Amy Pascal was no longer surprised by Simon's frequent sudden thoughts, thought about it, and said: "I remember three years ago, due to poor business conditions, Warner proposed to sell DC to Marvel, but it was rejected. I don't know much about the situation now, but after the stock market crash, large companies were generally restructuring their assets to reduce debt, and the comic book industry began to decline in the seventies, and if you offered enough prices, Warner would probably agree. ”

Simon tapped his fingers on the table, imagined a magnificent scene of the Marvel DC Super Hero Universe merging in his mind, and asked again, "You said Semel would call me in the afternoon?"

Amy nodded and said, "It is estimated that "Lola Run" is rushing for the award, Orion should have mentioned it to you, right? If "Lola Run" can win in the next award season, it will be very beneficial to the copyright operation of both of them. ”

"Lola Run" was painted in North America in August, and now it has passed a three-month window and is ready to be released. After Simon packaged and sold the overseas rights to Warner Bros., with Warner's perfect international distribution network, the box office of "Lola Run" in the overseas market has also successfully exceeded 200 million US dollars in the past six months, and it will enter the later stage of operation.

The memory of "Lola Run" basically did not receive any accolades in North America, but the situation is different now.

With a global box office of $400 million, Warner Bros. Pictures, one of the Big Seven, cooperating with Orion Pictures, which is already good at awards and public relations, and the undoubted quality of the film itself, "Lola Run" will definitely become a big hit in the next awards season.

Perhaps, Simon's only shortcoming is age.

Prior to this, the youngest Oscar winner for Best Director was also 32 years old. If Simon could be 30 years old, he could probably break that record. But now, the odds are almost zero, and the only thing Simon can hope for may be a nomination.

I raised my wrist and looked at my watch, and it was already three o'clock in the afternoon.

Haven't received a call yet, and it's likely that Terry Semel will call him before he gets off work, maybe a dinner party invitation or something. However, Simon already has arrangements for the evening, and there are other jobs ahead, and the matter of buying DC can only be discussed over the weekend or next week.

While he was thinking about it, there was a knock on the door of the conference room, and Amy's assistant Vanessa came in and said, "Mr. Westeros, Ms. Pascal, Mr. Craven has arrived." ”

Simon and Amy stood up together, and Wes Craven walked in with a middle-aged white man in his forties with glasses.

Today is Friday, December 18th.

Simon yesterday took out the synopsis of the planned "Scream", and after Amy and Craven approached, although he had not yet agreed to direct, Wes Craven also proposed to hire a screenwriter to write the script first to see the effect.

The middle-aged man with glasses should be the screenwriter recommended by Wes Craven.

After a brief greeting, Wes Craven introduced: "Simon, Amy, this is Bruce Joy Robin, he was the screenwriter of my "The Girl Next Door" last year, and I thought he could try "Scream." ”

Simon almost couldn't hide his surprise when he heard Bruce Joy Robin's name.

Before working with Wes Craven on "The Grim Reaper", Simon learned that he directed a not-so-successful "The Girl Next Door" for Warner Bros. last year, but he didn't expect that the screenwriter of the film would be Bruce Joy Robin.

There may not be many people who know Bruce Joy Robin, but there should be few people who don't know "Ghost Love".

Bruce Joy Robin is the screenwriter of "The Ghost Is Not Gone".

"The Love of Ghosts" released in 1990 in the original time and space not only became one of the most tear-jerking romance films in history, but also won $500 million at the global box office with a production cost of $22 million, plus a series of awards nominations such as the Oscar for Best Picture, the film is definitely a word-of-mouth box office award.

Simon had previously tried to find the whereabouts of Bruce Joy Robin, but to no avail, and now he didn't expect to meet the other party in such a coincidental situation.

This may not be a coincidence.

At the end of the day, the Hollywood community is still too small. Many of the people you're interested in may be close at hand, but they just haven't noticed it yet.

After sitting down, Simon completely restrained the surprise in his heart, and discussed the matter of "Scream" with everyone as usual, and at the same time unconsciously led the topic to the direction he wanted.

Several people chatted for a while, and hearing Simon's doubts about his ability, Bruce Joy Robin distinguished: "Simon, the box office performance of "The Girl Next Door" is indeed unsatisfactory, but the script is based on the adaptation, and I think Wes and I have done our best within the creative framework given by the studio. ”

"So," Simon looked at Bruce Joy Robin and said, "Bruce, do you have any other scripts, creative too?" Although I have provided a synopsis of Scream, I still hope that the writers themselves will be creative enough. ”

Bruce Joy Robin nodded and said, "Of course." ”

Simon raised his hand and said, "Tell me about it." ”

Bruce Joy Robin pondered for a moment and said, "When I watched 'The Prince's Revenge' a few years ago, I had an idea when I saw the scene where Hamlet's father tells his son to avenge himself after his soul has left his body. Sam and Molly are a couple who are about to enter the palace of marriage, one night, the two are robbed on the way back to their residence after watching a play, Sam is stabbed to death by gangsters, and becomes a fool who can't communicate with normal people, he wanders around Molly, only to find that his death was not an accident......"

