In the second week of the Christmas season, which started on December 23, North American theaters welcomed seven new films at once, four of which were mainstream commercial films with more than 1,000 screens, each produced by Warner Bros. Pictures "Rich Rich", MGM's "Street Fighter", Disney's "The Jungle Book" and Paramount's "IQ".
"Rich Rich" stars Macaulay Culkin, the actor of "Home Alone", and tells the story of a ten-year-old boy who inherits a large inheritance from his missing parents and resists his uncle's attempt to seize the property. Although Macaulay Culkin has withdrawn from the "Home Alone" series, he is still the most popular and highest-paid child actor in the United States. The production cost of the film has therefore reached 40 million US dollars. Warner Bros. still gave 1913 after "Suicide Squad" Block opens the screen. This project also once again shows Warner's attempt to get rid of its dependence on the DC movie universe.
As the name suggests, "Street Fighter" is adapted from the fighting game of the same name. The film stars the famous action movie star Jean-Claude Van Damme. The game copyright holder Capcom and MGM jointly invested. The production cost reached US$35 million. MGM 1,671 opening screens were prepared for this movie.
"The Jungle Book" is a live-action version of Disney's classic animation from the 1960s. The production cost also reached 27 million US dollars, and the number of opening screens was 1,880.
"IQ Love" stars Hollywood sweet girl Meg Ryan, and also has "Einstein" as a guest star, telling the comedy story of Einstein worrying about his niece's marriage. The production cost of the film is US$25 million, and the number of screens is 1,406.
In addition to the four mainstream commercial films, the other three films that are intended to be screened during the awards season, "Neil's Heart", "Wise Fool" and "The Year of Love" should not be underestimated.
"Neil's Heart" stars Hollywood actress Jodie Foster, a typical Olympic star.
The male protagonist of "The Fool" is veteran Hollywood actor Paul Newman, and is also joined by Jessica Standy, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith and other stars. The story takes place in upstate New York A series of heartwarming stories in a small town, the style is still similar to the hit "Steel Magnolias" a few years ago, but this time it is no longer a female-led movie, and the audience for the movie is therefore much wider.
"Love Day" is the most expensive of the three films to be produced. It was produced by Sony Pictures and starred Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins. The investment reached 30 million US dollars. In my memory, this was the most expensive film. The film was a hit at both the box office and critical acclaim, and also won awards during the awards season.
Simon had paid attention to this project before, but he only let it go to Sony with the mentality that Daenerys Entertainment could not take advantage of all the benefits. In fact, many projects such as "Heart of Nell" and "Interview with the Vampire" etc. This is true for all the movies that Nelis Entertainment could have won.
With seven new films hitting the market, you can imagine the fierce competition across the Christmas box office week.
According to the outstanding performance of "Suicide Squad" which was close to breaking 100 million in its first week, it is very likely that the film's total local box office will exceed 300 million. Whether it can do so depends on whether the film can withstand the impact of a number of new films this week. impact.
After Simon personally rushed to Toronto to visit the cast, and after several working days of filming, "The Man from Earth" was successfully completed on December 23. The crew returned before Christmas, and Brett Ratner immediately went into post-production, and the film was also More news materials began to be released.
Next year's 11th Sundance Film Festival has been confirmed to open on January 19.
With the news that Simon's new film will participate in the Sundance Film Festival, many people have started preparing for the Sundance trip more than half a month in advance. What happened during Sundance last year is still fresh in their minds, and even more so in the circle. As you know, David Russell, the director of "Monkey Hunting", Mia Kirshner, the heroine of "Little Women", and Paramount's blockbuster "Cutthroat Island" next year, were all released at Sundance last year. A chance encounter at a party at Simon's villa during Sri Lanka.
This time, since all new Westeros films have joined Sundance, the other party is likely to hold a party in Park City again. This is a rare opportunity to directly contact the Hollywood tycoon.
Before Christmas, after several rounds of communication, Daenerys Entertainment and Tim Burton signed an agreement of intent for the adaptation of the novel "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", which heralded the relationship between this famous Hollywood director with a strong personal style and Daenerys. Liz Entertainment launched its first cooperation.
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a novel written in the early 19th century. It has no copyright for a long time. The key to the project adaptation is the script.
