In the villa reception room, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Fox President Joe Ross are indeed talking about "The Terminator".

"In fact, after the success of "Terminator 2", someone proposed to develop "Terminator 3", Arnold, I think you must have heard about it, and many people, including me, were moved by it, but then Simon personally vetoed it, and everyone didn't mention it again. I want a series reboot, though...... Well, seriously, you'd better communicate directly with Daenerys Entertainment. ”

The original "Terminator 2", as a joint project between the two parties, Fox and Daenerys each shared half of the copyright.

Arnold Schwarzenegger did not answer Joe Ross's words: "Joe, why don't we talk about another plan? For example, Fox bought the other half of the rights held by Daenerys and developed it separately, and now Daenerys Entertainment has many popular projects, and there is no shortage of "Terminator", I think as long as the price is right, it should be sold over there. Buying the copyright of "Terminator", Fox can also have a trump card, and it is certainly not impossible to develop not only a sequel in the future, but even a Terminator universe as well. ”

Joe Ross felt Schwarzenegger's encouragement, but he didn't feel moved, raised his hand and scratched the bridge of his standard Jewish high nose twice with his index finger, then looked directly at the other party and asked, "Arnold, you should have been in contact with Daenerys first and was rejected, right?"

A flash of embarrassment flashed in Schwarzenegger's expression, but he still nodded: "Daenerys really has no desire to develop a sequel on his side." Still, Joe, Fox working on Terminator 3 on its own, is it definitely a good idea, isn't it?"

"Perhaps," said Joe Ross, who was obviously not in high spirits, hesitated a little, but "Arnold, frankly, since Barry left, Rupert has not been very interested in the film business, and he has a greater interest in the television and newspapers that he is familiar with. In the past year, Fox has only released a total of 9 films, and if it weren't for the boom in the market in recent years, the film business has been quite profitable, and Rupert could have sold the film division directly. Moreover, the relationship between News Corp and the Westeros system, you should also know, so if Simon is against the production of "Terminator 3", even if we get the full rights, Rupert will not necessarily agree, because Simon is not optimistic, and because the project is too expensive. ”

Schwarzenegger didn't expect that he would come forward in person or hit a wall, and he couldn't hold back for a while: "Joe, are everyone willing to be vassals of Daenerys Entertainment?"

In the face of Schwarzenegger's agitated tone, Joe Ross just smiled: "Arnold, if you can, no one wants to be a vassal, it's just that the industry trend is like this, it's ...... to talk about" Speaking of this, Joe Ross didn't say anything, just shrugged his shoulders, in front of this big star, it's better not to poke the scar directly, maybe he will cooperate in the future.

What Ross wants to say is that Warner just doesn't want to be Daenerys's vassal, so it insists on filming "Evaporation Order" and the disastrous "Future Water World" last summer, if it weren't for these failed projects that eroded profits, relying on the success of films such as "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice", Warner's film performance would have been better.

Bombshells are indeed a trend in Hollywood.

It's just that this field is really not so easy to play. Especially in the case of Daenerys Entertainment becoming more and more powerful, a lot of resources are occupied by the other party, and other studios are investing in blockbuster movies, and the risks are getting higher and higher.

At this stage, entertainment with Daenerys is the safest strategy.

It's like Warner and Daenerys' DC Cinematic Universe, like Fox's "The Mummy" that just released today, and like MGM that is increasingly tilted by Westeros.

Arnold Schwarzenegger also understood the subtext that Joe Ross didn't finish, if he was still at the peak of his popularity, he might leave with his sleeves up, but this time he could only endure his displeasure and threw out another set of plans: "In this case, Joe, if I find another company willing to make this movie, can Fox transfer the rights to "Terminator"?"

Joe Ross was a little stunned, and then he was also very simple: "Arnold, it still depends on Daenerys's meaning, if the other side is willing to give up, I think Fox's side is no problem." ”

The two chatted a few more words, and Schwarzenegger took his leave and left.

Joe Ross sent Schwarzenegger away, did not immediately return to the party for socializing, returned to the reception room, took out his mobile phone and dialed a number, and after a while, even through the microphone, Rose still showed a very sincere smile: "Good evening, Amy, I hope I didn't bother you...... Heh, it's the same on my side...... That's right, Arnold just came over ......"

After briefly talking about the meeting with Arnold just now, he hung up the phone, and Rose returned to the outside hall to start entertaining guests.

Rose really didn't care about Arnold's agitation during the meeting, he was just a professional manager. What's more, even after several turbulent integrations, Hollywood is still the Hollywood of the Jews. Even if a young person is in full swing now, if this circle wants to operate, it can't do without them at all.

