After Simon's return from China, the North American summer season will also start on May 10.

Because of the Atlanta Olympics, this year's summer season, major studios have deliberately avoided the 17-day period from July 19th to August 4th, and many movies have advanced or postponed their schedules.

This summer file will also be a potential watershed for Daenerys Entertainment.

Simon wants to control Hollywood to the greatest extent, but it is obviously not enough to just guide the direction of the capital, and the most direct way is to make the capital interested in Hollywood feel unprofitable to the greatest extent.

The method is actually quite simple.

Hollywood's resources are limited.

Whether it's schedules, canvases, promotional resources, etc., therefore, the more the Westeros system occupies, the less it is left for other studios.

Simon has also been quietly pursuing this strategy before, as has been the case with other studios. And, until then, in order to avoid triggering an overall backlash from other Hollywood rivals, Simon has been cautious. With the completion of the annexation of the Met's ABC Group, coupled with the fact that most of Hollywood's other studios are controlled by foreign capital, Simon now does not need to be too scrupulous.

Therefore, this summer file, Daenerys Entertainment, or the entire Westeros system, will really go hand in hand in Hollywood.

In particular, the three labels owned by Daenerys Entertainment.

Compared with previous years, the summer file is based on the blockbuster of Daenerys Films, the core label of Daenerys Entertainment, or the big budget project in cooperation with other studios, Gaomen Pictures and New World Pictures have not made much action in the summer file, and this time, the three labels are no longer convergent.

In addition, it also includes MGM Pictures, which Australian capital such as Johnston Holdings holds most of the shares, and the actual control is actually in the hands of Simon.

On the whole, this summer file, from the beginning of May to the end of August, nearly four months, has a total of 14 projects related to Daenerys Entertainment, far exceeding the number of summer movies released by other studios, which are more than four or five or two or three films released by other studios.

Of the 14 films, 9 are produced and distributed by Daenerys Entertainment's labels, 2 are foreign cooperation projects, and 3 are closely related MGM.

Moreover, this time, the 9 self-owned projects are still dominated by Gordon Pictures and New World Pictures, and the only independent and distributed project of Daenerys Pictures is the blockbuster movie "Guillotine Valley" directed by Tim Burton. Of course, if you count the two blockbuster "Mummies" and "Mission Impossible 2" that have cooperated with foreign countries, the weight of Daenerys Films is not light at all.

MGM's three movies are based on the 18th 007 movie "007: The Ghost Party", which is also the beginning of Simon's planning of the MGM Agent Cinematic Universe.

Monday, May 6.

Daenerys Studios, Malibu.

Simon returned to Los Angeles and spent his first day on the job discussing the upcoming summer season with three Daenerys Entertainment labels.

In chronological order, on May 10, Daenerys Entertainment's first project at the beginning of the summer season was the modern version of "Romeo and Juliet" directed by Bazz Luhmann and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Dennis.

In the original time and space, the North American release of "Romeo and Juliet" actually made a big mistake.

Because it is only a low-budget film with a production cost of more than 10 million US dollars, even if Baz Luhmann's last work "Dancing Heroes" did well at the box office in North America, the producer Twentieth Century Fox Film still released the film on an unpopular schedule in early November, and the promotional resources and screen scale given were not satisfactory.

In such an adverse environment, this modern version of "Romeo and Juliet" still earned more than $46 million at the domestic box office.

Twentieth Century Fox, realizing the potential of the film, adjusted its strategy during the overseas distribution process, and as a result, the overseas box office of the film exceeded 100 million.

As for the reason.

This is Romeo and Juliet.

If that Westerner doesn't know this story, it's the same as Chinese don't know "Dream of the Red Mansion".

To use a popular word in the entertainment industry later, "Romeo and Juliet" is a super IP at the level of a full name, and if this project is made, it can directly save tens of millions of dollars in publicity costs, because there is no need to publicize it at all, everyone knows, oh, Romeo and Juliet.

There's always a relishing joke circulating in Hollywood.

Leonardo DiCaprio went to audition for "Titanic", which attracted the women of the whole building to watch, so director James Cameron was completely determined to determine the other party as the leading actor.

Why is this happening?

Chinese movie fans should not have studied it deeply.

In fact, it was because of "Romeo and Juliet", and before this project, Xiao Lizi's most famous role was only Johnny Depp's demented brother in "A Different Sky", and it was obviously impossible to gather such popularity.

This also indirectly explains the success of Baz Luhmann's modern version of Romeo and Juliet.

This time, Simon certainly won't make another mistake like Fox.

