Although far away on the East Coast, the New York Times not only surpasses the Los Angeles Times in the American press circles, but even has a very significant influence internationally, and any news in such a newspaper can trigger a very wide social repercussion.

There is a three-hour time difference between the east and west coasts of North America.

As a result, the New York Times article that strongly questioned Simon and "Lola Run" had already spread all over Hollywood.

Along with this article, there are also North American box office data for the past weekend.

From March 6th to March 8th, although two new films starring Warner Bros. Mel Gibson and MGM Robert De Niro starring Angel Heart were released this week, the box office momentum of "Lola Run" was not affected at all.

As "Lola Run" was released on a large scale on the east and west coasts, a total of 1,176 screens brought the film $18.51 million at the box office in three days, and once again easily won the top spot in the North American box office charts this weekend.

At the same time, as it entered its fourth week of release, the total box office of "Lola Run" also exceeded the $50 million mark, reaching $50.6 million.

In comparison, "Lethal Weapon", which also caused a lot of heated discussions at the original script price of $250,000, although it had a good reputation after its release, the box office in the first three days of filming in the first weekend was only $6.12 million, although it ranked second on the list, but this figure is less than one-third of the first place "Lola Run".

As for the other new film "Angel Heart", the box office in the first three days of the weekend was only $3.28 million, and even ranked fifth on the list after "Ghost Street 3" and "Field Platoon".

Perhaps because the competition is too fierce, North American media reporters have a very keen sense of smell.

Apparently sensing from the New York Times article that something big was about to happen, Simon had planned to rush to Orion Pictures headquarters in the morning to discuss coping strategies with Mike Meadow and others, only to find that the swarm of reporters had squeezed the not spacious mountain road outside his mansion to the brim.

Considering that going out today would definitely be met with a more frantic chase than ever, Simon simply called Mike Medowa and the others to come to Palisad.

Around half-past nine.

Since he also lives in Palisades, Simon now has a close stake in Fox Films, and Amy Pascal, the vice president of Fox Films, has also rushed over as a senior representative of Fox Films.

Struggling through the crowd of reporters, Amy Pascal drove into the mansion where Simon lived, where several cars were already parked.

As soon as Amy got out of the car, Janet greeted her.

After a few brief pleasantries, Janet took Amy and walked towards the backyard. Amy followed Janet, but couldn't help but look around.

The imperial acre is equivalent to about 4,000 square meters, and the mansion in front of you is more like a small manor, with a cliff enclosed by a mountain cliff, surrounded by greenery in the view, Mediterranean-style villas, pools, gardens, and a private tennis court in the front yard.

Amy Pascal didn't know much about the value of the mansion, but she remembered that Spielberg had bought a 13-acre plot of land in Palisades a few years earlier, and then invested more than $4 million in building the house alone.

In recent years, housing prices in Los Angeles have gone crazy.

Although he has become the vice president of Fox Film before he is 30 years old, especially as a woman, this is already very rare in Hollywood. However, Amy Pascal was a little frustrated to find that such a mansion was still too far away from him.

Thinking so, Amy Pascal couldn't help but think of Simon Westeros soliciting herself at Saturday's party.

A small moment, even suddenly.

Maybe.

Can you really take a risk yourself?

Soon in the backyard, Simon was among the four people sitting on a set of couches on the edge of the lawn, which should have been used for sunbathing. Not far away, there were two or three younger men and women under the eaves of the villa who were busy making and answering the phone, which should be secretaries and assistants on the sofa.

Seeing Amy coming, everyone got up and said hello.

Of the four, Amy knew three of them, in addition to Simon himself, as well as Mike Meadow, president of Orion Pictures, and Jonathan Friedman, Simon's manager. The last middle-aged woman who looked to be around forty or fifty years old, after being introduced, Amy learned that the other party was Pat Kingsley, the PR manager Simon had just hired.

Finding that she was the last to arrive, Amy apologized a little embarrassedly, and Janet herself poured Amy a cup of coffee, handed her a folder, and went to the side under the porch, and everyone sat down again.

