The box office success of five consecutive projects in the DC Cinematic Universe has given Daenerys Entertainment's control over the series more firmly.
Terry Semel showed up here today with no intention of fighting for control, but he wasn't just accompanying Simon to check on the production progress of "The Dark Knight Rises" and "Suicide Squad."
Ending the topic about the male protagonist of "Suicide Squad", Terry Semel said: "Simon, don't you think the advancement of the DC movie universe can be accelerated?"
This is already an old question.
Daenerys Entertainment has also created super hits such as "Jurassic Park" and "The Lion King" in addition to DC movie universe projects. Warner has not had such good luck. In recent years, its film business has largely suffered. They all rely on the support generated by the DC movie universe.
There will be two "Superman" and "Cyborg" this year, and two "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises" and "Suicide Squad" next year. This pace of progress already makes Simon feel a bit hasty. Historically, starting from Tim Burton's first "Batman", Warner only released four major Batman movies in the ten years before the turn of the millennium.
It is impossible for Simon to agree to Warner's proposal to speed up the advancement of the DC movie universe again, and Terry Semel also knows that Simon cannot agree.
After the routine wrangling, it was past five o'clock in the afternoon.
After seeing off Terry Semel, Simon did not get off work as usual and rushed to the administrative district office to continue discussing Daenerys Entertainment's year-end employee salary incentive plan with Amy.
After the merger with MCA, although there was initially a large layoff, after the expansion in the past two years, the entire Daenerys Entertainment Group, excluding subsidiaries such as Blockbuster with a shareholding ratio of less than 50%, has no employees. The total scale has also rapidly expanded to 21,000 people.
As the entire group's revenue and profits continue to reach new highs in the past year, Daenerys Entertainment has once again planned a generous year-end dividend plan this year, but the total dividend scale for employees below non-core management will be Reaching US$500 million, each employee on average will receive an additional salary bonus of up to half a year.
In addition, there are other salary packages for core management such as Amy Pascal, Robert Egger, Nancy Brill, etc., which are naturally more generous.
The average salary of employees of Daenerys Entertainment is already the highest in Hollywood. With the news of this generous dividend plan, the number of resumes received for recruitment positions in various departments of the group has increased several times in a short period of time.
In Simon's office in the Administrative District No. 1 office building.
Amy Pascal and Simon were discussing the dividend plan that had been initially determined by the personnel department, but they couldn't help but think about their own affairs.
Starting from joining the company in March 1987, from the initial 4-year term to the extended 3-year contract, a total of 7 years witnessed the rise of Daenerys Entertainment Group step by step, and Amy herself will also receive a very terrifying reward. .
Not to mention the past six years, but this year, according to some preliminary statistics from the financial department, even if it gives employees generous cash dividends, Daenerys Entertainment Group's net profit this year will reach the terrifying level of 2 billion US dollars.
Among them, "Jurassic Park" at the end of last year brought more than US$600 million in pre-tax net income to Daenerys Entertainment in 1993 from local releases, overseas distribution and peripheral sales. The entire group's Driven by the powerful locomotive of the film department, the film, television, game, music, publishing, theater chain, retail, theme park and other businesses are all thriving.
Based on a net profit of US$2 billion, Amy Pascal can receive a 5% net profit dividend and equivalent stock futures, which means an annual income of up to US$200 million.
There is probably no professional manager with a higher salary than her in the entire world.
Moreover, this is only the income for one year in 1993.
Amy's stock awards for the past six years have not been cashed out.
Her boss has personally promised that she can cash in her stock rewards at a price of 30% of Daenerys Entertainment’s IPO valuation. When the contract expires next year and all 7-year stock awards are cashed out, and Daenerys Entertainment successfully completes its IPO, Amy feels that she will definitely be on next year's Forbes rich list as a billionaire. A very nice location.
One billion dollars.
Every time she thought of this incident, Amy felt like she was in a dream.
The heads of traditional Hollywood studios, such as Steve Ross, who has passed away, or Lou Vassalman, who retired after selling MCA, have worked hard in Hollywood all their lives, but have never been able to accumulate such wealth. With a net worth, executives at the same level as her in Hollywood at this stage may not earn as much income in their entire career as she did this year.
