Although it is far away on the East Coast, the status of the "New York Times" in American journalism is not only greater than that of the "Los Angeles Times", but also has a very significant influence internationally. Any news in such a newspaper may trigger extraordinary events. widespread social repercussions.
There is a three-hour time difference between the east and west coasts of North America.
As a result, the sky in Los Angeles had just begun to light up, and the article in the New York Times that strongly questioned Simon and "Run Lola Run" had already spread quickly throughout Hollywood.
Along with this article, there are also North American box office data for the past weekend.
From March 6th to March 8th, although two new films, "Lethal Weapon" starring Mel Gibson under Warner Bros. and "Angel Heart" starring Robert De Niro under MGM, were released at the same time this week, The box office momentum of "Run Lola Run" was not affected at all.
As "Run Lola Run" theaters were fully rolled out on the east and west coasts, a total of 1,176 screens brought the film a box office revenue of 18.51 million US dollars in three days, easily winning the North American box office rankings this weekend again.
At the same time, entering its fourth week of release, the total box office of "Lola Run" also exceeded the US$50 million mark, reaching US$50.6 million.
In comparison, "Lethal Weapon", which also caused a lot of heated discussions with an original script transaction price of US$250,000, although it received a good reputation after its release, the box office in the first three days of its opening weekend was only US$6.12 million. Although it ranks second on the list, this number is less than one-third of the number one "Lola Run".
As for another new film "Angel Heart", the three-day box office in the first weekend was only 3.28 million US dollars, even ranking fifth on the list after "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3" and "Platoon".
Perhaps because the competition is too fierce, North American media reporters have a very keen sense of smell.
Obviously sensing from the New York Times article that a big event was about to happen, Simon planned to rush to the Orion Pictures headquarters in the morning to discuss response strategies with Mike Medowa and others, but found that the reporters swarming in had already cleared his mansion. The mountain road, which is not spacious outside, is packed to the brim.
Considering that he would definitely encounter a crazier chase than before when he went out today, Simon simply called and asked Mike Medowa and others to rush to Palisades.
Around 9:30 am.
Since he also lives in Palisades, Simon now has a close interest relationship with Fox Films. Amy Pascal, Vice President of Fox Films, also rushed over as a high-level representative of Fox.
After struggling through the crowded crowd of reporters, Amy Pascal drove into the mansion where Simon lived. Several cars were already parked in the yard.
As soon as Amy got out of the car, Janet came over to greet her.
After a brief exchange of greetings, Janet led Amy towards the backyard. Amy followed Janet, but couldn't help but look around.
One acre in the British system is equivalent to about 4,000 square meters. The mansion in front of you looks more like a small manor. It is surrounded by a cliff, surrounded by green trees, Mediterranean-style villas, swimming pools, and gardens. It is well-proportioned and has a private tennis court in the front yard.
Amy Pascal wasn't too sure how much this mansion was worth, but she remembered that Spielberg also bought a 13-acre piece of land in Palisade a few years ago, and then invested 400 just in building the house. Millions of dollars.
In recent years, housing prices in Los Angeles have skyrocketed.
Although she has become the vice president of Fox Pictures under the age of 30, especially as a woman, this is very rare in Hollywood. However, Amy Pascal found with some frustration that such a mansion was still too far away from her.
Thinking of this, Amy Pascal couldn't help but think of Simon Westeros recruiting her at the party on Saturday.
In a small moment, I suddenly felt.
perhaps.
Can you really take the risk
Soon I came to the backyard and looked around. Four people were sitting around a set of sofas that should be used for sunbathing on the edge of the lawn, and Simon was among them. Not far away, under the eaves of the villa, there were two or three younger men and women busy answering the phone. They should be secretaries and assistants to the people on the sofa.
Seeing Amy's arrival, everyone stood up and said hello.
Among the four people, Amy knew three of them. In addition to Simon himself, there were Orion Pictures president Mike Medowa and Simon's agent Jonathan Friedman. The last one was a middle-aged woman who looked to be in her forties or fifties. After introduction, Amy learned that she was Pat Kingsley, the public relations manager Simon had just hired.
Realizing that she was the last one to arrive, Amy apologized a little embarrassedly. Janet poured Amy a cup of coffee herself, handed her a folder, and then turned to the corridor under the eaves, where everyone sat down again. .