Simon drew up a simple outline himself and invited Andrew Kevin Walker, the screenwriter of the original "Sleepy Hollow" to write the script. Andrew Kevin Walker was the one who made David Fincher famous in "The Seven Deadly Sins" last year. "Screenwriter.
Speaking of which, the preliminary preparations for David Fincher's new film "The Game" after "Seven" has been completed. The budget is estimated to be 50 million US dollars. The original Michael Douglas has been selected to star in the film. It is expected to start filming early next year and will definitely be released in the summer. If you can’t make it, the end-of-year slot will be too crowded and you may become cannon fodder, so it will probably be placed at the end of the summer schedule at the end of August or early September. This is also the typical release strategy of many dark horse thrillers in recent years. In 1987, it was also the box office hit starring Douglas. That's how "Fatal Attraction" sold.
This is also a kind of helplessness.
There are only so many movie schedules each year, and the best schedules must be reserved for movies with the greatest box office potential. "Psycho Game" has a budget of US$50 million, which is already a blockbuster. For other film companies, it will basically be scheduled in the summer or the end of the year. For Daenerys Entertainment, because next year there will be "Jurassic" "Park 2", "Apollo 13", "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice", 3D animation "Beauty and the Beast" and other heavyweight projects, "Psycho Game" can only open up unpopular schedules.
Simon also knows that this situation is inevitable and will even become more and more popular.
In my memory, more than ten years later, even Marvel or DC superhero movies can sometimes only be scheduled in unpopular schedules like February or September, also because Disney and Warner have too many key projects. Moreover, these blockbusters go to eat into the box office of unpopular schedules, further squeezing the living space of other studios' movies, making the strong stronger and the weak weaker.
Simon began his leave on December 23rd.
In order to enjoy a stronger festive atmosphere, the family came to the east coast again. The manor in the northern suburbs of Greenwich was covered by the recent snowfall, and the sky and the earth were covered in snow. Simon also personally brought the big man who already knew about Santa Claus. My son built many snowmen by the small lake in the north of the manor.
Feisi's family was also there, and the manor became even more lively on Christmas Eve.
It would be impossible for three women to perform a drama without some little thoughts between each other. Fortunately, the women cherish this warm family atmosphere and no one wants to destroy it.
After dinner, Feisi's parents returned to the villa next door early, and Daniel also took the initiative to avoid them. Gemma, on the other hand, looked like she didn't care much. The girl who felt she wasn't smart enough liked the extremely smart Seattle. She hugged the little girl without letting go, and the other two The two little guys also snuggled in their parents' arms, and everyone sat in front of the fireplace chatting about various things until late at night.
Because Sophia accidentally exposed something before, Simon slept on the sofa miserably on Christmas Eve night.
Sophia is pregnant.
That was probably what happened last month during the first snowfall on the East Coast.
Sofia originally didn't want to tell others too early, even Simon. When the women were preparing dinner together in the afternoon, Janet saw the signs of morning sickness unexpectedly in the kitchen and asked about it, and Sophia had to admit it.
After giving birth to two children, Melbourne and Nick Jr., Janet didn't want a third little guy under any circumstances.
It's really unbearable.
However, Janet knew what Simon was thinking. Although her husband did not raise many children, he still wanted to have many children. It would definitely be good for the Westeros family's huge industry to have a few more heirs in the future, so she did not object. When other women became pregnant with Simon's children, especially after a certain blood relationship was confirmed, Janet felt that as long as it was Simon's child, it must be inseparable from her.
Of course, you still have to show your attitude, otherwise you will lose face as a wife.
So Simon was punished and slept on the sofa.
But in the middle of the night, I couldn't help but run out of the bedroom, hugged a pillow, crawled into Simon's arms like a little girl, and then fell asleep.
The next morning, Aaliyah, who got up early to start preparing housework, saw a strange scene of the host and hostess sleeping on the sofa in the living room hugging each other.
Jennifer also gets up early.
He called the two of them up, checked them to make sure they didn't have a cold, and rushed to the bedroom to catch up on their sleep.
So, Gemma, who stayed to sleep with Seattle last night, found at breakfast time that there were only Jennifer and three little guys at the table besides herself. When she asked out of curiosity, the female assistant only said that Simon and Janet were sleeping in. The little girl didn't know about her mother's pregnancy, so it was very refreshing to hear that Simon and Janet slept in.
It's Christmas time.
