After Thanksgiving, the box office week from November 18th to November 24th ended successfully.
Because the box office potential suppressed by the wind and snow on the East Coast in the first week of the Thanksgiving period was released, and due to the fact that it spanned the Thanksgiving holiday, there was a big explosion in the movie market this week, with the total box office in a single week reaching 192 million U.S. dollars. Compared with Last week's $123 million was an increase of nearly 70 million.
Among them, the 3D animated film "Toy Story 2" produced by Daenerys Entertainment performed most brilliantly.
In the first week of its opening, relying on a massive 3,216 opening screens, "Toy Story 2" grossed US$87.31 million in box office within seven days of its release. Even with more than 3,000 opening screens, the average box office revenue still exceeded US$27,000, easily reaching the top spot. The single-week box office champion.
Faced with the strength of "Toy Story 2", Paramount's classic science fiction series "Star Trek: Episode VIII" ranked second in the weekly box office list, and its box office in its first week dropped to US$23.11 million. This new film, which was released at the same time as "Toy Story 2", opened on 2,659 screens, and its average theater revenue was just over US$8,000.
The third place on the list is no longer last week's new film "Little Ones", but "The Man in Disguise," which opened the Halloween season on November 11.
In the week following its release, "The Man in Disguise" dropped 38% at the box office in a single week, taking in US$22.91 million, only US$200,000 behind the new film "Star Trek Episode 7". Within two weeks, this movie starring Jim Carridge The cumulative box office of the fantasy comedy reached US$60.01 million.
Geffen Pictures' $60 million "Interview with the Vampire" ranked fourth on the list, with a box office drop of 52%. It earned $17.43 million in seven days the following week, and its two-week box office total was $53.81 million. The box office dropped sharply the next week, and the chances of this vampire movie, which once had a box office of over 100 million in history, to achieve its previous box office results were greatly reduced.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's "The Zone" ranked fifth on the charts.
The virus crisis thriller starring Sam Neill and Jessica Lange also saw a 49% box office drop in the second week, taking in $14.39 million. In two weeks, the film's cumulative box office revenue was US$42.5 million.
The comedy "Little Ones" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger ranked sixth.
This is the third comedy that Schwarzenegger and Ivan Reitman have collaborated on after "Brothers of Rat" and "Kindergarten". Unfortunately, this comedy movie that uses a man's pregnancy as a gimmick cannot be replicated again. The success of "Mouse and Dragons" and "Kindergarten", with a huge production cost of 60 million U.S. dollars, and 1,749 opening screens, the box office revenue in the first seven days was only 9.8 million U.S. dollars.
Speaking of which, the box-office hit "Dragon Brothers" and "Kindergarten" were both projects of Universal Pictures. Simon originally had the idea of cutting "Kindergarten", just because Ivan Reitman had already He gave up after signing a contract with Universal.
After Daenerys Entertainment acquired MCA, Ivan Reitman was still happy to cooperate with Daenerys Entertainment, which inherited the assets of Universal Pictures, for "Little Ones".
Simon rejected the other party this time.
Not only because there is no shortage of projects in Daenerys Entertainment, but the most important reason is that in my memory, this "Little One" can only be described as a box office failure. Of course Simon will not jump into this big hole.
Daenerys Entertainment is unwilling to take over "Little One", and Sony Pictures, which has repeatedly failed in Hollywood, has once again been taken advantage of.
The US$9.8 million in the first week means that this blockbuster, which cost US$60 million, has a total domestic box office that is difficult to cross the threshold of 30 million, and a huge loss is inevitable.
As for why "Little Ones" failed to replicate the success of "Brothers and Brothers" and "Kindergarten", in Simon's view, apart from the unsatisfactory story itself, the main reason is that Hollywood has entered a new era, with 3D animated movies and The rise of CG special effects blockbusters has continuously heightened the audience's taste. Both Arnold's box office appeal and the appeal of this type of old-school comedy to the audience have been greatly reduced.
The Halloween film "The Haunting of the Morgue" produced by Daenerys Entertainment ranked sixth. It is the only Halloween film that has not fallen behind. In its fourth week of release, the box office of "The Haunting of the Morgue" dropped 35%, taking in another US$9.53 million, bringing the cumulative box office to US$93.22 million, which is about to exceed 100 million.
November 25th is a new box office week.
The festive atmosphere is still there, but this week only a black comedy from Disney Pictures, "Cool Cop", was released. The production cost of the film was US$10 million, and it opened on 1,379 screens. After its release, the media received a mediocre reputation. It is difficult to criticize "Toy Story". 2" and other major productions pose a threat.