After sitting down, Amy Pascal just opened the document in her hand when she heard Pat Kingsley next to her: "Simon, and everyone, it is now basically certain that this was an obviously premeditated attack. Public opinion attacks are just the beginning, a test. If we cannot respond immediately, the next situation will be even more unfavorable to us."
Amy Pascal had read the article more than once before coming. Although she was not a naive person, listening to Pat Kingsley's determined tone, she still asked with some doubts: "Pat, there is evidence. Yet?"
Pat Kingsley and Amy were not familiar with each other. When he suddenly heard this question, he just subconsciously shook his head.
Simon saw Amy looking at him again and said, "Amy, if you want to prove that I didn't shoot "Run Lola Run" myself, who should you investigate the most?"
Amy Pascal thought about it for a moment, then she understood something and said: "Members of the crew."
"That's right, crew members."
Simon nodded and raised his hand to signal Pat Kingsley.
Pat Kingsley then added: "Ms. Pascal, you should have read that article. Mark Hollington simply started from Simon's growth experience and based on the common cognition of most ordinary people. It is very rash and ridiculous to conclude that Simon could not have completed "Lola Run" himself. If he really cared about the truth of this film, he should contact those who participated in the production of "Lola Run"."
Amy nodded seriously and said: "Pat, just call me Amy. So, what should we do next? I have already had a phone call with Mr. Goldberg before, and Fox will try its best to cooperate here."
Although the contract for "Death Is Coming" has not yet been officially signed, it may even be delayed for some time due to this incident. However, "The Butterfly Effect" will be released on April 10, which is only one month away. As a close stakeholder, Fox does not want the "New York Times" article to cause too big a stir.
"Run Lola Run" was doing well at the box office, but suddenly something like this happened. Among the five people present, Mike Medova was obviously the most anxious one, otherwise he would not have called Simon before dawn. At this time, he couldn't help but said: "Simon, the negatives of "Run Lola Run" must still be there. I think you should edit a behind-the-scenes clip as soon as possible. This is obviously the best way to clarify."
Simon shook his head and said: "Mike, there is no such feature as you want. In order to save budget, I even hoped that every shot could be passed in one pass. It was impossible to waste film to shoot irrelevant things."
"Then let the crew members come forward to endorse it," Mike Medowa said, then thought for a while and said, "Orion can contribute a sum of money for this, and it will be included in the publicity fee."
Listening to Mike Medowa’s eager tone, Simon’s agent Jonathan Friedman couldn’t help but said: “Mike, I think it’s not a good choice for us to rush to respond to that article now. .”
Mike Medowa was suddenly confused, but Simon nodded slightly.
Pat Kingsley also said with approval: "This is indeed the case. We immediately came forward to clarify. What we will receive will only be more doubts, because the people who manipulated this matter did not want to see the truth at all, they just wanted to see the truth." Destroying the public image of Simon and Run Lola Run and leaving fans with continued doubts."
Mike Medowa was just in a hurry. He had been in Hollywood for many years. When Pat Kingsley explained a little, he immediately woke up and knew that Pat Kingsley had not finished what he said.
The ultimate goal of some people is to curb the box office of "Run Lola Run".
After all, "Run Lola Run"'s box office data of US$18.51 million this past weekend has already surpassed most of the best-selling movies in popular schedules.
The annual number of moviegoers in North America is basically fixed, and has been around 1 billion in recent years.
"Run Lola Run" is expected to have a box office figure of 150 million to 200 million US dollars. Based on the current average ticket price of about 4 US dollars, this is equivalent to about 37 million to 50 million moviegoers, which is out of 1 billion total moviegoers. It is already a very conspicuous or dazzling proportion.
The box office of "Run Lola Run" is too high, so it is destined to wax and wane, affecting the box office of other films.
Even according to the strong box office curve of "Run Lola Run", not to mention the recently released "Lethal Weapon" and "Angel Heart", even if it is the Easter movie one month later, or even the early summer movie in May, All may be affected by "Run Lola Run" and the box office shrinks.
Thinking of this, Mike Medowa couldn't help but rub his temples.
He even had a premonition that for this reason, even if no one was behind the New York Times article, if such a spark splashed, there would definitely be a bunch of people rushing to pour several barrels of gasoline on it.