Simon can roughly understand the mood of the people around him when they mention "Home Alone".
Daenerys Entertainment has independently released several blockbuster films this year. The North American box office of "Pretty Woman" was US$178 million, and the North American box office of "The Last Day" was US$217 million. Both of them are basically close to US$200 million. level.
Now, it's the same thing with "Home Alone."
On the other hand, among Daenerys Entertainment's 10 external film projects, only "Sleeping with the Enemy" and "Pink" have been released that can reach the domestic box office level of US$100 million. The other two "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" ” and “Dangerous Days” were blockbuster hits, but their box office potential was only around US$80 million.
It's obvious that Simon is clearly leaving his best projects to Daenerys to entertain herself.
Moreover, Columbia's Peter Cooper, Fox President Joe Ross and others may be even more confused about why Simon can accurately select these blockbuster films.
Take "Home Alone" as an example. John Hughes is indeed one of the blockbuster filmmakers who emerged in the 1980s, but he has never had a film with a box office of over 100 million in North America. His best local box office results are Only about $70 million.
However, all of a sudden, "Home Alone" not only broke the awkward situation of John Hughes' films failing to break 100 million, but the total box office in North America seemed to be heading straight for 200 million US dollars.
For traditional Hollywood filmmakers, film investment is like gambling. No one can accurately predict whether a movie will be a hit. This is why Hollywood filmmakers insist on not personally participating in film investment as much as possible and only receiving labor fees.
Simon Westeros has been breaking the perception of traditional Hollywood filmmakers in recent years.
Of course, Simon would not answer questions for these people, but just casually chatted about various trivial matters that had recently happened in Hollywood. In this circle now, if he doesn't want to, no one can make him voluntarily reveal certain information.
After chatting and socializing, he noticed that his personal lawyer George Norman was walking towards him with a few people. Simon nodded to everyone, smiled and walked over with Janet.
Janet had just reminded George in her ear that she wanted to introduce some people to him tonight, mostly friends from his circle.
Simon greeted the Normans and looked around casually, and was unexpectedly attracted by another couple.
The man in the couple appears to be in his forties or fifties, with a dark complexion and obvious Latino ancestry. The woman looks much younger, in her thirties, with short black hair, fair skin, and the exquisite charm unique to ladies in the wealthy areas of Los Angeles.
The most important thing is that Simon recognized the identity of the couple at a glance, especially the identity of the woman, Robert Kardashian and Kris Kardashian. If history does not change, the latter will later change her name to Kris Jenner. This is a powerful woman who later single-handedly created the "Kennedy Family of Entertainment".
In the past few years, Simon has seen too many people who could only appear in the news in his previous life. Although he once again lamented that the world is too small, he did not show a special expression on his face.
However, when Simon glanced at him casually, probably because of the keen sixth sense unique to women, Kris Kardashian, who was holding her husband on her arm, clearly felt that the young man who had a prominent position in the city and even the entire country at this time, looked at There seems to be something special about the gaze directed at him.
It must be an illusion, right
However, the couple had recently introduced OJ Simpson, the godfather of their children, to George Norman's law firm as a client, thus breaking into the private circle of this barrister who was becoming more and more popular in Los Angeles. However, in doing so, I actually hoped to get in touch with the higher levels of the Los Angeles pyramid through George Norman.
The top level of this city's pyramid is undoubtedly the big shots in Hollywood, especially the young man in front of him.
If they can establish a relationship with Simon Westeros, even if they do not get any substantial benefits, it will be enough to increase their reputation in their own social circle.
After introducing several close friends, George Norman finally signaled to the Kardashians and said: "Simon, this is Bob Kardashian and his wife Kris. Bob was also a lawyer before, and we also cooperated. Yes, but he is now a very good businessman."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Kardashian."
Simon shook hands with Robert Kardashian, said hello, then looked at Kris Kardashian, stretched out his hand and said: "Hello, Mrs. Kardashian."
Kris Kardashian had been mentally brewing a compliment to say hello to Simon, but she couldn't find the right words until she shook his hand. The young man in front of me had too many dazzling qualities, so he could only smile and say: "Hello, Simon."
Feeling the slightly rough big hand holding hers, and thinking of the young man's eyes before, Kris Kardashian's heart swayed.
Simon noticed the woman's wandering eyes, suddenly became excited, and lightly moved his fingers on the other person's palm twice before letting go of the other person. Kris Kardashian felt Simon's little movement, and the surprise in her expression flashed away, and she quickly calmed down her expression, but her mind could no longer be calm.
