On October 28, the same day Simon returned to Los Angeles, the 1994 Halloween schedule officially opened.
The second part of Daenerys Entertainment's 'The Conjuring Cinematic Universe' series, 'The Haunting of the Morgue', is released on this day. Relying on the good start of the summer release of "The Conjuring", "The Haunting of Morgue" has opened on 2,361 screens and the film production cost is 15 million US dollars. Although it has accumulated considerable popularity with the gimmick of "The Conjuring Cinematic Universe", New World Pictures The industry publishing team still invested an equivalent publicity budget of US$15 million.
Film promotion and distribution are as important as film quality. This is the deepest feeling of more and more film companies after the rise of the comprehensive distribution model in recent years.
Although not as exaggerated as the $15 million budget plus $25 million in publicity for "The Conjuring" in the summer, "The Haunting of Morgue" has equal capital investment in production and publicity. In the face of Hollywood's general budget rule that publicity investment is only half of the production cost. , which is still quite rare.
Moreover, as long as the film's box office meets expectations, the New World Pictures team will continue to invest more in the future.
With a large proportion of the publicity and distribution budget for two consecutive films, even at the expense of compressing profit margins, Simon's purpose is to make the 'Conjuring Cinematic Universe' brand more deeply rooted in people's hearts as much as possible.
As long as this can be achieved, the follow-up series of "The Conjuring Cinematic Universe" will be more effective in publicity and distribution, and the series' peripheral income such as video tapes and TV broadcasts will also increase significantly.
In advance internal previews, the reputation of "The Haunting of the Morgue" was roughly around 7 points, which was obviously not as good as "The Conjuring".
However, through the operation of Daenerys Entertainment's publicity team, on the first day of the film's large-scale opening, the public comprehensive media score still reached a near-excellent score of 7.8. Coupled with the film's extensive publicity, many viewers were Choose to buy tickets and watch the movie as soon as possible.
As a second-tier schedule that major Hollywood studios are paying more and more attention to, "The Haunting of the Morgue" is also a film that has opened on more than 1,000 screens during the same period, including Sony's "Frankenstein", Warner Bros.' "The Silence Trap" and Disney Produced by "The Ultimate Warrior".
In the past two years, Sony has no longer adhered to some of its original commitments, and has gradually begun to abandon the Columbia label and use the Sony Pictures logo to produce and distribute movies. "Frankenstein", a film aimed at this year's Halloween schedule, cost 45 million US dollars. With the addition of three A-list movie stars, Robert De Niro, Kenneth Branagh, and Helena Bonham Carter, the number of opening screens has reached 2,177.
However, after the large-scale opening of "Frankenstein", the comprehensive media reputation was only 3.9 points, which inevitably cast a haze on the film's box office prospects.
"The Silence Trap" produced by Warner Bros. Pictures tells the story of a down-and-out psychiatrist who accidentally accepts the investigation of a strange murder case. The film stars veteran Hollywood actor Richard Dreyfuss and "Terminator" series actress Lin Starring Dara Hamilton and new Hollywood actress Liv Tyler, the production cost was US$30 million and the number of screens opened was 1,251.
Compared with the 3.9 comprehensive media score of "Frankenstein", the reputation of "The Silence Trap" can only be described as collapse.
On the first day of filming, the media received almost overwhelmingly negative reviews, with a comprehensive media score of only a pitiful 2.2 points.
In fact, despite its poor reputation, "Frankenstein" still has a good chance of reaping a box office hit thanks to its strong creative cast, and may even become a dark horse, because thrillers and horror films are similar to vulgar spoof comedies. Media evaluation is not the decisive factor. The key lies in whether the audience likes it.
However, media reputation is of course not optional. For a film like "The Silence Trap" that has been directly evaluated by public opinion, it is almost impossible to become a dark horse.
The veteran actor Richard Dreyfuss, who once starred in Spielberg's "Jaws", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "Forever", has also become outdated in recent years, and his box office appeal is not satisfactory. The two actresses Linda Hamilton and Liv Tyler do not have the strength to carry the box office alone, so the box office prospects of "The Silence Trap" are conceivable.
Finally, Disney's "The Ultimate Warrior" tells the adventure story of an Indian, with a production budget of US$20 million and an opening screen count of 1,022.
Compared with "Frankenstein" and "The Silence Trap", "The Ultimate Warrior" has a good media reputation, reaching a passing level of 6 points. However, compared to the media popularity of "The Haunting of the Morgue", "Frankenstein" and even "Silent Cash", not many people paid attention to this biographical and unconventional film.
