Jumanji's Game is precisely a visual spectacle film based on CG special effects, and the success or failure of the project has the most to do with the story and special effects, and the main creator is of course equally important, but it is not the decisive factor, so there is not much difference between Schwarzenegger and Stallone as the protagonists. Terry, I did lean towards Arnold at first, but the reason was only because the characters in the script fit Arnold's image, and now that the story has been revised, Stallone has become the most suitable one, and the whole project has begun to revolve around Stallone, and I can't change people temporarily. ”

A private beach on the west side of the Cape Dume estate.

It's Saturday, July 8th.

Simon returned to the West Coast yesterday in the evening, and with no work plans for the weekend, Terry Semel went straight to visit Cape Dume.

The two are discussing two film projects, "Game of the Brave" and "Evaporation Order".

This is just a past box office week Stallone's "SWAT Judge" box office fiasco, Disney's huge investment of 90 million US dollars, the local box office is expected to be only about 25 million, plus the box office performance of the summer opening "Die Hard 3" is also unsatisfactory, not only made Warner Bros. have serious doubts about Stallone, who has signed the actor of "Jumanji", but also implicates another project wholly owned by Warner, "Evaporation Order".

Schwarzenegger's new film "Evaporation Secret", which was originally planned to start in September and set for next summer, reached an astonishing $100 million after the budget statistics were released.

If you follow the global box office results of "True Lies" last year, the budget of $100 million is quite affordable. However, the power of two old-school action blockbusters in a row has made Hollywood completely start to re-examine this kind of personal heroism of muscular men saving the world.

Fearing the risks, Warner's top brass began to hope to cut the "Evaporation Order".

This kind of thing is very common in Hollywood.

It's just that the millions of dollars invested in the early stage are just that, and the film contract that has been signed with Schwarzenegger is not so easy to cancel, because this is a common 'payorplay' agreement for Hollywood celebrities, simply put, after the two parties sign the agreement, because the star has left the schedule to the studio, then, regardless of whether the film starts shooting, the studio must pay the full salary stipulated in the star contract.

The 'PayorPlay' agreement also happens to be in response to the fact that studios cut film projects for various reasons.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's contract salary is $15 million, and Warner doesn't want this money to go down the drain anyway, so he has a whim, hoping that Simon can let Arnold replace Stallone in "Game of Braves" according to the original plan, so as to kill two birds with one stone, which can not only allow Warner to successfully cut "Evaporation Order", but also get rid of Stallone, a potential box office poison.

Compared with Arnold and Warner's 'payorplay', the strong Daenerys will not sign this kind of agreement with celebrities, even if it is a long-term contract with Stallone, if Daenerys wants to go back, she doesn't need to pay too much compensation, of course, she will definitely lose some reputation, which is not a big deal in Hollywood.

Seeing Simon's refusal, Terry Semel did not give up and said: "Simon, as long as you agree, all the additional expenses can be borne by Warners, and I can also release the news, it is our side's insistence that makes you have to change your mind." ”

Simon still shook his head: "Terry, don't mention this matter again, I can't replace Stallone temporarily." In my opinion, what you should be doing is to find a way to reduce the budget of the Evaporation Order. ”

Terry Semel smiled wryly, "If I could, do you think I wouldn't do it?"

"In my opinion, it is very simple, change the location of the film from the federal mainland to Australia or Canada, even Europe, and then you can get a tax refund of tens of millions of dollars in the first place. Then, you have a good talk with Arnold, like Sean Connery, the whole crew is waiting to start and he goes to play golf with friends, this kind of thing happens less often, and millions can be saved. Terry, in fact, last year's "True Lies" was like this, if it weren't for Daenerys Entertainment's constant staring, the cost of this project would definitely exceed 100 million, and the result was that "True Lies" only cost $90 million. ”

When Terry Semel heard Simon say this, he immediately thought of "Future Water World".

$175 million.

