In the reception room of the villa, the topic between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Fox President Joe Ross was indeed about "Terminator".
"In fact, after the success of "Terminator 2", someone proposed to develop "Terminator 3". Arnold, I think you must have heard about it. Many people, including me, were interested in it, but later Simon personally Denied. Want to reboot the series, though... well, honestly, you'd be better off communicating directly with Daenerys Entertainment."
The original "Terminator 2" was a joint project between the two parties, with Fox and Daenerys each sharing half of the copyright.
Arnold Schwarzenegger did not answer Joe Ross's words, but said: "Joe, why don't we talk about another plan, such as Fox buying the other half of the copyright held by Daenerys, and individually Development, Daenerys Entertainment now has many popular projects, and there is no shortage of "Terminator". I think as long as the price is right, they will be happy to sell it. By buying the rights to "Terminator", Fox can also own one Ace, let alone a sequel, it is not impossible to develop a Terminator universe in the future."
Joe Ross felt Schwarzenegger's instigation, but was not moved. He raised his hand and scratched the bridge of his standard Jewish high nose twice with his index finger, then looked directly at the Schwarzenegger and asked: "Arnold, you should have already talked to Dani." Liz contacted her and was rejected, right?"
A flash of embarrassment flashed across Schwarzenegger's face, but he nodded after thinking about it: "Daenerys really has no intention of developing a sequel. However, Joe, wouldn't it be better to develop such a high-quality project independently?"
"Maybe," Joe Ross was obviously not very interested. He hesitated a little and said, "Arnold, to be honest, since Barry left, Rupert has not been too concerned about the film business. He is more interested in the film business that he is familiar with." Television and newspapers. In the past year, Fox has only released a total of 9 movies. If it were not for the boom in the market in recent years and the film business has been still profitable, Rupert might have sold the film department directly. Moreover, News Corporation You should also know the relationship with the Westeros system. Therefore, if Simon objects to the production of "Terminator 3", even if we get the full copyright, Rupert may not agree, because Simon is not optimistic about it, and because of this The project is too expensive.”
Schwarzenegger didn't expect that he would encounter a wall when he came forward in person. He couldn't hold it back for a moment: "Qiao, are you all willing to be a vassal of Daenerys Entertainment?"
Faced with Schwarzenegger's aggressive tone, Joe Ross just smiled: "Arnold, if possible, no one would be willing to be a vassal. It's just that the industry trend is like this. Speaking of which..." At this point, Joe Ross didn't Exit, just shrugged, in front of this big star, it is better not to directly poke the scar.
Maybe they will collaborate again in the future.
What Ross wants to say is that Warner just doesn't want to be a vassal of Daenerys, so it insists on filming "The Evaporation Order" and last summer's disastrous "Waterworld". If these failed projects hadn't eaten up profits, Riding on the success of films such as "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," Warner's film performance will only get better.
Bombshells are indeed a trend in Hollywood.
However, this area is not that easy to navigate. Especially as Daenerys Entertainment becomes more and more powerful, a large amount of resources are occupied by the other party. If other studios venture to invest in blockbuster movies, the risks will only become higher and higher.
At this stage, entertaining Daenerys is the safest strategy.
Just like Warner and Daenerys' DC movie universe, just like Fox's "The Mummy" released today, just like MGM, which is increasingly squandering resources in Westeros.
As for the future.
If there is no present, who can take care of the future
Arnold Schwarzenegger also understood the unfinished subtext of Joe Ross. If he were still at the peak of his popularity, he would definitely leave in a hurry. This time he could only endure his displeasure and throw out the last plan: "Since So, Joe, if I find another company willing to invest in the movie, can Fox transfer the Terminator rights?"
Joe Ross was startled for a moment, and then he said simply: "Arnold, it still depends on what Daenerys wants. If the other side is willing, Fox will definitely be fine."
In this case, Schwarzenegger understood that there was no need to stay any longer and stood up to leave.
After seeing off Schwarzenegger, Joe Ross did not immediately return to the party to socialize. He came back to the reception room, took out his mobile phone and dialed a number. The answer was connected after a moment. Even though he was separated by the phone, Ross still showed a very sincere smile. Meaning: "Good evening, Amy, I hope I didn't disturb you... Oh, it's the same here... That's it, Arnold came here just now..."
After briefly talking about the meeting with Schwarzenegger, he hung up the phone and turned back to the party outside.
Ross really didn't care about Schwarzenegger's irritating remarks during the meeting. He was just a professional manager. What's more, even after a series of mergers and integrations, Hollywood is still a Jewish Hollywood.
Even if a young person is in the spotlight now, if this circle wants to continue to function, it cannot do without them.
Hollywood is all about flowing capital and flowing stars.
Only the Jews are eternal.
There may be one more king now, but the king cannot handle everything alone and needs their assistance, so they still have power.
