After Peter Sanders hurried back to Los Angeles that Saturday night, Simon heard nothing more from Fox for three days.
This result did not exceed Simon's expectations. After all, his qualifications in Hollywood are still too young.
A young man under the age of twenty not only demanded high share terms from major film companies, but also demanded absolute control over film production. This kind of thing has never happened in Hollywood.
However, with the box office success of "Run Lola Run", Simon no longer has the lack of choices he had a few months ago.
While helping the crew of "Night of the Dead", Simon also made some private plans for "Dead Man". This plasma thriller is very suitable for the Halloween schedule at the end of the year. From the end of February to the end of October, the eight-month preparation, production and publicity cycle also seemed just right.
Therefore, Simon has no intention of tying himself to Fox. If Fox doesn't respond by the end of the week, Simon plans to get the word out and seek other collaborators.
At the same time, as its popularity and reputation continue to grow, the box office of "Lola Run" not only did not fall in its second week of release, but increased again.
From February 20 to February 22, in the three days of the second week, due to the increase in the number of screens, "Lola Run" still achieved a 21% increase in box office compared to the four days of the first week, reaching 6.69 million. Dollar.
Immediately afterwards, after the following four working days, the box office of "Lola Run" in its second week finally reached US$9.56 million, second only to the US$11.1 million of "Platoon", successfully ranking second in the North American box office rankings for that week. The location of the name.
Two films released by its own company simultaneously occupied the top two positions in the single-week box office rankings, and the North American box office of both films is expected to exceed US$100 million. Orion Pictures has been in the limelight for a while.
For a film like "Run Lola Run" that has become the focus of the entire federation, there will naturally be no obstacles to its subsequent release.
Mike Medova, president of Orion Pictures, originally planned to expand the screening of the film as soon as possible, but after a detailed phone call with Simon, he quite agreed with his concept of 'hunger marketing'. In the end, Orion still did not rush to significantly increase the screening scale of "Run Lola Run" in the third week. It only increased the number of screens to 536, and related theaters were still concentrated on the West Coast of the United States.
Many years later, a movie will be released for three weeks. Either its popularity has faded, or pirated resources are everywhere, and it makes no sense to continue to increase the scale of screenings.
However, in the mid-1980s, the speed of information dissemination was far less rapid than in the Internet era, and film and television piracy was not as rampant as it was later. The multi-round screening mechanism that successively opened movies from big cities to small towns still existed, and many third- and fourth-tier tiers It often takes a month or two for small towns to see some blockbusters.
Therefore, the three weeks of word-of-mouth accumulation does not seem to be a long time for "Lola Run" at all, and it will only increase the audience's expectations.
On the other hand, Simon waited patiently until Friday, but Fox Pictures still didn’t give any reply. He called Jonathan Friedman and asked his agent to tell his agent that he was seeking a partner for "Dead Man". The news got out.
Los Angeles, Beverly Hills.
The time is Monday, March 2nd.
Fox Film President Ronald Goldberg walked into Morton's Restaurant, where Hollywood filmmakers often dine, in the evening. As soon as he entered the door, he felt that many people who were dining there were looking at him in different ways.
Although he felt inexplicably embarrassed, Ronald Goldberg calmly said a few words to the waiter who came up to him, and was then taken to a table.
At this time, there was a middle-aged man in his forties sitting at the dining table. He was somewhat bald, unattractive, and had the same standard Jewish big nose. However, no one in the entire restaurant would look down on the other person because of his appearance. The middle-aged man was none other than Barry Diller, the current chairman and CEO of Twentieth Century Fox.
Noticing Ronald Goldberg coming over, Barry Diller, who was reading a newspaper, immediately stood up, smiled and took two steps forward to shake hands with him, before the two returned to the dining table and sat down.
After chatting casually and ordering dinner, Ronald Goldberg glanced at the newspaper in front of Barry Diller. It was a copy of the "Los Angeles Herald" and there was an eye-catching picture of a butterfly on the page. For an evening newspaper that was also biased towards Hollywood industry news, Ronald Goldberg easily judged that this picture should be related to "The Butterfly Effect".
Barry Diller followed Ronald Goldberg's gaze and looked at the newspaper in front of him, and asked: "I heard that the test screening of this movie was not very good?"
Ronald Goldberg said with some hesitation in his tone: "Everyone thinks the story is very complete and exciting. However, several film critics who participated in the test screening did not like it very much. They felt that the plot of the film was too fragmented. The main line is not clear enough..."
Barry Diller also frowned slightly when he heard this. In this era, the most direct way ordinary people feel about a movie is through newspaper reviews. If the critics give a bad review, it will undoubtedly hinder the audience's enthusiasm to enter the cinema.
After thinking for a while, Barry Diller asked: "Then what are you going to do??"
Ronald Goldberg said: "There will be an internal audience test screening on Wednesday, and we will make some adjustments based on the situation. Then, I plan to schedule it for Easter, you know, that "Lola Run", Maybe we can gain some popularity.”
Ronald Goldberg said this with obvious bitterness in his tone.
A week ago, Ronald Goldberg nearly laughed out loud when Peter Sanders brought back Simon's demands for the "Dead Man" project from Arizona.
That young man was so brave to speak. Ronald Goldberg has worked in the media industry for thirty years and has never seen a guy who dared to make such conditions to a film company. He thought he was Spielberg.
So, Ronald Goldberg simply chose to ignore the other party.