Hollywood is the capital of flowing water and the star of flowing water.

Only the Jews are eternal.

There may be one more king now, but the king cannot handle all affairs alone, and they need their assistance, so they still have power.

Not too far from Brentwood, in Palisad, in Simon's mansion halfway up the hill, is also hosting a cocktail party, but hosted by Amy Pascal, for a film industry delegation from China.

It was an idea that Simon had on the plane when he returned from China.

Amy Pascal took over personally, and the Chinese side responded positively, and arrived in Los Angeles this morning, where it is expected to be on a two-week visit.

Simon did not attend the reception.

Even if you take it very seriously, some things are too much, and many times, staying arrogant can achieve better results.

Hanging up the phone from Joe Rose, Amy thought about it for a while, summoned her assistant to give a few words, and picked up a glass of red wine again and came to the three people who were chatting at the reception: "Mr. Liu, Jack, Jet, I'm really sorry, I answered a phone call temporarily." ”

One of the three is the vice minister from China's Ministry of Radio and Television, one is Jack Cheng, and the other is Jett Lee.

"Black Man" will be released next week, and Jett Lee has been cooperating with the promotion in the United States recently.

Jack Cheng was temporarily invited by Daenerys Entertainment from across the ocean, mainly to cheer for "Black Man", after all, the influence of "Rush Hour" at the beginning of the year is still there, and the effect of using a Chinese kung fu star who has become famous in North America to promote another kung fu star must be very good.

As for what Jack Cheng thinks in his heart, it's not something that needs to be considered here. Anyway, at the invitation of Daenerys Entertainment, the other party still rushed over.

When the three of them heard Amy say this, the deputy minister surnamed Liu first said, "Ms. Pascal, you are so polite. ”

Amy Pascal didn't have Simon's talent for languages, and with the translator next to her, she smiled and said, "What were you talking about?"

Vice Minister Liu said: "Jet's "Black Man", I also learned some information in advance, I really didn't expect that Daenerys Entertainment would put this Chinese movie in a popular schedule like the summer file. ”

"'Black Man' is a great movie, not to mention, this is determined by Simon himself, and his vision has always been accurate. ”

"Heh, we have also noticed that Daenerys Entertainment has really released a lot of Chinese movies over the years. ”

"Simon likes Chinese culture very much, if he is here tonight, he will not need a translator at all, by the way, Simon is also personally leading the preparation of another martial arts movie recently, and I hope that we can cooperate with the Chinese side at that time." ”

Vice Minister Liu was surprised: "I heard you right, Ms. Pascal, you mean, 'martial arts' movies?"

When Jack Cheng and Jett Lee heard this, although they did not interject rashly, their expressions moved slightly, and they glanced at each other without a trace.

Amy nodded and said: "Yes, the 'martial arts' movie, maybe my pronunciation is not too standard, but Mr. Liu did not understand it wrong, this is a movie adapted by Chinese writer Wang Dulu, called "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". If we can, maybe we can talk about this recently. ”

Vice Minister Liu couldn't remember who wrote "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" for a while, but it did not prevent him from keenly capturing the meaning of this project, this inspection involves the reform of China's film industry, and it cannot be immediately effective, but if you bring back a film cooperation project, it will be a real direct political achievement, and there is a faint excitement in his tone: "Of course, we must communicate." ”

Regarding the matter of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", Simon explained to Amy in advance to reveal the tone to the Chinese side, and asked the delegation to directly bring a cooperation project back, which can be regarded as a favor. After all, as long as the Chinese side sees the general information of the project, it will understand that this is a good opportunity to promote Chinese culture to the outside world.

Of course, at the public level, the project will still keep a low profile as much as Simon promised Ang Lee.

It is believed that as long as Daenerys Entertainment proposes it, the Chinese side will also cooperate with the secrecy.

After all, the recognition of Chinese films in the West is still very low, and if it is promoted with great fanfare in advance, once the project fails, it may become a laughing stock.

The next day was Saturday.

May 18th.

At Dume's Point Manor, Simon still wakes up early.

Exercise, take a shower, change into crisp and casual clothes, sit by the glass curtain wall of the villa's adjacent cliff, take advantage of the short time before breakfast to flip through today's newspaper, and listen to some A girls' work reports attentively. With five more little ones, the family will always have a very lively mealtime, and it is unlikely that they will read the newspaper while eating.

In terms of the overall situation, the 1996 presidential election campaign in the United States is already in full swing.

As a result, Clinton has not yet gotten rid of the quagmire of the Paula Jones case, and the recent Whitewater case has erupted, which is dizzying.

