Hollywood Hunter

After the meeting between Simon and Ovitz, although the waves of public opinion caused by the dismissal of Barry Levinson did not immediately dissipate, several of the main creators of "Rainman" have taken a stand in the media.

However, this matter does not end here.

In the production process of "Rainman", compared with many more powerful movie companies in Hollywood, Simon has given several main creators enough room to play. His intervention in this film has even stayed to the point that the project is completely out of control. .

Everything that Barry Levinson and others have done to escape the negative impact that the failure of the film may have on themselves has far exceeded Simon's endurance limit. He did not intend to let this matter go from the beginning.

However, although it was created by a few people who didn't like it very much, "Rainman" was a hugely expensive project for Daenerys, and Simon would not deliberately destroy this project. Doing so would be mad at others. He fell into his own porcelain and lost two things in one fell swoop.

Only when "Rainman" gets the good results of the annual box office championship like the original time and space, can this slap be beaten back.

Simon did not intend to just slap back.

It doesn't hurt enough.

It is always too easy for people to forget such minor injuries and pains that are not profound enough.

While Simon personally took over "Rainman", another film of Daenerys Pictures, "Scream", was successfully completed after rough cutting in late July.While the two sides have kept communicating about the creative ideas, Wes Craven’s successful work has nothing to dissatisfy Simon. The film is expected to be completely completed in late September at the latest, and also for Halloween at the end of October The schedule reserves nearly two months of announcement time.

In addition, the filming of "Steel Magnolia Flower" and "Death Poetry Society" are also coming to an end, and will not delay the release at the end of the year.

On the other hand, after the American Film and Television Producers Union proposed the latest contract proposal to WGA, WGA, who was completely forced to the corner, had to initiate a vote again.

Because the producers' union only gave one week to reply, this vote can only be conducted in the two cities of New York and Los Angeles through the ballot method. Of the 2,500 voting screenwriters finally selected, 2,137 voted in favor.

In the end, on August 12, the big strike that lasted more than five months in Hollywood history was finally declared over. The whole process lasted 160 days, five days more than the original 155 days in space and time.

Although the WGA announced a compromise, the aftermath of the strike continued.

The most serious point is that after the producer alliance reached a new agreement with WGA, it still did not forgive those second- and third-tier production companies that signed the agreement with WGA in advance. The related antitrust lawsuits continue, although WGA may eventually win, but Those production companies that have suffered blockades have had difficulty obtaining business from the seven major film companies and the four major television networks at least this year.

In addition, the strike that lasted for more than five months, not only the TV autumn file, but also the shortage of projects in the next film schedule, which also made it easy for Daenerys to push several projects in the hands to the hospital. line.

After the strike ended, a large number of Hollywood projects that were stranded because of the lack of screenwriters were quickly restarted.

Robert Iger, who was in charge of TV program production at ABC, started the series of TV series under New World Entertainment very smoothly.

Because it already has a good foundation, this matter did not encounter too many difficulties.Although there are some voices in the American screenwriters union that want members to resist cooperation with Daenerys, the blockade of a large number of second- and third-line film companies in Hollywood has already greatly reduced the choice of screenwriters. In front of a large number of job opportunities in the industry, there are not many screenwriters who have enough confidence to resist.

A union of more than 10,000 people. If you don’t want this job, too many people are waiting to take over.

While restarting the movie business, the integration of Daenerys Pictures and New World Entertainment is also rapidly advancing.

On August 15, after the initial adjustment, the new company officially held a small press conference to announce the reorganization of the original Daenerys Pictures and New World Entertainment into the Daenerys Entertainment Group.

After this integration, Daenerys Entertainment will retain three movie labels, namely Daenerys Pictures, New World Pictures, and another piece of independent brand Gaomen Pictures originally owned by New World Entertainment ( Highgate-Film).

Prior to this, because of the company's start-up, whether it was a romantic film such as "When Harry Meets Sally" or an anti-genre film such as "Pulp Fiction", or a B-level horror film such as "The Grim Reaper" There is a label produced by Daenerys Pictures, which is actually not conducive to the company's brand building.

Now, Simon intends to use these three brands to produce different types of films.

Daenerys Pictures will focus on mainstream commercial movies such as "When Harry Meets Sally", "Rainman" and "Batman", and New World Pictures will take over "Scream" and "Scream" The production of low-cost horror movies like "Reaper".

As for the high-end film industry, Simon intends to get involved in the field of art films dedicated to prize drawing.

Miran Max of the Weinstein Brothers has not yet risen. Art films still exist in the eyes of many big film companies, and the reality is indeed inclined to this.

Now in Hollywood, a good-quality art film, after several months or even half a year of operation, fortunately made a profit of 10 million US dollars, which is definitely very successful, but in the eyes of large studios, this may be It is only equivalent to their income for a week.

However, what many people in Hollywood do not notice is that if they can operate multiple successful art films each year, then the total revenue from this business will be very considerable.Not only that, but doing so can quickly expand the library resources of a film company.

The video and DVD industry in Hollywood can still flourish for at least two decades. The development of the cable TV industry continues to increase the demand for movie resources. Under such an industry background, it has a movie library with rich content resources for any movie. The company is very favorable.

In order to implement this as soon as possible, Simon put all the original outsourcing film teams of New World Entertainment under Gaomen Pictures.

The film production cycle is long, but it extends to the whole world, and every day there will be a new film to be completed. The first thing the team of Gaomen Pictures will do is to collect all kinds of The film copyright is brought to North America for distribution.