In Palisade, not too far from Brentwood, Simon's mansion halfway up the mountain was also hosting a reception, but Amy Pascal was hosting it to entertain a film industry delegation from China. .
It was an idea that came to Simon on the plane when he returned from China.
Amy Pascal personally took over, and China responded positively and arrived in Los Angeles this morning for a two-week inspection and exchange.
Simon did not attend the reception.
Even if you take it very seriously, some things are too much. In many cases, staying arrogant can achieve better results.
After hanging up the call from Joe Ross, Amy thought about it for a moment, asked her assistant to give some instructions, then picked up a glass of red wine and walked to the three people chatting in the crowd: "Mr. Liu, Jack, Jet, I'm so sorry. , answered a phone call temporarily.”
One of the three people is the deputy minister from the Ministry of Radio and Television of China, surnamed Liu, one is Jack Cheng, and the other is Jet Li.
"Dark Man" is released next week, and Jet Lee has been promoting it in the United States recently.
Jack Cheng was temporarily invited from across the ocean by Daenerys Entertainment, mainly to support "Dark Man". After all, the influence of "Rush Hour" at the beginning of the year is still there, so a Chinese who has already made a name for himself in North America is chosen. When a kung fu star promotes another kung fu star, the effect must be very good.
As for what Jack Cheng is thinking in his heart, it is not something that needs to be considered here. Anyway, at the invitation of Daenerys Entertainment, the other party rushed over.
The three of them heard what Amy said. The deputy minister named Liu was the first to say: "It's okay, Ms. Pascal."
Amy Pascal did not have Simon's language talent. She cooperated with the translator beside her and asked with a smile: "What were you talking about just now?"
Deputy Minister Liu said: "I also had some information about Jet's "Dark Man" beforehand. I never expected that Daenerys Entertainment would place this Chinese-language film in a popular summer time slot."
"'Dark Man' is a great movie. What's more, this was confirmed by Simon himself. His vision has always been accurate."
"Oh, we also noticed that Daenerys Entertainment has released many Chinese-language movies in recent years."
"The main reason is that Simon loves Chinese culture. If he were here tonight, there would be no need for a translator. By the way, Simon is also personally leading the preparations for a martial arts movie recently. I hope we can cooperate with the Chinese side by then."
Vice Minister Liu was very surprised: "Did I hear correctly, Ms. Pascal, you mean, 'martial arts' movies?"
When Jack Cheng and Jet Li heard this, although they did not interrupt rashly, their expressions moved slightly and they glanced at each other without leaving any trace.
Amy nodded and said: "Yes, a martial arts movie. Maybe my pronunciation is not very standard, but Mr. Liu understood it correctly. This is a movie adapted from a Chinese martial arts novel called "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". If you I have plenty of time, maybe we can arrange a meeting to discuss it.”
Vice Minister Liu couldn't remember who wrote "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" for a while, but it didn't stop him from keenly capturing the meaning of this project. This inspection involves the reform of the Chinese film industry, which cannot be immediately effective, but if we bring back a film cooperation project, it will be a real political achievement, so there is a faint excitement in his tone: "Of course, we must hand it over. "
Regarding the matter of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", Simon told Amy in advance to reveal the truth to the Chinese side. Letting the inspection team go back directly with a cooperation project can be regarded as a favor. After all, as long as the Chinese side sees the general information of the project, they will understand that this is a good opportunity to promote Chinese culture to the outside world.
Of course, publicly, this project will remain as low-key as possible in accordance with Simon's promise to Ang Lee.
I believe that as long as Daenerys Entertainment raises the issue, China will cooperate in keeping it confidential.
After all, the recognition of Chinese-language films in the West is still very low. If it is promoted with great fanfare in advance, it may become a laughing stock if the project fails.
The next day is Saturday.
At Cape Dume Manor, Simon still got up early.
Exercise, take a shower, put on fresh and casual clothes, sit by the glass curtain wall of the Shell Villa, take advantage of the short free time before breakfast to read today's newspapers, and listen to some of Girl A's work reports. With the addition of five little ones, breakfast time at home is always very lively, and it is impossible to read the newspaper while eating.
In terms of the overall situation, the 1996 presidential election in the United States is already in full swing.
Bill Clinton has not yet gotten over the quagmire of the Paula Jones case, and the Whitewater case has recently erupted, leaving people dizzying.
With Clinton's current poll expenditure rate, unless he gives up voluntarily or there are other irresistible changes, there is almost no suspense about his re-election. The various twists and turns on the part of the Republican Party are actually just a continued attack on the overall strength of the Democratic Party.
Although.
Simon feels that doing so will only disappoint the public with both parties in Washington.
This is also true.
The United States has fallen into a strange cycle of gerontocracy since the new century. The main reason is that the public has completely lost interest in the intrigues in Washington, and has a laissez-faire mentality.
