Woken up in the morning by the ringing of the phone, Simon opened his eyes and found Catherine looking at him, with a slight confusion and panic in her eyes after being suddenly awakened.

Simon took the woman into his arms and kissed her on the lips before reaching for the microphone on the bedside table.

The call was made by Pat Kingsley, who has been in New York in recent days because of the recording of "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson," who is Simon's PR manager. The content of Kingsley's call was about a piece of gossip that was published today in the newspaper Daily News here in New York.

"The Palme d'Or judges stay at the Cannes mansion in Westeros".

Natasha Kinsky's borrowing from Simon was still picked up, and the "Daily News" rendered the incident into a lace news in the article, but it is not difficult to find that the fundamental purpose of the other party is to question the fairness of Simon's acquisition of the Palme d'Or.

Simon was not surprised to hear the news.

The competition for the summer season has entered its fiercest stage, with more than ten blockbuster new films released in recent weeks. Because of the characteristics of the box office market, at this time, if the momentum of the opponent is suppressed, you will be able to gain more market space.

The two were glued together, and Catherine could naturally hear Simon and Kingsley's conversation. When Simon hung up the phone, the emotions in Catherine's eyes had changed, but she still looked at him steadily. Obviously, the focus of the woman's attention is not on the deeper meaning of the Mainichi Shimbun report.

Simon was stared at by Catherine, so he had to take the initiative to explain: "I have nothing to do with that woman, and besides, she is married. ”

Catherine snorted, broke away from Simon's arms, and said lightly: "This is Jenny's business, and it has nothing to do with me." ”

Simon smiled and wanted to lean over, but was pushed away by Catherine, so he had to ask, "What do you want for breakfast?"

Catherine didn't answer the question, but said, "You're responsible for buttoning up my shirt." ”

"There doesn't seem to be any needlework at home, so you can wear my clothes," Simon sat up and was about to get up, found his shirt and gestured at the woman, "You must look better in a men's shirt." ”

Catherine reached over and nudged him, dissatisfied, "It will be seen." ”

Regarding the relationship between the two, Simon knew that Catherine was more cautious than herself, so he nodded: "Okay, I'll ask Neil to send some needlework later." ”

The two had breakfast, Catherine remained in the apartment and planned to leave quietly, Simon rushed to Westeros headquarters to discuss with James Raybould about taking New World Entertainment by means of a debt-for-equity swap.

On the other hand, the Mainichi Shimbun report was really just the beginning, and similar news came from the West Coast side later. The public relations teams of Daenerys Pictures and Orion immediately began to enter the market to guide public opinion.

Under this kind of open and secret struggle, the next day, "Vulgar" was officially released in North American theaters, and at the same time, Fox Films produced "Flying Over the Future" starring Tom Hanks and Warner Bros. Chevy Chase starring "Funny Farm" were also opened.

In addition, the North American box office data for the past week has also been released.

"Crocodile Dundee 2", which has 2,837 screens, earned $30.17 million at the box office in seven days in the first full week, easily winning the single-week box office championship. Counting the two-day cumulative of the previous week, the total box office of the film has reached $34.92 million.

However, the word-of-mouth of "Crocodile Dundee 2" is in stark contrast to its vigorous pre-publicity and large-scale opening screen, and the North American media has received almost one-sided negative reviews for the film.

"Variety" magazine commented that "Crocodile Dundee 2" "as an adventure film the plot is too bland, as a comedy film does not have many laughs".

The New York Times critics were even more vehement: "The default strategy of most sequels is to take as much of the best of their predecessors as possible and give the audience as much of the elements they love, but Crocodile Dundee 2 does the opposite, discarding almost everything that was eye-catching in the first installment, and seems banal and uninteresting." ”

Although the media reputation of "First Blood 3" starring Stallone is better than that of "Crocodile Dundee 2", it is only relative.

Moreover, with the same large-scale 2,562 opening screens, the box office revenue of "First Blood 3", a sequel film with a huge production cost of $63 million, was comparable to that of "Crocodile Dundee 2" in the first two days of its opening, but in the first full week, the box office was quickly thrown away by the other party, with a box office of $20.17 million in seven days, and a cumulative box office of $24.63 million.

