There was no suspense, and the next morning, the newspapers were full of headlines such as 'Simon Westeros's new love exposed'.

Apartment in Century Building.

Simon wakes up to the ringing of the phone, and then holds the microphone almost all the way until he has breakfast.

Jonathan Friedman and Pat Kingsley immediately called to ask Simon and Sandra what was going on and what they were going to do with the media next. Simon's reply was only to leave them vague. Sandra took the initiative to kiss herself last night, and if he immediately stated that the two were okay the next day, it would definitely be very embarrassing for the girl.

Janet naturally called over and complained in a complaining tone about Simon Playboy bastards and the like, but then digressed to esoteric issues such as kissing skills. Simon patiently accompanied the woman to talk back and forth, and finally tested whether the two had 'broken up' for two weeks and could start dating again, and was rejected again because of serious face problems.

In a series of phone calls, Dennis O'Brien, the head of Craft Films, also called.

Craft Pictures has agreed to work on When Harry Met Sally, and Dennis O'Brien wants to formally discuss the details of the contract with Simon. This kind of thing would have been more suitable for Amy to come forward. However, Amy still had to rush to New York, and Simon didn't have too important problems on the weekend, so he took it personally.

After two days of intensive negotiations, Daenerys Pictures and Craft Pictures officially signed a cooperation agreement on Monday. After returning from New York, Amy Pascal began to discuss distribution partnerships with several major studios.

Subsequently, the strong monopoly of big studios on Hollywood film distribution channels and the disadvantage of Daenerys Films' shallow foundation were once again revealed.

Daenerys Pictures Headquarters.

Simon and Amy sat together on the couch in the reception area of his office, whispering about the results of Amy's recent contacts with several major studios, but the atmosphere was inevitably a little heavy.

Due to the successive successes of "Lola Run" and "The Butterfly Effect", studios were initially interested in investing in "When Harry Met Sally".

However, when Daenerys Films decided to produce it on its own, and was only willing to cooperate with the Big Seven in local theatrical distribution, the attitude of all parties immediately changed significantly.

Among the Big Seven, Paramount and Universal directly rejected Daenerys Pictures' invitation to cooperate on the grounds that the film schedule was full.

There are five left.

Since Daenerys Pictures only wanted to license the North American theatrical distribution alone, Columbia asked for a buyout, but the price was only $3 million.

In the case of split distribution, Hollywood solo producers usually get about 20% of the box office from distributors. At this rate, Colombia's offer of $3 million is only equivalent to an estimate of $15 million at the North American box office of "When Harry Meets Sally."

The box office of $15 million is actually not too bad in this era. A film with the same production cost of $15 million gets such a North American box office, and it can basically be recouped through the release of follow-up channels.

It's just that this figure is far lower than the box office of "When Harry Met Sally" in Simon's memory, so he naturally couldn't agree.

The other four are willing to share the distribution.

However, MGM and Disney both offer issuance commissions as high as 15%, so the publicity and distribution costs are naturally calculated separately. Moreover, the two companies not only asked Simon to sign the director's and screenwriter's film contracts, but also the number of screens and film schedules that could be given were also unsatisfactory.

Next up is Fox and Warner.

Fox is willing to give the Easter schedule at the end of March next year, guaranteeing a minimum of 1,000 screens and a 12% distribution commission. However, Fox asked to take away the distribution rights of "When Harry Met Sally" in other North American channels.

Warner gives the best schedule among the seven, in November next year, Thanksgiving schedule, guaranteed a minimum of 1,000 open screens, and a 10% distribution commission. The additional condition is that "When Harry Meets Sally" is the distribution rights of all other channels except for the North American theater chain.

The biggest difference between an agency issuance and a buyout pre-sale is the payment date.

If Daenerys Films retains the distribution rights of other channels, after the release of "When Harry Meets Sally", if the market responds well, it will soon be able to quickly recoup the funds by selling out the distribution rights of other channels like "Lola Run".

However, if you choose to act as an agent, you need to wait for the film company to complete the distribution of various channels before you can settle the accounts one after another.

Take, for example, the recent videotape release with theatrical releases. After a film is released, there is a three-month window before the videotape can be released. After that, even if it is a quarterly settlement, it will take at least three months.

Therefore, even if you can recover more profits in the end, even if you can recover more profits in the end, the multi-year payment cycle is not something that a small company like Daenerys Pictures can afford.

All in all, the five conditions given by agreeing to cooperate are basically not what Simon wants to see.

However, five of the seven major film companies are willing to cooperate with Daenerys Pictures, which is actually the result of the accumulation of Simon's two consecutive best-selling films. For a solo movie, Simon wants to hold more distribution rights in his hands, and it is obviously impossible for the Seven to give too good conditions, such as a popular schedule like the summer file, let alone even think about it.

Speaking of which, the situation faced by "When Harry Meets Sally" is actually a true portrayal of what Hollywood solo producers generally encounter.