It was also in order to accommodate Kevin Costner's desire to get a comfortable shooting environment, so he agreed to choose the filming location in Hawaii, a world-famous tourist destination. As a result, no one expected that the tide in Hawaii would bring so much trouble, the multimillion-dollar set was destroyed again and again, the filming cycle was repeatedly delayed, and Warner had to keep throwing money at the project, and finally the three-month shooting cycle dragged on for up to eight months, and the entire project was completed with an unprecedented budget of $175 million.

Now, "Future Water World" is scheduled for July 28, far away from blockbusters such as "Jurassic Park 2" in the early part of the summer file, and Warner only hopes that this project will not fail too badly.

It is precisely because of the lessons of "Future Water World" that Warner is like a frightened bird at the moment, and it can't help but be repeatedly entangled in the two current projects. You must know that the "Future Water World" project, which has dragged down the stock price of Time Warner, has not been able to catch up with the overall trend of the U.S. stock market for more than half a year.

The Dow Jones index, which represents the trend of the New York Stock Exchange, rose by 26% in one year from July last year to June this year, and Time Warner's stock price rose only 18% in one year compared to the lowest trough last summer, and the U.S. stock market was in a good situation, and the group's market value was only $18.6 billion.

Without the drag of "Future Water World", Time Warner's market value should have easily broken through the $20 billion mark.

The locomotive effect of the film business is so obvious that "Future Water World" is already a basin of water, and Warner can't afford another similar failure.

Simon refuses to change his mind, and Terry Semel can only follow the other party's suggestion and start with the "Evaporation Order" project itself.

In any case, the budget of $100 million must not be considered, and compressing it to $70 million is in line with Warner's expectations. Think about next summer, a series of film lists such as the new 007, "Mission Impossible 2", and "The Mummy" all look better than "Evaporation Order", and they are not Daenerys' sole proprietorships.

Daenerys Entertainment has prepared many projects during this time, new projects in the Conjuring Cinematic Universe, James Cameron's "Titanic", Jim Carrey's new film, and the new project of Jack Cheng from across the ocean, these are either not able to catch up, or not very similar, in short, I don't know which ones will become the main hits.

If you want to ask directly, think about it or give up.

This is already a trade secret.

After all, there is still a competitive relationship between the two companies.

The two walked together on the private beach with a cool summer breeze, and after a moment's hesitation, Terry Semel still said one thing: "Simon, did you meet Jack Welch last week?"

Simon nodded, still a little puzzled: "Playing golf together on Solo Day, what's wrong?"

Terry Semel hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "I heard the news, and it's not accurate, probably because Welch invited Levin to dinner last night." ”

Jack Welch, Gerald Levin.

General Electric, Time Warner.

Simon's heart jumped.

This big butterfly seems to have inadvertently matched another big thing that seems to be amazing.

If GE acquires Time Warner, not to mention GE's other businesses, but NBC and Time Warner, it is definitely a very compatible alliance, if the follow-up can successfully achieve synergies, GE will not give up the existing industrial business at the same time, but also become one of the world's largest media giants, even if it is not impossible to compete with Daenerys.

When the time comes, the real two powers stand side by side.

If things come true, Simon has to admire Welch's old and spicy vision, dragged down by a "Future Water World" project, and Time Warner's stock price, which has gotten rid of the haze of the merger a few years ago, is seriously undervalued, not to mention anything else, it's just that HBO, a subsidiary of Time Warner, is now spun off separately and let Simon pay $20 billion to buy it, he is willing.

What's more, Warner Bros. Pictures' film business, because of the strong rise of the DC Cinematic Universe, has actually been Time Warner's cash cow in recent years.

It's messed up.

It's a complete mess.

......

......

Simon still shook his head: "Terry, don't mention this matter again, I can't replace Stallone temporarily." In my opinion, what you should be doing is to find a way to reduce the budget of the Evaporation Order. ”

Terry Semel smiled wryly, "If I could, do you think I wouldn't do it?"