The third-ranked "Gathering Storm" fell only 16% at the box office the next week, collecting another $9.26 million. However, because of the weak start, the cumulative box office of "Stormy Meeting" in two weeks was only $20.32 million.

"When Harry Met Sally" is still ranked fourth, and it continued to earn $3.32 million in the 12th week of its release, with a cumulative box office of 97.55 million, which is only one step away from breaking 100 million.

Compared with several new films such as "Crocodile Dundee 2" before, the three movies released on June 3 have a very good reputation.

Tom Hanks's "Flying Future" can be said to be the famous work of this Hollywood superstar, and it also brought him his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Chevy Chase, a veteran comedy star, also received a lot of praise for "Funny Farm".

However, these two new films are completely powerless in the face of "Vulgar", which is destined to go down in film history.

The aura of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

The popularity of Robert De Niro, John Travolta, Robert Redford, Madonna, Sean Penn and other big names joined.

Simon's huge fan base since "Lola Run" has been accumulated.

The super high topic heat brought by praise and controversy.

All these factors make "Vulgar" the most watched movie this summer.

Apparently in an attempt to curb the momentum of "Vulgar", with the release of the film, some media outlets simply stirred up the controversy over Simon's winning the Palme d'Or, unabashedly questioning the possible award insiders of the Cannes Film Festival that had just passed.

In the face of these doubts, Cannes officials had to respond publicly again.

The media will not give up easily, and Natasha Kinski's borrowing of Simon's mansion was quickly hyped up as one of the most important inside evidence, and many newspapers followed this and began to chase after it.

Because this incident is linked to lace news, Natasha Kinski's husband of a wealthy Egyptian businessman also got involved and personally rushed to the Lekane district of Cannes to bring his wife home, and Natasha Kinski, who has an eccentric and stubborn personality, is obviously not easy to succumb.

The two were already in a state of separation, and after being rejected, the wealthy Egyptian businessman felt greatly embarrassed and publicly announced that he would divorce Natasha Kinski.

In this way, things suddenly became more lively.

Simon Westeros not only lured the judges to manipulate the awards, but also destroyed other people's families, which is unbearable.

It's just that.

Before the media chasing this matter had time to concoct more 'fierce news', things suddenly took a 180-degree turn.

On June 7, Natasha Kinski, frustrated by the flock of tabloid reporters from all over the world, suddenly declared to the reporters following her during a shopping outing that she did not support "Vulgar" during the award process, and she voted for "Isolated World".

As soon as the woman's remarks came out, all the media chasing this matter immediately 'TF'.

Can it be like this?!

The Cannes Film Festival does not have the same rigorous voting process as the Oscars, and in some cases, if the judges can agree verbally, the award can be determined without voting at all. However, the voting process was initiated in the past session because of the differences of opinion of the judges.

Natasha Kinski made a public statement, and the organizers of the Cannes Film Festival, who had been a little anxious under the media bombardment, immediately found the voting card from the newly sealed archive of the festival. Because it is a voting card with her name written directly, Natasha Kinsky's handwriting is also very recognizable, and this woman really voted for "Isolated World".

Relieved to confirm this, the organizers of the Cannes Film Festival immediately published a photocopy of Natasha Kinsky's voting card in the newspaper.

The famous Italian director Ito Scola, who served as a judge in the main competition unit before, also publicly stated that Natasha Kinski did favor "Isolated World" during the review discussion, and in the competition for the Palme d'Or, the ratio of votes for "Vulgar" and "Isolated World" was six to four.

The news was announced, and even Simon, who had just returned to Los Angeles, was 'TF' himself.

Sister, I borrowed your place and helped you hire a housekeeper, cook, maid, driver, and pay bills, is it really good for you to do this?

Janet, who learned about this, laughed so much that she couldn't stand up straight, and by the way, she despised Simon, the 'wronged boss'.

Although the truth makes people laugh and cry, the insider doubts of some media have disappeared in an instant.

With such a tear, the attention of "Vulgar" has reached a higher level. Moreover, the one-sided praise of "Vulgar" in most of the North American media and the word of mouth of the audience itself about the quality of the film also turned things very completely.

In the hustle and bustle, on June 10th, another week of summer files passed.

From June 3 to June 9, the release of new and old films increased the total North American box office for the week to $92.67 million. In comparison, in the previous week from May 27 to June 2, the total box office in North America in a single week was only 73.87 million US dollars.

