The North American box office of "Independence Day" has just ended its tenth weekend, and the North American box office has accumulated a whopping $328.75 million, although it is far from the North American box office of the "Star Wars" series and "ET Alien", which have been re-released many times, but it is very promising to hit the North American box office of "Jurassic Park" of $357.06 million.

It took more than 60 weeks for "Jurassic Park" to hit the North American box office, and Duke estimates that it will also take dozens of weeks for "Independence Day" to break $350 million.

Ten weeks after its release, the North American box office of "Independence Day" has weakened, and the number of theaters has dropped to about 1,000, although the weekly box office decline has remained healthy, the number of theaters is still shrinking, and it is estimated that by October, it would be good to have a few hundred theaters left.

As long as the film can bring revenue to the theater chain, "Independence Day" will not be forced to be released like "The Shawshank Redemption", but will continue to be screened in North America with a small number of theaters, and it is very likely to last for 30 weeks or more.

That's what Duke would like to see, and the higher the North American box office figures, the more revenue he will bring in with his 20 percent cut.

In fact, up to now, the theater chain has made two North American box office shares with Twentieth Century Fox, involving a total amount of up to 300 million US dollars, which means that the share of the 300 million dollar box office belonging to the distribution system has been on the account of Twentieth Century Fox, but Twentieth Century Fox, like all Hollywood companies, has not yet paid a share to other parties.

Duke's remuneration is easy to calculate. $300 million multiplied by 20 percent, that's $60 million.

This figure accounts for nearly half of the box office share of Twentieth Century Fox, and it seems to be extremely detrimental to the distribution producer. In fact, Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox signed this contract with Duke, first, because he already has the capital to shout, secondly, the sharing agreement is a ladder, and most importantly, the box office is only a part of the film's revenue.

"Independence Day" was a big hit at the box office, and peripheral goods such as TV, videotapes, and soundtracks will all rise. These are long-term gains, as long as the copyright is in hand. Later, you can bring a steady stream of income.

Knowing that the share was on the books of Twentieth Century Fox, Duke asked his accountant to urge Fox to settle accounts with him as much as possible, and now Duke is no longer a small director who could only wait for him, even in the face of Hollywood giants like Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox. The words spoken are also loud enough.

What's more, the two companies also hope to continue to cooperate with him.

Such a large amount of income is certainly gratifying, but it also brings another annoyance, and that is the tax problem.

If taxes are paid under normal circumstances, a considerable part of Duke's share of "Independence Day" will need to be taxed, and the tax office will definitely not be able to provoke him, for someone like him who will develop in Hollywood for a long time and face fierce competition. Tax evasion is just asking for trouble for yourself.

Legal tax avoidance has become the most suitable choice.

Over the next few days, Duke met frequently with his accountant and lawyers. Listen to the idea of setting up a fund for legal tax avoidance when the share is received, and most of the high-income earners in the United States have this kind of fund in the name of charity or other to avoid taxes, which is the norm throughout Western society.

But the share that "Independence Day" can bring to Duke is too high, according to accountants and lawyers, even if it is a legal means of tax avoidance. The taxes he had to pay were still a horrific number, and the funds that avoided the taxes. It will also be subject to certain supervision, and there are many restrictions and inconveniences when using it.

In this land, only the payment of taxes and death are eternal.

Due to the failure of his trip to Europe, Duke would go to the Duke's studio almost every day during the period when he was negotiating with major film companies in Nancy, and exchanged ideas with two hired screenwriters about the writing of new scripts.

Duke can sense that both of them have some ideas, probably want to go through a period of time to be completely independent, and he has no intention of retaining, in this circle, there is no one who does not want to be famous, and what he needs is not a screenwriter full of whimsy, just a part of the assembly line that fills in the script outline template, such a screenwriter is not too difficult to find in Hollywood.

According to his guess, the two screenwriters will probably leave the Duke's studio after filling in the script they are writing.

The duke's studio, which was used to avoid taxes, is still an empty shell, its finances outsourced to an accounting firm, and the only real full-time employee is a middle-aged Latin woman who is responsible for cleaning and answering the phone.

"The studio is still the same......"