Simon and Janet just got really lazy and didn't get up until after ten o'clock.
I actually wanted to stay in bed all day, but I just agreed to have lunch together at Raybould's house in Manhattan at noon, so we couldn't be late.
Janet could invite the Fessey family to spend Christmas Eve, but she obviously would not go to the Raybould house with Simon. At about eleven o'clock, Simon and his female assistant boarded a helicopter flying to Manhattan together.
There is also a family dinner at noon.
In addition to the Rayboulds, Jennifer's brother Philip also brought his girlfriend back. She was also a girl who grew up on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Although she tried her best to restrain herself during lunch, she was still obviously too attentive to Simon, which made her sister's female assistant The girl was a little dissatisfied and quietly warned Simon.
After lunch, we talked about many topics, and it was already around four o'clock in the afternoon when we left.
In the evening, the Black Hawk helicopter returned to the manor in the northern suburbs of Greenwich. After getting off the helicopter, she held Simon's arm affectionately and walked to the villa together. The female assistant leaned into the man's ear and whispered in his ear: "Are you starting to feel troublesome?"
Knowing what the female assistant meant, Simon smiled and said, "Of course not, I enjoy it."
Jennifer rolled her eyes slightly.
In fact, mainly during the afternoon chat, the Rayboulds once again hinted that Simon and Jennifer could have one or two more children, which inevitably put some pressure on Simon.
Simon himself has nothing to do with it. At his core, he is a person who doesn't care about secular rules.
The key is the women around you.
And, when the little ones grow up in the future, will they blame their unreliable father for bringing them into this world? If one or two incompetent dudes appear, it will be a misfortune for the family. In the past, I joked about raising a bunch of little bastards who would cause harm to the world, but now that I am a parent, it is impossible for me to actually do that.
Back at the villa, Janet was drinking coffee and chatting with Sophia.
Seeing Simon come in, Janet, who was originally smiling, immediately put away her expression and looked like I haven't forgiven you yet.
Sofia smiled and stood up to pour coffee for Simon and Jennifer. Everyone sat down. Simon was next to Janet, hugged the woman's waist and asked Sofia: "What were you talking about just now?"
But Sophia looked at Jennifer: "Let's discuss it again. I wonder if Jenny would like to take care of one more child?"
The female assistant who had just picked up the coffee was a little surprised. She looked at Janet, then at Sophia, hesitated for a moment, and then asked: "Sophie, don't you want to bring it yourself?"
"You know I'm very busy on weekdays. My parents have taken care of Danny and Gemma in the past few years. It will definitely be better for the children to be with you in the future. And..." Sophia paused and said: "Jenny and I After discussion, the child will be in her name just like Seal."
After Seattle was born last year, they were named twins in Janet's name in order to have a legitimate name.
In the first half of the year, due to news exposure during the confrontation with the Hearst family, the outside world already knew that Seattle was actually the child of a female assistant. However, because of this pseudonym, although the truth was known to many people, the outside world recognized Seattle's identity, even Australia.
This kind of external mentality is very subtle, and some are even similar to that of a bastard who was raised by a legitimate wife in ancient China.
However, no matter what, this is good for the child. Seattle can openly bear the name 'Westeros' in the future, instead of carrying the reputation of an illegitimate child.
Sofia was a very rational woman, and it was impossible not to see the benefits of all this to the children. On the afternoon when Simon and the female assistant were away, she took the initiative to mention it to Janet.
Judging from the way they were chatting and laughing when they entered, Janet obviously agreed.
Of course, Janet didn't take care of her children very much. Melbourne was new to Veronica for a while and then she left it to Veronica. If Nick Jr. and Seattle weren't born together and the female assistant could take care of them together, I'm afraid her second son would still be given to Veronica. Ronika, now, has only agreed to a title, and the raising of the child will definitely still fall on the female assistant.
Jennifer looked at Janet again, received confirmation, and said: "If you are relieved, there will be no problem with me, but maybe you won't be able to let go in the future."
At first, the female assistant also thought about leaving the child completely to Janet, but after her daughter was born, she suddenly changed her mind when she looked at the little one in her arms.
Sophia smiled. After so many years, women have experienced the world and have a much firmer mind than Jennifer. She also knows that this is the best choice for the child in her belly. Naturally, she will not change her mind temporarily: "As long as you are willing, I want to thank you first." ”