May 10 may not be the most prime time for the summer season, but it is far better than the early November schedule in the original time and space, and on the basis of the production cost of 15 million US dollars, the publicity and distribution of "Romeo and Juliet" also directly reached 15 million US dollars, and the number of screens opened was 2107.

In addition, it has to be said that on May 10, the same day will be released on the same day as Warner Bros. production Arnold Schwarzenegger starring the $100 million super blockbuster "Evaporation Secret".

In the eyes of the average person, the two projects are simply incomparable.

However, compared to "Evaporation Order", Simon is more optimistic about "Romeo and Juliet".

The "Evaporation Order" in the original time and space is a standard for Schwarzenegger's personal career from prosperity to decline, and later Schwarzenegger can only maintain his popularity with the sequel to "Terminator" that keeps remaking and failing, but outside of the "Terminator" series, after "Evaporation Order", Schwarzenegger has no masterpiece.

Emaciated camels are bigger than horses.

In any case, in front of the behemoth of "Evaporation Order", "Romeo and Juliet" seems too weak, and it seems unwise to directly pit the two.

However, if you want to hit the summer file, this is inevitable.

wants a better schedule but doesn't want to compete with blockbusters, this kind of good thing does not exist in the summer file.

Compared with "The Mummy", "Mission Impossible 2", "007: Ghost Party" and so on, "Evaporation Order" is actually the most 'weak' one, because it is very clear about the box office potential of this project. In the original time and space, it barely exceeded 100 million, just because there were no competitors, this time, although it also cost 100 million, but under the advantages of one and the other, "Evaporation Secret Order" wants to break 100 million, and there is little hope.

On the contrary, "Romeo and Juliet" is very promising to become the first dark horse in the summer file.

Because of this romance film with handsome men and beautiful women and backed by a full-name big IPO, it happens to be the main consumer force of the summer file, young students, think about the girls who ran to watch Xiao Lizi's beauty in the whole building in the original time and space, they didn't run.

"Romeo and Juliet", which begins on May 10, is followed by "The Mummy" on May 17.

Placing this project on May 17 is also based on the premise that "Evaporation Order" may be a soft persimmon, "The Mummy" and "Evaporation Order" are the most direct competitors, and at the same time, they will not squeeze the living space of "Romeo and Juliet" too much.

After several consecutive internal test screenings, the new version of Kilmer and Rachel Weisz's main "Mummy" is at least no less quality than Brandon Fisher's version in Simon's opinion, and Fox, which is responsible for distribution, has also made this project the focus of the summer file, throwing out a budget of $35 million, and with the support of Daenerys Entertainment, the film has also reached 2,986 screens.

Then, on May 24, there was another movie worth mentioning: "Black Man".

That's right.

is the "Black Man" starring Jett Lee.

Simon has been quietly promoting New World Pictures to introduce excellent Hong Kong films in North America in recent years, "Red Fan Zone" is one of the very successful ones, and "Rush Hour" on Valentine's Day at the beginning of the year can be regarded as a peak for Hong Kong stars to enter Hollywood. And this "Black Man" was finalized before the release of "Rush Hour".

The production cost of the film is as high as 60 million Hong Kong dollars, which is definitely a super blockbuster on the other side of the ocean, and the project was originally intended to enter Hollywood.

Compared with Jack Cheng's humorous kung fu, probably because of feelings, Simon prefers Jett Lee, and under the personal promotion of his big boss, the two sides hit it off. However, the 60 million Hong Kong dollars on the other side of the ocean is actually only 7 million when converted into US dollars, which is suddenly reduced to a small cost in Hollywood.

As a co-producer, New World Pictures got the omni-channel distribution rights of "Black Man" with an investment of 2 million US dollars, which is actually the main purpose of the Hong Kong side is to test the waters, after all, in the process of discussing the project, Jack Cheng has tried to impact Hollywood so many times, and only one "Red Fan Zone" can get it, so the most important thing there is still the local market on Hong Kong Island and Southeast Asia, which is also the majority of Hong Kong films.

Simon knows that "Black Man" is equivalent to Jet Lee and Jack Cheng in "Red Fan Zone".

Jack Cheng filmed "Red Fan Zone", and in order to break into the Western market, he also came to the United States to shoot, and Jet Lee attracted the attention of Hollywood with his charm.

In the original time and space, after the release of "Black Man" in North America, it successfully achieved more than $12 million at the box office, far exceeding the equivalent of $7 million in production costs, not only that, but it was even a small head at the box office, and this kung fu movie from Hong Kong Island has achieved greater success in the videotape market, with more than $50 million in revenue from videotape rental and sales alone.

Because of the success of "Black Man", Jett Lee was also able to get a villain role in Mel Gibson's "Lethal Weapon 4" that allowed him to further break into Hollywood, and further triggered a widely circulated "wait for two hours" joke.