After spending more than an hour roughly understanding the incentive plans of various departments under the collective, Simon remembered one thing and said to Amy: "When cashing out dividends, remind everyone that this money is best used to subscribe for the company's stocks, IPO You will definitely get good profits after that.”
Internal subscription before a company goes public is also a common practice.
Now almost everyone is not optimistic about the IPO prospects of Daenerys Entertainment. The internal subscription price is definitely lower than the issue price. As long as you can get the shares, it will be an additional income directly after the listing.
Amy nodded with a smile and joked: "BOSS, can I also subscribe?"
Simon twirled the pencil in his hand and said, "As long as you have some spare money after paying taxes, of course you can."
Amy will also need to pay personal income tax on the stock dividends she cashes out next year. Based on her income scale, it is estimated that all the cash in her hands will not be enough, and she may need to make up for it through loans.
Amy was of course aware of her problem, shrugged regretfully, and said, "It seems I have no chance."
This is indeed just a joke.
Although everyone from senior executives to employees will definitely have a certain share that can be subscribed by then, the stocks are worth several million dollars at most, and Amy has no intention of taking advantage of such a small advantage. After all, the total amount of internal subscriptions will be fixed at that time. Instead of embarrassingly taking out all the benefits through loans, it is better to distribute your subscription shares to company employees, so as to obtain more potential benefits.
Thinking like this, Simon's unintentional pen-turning action just now made Amy notice a string of pencil-drawn letters on the document paper in front of him, and asked curiously: "What is that?"
Simon did not hide it, raised the folder and showed it to Amy.
Amy subconsciously thought: "Westerosian."
"Yes, people from Westeros," Simon nodded, flattened the documents again, and said, "I've been thinking about this recently."
Contacting Daenerys Entertainment's annual dividend plan, which was still in her hand, Amy quickly understood the meaning of the word Simon.
The Westeros system has risen like a miracle in these years, and is now at the level of a plutocratic empire. However, the young man in front of him was not satisfied, and even planned to create a new economy. All the people in this economy formed a class of their own, a class called 'Westerosian'.
Thinking of this, Amy couldn't help but feel excited.
Because she is also one of the important creators of this new economy, a typical Westeros person.
"Understood?" Simon looked at Amy's brightening eyes with a smile, asked softly, and then continued: "So, this dividend plan is just the beginning. Next, all the people in the Westeros system will The company will promote higher salary and welfare plans. I want all employees working for the Westeros system to live the best life. Of course, this is only the most basic. The key lies in the cultural cognition within the entire system. Construction, I hope that everyone in the Westeros system can be proud of being a 'Westerosian' in the future, and I hope that everyone outside the Westeros system will take becoming a 'Westerosian' as their life goal. I hope that 'Westerosian' will eventually become a powerful being that can control the world."
For many days that followed, the word 'Westerosian' and Simon's words that day continued to linger in Amy's mind, and in more distant days, she became a witness to the fulfillment of Simon's words.
The week before Christmas flies by in an increasingly festive atmosphere.
From December 10th to December 16th, "The Lion King" remained strong. In its fourth week of release, the box office decline narrowed to 23%, earning 25.63 million U.S. dollars, and the cumulative box office reached 181.29 million U.S. dollars, ranking second only to Summer's "Superman."
In its third week of release, "Mission: Impossible" ranked second on the weekly box office list. The single-week decline also narrowed to 25%, with revenue of 21.99 million US dollars. The cumulative box office reached 97.68 million US dollars, and it is about to exceed 100 million US dollars.
The single-week box office of "My Fair Daddy", which ranked third on the list, fell directly to US$8.23 million, a single-week decline of 27%, and the cumulative box office was US$56.22 million.
Clint Eastwood and Kevin Costner's new film "A Perfect World" ranked fourth, with a single-week decline of 21%, revenue of US$5.39 million, and a cumulative box office of US$22.31 million.
The fourth place outside is basically some old films before the Thanksgiving season.
Among them, "Gronimo", released at the same time as "The Lion King" by Columbia Pictures, only had a box office of US$1.62 million in a single week, ranking seventh on the list.
"Schindler's List", which opened on December 10, grossed US$1.19 million on 25 screens, ranking ninth on the list, with a single-week average of US$47,600.
