honestly.
However, after completing the agreement, if you want the other party to participate in the show, it will definitely not work without paying a sufficient price.
If it were Warner, Terry Semel felt that he would definitely compromise.
Just like "Lethal Weapon 3" which is currently being prepared, due to the success of "Lethal Weapon 2", Mel Gibson not only received a base salary of US$10 million in "Lethal Weapon 3", but also took away 20% of the film's all channels Profit sharing.
Moreover, this is just the salary of Mel Gibson alone.
The film's director and producer, Richard Donner, and Mel Gibson's two co-stars in the film, Danny Glover and Joe Pesci, also signed more or less sharing terms before agreeing to join. Part Three.
Because both have signed a share-sharing clause, the estimated production cost of "Lethal Weapon 3" is not high compared to the second part, only 35 million US dollars. But even if the third part of the film is more successful at the box office than the second part, most of the profits will be All will belong to this group of creatives, and Warner will only be able to earn a hard-earned profit in the end.
This is indeed working for a star.
However, Warner does not have many options. The "Lethal Weapon" series is still more or less guaranteed to be profitable. If it invests in other films, Warner may lose all its money.
Daenerys Entertainment is in sharp contrast to Warner in this regard.
"One Flew Over the Child", which was released as a Thanksgiving release at the end of last year, has grossed US$156.26 million at the box office as of the past week.
According to the current revenue rate of two to three million US dollars per week, it will probably be possible to earn another US$10 million before the next shift. The film was impacted by "Batman Begins", and its box office dropped by about US$10 million than expected. The local box office is expected to exceed US$160 million, but it is much higher than the summer release of "Lethal Weapon 2."
According to the original contract, the box office of "One Flew Over the Child" exceeded 100 million, and the sequel rights will also return to Daenerys Entertainment.
However, regarding the sequel, Daenerys Entertainment only briefly tested Mel Gibson and other main creators and stopped mentioning it.
You know, the global box office of "Lethal Weapon 2" so far is only a little over 200 million U.S. dollars. However, through the subsequent overseas release of "One Flew Over the Child", there is no problem at all that the global box office will exceed 300 million U.S. dollars.
For a series with a global box office of over 300 million U.S. dollars, Daenerys Entertainment gave up as soon as they gave up. Simon's persistence and confidence in the film business are also impressive. He is obviously very confident that the new projects launched by Daenerys Entertainment will outperform the production of a sequel to "One Flew Over the Child".
In this matter, Warner has no confidence at all.
Perhaps, this is probably the reason why this young man can rise so quickly.
The two talked all the way, and twenty minutes later arrived in the Carlson Park area in south Culver City, where "Intersections of Life" was filmed.
When he arrived at the set, Terry Semel just said hello to Ira Deutschman, the president of Gomen Pictures, who also came to visit the studio in the afternoon, and then hurriedly left in the car again. His car had just been following Simon's car. Now that these things have been finalized, there is no need to stay any longer.
It happened that a group of shots was being shot, and neither Simon nor Deutschman interrupted, quietly watching Robert Altman direct the shooting from the periphery.
This plot is about the Finnegans, one of the eight subplots in the film.
Howard Finnegan is a TV host, and Ann Finnegan is a housewife. They have a son, Casey. Their life was very happy until Casey suddenly suffered a car accident.
At the same time, according to the setting of the film, the Finnegans' neighbors happen to be a mother and daughter, the old and senile mother Tess Trainor, who sings in a jazz bar every day, and the cellist daughter Zoe Trainor.
In my memory, in addition to the actor who played Tess Trainor, Simon knew the other three actors, namely Bruce Davison, Andie MacDowell and Lori Singer. All three of them were A very familiar actor in Hollywood. One of the more interesting points is that Lori Singer has a cousin named Bryan Singer.
Combining the information of other actors in the original version, Simon discovered that the original "Intersection of Life" project was probably a packaged project of ICM, one of the three major talent agencies in Hollywood. Tim Robbins and Robert Downey Jr. were included in the film. , Andie MacDowell, Julianne Moore and other actors are currently artists under ICM.