What does this mean in Westeros
Could it be...
Kris Kardashian couldn't help but think about Simon Westeros' rumored preference for women.
Simon didn't care how Kris Kardashian's mood was turbulent. After flirting with her casually, he ignored her and quickly turned to other entertainment.
During the entire party that followed, the beautiful woman holding her husband's arm alternately looked expectantly, absentmindedly, and resentfully waiting for more than an hour at the party. She was almost looking through the eyes, but she never got any further hints from a certain young man, or even noticed that the other party was there. Just leave early.
The next day is Friday.
Early in the morning, two pieces of news appeared in the media that attracted public attention.
Simon Westeros finally responded to the whereabouts of the $500,000 he received from Matthew Broderick. Many people found it unbelievable when they saw the relevant article in the Los Angeles Times.
Four years ago, that young man had just arrived in Los Angeles, lived in a motel, and worked a part-time job to make ends meet. He was completely impoverished. How could he donate a huge sum of US$500,000
However, the facts are beyond doubt.
On the day the Los Angeles Times exposed the news, a senior UNICEF official confirmed the news himself in an interview with CNN.
A series of information subsequently exposed by other media further confirmed the accuracy of this news.
Simon Westeros did donate the $500,000.
It's unbelievable.
Although Simon did not publicly respond to the winter when he donated the $500,000, the fact is that Simon, who had already gained the upper hand in public opinion in the storm caused by Matthew Broderick, unknowingly began to gain More people's favor.
Another piece of news that is equally eye-catching is the box office of "Home Alone" in its first week.
From December 21st to December 27th, "Home Alone" outperformed other films in the same period, with a box office revenue of US$41.93 million in the first seven days.
Impacted by the strong box office data of "Home Alone", among the other eight new films in the same period, only "Kindergarten" produced by Universal Pictures barely exceeded the US$10 million mark in its first week. Others such as Blair De Palma's " "The Bonfire of the Vanities" and Sean Connery's "The Russia House" are two new large-scale releases, both of which only had a box office of 5 to 6 million US dollars in their first weekends.
However, this is just the beginning.
On December 28, a new week, North American theaters once again launched a series of new films.
However, the only large-scale openings this week are the drama "Havana" starring Sidney Pollack and Robert Redford and "The Godfather Part III" directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
"The Godfather Part 3" has been long-awaited by movie fans.
However, the film's early test screenings were unsatisfactory, and the performance of Coppola's daughter Sofia Coppola in the film attracted overwhelmingly negative reviews.
"Havana," starring Robert Redford, tells the ups and downs of a gambler's life in the changing environment of Cuba in the late 1950s, and it didn't make much of a splash.
The production cost of "Havana" is as high as US$40 million. Universal obviously has no confidence in this film. Although it has given a New Year schedule, only 813 screens have been scheduled for the first week. Facts also proved that this film was a complete failure.
In just one day, Friday, December 28, the box office trend for the new week is basically determined.
On Friday, "Home Alone" took in as much as $9.91 million in just one day, a 15% drop compared to the same period last week.
Many people had already expected that "Home Alone" would be a box office hit, but it was able to achieve a reverse decline based on the box office of $41.93 million in its first week, which was beyond most people's expectations.
Immediately afterwards, during the three-day weekend from December 28 to December 30, the box office of "Home Alone" for the second weekend finally reached 30.16 million U.S. dollars. Although the reverse decline was not as good as that of Friday, it still reached 13%.
Compared with last week’s Christmas, this week, the New Year’s Day statutory holiday on January 1st happens to fall on a Tuesday, which means that not only the three-day weekend, but also Monday and Tuesday can be counted as a holiday with huge box office revenue.
The last weekend of 1990 passed quietly, and 1991 is approaching.
Finally, from December 28th to January 3rd, due to the New Year's Day holiday, the box office of "Home Alone" fell by 15% compared to last week for seven days in the following week, earning another US$47.99 million. In just two weeks since its release, this unexpectedly phenomenal children's comedy has already grossed a total of $89.92 million in box office, directly breaking all box office records for John Hughes' previous films.
After the box office was released the next week, Daenerys Entertainment officially announced the launch plan for the sequel to "Home Alone".
Because he signed a three-part contract with young actor Macaulay Culkin in advance, Joe Pesci and other supporting actors are not considered big box office stars who can sit down and raise prices. Therefore, the film's main creators will basically all return in the sequel. John Hughes will still lead the project, and the salary package will remain the same as the first film.