December 17th, a new week.
In order to avoid the release of "Cyborg" on December 24, North American theaters released seven new films this week, three of which were large-scale commercial films.
Disney's "Sisters 2" can be said to be the most watched one, opening on 1,938 screens.
Warner Bros. produced the comedy "Forget Friends" starring veteran actor Jack Lemmon, which opened on 1,672 screens.
MGM produced "Philadelphia Story" starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, with 1,317 opening screens.
Among the other four small-scale screenings, there is also "In the Name of the Father" by Gaomen Pictures. This drama starring Daniel Day-Lewis opened on 13 screens.
As the main attraction of Disney's year-end schedule, "Sisters 2" has high hopes.
It's a pity that things didn't work out as expected.
After the release of "Sisters 2", it failed to show the potential of the first film in terms of both word-of-mouth and box office. This small blockbuster with a production budget increased to 38 million US dollars earned only 7.56 million US dollars in the first three days of the weekend. Not even half of what Disney expected.
Considering that the real blockbuster "Cyborg" is ahead of it, the film's total box office potential in North America is likely to be only about US$30 million, which is completely insufficient for Disney to recover its costs.
Moreover, the overseas box office potential of black comedies is limited. "Sisters 2" failed at the North American box office and will basically not earn much overseas. Disney has invested a total production and publicity budget of 55 million US dollars in this project. Now it is destined to be End up with a loss.
Warner Bros.'s comedy "Forgetting Friends" is destined to be just a foil for this year-end release.
However, "Philadelphia Story" produced by MGM became the only new film this week to earn more than 10 million US dollars in its first weekend due to its excellent media reputation after its release and the addition of Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. 's video.
Due to the weak market performance of a number of new films, the benefits of the rebound in box office volume as audiences enter the Christmas season almost all fall on a few heavyweight films in the Thanksgiving season.
As a result, from December 17th to December 23rd, "The Lion King" continued to dominate the box office list with an 11% weekly box office decline. In its fifth week of release, it once again earned US$28.39 million, and the cumulative box office reached 209.68 million US dollars. million US dollars, officially breaking through the US$200 million mark, and becoming the second film in 1993 to have a domestic box office of more than US$200 million. At the same time, it was steadily moving towards US$300 million in box office.
"Mission: Impossible", a collaboration between Daenerys and Paramount, also experienced a 16% decline this week. The box office rebounded to US$25.53 million in its fourth week of release, and the cumulative box office exceeded the US$100 million mark, reaching 123.21 million US dollars. Ten thousand U.S. dollars.
MGM's "Philadelphia Story" ranked third on the charts, earning $13.67 million in the first seven days.
Considering the film’s award-winning long-term nature and a budget of $26 million, the first-week box office of $13.67 million is considered outstanding.
Disney's "Sisters 2" grossed US$11.21 million in the first seven days, ranking fourth, and its defeat is certain.
The fifth place is "My Fair Daddy" starring Robin Williams, produced by Fox Pictures. This week's reverse decline was the highest, reaching 25%. The box office rebounded to the US$10 million mark, reaching US$10.32 million, and the cumulative box office increased to 66.54 million U.S. dollars. Considering that there will be a good harvest in the Christmas week next week, the possibility of the film entering the 100 million yuan club has once again increased.
In terms of other new films, Warner Bros.'s "Forget About Friends" only earned US$4.61 million in its first week, which is basically the end of two weeks.
Although Gaomen Pictures' "In the Name of the Father" once again encountered a reputation attack from traditional print media, the overall media score is still as high as 8.6 points.
Moreover, with the six nominations for Best Picture in a Drama Series, Best Director, Best Actor in a Drama Series, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Screenplay at the new Golden Globe Awards on December 20, "Because of the Father" "Famous" has greatly increased its fame. Relying on the proficient genre film promotion strategy of the Gaomen Pictures team, the film successfully reached US$29,000 in the first week and earned US$380,000.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to "Schindler's List", which is almost destined to be a hit during the awards season, "The Lion King" produced by Daenerys Entertainment also won the new Golden Globe as an animated film. Nominated for Best Picture in the Musical Comedy category.