Inside the conference room.

By the time Bruce Joy Robin finished speaking, before Simon could speak, Amy couldn't help but say, "Simon, it's a great idea, we should buy it, shouldn't we?"

Wes Craven also nodded and agreed: "It's really good, but it's a pity that I'm not good at this genre, otherwise I would have directed it myself." ”

Simon thought for a moment, but said, "Actually, I happen to have a similar idea about ghosts," after saying this, noticing the nervous look on Bruce Joy Robin's face, Simon smiled and said to him: "It's just that the ghost's idea is similar to yours, and the story is completely different." Your story is about love, and the core of my story is about family, but I think this story is also very suitable for you to create. So, Bruce, Daenerys Pictures can sign you to a contract for three scripts, what do you think? Two commissioned scripts, one original script. ”

Bruce Joy Robin didn't expect to get three contracts in a blink of an eye, and he was a little surprised and excited, but he still said cautiously: "Simon, are you sure that these three scripts can be filmed?"

"Actually, you want to ask if your script can be filmed, right?" Simon smiled and said, "The answer is yes, of course, you also need a certain amount of patience." Heh, I know that sounds like a cliché that all studio executives would say, and if you're not sure, you can add some restrictive clauses to the contract, and that's something you need to talk to Amy. ”

Bruce Joy Robin nodded, but tentatively said again, "What about authorship?"

"The authorship of "Scream" belongs to you, and the authorship of the ghost movie belongs to me, oh, I mean my ghost movie, your ghost movie, the authorship is naturally yours," Simon explained, asking, "Do you have any other questions?"

Bruce Joy Robin shook his head.

"So, you can get your agent in touch with Amy, and let's talk about Scream first. ”

Simon's plan is that "Scream" will be the first film to be produced and released by Daenerys Pictures on Halloween next year, so he also takes it very seriously.

The script writing meeting went on until the end of the day, during which Simon also took the time to answer a call from Warner Bros. Pictures CEO Terry Semel, and sure enough, he was invited to a drinking party tonight. Due to the arrangements made in advance, the two could only change the meeting to tomorrow night.

In addition, Terry Semel also mysteriously reminded Simon that there will be a surprise next Monday.

Although the other party did not say it explicitly, Simon naturally knew that next Monday was the day when the American Film and Television Golden Globe Awards announced the new nominations. As one of the most important weather vanes of the Oscars, the gold content of the Golden Globe Awards is still very high compared to other union awards.

Now that "Lola Run" has been sold, Simon naturally won't spend any more money on award public relations, due to his age shortcomings, it is unlikely to win the award anyway, and he is even a little cold about it.

However, both Orion and Warner have left no stone unturned in this for their own sake.

Five o'clock in the afternoon.

Seeing off Wes Craven and Bruce Joy Robin, Amy called her assistant to come in and pack up the materials on the conference table, and said to Simon, who was flipping through the meeting memo next to her, "Why didn't you see Jenny in the afternoon?"

Simon didn't look up, flipped the page of the memo in his hand, and explained: "Her parents came from New York, and they had to invite me to dinner in the evening, so I sent her back early at noon." ”

Amy remembered the gossip in the newspaper yesterday that 'Simon Westeros escorted the female assistant home, and the two behaved very closely', and said with a smile: "Come to Xingshi so soon to ask for the guilt?"

Simon wondered, "Huh?"

Amy's tone was teasing: "You kidnapped their daughter." ”

Simon didn't answer directly.

Amy didn't joke too much, and said seriously: "Simon, when Harry met Sally, "Vulgar" and "Instinct" have all confirmed the distributor, and "Scream" we plan to release it ourselves, these are all right, but what about "Dead Poets Society" and "Steel Magnolia"? And so many rights you recently bought? I think we should sign a fixed distribution contract with the Seven First Congress before putting into specific production, otherwise we will be very passive in the future." ”

Simon heard Amy get down to business, then he raised his head and said, "It's not difficult to sign a distribution contract, but we can't get too favorable terms. The release of "Dead Poets Society" and "Steel Magnolia" depends on the situation, but I still prefer Daenerys Pictures to do it themselves, the production budget of these two films will not be too high, and it is nothing to lose money. ”

Amy nodded helplessly and said, "However, we have $100 million now, if you are not willing to sign a fixed distribution contract with the Seven, it is impossible for us to make too many movies according to your ideas, otherwise we will all be smashed in our hands." The big studios would be happy to see us lose all of our $100 million. ”

Simon shook his head and said: "I didn't say that all this money can only be invested in Daenerys Films' own films, there are so many projects in Hollywood, we can fully participate in the investment, and you can release the news recently." $100 million, probably to invest in seven or eight films, in addition to "Scream", "Dead Poets" and "Magnolia", I will pick another project for the company recently, and the rest of the money will be scattered, and many film companies should start to run out of money now. ”

Amy couldn't help but say, "This seems to be a bigger risk." ”

Simon smiled and said, "So, the next thing is to see your negotiation skills." Don't forget, you can get 5% of the money you make, and you have nothing if you lose. ”