Santa Monica.

At Daenerys Entertainment Headquarters, Simon is saying goodbye to Kevin Costner, Jessica Lange, Michael Blake and others, "Dances with Wolves" will start filming next month, and everyone has just finished a production meeting.

With Simon's support, "Dances with Wolves" will still be directed and led by Kevin Costner himself, who will also be named producer. Jessica Lange, who worked with Daenerys Entertainment last year on "Steel Magnolia", plays the heroine 'Standing Fist Dance'.

Compared with the original version, this new film has been greatly improved in cast.

Although Jessica Lange has multiple Oscar nominations and is the winner of Best Actress in 1983, her salary has never been high, and she has not played many roles in the role of "Standing Boxing" and is more inclined to the role of supporting actress, with a price of only $1 million.

With the success of "The Bodyguard", Kevin Costner has firmly established himself as a Hollywood A-list actor. However, the two parties had signed a contract before "Bodyguard", and the director and actor he took away this time had a total of $6 million.

Considering that the film may involve some of Hollywood's most difficult animal and child scenes, as well as a lot of big scenes in the wild, Simon provided a $25 million budget for the project, which is also higher than the original.

Now that he has plenty of confidence in "Dances with Wolves", Simon is not stingy when it comes to budgeting.

Of course, the budget is also limited to $25 million.

Simon has always attached great importance to the budget control of the film, and led by example, "Batman" uses a lot of new technology and new special effects, and the film is almost complete in the later stage, and there is still no sign of overspending.

In the lobby on the first floor of the headquarters, Simon saw off Kevin Costner and Michael Blake, shook hands with Jessica Lange, who was carrying a satchel, and said, "Jesse, see you next time." ”

Jessica Lange shook Simon and asked, "Aren't you going to party at Jonathan's house that night?"

Simon nodded, "I'm definitely going to go." ”

Today is Friday, July 14th.

On Wednesday, MA announced another major personnel change for the veteran talent agency, with the departure of the company's president, Norman Broka, and the arrival of Vice President Jonathan Friedman as MA's new president, along with the board.

Although the schedule is a month apart, "Bodyguard" and "The Sixth Sense" will break through the local box office mark of 100 million yuan this weekend, Daenerys Entertainment has previously announced that this Saturday will hold a grand celebration party for the two films, in order to avoid Daenerys Entertainment's event, Jonathan arranged his celebration party as the president of MA tonight.

Jessica Lange saw Simon nodding and said with a smile, "Well, we'll see you again in the evening." ”

Simon said 'ahead': "It's nice to see you again." ”

Jessica Lange chuckled.

After continuing to chat for a few words, sending off everyone from the main creative team of "Dances with Wolves", Simon turned around and was about to return to the office, but Jennifer was already standing behind him, holding a folder in her hand, staring at him with strange eyes.

Thinking that she was just joking with Jessica Lange and had no intention of flirting, Jennifer should have no reason to be jealous, so she walked up the stairs and said to the female assistant who came up, "What's wrong?"

Jennifer handed over the folder in her hand and said, "Peter Butler of the Los Angeles Times just faxed a press release about you. ”

It turned out that it was not jealousy.

Hearing that it was a press release about himself, Simon didn't pay much attention to it.

With the rapid increase in wealth and fame, many mainstream newspapers in North America now want to publish news about Simon, and in order to avoid getting into a lawsuit or having trouble with Daenerys Entertainment, they will basically spread it to Simon's public relations team or Daenerys Entertainment first.

Taking the folder and flipping it open, Simon glanced at the title: "He can see people." ”

Something familiar.

Then I remembered that it should have something to do with the ongoing release of "The Sixth Sense," in which Cole said to Dr. Crowe, "I can see people." ”

The phrase translates not as 'I can see people', but 'I can see ghosts'.

Knowing this, Simon swept to the text.