In addition to the three major brands, the company also integrated the original distribution teams of the two companies to form the Daenerys distribution company, which is under the responsibility of Robert Rem and is responsible for the distribution of all films under Daenerys Entertainment.Daenerys Television is under the responsibility of Robert Iger, focusing on the development of the television business.Daenerys Special Effects, under the responsibility of Mark Silver, focuses on the research and development of film CG special effects technology and 3D animation technology.

As for Marvel Entertainment, Simon has no plans to produce Marvel movies in the short term. This subsidiary will maintain a completely independent operating state and report directly to Simon.

Completed all this, the summer file in 1988 has also come to an end.

On August 11, a full 20-week "When Harry Meets Sally" was screened on the North American theater, and the final box office was $109.92 million.

As of the following August 18, the 11th week of the release, the North American box office of "Pulp Fiction" has accumulated to 131.51 million US dollars.

In the fifth week of Instinct, the box office received another 10.21 million US dollars, and the cumulative box office has reached 82.76 million US dollars.The box office that was drawn from the controversy is significantly better than the original box office. It is destined to break the 100 million mark within the next three weeks, making it the third box office 100 million film produced by Daenerys Pictures in 1988.

Santa monica.

Although New World Entertainment also has an office space in Burbank and is larger, the headquarters of Daenerys Entertainment is still located in the two-story office building on 4th Street in Santa Monica.

In a flash, it was already August 22.

Although he let the company's business go to several supervisors as much as possible, Simon was very busy during this time.In addition to the preparation of "Batman", he also has to take care of the post-production of the four films "Rainman", "Scream", "Steel Magnolia" and "Death Poetry Society".

This alone spent most of his week.

In addition, after the completion of the integration, the company's many details of the film work also need Simon to participate, and he can't completely ignore the few movies that the TV department is promoting.

Although before the acquisition, New World Entertainment has been in serious trouble, but the number of film and television projects it is advancing is still quite a lot.Although it was not possible to find any film with box office potential, Simon could not cut all those projects that had already been invested.

Moreover, in order to avoid the embarrassing situation that the movie project of next year will be out of order, Simon also needs to separate the experience and choose a new project.

Because of this busyness, Simon's trip to Australia can only be delayed again and again.

In the conference room of Daenerys Pictures headquarters.

"Next, this is a film that New World Films originally planned to invest with two other independent production companies. The name is "Angel God Mission", which tells a cartoonist entering his comic story and his heroine Bran. A series of adventure stories that happened, the copyright and distribution rights of the project scripts are in our hands. The previous management has invested about 300,000 US dollars in development, and has successfully communicated with the 007 actor Timothy Dalton and that year. The heroine of the film "Pretty Baby" Brooke Sign signed a contract of intent. The initial budget of the project is 15 million US dollars, and the three companies each pay 5 million US dollars." Amy briefly introduced, looking at the other side Simon suggested: "I think this project is very interesting, maybe you can give it a try. Timothy Dalton and Brooke Shields have good reputations. If necessary, we can cancel with the other two companies. To invest independently."

Simon looked through the information in his hand and looked up at Amy. "What do you think is the selling point of this project?"

Amy thought for a while and said: "The story itself is a comic writer who enters the creativity of his work. "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" also proves that this combination of comics and real people will be very popular. In addition, Brooke Shields She also has a good box office appeal. It seems that she is still in love with Michael Jackson, which can also increase the reputation of the film."

Simon listened to Amy and shook his head: "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" was indeed very successful, but it cost a $70 million budget. As for this story, Amy, if you look good, you can set up a project, but The script must be revised, and I need a clearer main line, not an unordered adventure."

Amy Dunton looked down and said to Simon: "Aren't you optimistic about this film?"

Simon only has some sporadic information about the movie's fiasco at the box office. However, considering all aspects, he also knows that it is largely due to the turmoil of the new world entertainment in the original time and space.It takes too many links from a script to a film to complete a film. If the project is reprocessed and the execution power of Daenerys Entertainment is added, it is unlikely to repeat the same mistakes.

"It's not good or bad, but it doesn't feel much," shook his head again, Simon said: "In addition, even if Brooke Xiaosi doesn't have any acting skills, she still has a stronger box office appeal before 18 years old. . I remember her last "Sahara" box office was very failed."

Amy couldn't figure out Simon's attitude: "Simon, you mean, are we going to shoot this film?"

"You decide," Simon directly shook his hand and said, "You are the CEO of the company. There will be more projects under the company in the future. It is impossible for me to come up with ideas for anything. Of course, if I lose too much, I will scold people. of."

After thinking about it, Amy made a determined decision and said, "Then I will let the script be revised again. In addition, if Brooke Shields can't do it, maybe let Kidman try it. The film will start shooting early next year. She had already finished the film "Across the Horizon" at that time."

Simon nodded and said, "Nico is good. The heroine of this script is a very outgoing character. Nicole's acting is enough to support it."

The two were chatting, and Robert Egger knocked on the door of the conference room and walked in, carrying his briefcase in his hand.

Because I had just flown from the east coast, Iger looked a little tired.

Simon and Amy got up and greeted Iger, and everyone sat down together at the desk.

"Simon, Amy, this is the draft agreement that HBO and I have just negotiated," Robert Iger pulled out a document from his briefcase and handed it to Simon, saying: "They are willing to order for $600,000 per issue. A season of "Beverly Wife", but they also demanded only 13 episodes in the first season."

There was only one agreement, and Amy got over.

Three reality TV shows including "Who Will Be a Millionaire" were won by mainstream TV networks, and Simon did not give up "Beverly Wife". What surprised him was that HBO, which was owned by Time Inc. Interested.Although he doesn’t think it’s a good idea for HBO to want “Beverly Wife”, some people are willing to buy this project, and Simon will not dissuade him naturally. He also wants to establish business connection with the most powerful cable TV network in space and time.So Iger was in contact with HBO.