Therefore, the box office week that starts on November 25 provides an extra seven days for many old films to play. Whether the two films "The Man in Disguise" and "Interview with the Vampire" can break into the 100 million box office club will only depend on this week. box office performance.
After Thanksgiving, although many media were still calling for the federal government to intervene, because neither the White House nor Congress raised any objections, the acquisition of Disney by the French Vivendi Group entered the formal delivery process.
The Westeros system.
After diverting the public's attention from the midterm elections through a series of big news, some of the things Simon had been vaguely worried about finally happened.
Monday, November 28th.
The new week has just begun. Kevin Moorhouse, a Republican congressman from Pennsylvania who was defeated in this year's midterm elections, suddenly launched an attack and asked Congress to investigate his elected rival Jocelyn Byrne for allegedly accepting West in disguise. The matter of illegal campaign financing in the Los Angeles system.
Kevin Moorhouse cites as evidence the apparently oversized team of 'free' volunteers in Jocelyn Byrne's campaign.
Campaign volunteers, like White House interns, are high-quality platforms for the American elite to accumulate qualifications.
Jeffrey Katzenberg, the former president of Disney Pictures and now one of the three giants of DreamWorks, once served as a volunteer for the New York mayoral campaign and the US presidential campaign, and later almost entered politics.
The large volunteer team organized by the Westeros system is certainly not the kind of young people who have just entered society and want to accumulate qualifications, but of course Simon will not make some obvious stupid mistakes.
The team of volunteers who served Jocelyn Byrne for free during the midterm election campaign did not have any direct financial connection with the Westeros system before November 8.
Until the dust settled in the recent mid-term elections, this team recently established a political consulting company in Pennsylvania, and soon received a huge cooperation order of US$1 million from the Westeros System. The reason for the agreement between the two parties It is a survey of Pennsylvania voter groups.
Kevin Moorhouse captures exactly this.
He also tried to bring in Joseph Schlapp, a core figure in the political affairs of the Westeros system, and directly announced at a press conference the recent relationship between Schlapp and John, the head of this emerging political consulting company headquartered in Pittsburgh. Photos of the Hockneyville meeting.
Not only that, Kevin Moorhouse also mentioned at the press conference Jocelyn Byrne’s previous negative attitude in dealing with the increasing crime rate in Pennsylvania as a Pennsylvania state congressman, implying that Byrne had once Block state lawmakers from enacting stricter crime control bills.
It obviously means something.
It is possible that the Woodfield Manor bombing, which has gradually faded from public view, is wanted to be resurrected.
After months of investigation, the Woodfield bombing case has been closed. The final result given by the FBI is that the former Monroeville Machinery Company employee caused the tragedy in order to retaliate against the Woodfield family. As for how the other party obtained as much as 5 kilograms of C4 The obvious suspicion of explosives can only be ignored due to lack of sufficient clues.
Just like when Kennedy was assassinated.
What's more, in a country like the United States, it is not that difficult to obtain explosives.
There are various local rumors about the truth of the matter, basically pointing to other shareholders of Monroeville Machinery Company and investors who lost huge sums of money in the Gralf Foundation. There are also rumors that some Monroeville Machinery The company's management operates behind the scenes.
In short, there is no rumor pointing to the Westeros family.
After the explosion, all the major members of the Woodfield family were killed or injured, and coupled with the bankruptcy and liquidation of the Monroeville Machinery Company, the few remaining members of the Woodfield family were reduced from the local rich and wealthy to ordinary people with no ability to pursue recourse. this matter.
Certain truths can only circulate among a few high-level circles in Washington.
However, Simon has never relaxed his vigilance about this matter.
When Kevin Moorhouse brought up the fight against crime at a press conference that was supposed to expose election fraud, whether intentional or not, Simon paid adequate attention.
On November 29, Simon came to the East Coast again.
An estate in the northern suburbs of Greenwich.
In the study, Joseph Schlapp was reporting to Simon the results of Schlapp Consulting's assessment of the matter.
"Preliminarily, this is more like a warning, and is used as a reason to draft more stringent targeted election bills. Simon, although the public can easily see through the connection, after all, we have not violated any regulations. If the Republican Party wants to If the matter gets serious, we should be able to seize some more substantive evidence, rather than this kind of side-stepping operation that makes it difficult to establish guilt."
Simon leaned on the sofa in the reception area and nodded slightly when he heard what Joseph said.
In fact, he also understands this.
However, many things often do not develop according to human will.