"I've been following Simon Westeros closely for three years, and I've always had a strong sense of how Westeros came to be. He's just an unknown orphan in San Jose, maybe hardworking, maybe smart, but to the best of my understanding, no one seems to be as amazing as this young man in his early 20s. ”

"I've made a lot of assumptions, maybe Westeros is an alien, maybe he's been subjected to some kind of mysterious scientific experiment, maybe he's no longer him, but a spy with a changed face, and Westeros is said to be fluent in many languages, which is exactly what a top spy needs. ”

"It's just that I haven't been able to find any substantial basis for all these assumptions. ”

"It wasn't until recently, after watching The Sixth Sense, that I suddenly realized that this was probably the final answer I've been searching for. ”

"Simon Westeros, most likely a psychic. ”

"Don't worry, I'm not going to spoil it. ”

"The title of the article, from the TV trailer for 'The Sixth Sense,' shows the little boy Cole saying to the doctor: 'I can see ghosts.' ”

"Now, if we put the phrase Simon Westeros on, 'He can see ghosts,' then a lot of things that have puzzled us in the past have been explained. Theoretically, Simon Westeros, who grew up in a welfare home, would not have had the opportunity to learn music, painting, film, foreign languages, and other skills, which is obviously impossible for a child at the bottom of the society to accomplish no matter how hard he works and lacks resources. ”

"But what if it's not humans who teach him this, but ghosts?"

"It all made sense. ”

"I even think that Simon Westeros' sudden nervous breakdown three years ago may have something to do with it. ”

Then, Westeros arrived in Los Angeles and immediately became a cinematic genius. ”

"It's completely incredible for an 18-year-old boy who probably hasn't seen a few movies since he was a kid. However, the most important thing in Los Angeles is obviously filmmakers. By analogy, after more than half a century of accumulation in this city, ghosts who are proficient in various cinematic skills should be enough to form a huge army. As long as Westeros can enlist the help of a group of elite-level ghosts, he can easily become a 'movie genius'. ”

“......”

“......”

The article was very long, and Simon read it with great interest, and when he came to the door of his office, he forgot to push the door in.

Leaning against the door and reading the press release in his hand, Simon looked up and noticed that Jennifer still had the strange expression she had just now, so he turned his eyes sideways, looked at the air on the right hand side of the female assistant, and whispered in a quiet tone: "Knight, our secret has been discovered." ”

Because she read this press release in advance, Jennifer was already a little substituted, and when she heard Simon say this, she subconsciously looked to her left, feeling that half of her body was a little hairy, and goosebumps were oozing out.

Seeing that the female assistant was really frightened by herself, Simon smiled and stretched out an index finger and lightly scratched it on the white neck that was exposed when she turned her head.

Slashed by Simon's neck, Jennifer reacted, and the left half of her body was slightly hot.

The combination of heat and cold turned red.

Staring at Simon dissatisfied, seeing him push the door open and walk into the office, Jennifer chased him in again, waited for the man to sit down behind the desk, and asked, "This, do you want to call the Los Angeles Times to take it down?"

Simon leaned back in the leather chair, didn't answer the question, and asked with a smile, "Jenny, do you think I can be psychic?"

Jennifer was stunned and shook her head: "I, I don't know." ”

Simon suddenly asked, "So, are you afraid of death?"

Jennifer was a little confused, but she still said honestly: "I'm afraid." ”

"I'm also afraid of death, to be precise, fear," Simon said, holding his hand over the folder in front of him, "So, I very, very much hope that this article is true." Because if there really are ghosts, it means that death is no longer the end. If death is only the end of a journey, not the end, why should we fear?"

Jennifer nodded, but, perhaps because of the fact that this article had aroused some thoughts, the inquiry in the female assistant's expression still did not dissipate.

Simon smiled and said, "All I can say is that I did go through something. Rest assured, though, I'm not an alien, I'm not a robot, I'm not a spy, I'm not a psychic, I'm just Simon Westeros and that's it. ”

Knowing that it was very rare for him to be able to explain himself so vaguely, Jennifer curled the corners of her mouth slightly, pointed to the article in front of Simon again, and said, "So, what about this?"

"Let them publish it, just in time to provide another publicity stunt for "The Sixth Sense". In addition, pass this article to Burbank and Pat Kingsley respectively, so that they can pay attention to the subsequent trend of public opinion, and intervene if necessary, so as to avoid any other nonsense. ”

Jennifer nodded and looked at her watch, it was already five o'clock.