In addition to "Home Alone", "The Godfather Part III" released this week, although it took in 22.43 million US dollars in the first seven days, surpassing the box office results of all other new films last week except "Home Alone", it cannot overshadow "Home Alone" at all. 》The edge.
"Havana," starring Sidney Pollack and Robert Redford, was a box office failure.
Seven days after its opening, it is still a popular period spanning the New Year's Day holiday. However, the box office revenue of "Havana" in its first week was only a pitiful US$3.12 million, which was less than a fraction of the amount of "Home Alone".
Universal Pictures invested US$40 million in the production budget of "Havana". With the film's first-week box office results, this project is basically certain to lose all money.
Counting Brian De Palma's "Bonfire of the Vanities" which was also not successful last week, some media couldn't help but ridicule that Daenerys Entertainment's "Home Alone" completely crushed the film that helped Simon a lot in the first place. Brian De Palma and Robert Redford are two big names.
The only good thing is that Brian De Palma was reminded by Simon that he did not use Tom Hanks as the leading actor in "Bonfire of the Vanities" and compressed the film's original production budget of more than 40 million US dollars. To $20 million.
Therefore, compared to the total loss of "Havana", "Bonfire of the Vanities", which had a box office of US$5.69 million in its first week, is expected to eventually earn about US$15 million at the North American box office. Although the producer Warner Bros. cannot make much money from this project , but not as completely compensated as Universal.
Affected by the failure of "Havana" at the box office and the continued delays in the MCA acquisition, the stock market opened after the holidays, and MCA's stock price once again experienced a wave of shock, with a strong tendency to fall below the $60 mark.
As hundreds of thousands of heavy troops in the Gulf region begin the final build-up, MCA shareholders become increasingly anxious, and the management controlled by Lou Vassalman is facing increasing pressure.
After several months of operation, Bell Atlantic was successfully acquired, and obstacles that might hinder the acquisition of MCA were removed one by one by Simon. In order to give MCA the feeling that Daenerys Entertainment is very much looking forward to the acquisition being delayed, around the New Year In the past few days, Simon has not attended the negotiations for this acquisition.
Lou Vassalman and Syd Sheinberg understood that the end was over. After Daenerys Entertainment promised two fairly well-paid consultant titles, they finally officially accepted Daenerys Entertainment's offer on January 7. MCA’s $7 billion acquisition offer.
At this point, the acquisition, which had been going through twists and turns for several months, has been finalized.
The day after the two parties reached an agreement, MCA shares were temporarily suspended from trading on the New York Stock Exchange, and Daenerys Entertainment also submitted the acquisition transaction review to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Compared with Bell Atlantic, this review of MCA is basically just a symbolic formality in the eyes of many people. No one would think that after the US Department of Justice approved Westeros' acquisition of Bell Atlantic, it would suddenly veto it. Daenerys Entertainment’s acquisition of MCA.
Therefore, the deal is a done deal.
On the Hollywood side, while the deal is still under review, Daenerys Entertainment management has begun to slowly take over the operations of MCA.
Upon completion of this acquisition, Daenerys Entertainment will acquire Universal Pictures, MCA Records, Universal Studios Los Angeles, Universal Orlando, 50% of USA Television Network, Putman Publishing Company, 40% of Cineplex Odeon Theaters and A large number of assets such as the huge Universal Pictures film library.
Although MCA's debt ratio is very low, it still has debt accounts of approximately US$500 million. Therefore, the total value of the acquisition ended up being $7.5 billion.
Counting Bell Atlantic's total transaction amount of US$8.7 billion, two consecutive large-scale acquisitions in just a few months brought the total acquisition amount paid by the Westeros System to US$16.2 billion, of which cash accounted for US$14 billion. .
The funds that Simon transferred back from overseas at the end of last year, excluding the huge capital gains tax that needed to be paid, and including part of the tax-free principal, got back exactly 6 billion US dollars.
Once the two acquisitions are completed, the total liabilities of the entire Westeros system will reach 12 billion US dollars.
Simon is not only the richest man in the world, but also the one with the highest personal debt.
Many experts and media have predicted that if Simon cannot carefully handle the huge debt problem facing the Westeros system in the next few years, or if the U.S. economic environment continues to deteriorate after the outbreak of the Gulf War, his personal net worth is likely to be as high as Redstone and Rupert Murdoch, two rich men in the media industry who were on the Forbes list last year, shrank rapidly.