Just like the Epstein case in my memory, the Democratic Party came out with all the dirty stuff about Jeffrey Epstein again after many years. Originally, they just wanted to rub dirt on the president’s face, but they found that things got worse and worse. Big, all the people who should be dragged in and who shouldn't be dragged in were all dragged in. In the end, Epstein had no choice but to commit suicide.
The current situation is similar.
Although the two sides reached a tacit understanding through their last meeting at the White House, some people were obviously still unwilling to do so and insisted on making some tricks to warn Simon.
However, some people have obviously forgotten that they should not try to uncover the inside story of this year’s midterm elections at all.
If you don't pay attention, once things get serious, it will definitely be a large-scale political shock.
When the time comes, the Westeros system will not be able to escape, the National Rifle Association will not be able to escape, and a large number of elected members of Congress who are involved will not be able to escape either. In the end, many people will be imprisoned, many people will be ruined, and many people will be ruined. Being forced to resign and leave politics is an outcome no one wants to see.
The reason why Wisconsin's Craig Ames obediently accepted this result after losing the election, and even took the initiative to issue a statement that he would not get involved in politics in the future, except for some materials in the hands of the Westeros system, is that this person Politicians who have extremely left-wing tendencies but are very mature in their own political qualities have seen through how wide-ranging the whole matter is.
In order to avoid being crushed by the general trend, give up the investigation wisely.
In comparison, Pennsylvania’s Kevin Moorhouse has much less political qualifications.
Moreover, he might have been used as a gunman.
With this thought in mind, Simon picked up a document on the coffee table in front of him, turned to a blank page without words, and started tracing on the paper with a pencil while asking Joseph: "How are you going to deal with this matter?"
Joseph, who was sitting opposite Simon, glanced at a bowling ball-like bomb that was often seen in cartoons that his boss quickly drew on paper, and said: "I have already talked to John about canceling the contract that was just signed last week. It would give Kevin Moorhouse no basis to accuse us."
Simon kept writing: "If we do this, some people will definitely say that we are deliberately covering up."
"This is inevitable, but as long as there is no handle, it will be easier to suppress public opinion," Joseph said, and added: "In addition, I think our similar layout in other areas of the federation should also be slowed down."
Simon nodded: "Just go ahead and do it."
Joseph paused and said, "And Paul's side?"
In order to avoid putting eggs in one basket and increasing risks, Simon has supported Paul Spaihts in the past year.
Hearing Joseph mention it, Simon looked up at him with a smile and said, "Joseph, I will not let Paul accept your subordinates. The Westeros system is large enough, and it will be even larger in the future, fully able to accommodate the two of you. I very much hope that you can cooperate seamlessly. If you can't, it's fine if you don't interfere with each other. However, you must not let me see you being at odds with each other. Once discovered, I will not tolerate it."
Faced with Simon's blunt knock, Joseph did not defend himself and nodded: "I understand."
"That's good. I'll talk to Paul about it. You just have to do your own thing. So, is there anything else?"
"I have sent people to contact some local media in Pennsylvania to counter John Moorhouse's accusations. In addition, Simon, after the layout of other areas is delayed, we still need to pay the due compensation, which requires You personally provided the resources.”
Simon nodded, knowing what Joseph meant: "You take the time to draw up a list for me, and I will let someone arrange it."
No longer able to make disguised payments through large-scale contracts afterwards, Simon must give due compensation through other methods, otherwise no one will be willing to serve the Westeros system in the future.
This is probably the purpose of some people provoking this matter.
In any case, if the political network of the Westeros system cannot be laid out according to the original plan, Simon's ability to control major political elections in the Federation will definitely be affected.
In the huge Westeros system, it is easy to arrange some marginalized high-paying positions. This is also a common solution for many politicians after leaving politics.
If someone makes trouble again, it will affect the interests of the entire federal political circle.
The two discussed some details for more than half an hour. Simon finally handed Joseph the cartoon he had been drawing and said, "Copy a few copies and give them to several people in charge of the White House and Congress. Just say that I drew them." of."
Joseph Schlapp took over the comics.
There were many cartoon bombs densely drawn on the A4 paper, and the fuse in the middle was lit.
Other than that, there are no text reminders or markers.
However, Joseph saw the meaning at a glance: the cartoon bomb with the fuse ignited was John Moorhouse, who caused the trouble yesterday. The densely packed bombs around him were not just the Westeros system, but All forces involved.
The subtext of this cartoon is obvious.
Some people provoked this incident, thinking that it was just a bomb being ignited and that it would not and did not want to affect themselves. However, in the end, it might trigger a series of explosions that were completely out of control.
Simon is issuing a warning to some restless forces in Washington: Everyone is in the same circle, and if things get big, no one can escape.