After sitting down, as soon as he opened the document in his hand, Amy Pascal heard Pat Kingsley next to him say: "Simon, and everyone, it is now basically certain that this is an obviously premeditated public opinion attack, and it is only the beginning, a temptation. If we don't respond immediately, the next situation will be even more unfavorable for us. ”

Amy Pascal had read that article more than once before she came, and although she was not a naïve person, she still asked with some confusion when she heard Pat Kingsley's determined tone, "Pat, is there any evidence?"

Pat Kingsley and Amy were not familiar with each other, and when they suddenly heard this question, they just subconsciously shook their heads.

Simon saw Amy looking at him again and said, "Amy, if you want to prove that I didn't shoot Lola Run, who should you investigate the most?"

Amy Pascal thought for a while, then became a little clear, and said, "Crew." ”

"That's right, crew. ”

Simon nodded, and gestured to Pat Kingsley.

Pat Kingsley then added, "Ms. Pascal, you must have read that article too. Mark Hollington simply starts from Simon's upbringing, and based on the habitual perception of most ordinary people, it seems very rash and absurd to conclude that "Lola Run" could not have been written by Simon himself. If he really cares about the truth of the film, he should contact the staff involved in the production of "Lola Run". ”

Amy nodded seriously and said, "Pat, just call me Amy." So, what do we do next? I've been on the phone with Mr. Goldberg, and Fox will try to be cooperative. ”

Although the contract for "The Grim Reaper is Coming" has not yet been officially signed, it will even drag on for a few more days because of this incident. However, "The Butterfly Effect" will be released on April 10, just a month away, and Fox, as a close stakeholder, does not want the New York Times article to make too many waves.

The box office situation of "Lola Run" is very good, but suddenly such a trick comes. Of the five people present, Mike Meadow was obviously the most anxious, otherwise he would not have called Simon before dawn. At this time, he couldn't help but say: "Simon, the negatives of "Lola Run" must still be there, I think you should cut a shooting scene as soon as possible, this is obviously the best way to clarify." ”

Simon shook his head and said, "Mike, there's no tidbits you want." In order to save my budget, I even wished that I could pass every shot in one shot, and that I couldn't waste film on something that didn't matter. ”

"Then let the crew members come forward to endorse," said Mike Medowa, thought for a moment and said, "Orion can contribute a sum of money for this, even if it is in the publicity fee." ”

Listening to Mike Meadow's eager tone, Simon's agent Jonathan Friedman couldn't help but say: "Mike, I think it's not a good thing that we're too eager to clarify. ”

Mike Meadow was a little puzzled, but Simon nodded slightly.

Pat Kingsley also said with approval: "That's true, we immediately jumped out to clarify, and we will only usher in more doubts, because the people who manipulated this matter don't want to see the truth at all, they just want to damage the public image of Simon and "Lola Run", so that fans continue to have doubts." ”

Mike Medois was just concerned about it, and after many years in Hollywood, Pat Kingsley only explained a little, and he immediately woke up, and he also knew that Pat Kingsley did not finish his words.

Some people do this with the ultimate goal of curbing the box office of "Lola Run".

After all, the box office figure of $18.51 million for "Lola Run" this past weekend has surpassed most of the blockbuster films on the popular schedule.

The number of moviegoers in North America is basically fixed every year, and in recent years it has been around 1 billion.

The expected box office figure of "Lola Run" is 150 million to 200 million US dollars, and according to the current average ticket price of about 4 US dollars, this is equivalent to about 37 million to 50 million moviegoers, which is already a very conspicuous proportion of the total moviegoers of 1 billion.

The box office of "Lola Run" is too high, which is destined to affect the box office of some other films.

Even, according to the strong box office curve of "Lola Run", not to mention the recently released "Lethal Weapon" and "Angel Heart", even the Easter schedule in a month, or even the early summer films in May, may be affected by "Lola Run" and shrink the box office.

Thinking of this, Mike Meadow couldn't help but rub his temples.

He even had a hunch that for these reasons, even if there was no one behind the scenes of the New York Times article, there would definitely be a bunch of people scrambling to pour a few barrels of gasoline on the Mars.