Normally, since the next day is a working day, Sunday is not a good time to party.

Today, though, is a bit peculiar.

Warner Bros. Pictures' fifth week of "Lethal Weapon 2" was released on Friday and Saturday, and the total North American box office officially exceeded $100 million, so the film's celebration party was specially arranged today.

Because "Lethal Weapon 2" was the first Warner Bros. Pictures film to break 100 million at the local box office five years after the release of Joe Dent's "Elf" in 1984, the celebration party at the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel was very grand, and Warner Bros. helmsman Steve Ross still took the time to come to Los Angeles at the most intense moment of the three entangled mergers and acquisitions litigation between Time Inc., Warner Bros. and Paramount Communications.

Not only that, it is said that at the banquet for the main creative team of "Lethal Weapon 2" at noon today, Steve Ross also rewarded each of the main creators with an expensive sports car, and personally handed over the keys to everyone.

Steve Ross's generous personality is indeed the reason why Warner Bros. was able to recruit a group of top filmmakers to work with. 'Old Cowboy' Clint Eastwood has only made films for the Warner Bros. family in the past ten years, and famous Hollywood filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg, Barbra Streisand, and Cher have also been closely associated with Ross.

Simon also received two consecutive enthusiastic invitation calls from Steve Ross that he could no longer refuse, so he had to agree to attend tonight's party.

After Daenerys Entertainment's 10 foreign cooperation film plans were announced, Simon didn't know if he had become the most powerful person in Hollywood, but he was definitely the one who accepted the most invitations in Hollywood recently. One only has to look at the grandeur of Warner Bros. celebrating "Lethal Weapon 2" after the box office hit, and it's not hard to understand why Hollywood is so fanatical about Simon.

Warner Bros. overjoyed "Lethal Weapon 2" at the box office, and it is expected that the total North American box office may not reach half of that of "The Sixth Sense".

Because of Simon's request for partners to take the initiative to provide scripts, seven major Hollywood studios, mainstream second- and third-tier film companies, top producers in the circle, and even major talent agencies have sent a large number of scripts to Daenerys Entertainment.

These days, no matter where he is, Simon almost always has a stack of scripts on hand waiting to be read.

Daenerys Entertainment's next year's "Ghost Love", "Pretty Woman", "Dances with Wolves", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and other films have been determined, however, with the news of 10 films broke, various talent agencies and Hollywood stars of all sizes are also boiling.

10 films, naturally, means a lot of opportunities.

Daenerys Entertainment's ability to make popular actors in a series of films is obvious to all, and second- and third-tier actors are crazy about these opportunities that may make them promoted to the first line, even if they are first-line top stars, they can't be calm in the face of these 10 movie plans.

Hollywood's resources are limited after all, and latecomers will be promoted to the first line, but the opportunities will not increase, and the original first-line stars will inevitably decline.

Inside the banquet hall of the Hilton Hotel.

When Simon appeared, the eyes of all the guests were like countless compasses that had encountered powerful magnets, and they all converged on the young man at the door.

Steve Ross immediately greeted him with some people, although he knew that it was a bit inappropriate to invite Simon, a young man who was destined to become the focus of the audience, to come over on today's occasion, and Rose was helpless, he was going to fly to Delaware tomorrow, and he couldn't squeeze out another appointment with Simon in the short term.

"Simon, I'm so glad to see you again," hugged Simon warmly, and Rose teased again: "Why is it only you, but it doesn't matter, you can just find a female companion." ”

After Simon and Rose hugged and greeted, he said, "What about you, Steve, how are you doing?"

"You know, I'd love to have a fight with Martin Davis if I could. ”

Simon laughed, "Then he won't be able to beat you." ”

Rose also laughed, patted Simon on the shoulder, looked at the others and said, "You all know each other, well, this is Barbara, she just wanted me to help introduce her." ”

Simon nodded to Terry Semele, Mel Gibson, Joe Pesci, and Richard Downer, the director of "Lethal Weapon 2", and shook hands with Barbra Streisand, whom Rose had specially mentioned, and said, "Hello, Ms. Streisand." ”

Barbra Streisand shook Simon's hand warmly and said, "Just call me Barbara, Simon." ”

"Of course, Barbara. ”

After a few conversations, Mel Gibson and the others dispersed the party crowd again.

Steve Ross led Simon to the table in the corner of the hall and sat down, beckoned the waiter to serve drinks to the two of them, and said, "I called George Corgo in the afternoon, Simon, GA's investigation of Daenerys Entertainment should end here, you can get people in contact with that side tomorrow, and this matter will be closed soon." ”

Simon was no longer worried about GA's investigation, but he nodded approvingly and said, "Thank you, Steve." Speaking of which, what is the outcome of this lawsuit?"

Simon was naturally talking about the dispute between the three companies over the merger and acquisition.