Disney's production of "The Ultimate Warrior" is obviously trying to replicate the success of "Dances with Wolves" or "The Last of the Mohicans". Unfortunately, in recent years, many films with similar themes have become cannon fodder, because of this After all, such films deviate too far from the mainstream.
Moreover, "Dances with Wolves" and "The Last of the Mohicans" starred two big names, Kevin Costner and Daniel Day-Lewis respectively. Disney's "The Ultimate Warrior" stars two famous actors named Gu. Macdonald and Don Carmody are both unknown, and the film's reputation has not exploded, so the ending is predictable.
In any case, with four mainstream films that have opened on more than 1,000 screens, plus some lucky films from other small studios, the start of this Halloween season can be said to be very lively.
Back in Los Angeles, Simon spent four days in a row with the women and children at Point Dume.
It wasn't until November 2nd, after Halloween, that work started again.
In fact, during the four days of rest, I was not completely idle.
Inspired by his chat with Grace, Simon personally conceived a new version of the rough script for "The Man from Earth" in his free time. On the first day of work, he handed the script to Ella Doe, the head of Highgate Pictures. Chiman asked him to convene some university professors to discuss how to make up for the scientific loopholes. At the same time, he directly entered the process of project establishment and casting, and planned to complete it in two months by the end of the year in order to participate in the Sundance Film Festival early next year.
After careful consideration, Simon decided to be the screenwriter himself.
Such a story about immortality is bound to trigger associations. Simon has already leaked rumors about 'psychic' and 'alien', so adding the label of 'immortal' is okay.
However, as a result of being personally named, it became impossible for Simon to shoot the film at an ultra-low cost of $100,000.
In the budget plan submitted by Ira Deutschman two days later, Simon's script alone was valued at US$250,000, with an additional 10% share of global box office net profits.
For a script created by Simon Westeros himself, not to mention $250,000, plus a zero, there will be no shortage of buyers.
The reason for such a low valuation is mainly due to the positioning of "The Man from Earth" as a low-cost film. If it were a commercial film, Simon's current net worth could indeed be directly increased by a zero, and the profit share would be much higher.
Although Simon is the boss of Daenerys Entertainment Group, the various projects he participates in actually have various clear contracts, and these matters are still handled by Jonathan Friedman.
Just like the DC cinematic universe.
Even if it is a solo project of "The Flash" and "Cyborg" that Daenerys Entertainment is not involved in at all, because of Simon's status as a producer, he can still get a share of the income from the two films, and this income is very huge. The original domestic box office of "The Flash" reached 253 million U.S. dollars. According to the contract, Simon's personal share, which directly takes 10% of the local box office, reached 25.3 million U.S. dollars. According to the commercial miracle of the DC movie universe in recent years, no one thinks that Simon should not take it. so much.
Simon is now worth hundreds of billions of dollars, and he certainly doesn't care about the gains.
However, rules are rules. If you work hard, you should get something. This is the rule of Hollywood, and Simon is a person who is very willing to abide by the rules.
Including the entirety of Daenerys Entertainment.
Among the contracts re-established before the listing, in addition to the symbolic base salary of 1 US dollar determined by Simon himself, there are also many other 5% annual group net profit sharing and additional option incentive contracts.
Now, for "The Man from Earth", the script valuation is only US$250,000, and the total project budget cannot be US$100,000 in any case. After all, this money has to be actually paid to Simon, so Gao Men After careful evaluation, the film team made a budget plan of US$1.5 million.
No matter how little it is, it’s really too much to use.
Although the entire circle has been paying close attention to Daenerys Entertainment's latest external cooperation plan recently, with the news that Simon Westeros personally wrote a new script, this matter immediately became the focus of the entire Hollywood.
The content of the script is still kept secret for the time being, but major brokerage companies have begun to work on behalf of their artists.
Starring in a Simon Westeros film, even for zero pay, can only do a lot of good.
The projects of many directors in Hollywood are often hits but not popular. The most typical one is Steven Spielberg, the legendary Hollywood director. In recent years, whether he is a director or a producer, if he randomly picks out a movie fan, he will be disappointed. When he asked who Spielberg was famous for, he estimated that eight out of ten people could not name him.
Because there really isn't.
In comparison, in recent years, the movies led by Simon, whether as screenwriters, directors or producers, have really become popular with a large number of people.
From Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock in the original "Run Lola Run" to "Pulp Fiction" which revitalized the careers of a group of male stars and made Australian actress Nicole Kidman popular, Then there are Adam Baldwin, Valerie Golino, Brad Pitt, Will Smith, etc. who have come out of the DC movie universe series in recent years. It can be said that the stars are brilliant.
Therefore, when news came out from Gomen Pictures that Simon's new film will not invite famous actors, but will select roles from second- and third-tier actors with excellent acting skills, the whole of Hollywood became even more excited.
Amid this close attention, with Simon's instruction, Qusi Gauff, who has begun final preparations for the third Victoria's Secret Show on November 12, posted photos of herself taking an acting class on her Facebook and Instagram pages. , labeled as 'the little vase in Simon Westeros' new movie', the attention of this baby-faced model, which has risen rapidly in the past six months, has skyrocketed.
Whether in Hollywood or the fashion industry, everyone can only lament the good luck of Qu Si Gauff.
Among all the noise, the only thing missing is Simon's personal news.
At this stage, Simon has gradually achieved a state where there are legends everywhere but no real people.
The whole of Hollywood is paying attention to Simon's new film. After Halloween, Simon's focus is not on a small project like "The Man from Earth", but on Daenerys Entertainment's ten-film external cooperation plan. .
Of the ten projects, MGM has already taken the lead in two, namely "Charlie's Angels" and "The Bourne Supremacy". As for the deeper "Agent Cinematic Universe" plan, just like the original "Conjuring Cinematic Universe", the project did not succeed. Previously, MGM would not promote the concept in advance.
Compared with previous external cooperation, the biggest change this time is probably that ordinary mid- to low-cost projects are no longer able to meet the needs of other Hollywood studios.
Simon couldn't do anything either.
Therefore, after "Charlie's Angels" and "The Bourne Supremacy", with Terry Semel calling Simon personally every three days, Warner Bros. quickly got a spot, and it was confirmed that Daenerys Entertainment had already "Jumanji" holding the copyright in hand.
Warner Bros. got the project, and Fox, who has been working closely together over the years, naturally couldn't let it go.
Speaking of which, Rupert Murdoch has never been too interested in movies. This media tycoon from Australia has always been interested in newspapers and television. However, given the opportunity, Murdoch certainly hopes to work with Daenerys Entertainment.
The project finally finalized by both parties is "The Mummy".
This is a remake of an old Universal Pictures film from the 1930s. Historically, after the success of series such as "The Mummy" and "The Scorpion King" around the turn of the millennium, Universal Pictures once ambitiously restarted the film, hoping to create The Mummy movie universe, it turned out that the movie universe plan died before it started after Tom Cruise filmed the "Mummy movie" into a "Cruise movie".
After finalizing four cooperation projects, Simon was no longer anxious.
The four projects that have been finalized are basically series in nature. In some small movie years, one movie is enough to support a schedule. If all ten projects are finalized at once, the internal friction in the next few years will be very tragic.
In the process of negotiating these projects, Simon also had an unexpected gain.
James Cameron's new film: "Titanic".
Although Simon basically picked this collaboration project based on memory, the outside world didn't know. During this time, a large number of script ideas were sent to Simon, including James Cameron's Big Ship script, or, to be precise, it was just a story outline.
After filming "True Lies", James Cameron took a vacation as usual. During this period, he went to the Atlantic Ocean to explore the Titanic, a large ship that sank for some reason on its first voyage in 1912. During this period, "Titan" was born. The story concept of "Nick".
Although he had cooperated with Fox for several previous films, the relationship between Cameron and Fox was not good because of always over budgeting and failures such as "The Abyss".
Therefore, after the story concept was initially completed, James Cameron's agent first transferred the script to Daenerys Entertainment.
Due to the legendary nature of the Titanic, there have been countless film and television works about this ship for more than half a century. Recently, Zoetrope Pictures, founded by Francis Coppola, happened to be preparing the same project. Simon still has an impression of it. , because the heroine of this film of the same name is named Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Several senior executives of Daenerys Entertainment were originally not optimistic about this type of shipwreck disaster movie.
The budget is one thing. In addition, it is difficult to play too many tricks with the story about the shipwreck, and the commercial prospects are very unstable.
In the end, it was Simon himself who had the final say.
As for Fox, unfortunately, Simon doesn’t have a good habit of giving in when he shouldn’t.