Just as he was about to go out, there was a knock on the door.

After Simon responded, Nancy Brill pushed the door open and walked in.

Leaving work on time is non-existent for Simon, and he and Nancy have to discuss Blockbuster's IPO.

After continuing to burn money and expand for more than half a year, Blockbuster's cash flow has once again dried up, and as a major shareholder, it is also the obligation of Daenerys Entertainment to help Blockbuster solve its financial difficulties. Through this connection, Blockbuster has secured a five-year loan of $100 million from Citibank on very favorable terms at the beginning of the month.

However, it is impossible for Blockbuster to continue to increase its debt like this.

After discussions, the shareholders approved the decision to push the company for an IPO.

This matter will not be done overnight, it will take about half a year, and by then Blockbuster's loan from Citibank should be exactly spent. Once listed, Blockbuster can more easily expand through additional stock issuance, bond issuance, share swap mergers and acquisitions, etc., which can greatly alleviate the financial pressure.

After saying hello, Jennifer left the office to get busy, and Simon got up and sat down with Nancy in the reception area to look through some documents.

Simon didn't pay much attention to the article, but the response to the Los Angeles Times' press release the next day was beyond his expectations.

“He can see people。 ”

"He can see ghosts. ”

I have to say that the article is too logically reasonable.

Indeed, if Simon Westeros is a psychic, there is a very plausible explanation for everything he has shown in recent years.

While major mainstream newspapers reprinted the Los Angeles Times article, the North American media also set off a wave of proof that Simon Westeros was indeed a psychic.

Contacting Simon Westeros directly in an attempt to interview him didn't work, and Westeros' PR spokesman, Pat Kingsley, simply publicly refuted the absurdity of the article and did nothing else. As a result, the media once again shifted their targets to San Jose, where Simon grew up, and to some of the people Simon once had been around.

Perhaps it was some kind of psychological suggestion that those who had known Simon in the past 'suddenly realized' that Simon's unusual things as a child would prove the tone of the Los Angeles Times article.

Some reporters have also turned their attention back to the Watsonville Psychiatric Hospital, where Simon once lived.

It's just that because Janet had already signed non-disclosure agreements with many people at that hospital, the reporters didn't get anything this time, but this further stimulated the curiosity of the media.

At the end of the day, Janet calls from Melbourne and asks Simon if he is a psychic after all. If so, the necklace that the woman's grandmother had intended to leave for her as a dowry could not be found after the old man's death, and wanted Simon to help 'ask' where to put it.

Simon angrily suggested that the woman directly tear down the Johnston mansion, and she would definitely be able to find it.

After a few days of trouble, some other arguments about Simon began to emerge, but fortunately it was not the Middle Ages, otherwise Simon felt that he might have been burned at the stake. In order to avoid the argument getting out of hand, Daenerys Entertainment's PR department and Simon's private PR team have begun to put out the fire.

On the other hand, this incident also stimulated the box office of "The Sixth Sense" again, as Simon expected.

Because of some arguments that Cole may be Simon Westeros' 'self-portrait', many viewers who were still unmoved by the discussion around them couldn't help but be curious and began to buy tickets to enter the venue.

In the end, in the week from July 14 to July 20, "The Sixth Sense" only fell a paltry 2.7% box office decline, and in the third week of its release, it earned $38.25 million again, with a cumulative box office of $118.86 million. This phenomenal horror film not only completed the feat of breaking 100 million in three weeks, but also surpassed the box office figure of "Raiders of the Lost Ark 3" of $110.65 million in three weeks and two days in the same period.

In addition, in the 7th week of its release, "Bodyguard" also successfully broke through the 100 million yuan mark, with a cumulative box office of $104.25 million in 7 weeks.

After the 'low tide' in the first half of the year, Daenerys Entertainment created two films that exceeded 100 million at the North American box office in one fell swoop.

The number of moviegoers in North America has basically not changed much over the years, and the film produced by Daenerys Entertainment has harvested the box office so strongly, which will inevitably suppress other studios, so some things have happened.