After Paramount suddenly made a takeover offer to Time in June, disrupting the imminent merger between Time and Warner Bros., which was resolutely resisted by Time Inc., Paramount pushed the matter to the federal court of Delaware in a lawsuit, asking the court to stop the merger between Time and Warner Bros.

As we all know, for tax avoidance and other considerations, many large companies in North America are registered in Delaware.

Simon is concerned about the information that in order to resist Paramount's offer, Time has recently adjusted its share exchange merger plan with Warner Bros. to a combination of stock and cash.

When Steve Ross heard Simon's question, he had a confident expression on his face and said, "The verdict will be out next month, it's not a big problem." ”

"Well, I'm going to congratulate you on becoming the head of Hollywood's largest media company. ”

Steve Ross smiled and raised his glass to Simon, feeling very proud.

As it stands, the lawsuit that is being entangled, because the resistance of Time Inc. is too strong, and Paramount is almost doomed.

Moreover, because of this lawsuit, although the merger between Time and Warner Bros. had twists and turns, Warner Bros., led by Steve Ross, unexpectedly gained more benefits. Not only has the offer of Times to Warner been raised, but the senior management of Times Company, which was originally the acquirer, has tried their best to win Warner's cooperation in order to avoid the fate of being acquired, and has recently made great concessions in the distribution of power in the new company in the future.

Now, although Warner Bros. is still the nominal acquiree, it has actually occupied a dominant position in the merger and acquisition between Times and Warner Bros.

Steve Ross, who enjoys discussing business operations and business negotiation skills with those around him, has gone on to reveal some details about the current acquisition to Simon.

The two chatted enthusiastically for more than ten minutes before the veteran Hollywood tycoon got to the point and asked, "Simon, what do you plan to arrange for the 10 movies that Daenerys Entertainment?"

Simon was recalling some of the inside stories of the M&A case that Ross had just talked about, and he was informed. He has been following this merger and acquisition case, hoping to gain some experience about his future layout, and Ross's personal explanation has given him a deeper understanding of this merger and acquisition case.

Time Inc., Warner Bros., and Paramount Communications are all publicly traded companies, but it is not the shareholders of the three companies that are driving the progress, but the management who are thinking about their own interests.

Therefore, the lawsuit initiated by Paramount Communications to protect the interests of the shareholders of Times Company was in the wrong direction from the beginning. In the era of decision-making, the company's management does not care whether shareholders get an extra billion or two billion dollars, they only care about whether their millions of dollars of earnings are maintained and whether they have control over the company.

Listening to Ross ask about the 10 movies, he temporarily retracted his thoughts and said with a wry smile: "I've received too many scripts lately, Steve, seriously, I'm still reading the scripts in the car I just came here." The most important thing in the specific arrangement is the quality of the script. ”

"Simon, I watched the sample of 'Batman' in the afternoon, and it was amazing. Although neither "One Flew Over Innocence" nor "Batman" have yet to be released, I am sure we will have a great time together. So, 10 movies, Warner is asking too much, how about giving us two more?"

"I'm looking forward to continuing to work with Warners, Steve, but, you know, it takes the right project. ”

"I understand, Simon. Warner's copyright library is still very rich, and you can choose at will. Also, if you fancy any other script, tell Terry and he'll do whatever it takes to get it. Moreover, I know that Daenerys Entertainment also has a lot of copyrights, and if you are willing to take it out and cooperate with Warner, even if the conditions are a little more compressed, we can accept it. ”

Simon had actually read the first scripts sent to him by Warner, and he had roughly identified the target.

It's just that the dispute with GA has not yet settled, and out of prudence, Simon is not in a hurry to announce the few projects he has already eyed.

Feeling that Rose was still staring at him with blazing eyes, looking like he would not give up if he couldn't get permission to speak, pretending to hesitate for a moment, Simon finally said: "I can only say, Steve, there will definitely be a Warner spot in these 10 movies, and I can't be sure of how many of them." Plus, even if we can't work together on these 10 projects, you know that Daenerys and Warner will definitely continue to work on a sequel to Batman, and now that you've seen the demos, you're sure to have that confidence. ”

What Steve Ross wants tonight is Simon's words.

Warner and Daenerys are already working together on two films, and Ross also sees Simon's intention to make this decision a few days ago, so he is a little worried that the young man in front of him will give up all the opportunities to other film companies. Ross actually thought of "Batman" as well, and even "Superman" and "Wonder Woman."

It's just that the cooperation project with Daenerys Entertainment is naturally the more the merrier.

"In that case, let's enjoy the party tonight," Steve Ross raised his glass to Simon with champagne and teased himself, having received the promise he wanted, "I already feel like a lot of eyes are on me old man and taking up too much of your time." ”

Simon got up to see Steve Ross leave, and was about to go to eat something, when Jonathan Friedman came over before everyone else could move, and said straight to the point: "Simon, have you picked out the project?"