However, as the news of Simon Westeros re-seeking partners for "Death Comes" came out over the weekend, and the three-day box office data for last weekend was released this morning, Ronald Goldberg hesitated Uncertain.
Putting aside the news released by Simon Westeros, as long as Fox does not relent and give up, it will be impossible for the other party to reach cooperation with other film companies.
but.
The box office data of "Run Lola Run" in the past three days has really raised many people's eyebrows.
In its third week, the number of screens increased to 536, but the three-day weekend box office of "Run Lola Run" still reached US$20,110.
According to a report within Hollywood, due to a series of recent media buzz, "Lola Run" has not only attracted the interest of audiences of all ages, but also formed a movie-watching trend among teenagers. These young people Everyone thinks "Run Lola Run" is a very cool movie, so they generally choose to watch it again and again.
The report results even show that the scarcity of screening theaters has actually inspired many people to queue up to grab tickets to watch the film.
Finally, in the third weekend, the box office of "Lola Run" reached 10.78 million US dollars, easily suppressing New Line Cinema's "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3" which opened on 1,343 screens this week, and firmly won the top spot in the weekend box office rankings. .
So far, the total North American box office of "Lola Run" has reached 27.31 million US dollars. This box office figure alone is beyond the reach of most Hollywood movies.
Moreover, now that it has topped the weekend box office rankings, in this off-season for movies, it will be easy for "Run Lola Run" to maintain its top position for a long time.
The first one always gets the most attention.
"Run Lola Run" is already very popular. If it continues to be the weekly box office champion, it will definitely attract more people's interest in the film and form a virtuous cycle.
The film's box office has reached 27.31 million in two and a half weeks. So, if the 'cycle' continues, the final box office of this film is likely to be even better than the media's general expectations.
Ronald Goldberg's mind came to this point and he didn't even want to think about it any more.
I regret it.
The waiter brought the dinner to him, but Barry Diller did not pick up the tableware. He looked at Ronald Goldberg opposite and didn't know what to say for a moment.
Barry Diller and Ronald Goldberg have been friends for twenty years.
It was Ronald Goldberg, who was still working in the ABC production department, who single-handedly promoted Barry Diller. This led to Barry Diller's continuous glory at the ABC Television Network and Paramount Pictures.
Three years ago, Barry Diller was driven out of the company by Martin Davis, the jealous chairman of Paramount's parent company. It happened that it was Ronald Goldberg who introduced him to be the director of the 20th Century. Chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation.
Twentieth Century Fox controls the Fox Television Network and Fox Studios, and Ronald Goldberg has single-handedly elected his former subordinates to become his immediate boss.
This is the gift of two encounters.
For this reason, Barry Diller remains grateful to Ronald Goldberg.
However, as the head of Fox Pictures, Ronald Goldberg has managed the film company unsatisfactorily. Fox Pictures has not had a movie with a box office of over 100 million in North America for three consecutive years.
Due to his deep personal relationship, Barry Diller would not kick Ronald Goldberg out of the company under any circumstances, and he even rarely interfered with Ronald Goldberg's management of Fox Studios. But both parties are clear that if the situation continues, the company's major shareholder Rupert Murdoch will not tolerate Fox Pictures continuing to be tepid.
After a moment of silence, Barry Diller said: "Ronald, I have heard about the young man and the news that came out over the weekend."
Ronald Goldberg showed a wry smile and said: "Barry, do you think I should agree to him? He is just a young boy who is less than twenty years old, but he proposed something that even Spielberg can't do. Tough conditions for speaking easily.”
"Isn't there a prerequisite?" Barry Diller said: "16 million U.S. dollars, although this guarantee is a bit low, but if the production cost is only 8 million U.S. dollars, Fox will definitely be able to make a profit."
Ronald Goldberg said: "If that's all, of course it can be discussed. However, he also requires absolute control over the project. The director, actors, shooting, and final editing are all his final say. .How can I feel relieved?"
"I just watched "Run Lola Run" this afternoon," Barry Diller said: "For an 18-year-old young man, it is definitely an excellent movie. So, Ronald, if you can be sure "Run Lola Run" was really completed by him himself, maybe you can agree to it."
Ronald Goldberg was still hesitant: "That's for sure. It's just, Barry, you know, this has never happened in Hollywood."
"This just can be used as a publicity point in the future," Barry Diller said with a smile: "It's like he is 18 years old. Speaking of which, this is really a very wonderful movie marketing. If he was not 18 years old, this movie The movie can get a box office of 10 to 20 million US dollars at most. But now, it can get 100 to 200 million US dollars. It would be amazing if the relevant marketing plan was also planned by that young man. So, Rona Germany, I suggest you try your best to win over this young man to Fox Film, maybe you will get a second Spielberg."
Ronald Goldberg heard Barry Diller say so much, and of course he understood that the other party had good intentions. He has always admired Barry Diller's vision and ability, otherwise he would not be willing to be inferior to him, so he naturally attaches great importance to his suggestions.
Moreover, Ronald Goldberg is more aware of his current situation.
If the situation at Fox Pictures cannot improve soon, he will not only have to pack up and leave when his contract expires next year, but it will also be difficult to find a comparable job at other studios in the future.
Winning over a young man who has just started to make a name for himself in Hollywood feels a bit like seeking medical treatment in a hurry.
However, well-known Hollywood directors either have very stable cooperative film companies or have a lot of contracts that cannot be completed. Ronald Goldberg simply cannot have more choices.
With this thought in mind, Ronald Goldberg nodded and said, "Okay, then I'll talk to him as soon as possible."