The much-anticipated "Vulgar" won the top spot at the North American box office charts in the new week without any suspense. 1,569 screens, the first week box office was $27.53 million.

Although it didn't reach the level of "Gator Dundee 2" last week's $30.17 million, no one can doubt the strength of "Vulgar".

After all, "Crocodile Dundee 2" has 2,837 opening screens, but "Vulgar" has only 1,569 opening screens. On average, "Crocodile Dundee 2" reached $10,636 last week, while "Vulgar" reached $17,546.

What's more, "Crocodile Dundee 2" only had one competitor last week, "First Blood 3", perhaps barely adding a box office sluggish "Stormy Meeting". But this week, "Vulgar" is in a scuffle with four other films: "Flying Over the Future", "Funny Farm", "Crocodile Dundee 2" and "First Blood 3".

After "Vulgar", due to poor word-of-mouth and large-scale opening to over-exploit market potential, "Crocodile Dundee 2" fell by 41% compared to last week's box office, with a box office of only $17.87 million.

But even so, the opening of more than 2,800 screens allowed the film to easily surpass the $50 million mark at the North American box office.

At third on the list is Fox Films' "Future Flights," which grossed $12.59 million in its first week. Because Fox Film only arranged 1,132 opening screens for this new film, this box office report card that exceeded $10,000 in a single week is not bad.

Simon remembers that "Flying Over the Future" has achieved more than 100 million in North America, and if history hadn't changed, "Flying Over the Future" would have a very good box office curve next.

Stallone's "First Blood 3" ranked fourth, with a worse box office decline than "Crocodile Dundee 2", reaching 47%, collecting only $10.62 million this week, with a cumulative box office of $35.26 million. According to this decline curve, the total box office of "First Blood 3" in North America is likely to not even reach the production cost of $63 million.

Chevy Chase's "Funny Farm" came in at No. 5, grossing $8.11 million in its opening week.

"Funny Farm" has 1,557 opening screens on par with "Vulgar", but it only has a little more than $5,000 in the first week, less than a third of "Vulgar". The first film of the Warner Bros. Pictures summer season undoubtedly became a dud.

With a start of $8.11 million, even if the next decline curve is relatively good, it is difficult to see how high the total box office in North America is.

In addition to the top five, the sixth-ranked "Gathering Storm" continued to earn $7.08 million in the third week of its release, with a cumulative box office of $27.4 million.

Followed by.

"When Harry Met Sally", which ranked seventh on the list, collected another $2.66 million at the box office, and the film, which has been in theaters for 13 weeks, finally broke through the $100 million box office mark in many people's expectations, with a total box office of $100.21 million, officially becoming the first film to break 100 million at the North American box office in 1988.

In the discussion brought about by the North American box office of "When Harry Met Sally", some media outlets suddenly released it, and Daenerys Pictures successfully completed a box office relay.

"Vulgar" earned $27.53 million at the box office in just the first week of filming, and the film's word-of-mouth, cast and popularity are impeccable in all aspects, and no one will doubt that it can easily break through the threshold of breaking 100 million at the North American box office.

You must know that the box office of "When Harry Meets Sally" was only $17.81 million in the first week after its screening, and the first-week performance of "Vulgar" almost exceeded "When Harry Met Sally" by a full $10 million.

The North American box office of the two films exceeded 100 million, which is already on par with Simon Westeros's results last year.

Previously, in 1987, Simon's "Lola Run" and "Butterfly Effect" both achieved good results at the North American box office of more than 100 million, and the box office of "Death is Coming" was slightly inferior, only more than 70 million US dollars.

Merely.

Now that 1988 is not half over, Simon Westeros has already equaled the box office record he achieved last year, so what's next?

"Vulgar" relayed "When Harry Met Sally" and continued to sprint to the North American box office to break 100 million, and in the middle of next month, will "Instinct", which is also written by Simon himself, be the same?

After "Instinct", Daenerys Pictures announced a large list of production films such as "Scream", "Rain Man", "Dead Poets Society", "Steel Magnolia" and so on.

Although in the eyes of many people, these films do not have much to sell, however, Simon Westeros has already done too many miracles.

Imagine if these films continued to relay......

Tut!