Although Hollywood has never lacked second- and third-tier film companies that can independently distribute films, the monopoly of film distribution channels by the seven major studios is definitely not an empty word, and only those who are present in it understand how terrible this strong monopoly is.

Take New Line Pictures, for example, Robert Shea, the founder of New Line Pictures, who founded the company in 1967. But it wasn't until 1984 that New Line Pictures launched its first solo production of "Ghost Street", and it could only win 165 opening screens for this movie, and it was an unpopular schedule on November 9.

Even the recent "Ghost Street 3", although the number of screens has finally expanded to more than 1,000, the schedule is even more unpopular, on February 27. For big studios, this kind of schedule is basically equivalent to a movie graveyard, and only very unpromising films will be left to fend for themselves in this unpopular schedule.

So, why didn't New Line Pictures choose a popular schedule like summer or Christmas?

Because you can't get in.

Even after the 'Paramount Act', which forced the separation of terminal theaters from film companies, the intertwined interests of large film companies and North American theaters have not been broken.

What's more, in recent years, as the government has continued to deregulate the media industry, the Paramount Act has been extinguished in name only.

At present, the number of movie screens in North America as a whole is about 22,000, of which 7,500 screens are in the core and prosperous areas, contributing 80% of the North American box office every year.

After the expiration of the Paramount Act, Warner, Universal, Columbia and other companies have re-entered the theatrical projection business in recent years, and now once again control nearly half of the core 7,500 screens.

With a direct control of 40% of the total box office share in North America, coupled with the close interest relationship with other theater chains, it is okay for second- and third-tier film companies to make small fights, but basically they cannot threaten the monopoly position of the Big Seven.

Due to his attention to all aspects of Hollywood's dynamics, Simon is actually clear about these things, but he still has a strong unwillingness in his heart.

Looking back at the memorandum that recorded the terms of cooperation between several major film companies, Simon looked up at Amy Pascal and asked, "Amy, how likely do you think it is that we will do the distribution of this film ourselves?"

Amy Pascal shook her head and said, "Simon, it's too risky, this is $15 million, not 1.8 million for "Ghost Street." Local box office data is the most important basis for subsequent channel distributors' quotations. It's not impossible for us to do the distribution in person, but the box office we get may not even be half of what the Seven Congresses do, which will have a serious impact on the revenue of all subsequent channels, and the gains outweigh the losses. ”

Simon couldn't help but fall silent after hearing what Amy said, he naturally understood these truths.

Turning his gaze back on the memo in front of him, Simon's mind quickly weighed the few cooperation options in front of him.

Colombia's $3 million buyout is certainly not on the table.

Fox and Warner, even if "When Harry Met Sally" can still reach $90 million at the North American box office, Daenerys Pictures may not get more than $20 million from the box office.

Like "Lola Run", Simon is more interested in the income of subsequent distribution channels.

These two are also excluded.

In the end, only MGM and Disney remained.

It's just that the schedules given by MGM and Disney, one is at the beginning of October and the other is at the end of February, all of which are cemetery-level schedules.

Moreover, Simon really doesn't want to sign a director's contract anymore.

Today is Thursday.

Simon handed Jonathan the storyscript for "The Lion King" on Monday, and although he wanted to work with Disney, he had to pass Fox Films first. Because of the original contract, after "The Butterfly Effect" and "The Grim Reaper", he still owes Fox a script.

Although Fox Film does not make animated films now, lawyers on both sides tossed around all day and signed a formal understanding agreement before Jonathan was able to pitch the project to Disney.

Thinking so, he sighed secretly, Simon knew that he still had to face reality.

Right now, the only sign that Daenerys Films can make big studios excited is himself, and if he wants to reach a partnership, he can only sign another option contract with MGM or Disney.

Drawing a circle on the names of MGM and Disney, Simon handed the memo to Amy and said, "Continue to contact these two, the Easter schedule in March, 1,000 guaranteed screens, this is our bottom line, everything else can be discussed." ”

Amy nodded, she actually preferred these two as well.

As for Simon signing another option contract, it doesn't seem to be a big deal in Amy's opinion.

The fundamental reason why Spielberg can only direct films from Universal, Warner and Paramount over the years is also due to contract restrictions.

After the success of Jaws that year, Universal changed Spielberg's seven-year 'deed of sale' into a four-part contract. Until now, Spielberg owes two. Therefore, despite publicly saying that he did not like Frank Price, the president of Universal Pictures, and angrily wrote the clause of not doing business with the other party in the contract, Spielberg still had to continue to work for Universal Pictures.

After confirming the matter, the two chatted a few more words, and there was a knock on the office door.

When Simon agreed, Susan pushed the door open and said, "Mr. Westeros, Miss Kidman's hair is dyed." ”

As Susan spoke, a tall, fair-skinned woman with dyed black hair walked in, Nicole Kidman, who was just twenty years old at the time.

Black-haired Nicole Kidman.