"In my opinion, it is very simple, change the location of the film from the federal mainland to Australia or Canada, even Europe, and then you can get a tax refund of tens of millions of dollars in the first place. Then, you have a good talk with Arnold, like Sean Connery, the whole crew is waiting to start and he goes to play golf with friends, this kind of thing happens less often, and millions can be saved. Terry, in fact, last year's "True Lies" was like this, if it weren't for Daenerys Entertainment's constant staring, the cost of this project would definitely exceed 100 million, and the result was that "True Lies" only cost $90 million. ”

When Terry Semel heard Simon say this, he immediately thought of "Future Water World".

$175 million.

It was also in order to accommodate Kevin Costner's desire to get a comfortable shooting environment, so he agreed to choose the filming location in Hawaii, a world-famous tourist destination. As a result, no one expected that the tide in Hawaii would bring so much trouble, the multimillion-dollar set was destroyed again and again, the filming cycle was repeatedly delayed, and Warner had to keep throwing money at the project, and finally the three-month shooting cycle dragged on for up to eight months, and the entire project was completed with an unprecedented budget of $175 million.

Now, "Future Water World" is scheduled for July 28, far away from blockbusters such as "Jurassic Park 2" in the early part of the summer file, and Warner only hopes that this project will not fail too badly.

It is precisely because of the lessons of "Future Water World" that Warner is like a frightened bird at the moment, and it can't help but be repeatedly entangled in the two current projects. You must know that the "Future Water World" project, which has dragged down the stock price of Time Warner, has not been able to catch up with the overall trend of the U.S. stock market for more than half a year.

The Dow Jones index, which represents the trend of the New York Stock Exchange, rose by 26% in one year from July last year to June this year, and Time Warner's stock price rose only 18% in one year compared to the lowest trough last summer, and the U.S. stock market was in a good situation, and the group's market value was only $18.6 billion.

Without the drag of "Future Water World", Time Warner's market value should have easily broken through the $20 billion mark.

The locomotive effect of the film business is so obvious that "Future Water World" is already a basin of water, and Warner can't afford another similar failure.

Simon refuses to change his mind, and Terry Semel can only follow the other party's suggestion and start with the "Evaporation Order" project itself.

In any case, the budget of $100 million must not be considered, and compressing it to $70 million is in line with Warner's expectations. Think about next summer, a series of film lists such as the new 007, "Mission Impossible 2", and "The Mummy" all look better than "Evaporation Order", and they are not Daenerys' sole proprietorships.

Daenerys Entertainment has prepared many projects during this time, new projects in the Conjuring Cinematic Universe, James Cameron's "Titanic", Jim Carrey's new film, and the new project of Jack Cheng from across the ocean, these are either not able to catch up, or not very similar, in short, I don't know which ones will become the main hits.

If you want to ask directly, think about it or give up.

This is already a trade secret.

After all, there is still a competitive relationship between the two companies.

The two walked together on the private beach with a cool summer breeze, and after a moment's hesitation, Terry Semel still said one thing: "Simon, did you meet Jack Welch last week?"

Simon nodded, still a little puzzled: "Playing golf together on Solo Day, what's wrong?"

Terry Semel hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "I heard the news, and it's not accurate, probably because Welch invited Levin to dinner last night." ”

Jack Welch, Gerald Levin.

General Electric, Time Warner.

Simon's heart jumped.

This big butterfly seems to have inadvertently matched another big thing that seems to be amazing.

If GE acquires Time Warner, not to mention GE's other businesses, but NBC and Time Warner, it is definitely a very compatible alliance, if the follow-up can successfully achieve synergies, GE will not give up the existing industrial business at the same time, but also become one of the world's largest media giants, even if it is not impossible to compete with Daenerys.

When the time comes, the real two powers stand side by side.

If things come true, Simon has to admire Welch's old and spicy vision, dragged down by a "Future Water World" project, and Time Warner's stock price, which has gotten rid of the haze of the merger a few years ago, is seriously undervalued, not to mention anything else, it's just that HBO, a subsidiary of Time Warner, is now spun off separately and let Simon pay $20 billion to buy it, he is willing.

What's more, Warner Bros. Pictures, because of the strong rise of the DC movie universe, has actually been Time Warner's cash cow in recent years.