With Clinton's current poll spending rate, unless he voluntarily gives up or there are other irresistible side drums, there is little suspense about re-election, and the Republican Party's current various tosses are actually only weakening the overall strength of the Democratic Party.

Although.

Simon felt that doing so would only disillusion the public with Washington as a whole.

And so it is.

The main reason why the United States has fallen into the vicious circle of gerontocracy after the new century is that the public has completely lost interest in Washington's intrigues and has a laissez-faire mentality that you toss and turn casually.

Of course, this is actually good for plutocratic capital like the Westeros system.

It's like Japan's low-desire society.

The common people are safe and secure, not fighting, not grabbing, not noisy or noisy.

How nice.

On Hollywood's side, the focus of attention is naturally the summer file that has already begun.

Yesterday's box office on the first day of the summer season was released, which was natural and reasonable, and of course the media reports were quite lively.

Because "Evaporation Order" was overtaken by "Romeo and Juliet".

Although "The Mummy" is the first place on the list as a matter of course.

In addition, the Disney Company controlled by Vivendi has high hopes for Mike Myers' new film "Ace Spy" this summer, and has not replicated the success of the "Fighting Intelligence" series, and said again that Daenerys Entertainment did not renew the contract at the beginning, and Simon Westeros is obviously not optimistic, so how obvious it is.

Specifically.

On the first day of filming, "The Mummy", which has 2,986 screens, earned $13.81 million on the first day of the midnight show, easily reaching the top, and it is expected that the box office will be around $40 million in the first three days of the first weekend, and it may break the 60 million mark in the first seven days.

may not be able to compare with the phenomenal DC Cinematic Universe series, but such results fully meet the expectations of the two producers.

According to the $60 million start, the local box office of "The Mummy" is expected to reach about 150 million, which is enough to recover the film's $70 million production cost. The overseas box office of blockbusters with similar themes has always been higher than that in China, so "The Mummy" can easily make a profit just at the stage of theatrical release.

So the sequel will start immediately.

Maybe you can also take advantage of the trend to open up the mummy universe, which still needs to be planned.

The second place on the single-day list is Romeo and Juliet.

This is also the most unexpected and reasonable.

Although the first week fell behind "Evaporation", "Romeo and Juliet" suppressed "Evaporation" in terms of popularity and museum data, and the New World Pictures team also increased the number of screens released the following week from 2,017 last week to 2,534.

As a result, on the first day of the following week, "Romeo and Juliet" earned $5.69 million, a year-on-year decline of only 18% compared to the first day of painting last week.

Maybe there will be a drop in the future, but even if it is calculated according to the 20% decline in the next week, it can still earn about $25 million this week, and the cumulative amount in two weeks will reach more than $56 million.

"Romeo and Juliet" didn't hit the "Mummy", and "Evaporation Order" was not so lucky.

On the first day of the next week, the bombshell, which cost $100 million, plummeted from $8.69 million last week to $4.13 million, a year-on-year decline of 53%.

Even if calculated according to the overall 50% decline in the next week, the box office of "Evaporation Secret" will only be about $18 million in the second week of release, and the cumulative amount in two weeks will be about 54 million. It seems to be almost the same as "Romeo and Juliet", but because the decline is too hard, the potential of the film is only about $30 million in the future, and it is expected that the overall North American level will be about $80 million.

That's a good estimate.

With a tepid box office in North America and an unlikely miracle overseas, Warner Bros.' losses in the theatrical release phase of the film widened further.

The last "Ace Spy" grossed $356 on the first day of filming, and is expected to be about $10 million in the first three days of the first weekend and about $15 million in the first week.

In the first week, the total domestic box office is expected to be around $30 million.

Compared to the cost of $40 million, Disney also lost money.

The 30 million local box office has shrunk by 20 million compared with the previous history, obviously due to the impact of films such as "The Mummy".

Speaking of which, if the budget of the first "Ace Spy" is controlled within $20 million as in the original time and space, even if the first part is only 30 million, it is still expected to launch a sequel, and then create a big selling miracle of the last two "Ace Spy" in the original time and space.

This time, the first part of the series is a big loss, and the sequel must not be considered, and Mike Myers can only look for other projects again.

It's certainly not easy.

Because in addition to a group of veteran comedy stars, the new generation of Hollywood comedians cultivated by Simon will also gradually emerge in the next few years, and the genre of comedy is a novelty for the audience, otherwise there will be no comedy movie sequels that are easy to fail. Not only should the movie be fresh, but the actors also pursue freshness.