Now, this project is basically a packaged project under WMA.
With the exception of Aunt Moore, who Simon inserted himself into out of some inhumane bad taste, most of the others are no longer the original cast.
In the scene being filmed, the two actors who are neighbors to each other have all been replaced.
Among them, the role that originally belonged to Lori Singer was handed over by Simon to his default Wonder Woman actor Famke Janssen. Because the role was set to be a cellist, Famke had been studying for several months. cello. Post-dubbing is of course inevitable, but there won’t be too many flaws in the footage.
After Simon returned to Los Angeles, Amy said that Jonathan came forward to hope that Daenerys Entertainment could renegotiate the agreement with Adam Baldwin and others. Although this matter did not cause too big a stir, everyone probably understood it, because With different positions, Simon and Jonathan will never be as close as before.
However, Simon did not deliberately alienate Jonathan.
The relationship between movie studios and talent agencies has always been like this, interdependent and antagonistic. Disney CEO Michael Eisner and CAA President Michael Ovitz are recognized as close friends in Hollywood, and the two families are neighbors.
Similarly, Jonathan helped Simon a lot back then. As long as there are no too sharp conflicts, there will definitely be no problem for the two parties to get along harmoniously.
At his core, Simon is still a person who doesn't like conflicts. However, as the industry under Simon's name continues to expand, various conflicts of interest are destined to only increase.
Today's filming was just the Finnegans and there was no scene involving Trainor and her daughter.
Simon and Deutschman discussed some recent events, and the filming on the set quickly ended.
Robert Altman, with his messy hair and fat figure, finally had time to come over and say hello to Simon. After a brief period of glory in the 1970s, in the early 1980s, due to the failure of several consecutive films, Altman was almost in decline and had no films left. To the point of shooting. The success or failure of "Intersection of Life" is crucial to this director.
After chatting with Simon and Deutschman for a while, Altman ran to prepare for the next shot.
The Finnegans actors also walked up to chat with Simon.
Simon is very familiar with the two actors who are affiliated with WMA.
Howard Finnegan is played by Sam Neill, again as a result of Simon's push.
Ann Finnegan is played by Sheila Ward, a very elegant woman who has appeared in movies such as "The Fugitive" and "Days of Independence" as well as the famous TV series "CSI" in the original time and space. .
Guys who make it in Hollywood are usually very discerning.
Sensing Simon's interest in Sela Ward, Ella Deutschman and Sam Neill stepped aside unknowingly, as if they had something important to talk about.
Ella Deutschman knows her boss’s preferences all too well.
Sela Ward stood next to the makeup trailer on the set and chatted with this legendary young man. It wasn't until another scene started shooting but no one came to call her that she finally felt something was wrong.
Subconsciously brushing the hair in front of her forehead, Sheila Ward held her hands unnaturally in front of her and took a small step back, saying: "Simon, I think it's time to go back to work."
Simon nodded and said, "It's almost time for me to leave."
Sheila Ward was stunned for a moment. She didn't expect Simon to say that, and she was at a loss for a moment.
Just when I didn't know how to react, I heard the young man opposite say again: "Are you free tonight? Let's have dinner together?"
This is normal.
For some reason, Sheila Ward felt relieved and tried to relax as much as possible. She looked at the young man opposite and said, "Are you just eating?"
Simon nodded solemnly: "Of course."
Sheila Ward couldn't help but rolled her eyes slightly, thinking of something, and said: "You, it seems... um, can you have dinner with other women?"
Simon spread his hands and said, "So, in order to avoid making headlines tomorrow, we can only dine quietly in my villa."
Sheila Ward glanced at Simon with sharp eyes and said, "Mr. Westeros, can I refuse?"
"sure."
"Then I won't have to come to the set again tomorrow, right?"
"Of course, tomorrow is Saturday."
"I mean, next week."
"Let's talk about next week next week," Simon raised his wrist to look at his watch and said to the woman: "Then, it's such a happy decision. I'll have someone pick you up after get off work."