Follow Duke into the office with a thick body of information, Naomi? Watts put the materials in his hand on the simple desk, pulled over the chair and sat on it, rubbing his chest as he gasped, "'Independence Day' hasn't been released yet, and you've collected so much information!" ”

"You've said it all the way here, my dear."

After taking the kettle, Duke poured Naomi a glass of water and pushed it over, "Singing and dancing, especially jazz singing and dancing, is a relatively unfamiliar field for me, and I always have to have some basic understanding. ”

"You always do the preparation first...... "Naomi? Watts picked up his glass and took a big sip, "Everyone else is ready for vacation time, you're still busy." ”

Duke gulped down the water from the cup, felt the coolness, and poured it for himself and Naomi again, "Transformation is not an easy thing, although the next part is a war theme, but ......"

He shook his head and didn't continue.

"Only those who are well prepared will succeed."

Naomi who is gradually becoming famous? Watts was sure of the applicability of this sentence in Hollywood, and she looked straight at Duke, "Actually, what you said to me helped me a lot. ”

"It's the result of your efforts." Duke turned a blind eye to the hot gaze and joked with a smile, "Maybe after a few years for you to become a first-line actress, I don't think it's a big deal to look back." ”

Although first-line actresses are still weak compared to first-line directors, they also have enough capital to speak out, and actresses who go to the first line often can't wait to break with the past.

"I'll always remember you!" Naomi's eyes were filled with sincerity.

Duke just smiled, but didn't say anything, flipped through the thick papers, and was clearly ready to get to work.

See Duke get to work, Naomi? Watts wisely chose to shut up, drank the glass of water peacefully, found a random copy from the pile of materials on the desk, and carefully flipped through the songs and dances that had been practiced intermittently in the past few months.

After about ten minutes, as if her neck was uncomfortable, Naomi cautiously stood up, walked to the window, looked into the distance for a moment, and then turned to look at Duke.

Years have passed, and this guy has gone from an obscure young director to a first-class commercial director in Hollywood, but he still maintains a serious and dedicated work attitude, and can always automatically block and forget about others around him.

Naomi was convinced of this, and she didn't make any noise, she had known Duke for a few years, and she had gradually figured out many of his habits.

"What do you think?"

Closing the information, Duke looked up and saw Naomi looking at him, "Very distracted." ”

"Seeing these materials you have prepared, I think I should hurry up and prepare."

Walk back and sit in the chair, Naomi? Watts flipped through a book about jazz dance, "If I don't pass the table at the time, you're definitely not going to use me, are you?" ”

"If only you understood." Duke didn't mean to deny it.

Although he built yì Naomi? Watts practiced singing and dancing as early as possible, but he didn't guarantee anything, and if he couldn't pass even the most basic auditions, there was no need to talk about the rest, after all, it was not for nothing that an unqualified actor ruined a movie.

I stayed in the studio until late in the evening, and Duke and Naomi? Watts went to a nearby restaurant for dinner, and Naomi had no intention of returning to Beverly Hills after dinner, and tacitly followed Duke to his apartment in North Hollywood.

Petite Naomi? Watts is still so weak that he can inadvertently make Duke wilder, and even inspire him to destroy*, but fortunately, he understands that this kind of thing can only bring the greatest pleasure if it is enjoyed by both parties, and will not be as rough as he is with those models.

The next day, because his mother had returned to Santa Monica from New York a few days earlier, Duke took Naomi? After being sent back to Beverly Hills, Watts went straight to his home in Santa Monica.

"Mom's ......"

As soon as he walked out of the garage, he saw his mother leading her goddaughter from the villa, "Are you going out?" ”

"The company has some work to deal with."

"Hi, Duke." Scarlett beckoned to him.

"Didn't have classes today?" Duke asked curiously.

"Scarlett's school has a short break." Lady Leah took over the topic and pushed Scarlett directly to Duke, "Since you're back, Scarlett will be taken care of by you today." ”

There was no negotiation in his mother's words, and Duke said embarrassedly, "I made an appointment with a real estate agent in the afternoon to go to Malibu." ”

"I'm not going to bother you with your work." Scarlett said obediently.

"Going to see the house?"

Hearing his mother's question, Duke nodded, "I have a good idea of a seaside villa from the information, and I'm going to go over and have a look at it." (To be continued)

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