This time, as long as "Black Man" can be successful, Simon also plans to quietly plan for Jett Lee.

The original time and space opened up the Hollywood situation, and Jett Lee starred in a batch of B-grade films, which are really a bit unsatisfactory, as for the little villain in "Lethal Weapon 4", this time simply don't get involved.

In fact, there is another better opportunity recently.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

In the original time and space, the first actor considered in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was Jett Lee, who failed to reach a cooperation for various reasons and was finally taken over by Fa Ge.

Simon doesn't plan to change this time.

Because fundamentally, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is more inclined to a literary martial arts, rather than an orthodox martial arts that really pursues visual effects, and in the film, the male protagonist Li Mubai does not have too many big dramas, but focuses on the two women Yu Xiulian and Yu Jiaolong, according to Ang Lee, this is a martial arts version of "Sense and Emotion", and the core is still the story of two women.

Therefore, Fa Ge is just right.

Forcibly putting Jett Lee into this project may backfire, after all, the audience will watch it in the future, hey, what about the neat and neat fights in "Black Man", who wants to see what martial arts realm you and Yu Xiulian are talking about, we have to look at kung fu.

On the other hand, Simon also instinctively hopes to bring more excellent Chinese actors to Hollywood.

Giving "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" to the original Fa Ge is out of this consideration.

As long as all goes well, in the next few years, Hollywood will have three well-known Chinese actors, Jack Cheng, Jett Lee and Fa Ge.

In fact, there are two Chinese directors.

Ang Lee, as well as White Dove Wu, who directed "Mission Impossible 2" released on May 31 after "Black Man". In fact, as long as you don't talk about making war epics such as "Wind Whisperer" and "Red Cliff", White Pigeon Wu will definitely be able to stay in Hollywood for a longer time. Of course, Simon will definitely not let Ang Lee film "The Incredible Hulk" again, how good "Life of Pi" is.

The original "Mission Impossible 2" is directed by White Pigeon Wu, and this time it is in line with history.

On May 31, Paramount's "Mission Impossible 2".

On June 7, New World Pictures' third project in this summer file, Adam Sandler's "Overage Transfer Student". This is Simon's consideration for supporting a new generation of comedians, including Ben Stiller, who has already auditioned for "Horror Ghost".

On June 14, MGM's "007: The Spectreists" opened the Secret Service Cinematic Universe. This project does not have Daenerys Entertainment's financial participation, however, the situation will change as the subsequent Agent Cinematic Universe begins to cross-integrate.

June 21, "Police Empire".

The crime film, written and directed by James Mangold and starring Sylvester Stallone, was originally considered for last year's awards season. After the film was completed, several internal test screenings, although the quality was not much, but neither the film critics who participated in the test screening at the top of Gaomen Pictures thought that the film would be favored by the Oscars, and the competition for the Oscars last year was really fierce, so it was simply adjusted to this summer.

It is intended to be released as a commercial film.

Of course, I didn't have much expectations, so I put it after "007: Spectre" on June 14 and before Daenerys Pictures' "Guillotine Valley" on June 28. However, the film cost only $10 million to make, and even if it fails, it's really nothing. What's more, with the appeal of Stallone, after all, it is a summer file, and a little publicity can still attract a lot of attention.

June 28, "Guillotine Valley", needless to say.

On July 4th, the Solitaire Day holiday, which is actually a Thursday, the day ahead of the normal box office, another important project of MGM, "Birdcage", was released.

"The Birdcage" is a very alternative project, starring Robin Williams, with a budget of $30 million, but it was slightly overspent in the production process, reaching $31 million, and the film tells the story of a gay club.

Yes.

Gays.

The project was very unusual in Hollywood, so when it was first established, MGM had a lot of concerns.

Or Simon intervened slightly.

Because in Simon's memory, "Birdcage" was the seventh highest box office of the year in 1996 in the original time and space, and it got $120 million at the box office just in China, and it happened to be produced by MGM. Although Simon is not too cold after reading the script and the finished film, to be honest, he prefers lesbians, well, lilies are king.

But as long as the audience likes it.

Who can get along with making money?

From May 10th to July 4th, 9 consecutive weeks, 9 movies, and the important projects of the Westeros system have basically been launched.

Then, there are five films, "Different Instincts", "Ice Storm", "The Farm That Is Hard to Comfort", "Emma", and "Kill the Dawn", which are scattered in the follow-up summer vacation schedule across the Olympic Games, and they are not nobodies, but they are also not box office hits, and after all, they still have to leave some breathing space for other studios.