Of course, this is actually good for chaebol capital like the Westeros system.
Just like Japan's low-desire society.
The common people were all peaceful and content, neither fighting nor robbing nor making noises.
How nice.
In Hollywood, the focus is still on the summer season.
Yesterday, the box office results for the first day of the summer holiday season were released. It was unexpected and reasonable, and caused a lot of excitement in the media.
First of all, "The Vapor" was overtaken by "Romeo and Juliet".
Although "The Mummy" is undoubtedly the number one on the list.
In addition, Disney's "Austin Powers", which has high hopes for this summer release, has not replicated the success of the "Officials" series. This is another saying. Daenerys Entertainment did not renew its contract at the time, and Simon Weiss Tello was obviously not optimistic about it, so it was so obvious.
Specifically.
On the first day of its opening, "The Mummy" with 2,986 screens, including midnight screenings, earned US$13.81 million on the first day, easily reaching the top. It is expected that the box office will be around US$40 million in the three days of the first weekend, and may exceed 60 million US dollars in the first seven days. mark.
It may not be comparable to the phenomenal DC movie universe series, but such results fully meet the expectations of the two producers.
Based on an opening of US$60 million, the local box office of "The Mummy" is expected to reach about 150 million, which is enough to recover the film's US$70 million production cost. The overseas box office of blockbusters with similar themes has always been higher than that in China, so "The Mummy" is expected to be profitable only in the theatrical release stage.
So the sequel will start immediately.
Maybe we can also take advantage of the situation to open up the mummy universe, but this still needs planning.
Number two on the single-day list is "Romeo and Juliet."
This is also the most unexpected and reasonable.
Although the first week's box office fell behind "The Vapor", "Romeo and Juliet" suppressed "The Vapor" in terms of popularity and theater averages. The New World Pictures team will also release it on the screen in the second week The number increased from 2017 blocks to 2534 blocks.
As a result, on the first day of the following week, "Romeo and Juliet" earned US$5.69 million, a year-on-year decrease of only 18% compared to the first day last week.
There may be a fallback in the future, but even if calculated based on the 20% drop in the next week, "Romeo and Juliet" will still earn about 25 million US dollars this week. By then, the film's cumulative revenue in two weeks will reach more than 56 million US dollars.
Because of the subject matter and audience, the strong "The Mummy" obviously did not have too obvious impact on "Romeo and Juliet". I think the same will be true for subsequent films such as "Mission: Impossible 2". Therefore, "Romeo and Juliet" is expected to have a very beautiful In the long run, the total domestic box office can not only easily exceed 100 million, but can even go up a lot.
"Evaporation Order" was not so lucky.
On the first day of the following week, this super blockbuster, which cost US$100 million, plummeted from US$8.69 million last week to US$4.13 million, a year-on-year drop of 53%.
Even if calculated based on the overall 50% drop in the next week, the box office of "The Vapor" will only be around US$18 million in its second week of release, with a total of approximately US$54 million in two weeks. It seems to be almost the same as "Romeo and Juliet", but due to such a sharp drop, the film may only have a box office potential of US$30 million in the future, and the overall North American revenue is expected to be around US$80 million.
This is still a good estimate.
With the North American box office tepid and a miracle overseas unlikely, Warner Bros.'s losses will further widen during the theatrical release phase of the movie.
The final "Austin Powers" had a box office of $356 on its first day, which was far lower than Disney's expectations. With such a start, the box office is expected to be around US$10 million in the first three days of the weekend, and around US$15 million in the first week.
After a low opening in the first week, the total domestic box office of "Austin Powers" is expected to be around 30 million US dollars. The domestic box office of 30 million US dollars is 20 million lower than the previous history. It is obviously due to the impact of films such as "The Mummy".
Because it is a localized vulgar spoof comedy, it will only be more bleak overseas.
Taking into account the film's cost of US$40 million and the publicity and distribution of US$20 million, Disney is destined to also suffer losses during the theatrical distribution stage.
Speaking of which, if the budget of the first "Auspicious Powers" is controlled within 20 million US dollars like the original film, even if the first film is only 30 million, it is still expected to start the sequel, and then it may continue to create the last two movies in history. The miracle sales of "Austin Powers".
Now that the first film failed, there is no way to think of a sequel, and Mike Myers can only look for other projects.
It's not easy.
Because the new generation of comedy stars that Simon has quietly cultivated will gradually emerge in the next few years. Comedy is a genre that is fresh for the audience, otherwise comedy movie sequels would not be prone to failure.
This freshness is not just for the movie, but also for the actors.
Of course, Simon has no intention of deliberately suppressing Mike Myers. With his current position, the more actors of all kinds in Hollywood bloom, the better it will be for the Westeros system.