Simon continued to spend the weekend in Australia, and on Monday he left alone again to return to North America.

Although in the end, even Amy Pascal reminded him in a private call with Simon that he might should go to the set of "Titanic", which has obviously gone out of control, Simon has not passed, and also reminded Daenerys Entertainment, the producer in charge of the project budget, not to waste time on arguing with James Cameron, and to try his best to cooperate with the other party to complete the film.

This is already a hint of laissez-faire.

Simon actually didn't completely ignore it, and privately asked people to re-estimate, according to the progress at this time, Cameron will need about $150 million to complete the film, even if it is more than $200 million in the end.

In addition, the former "Titanic" also indirectly achieved James Cameron's light storm special effects studio, this time, starting from "Terminator 2", all the special effects technology involved in Cameron's production of the film are retained in Daenerys special effects, and "Titanic", it seems to outsiders that it is not as dazzling as films such as "Star Wars" and "Transformers", but there is only a lot more special effects technology contained in it.

These special effects innovations are valuable technical assets for Daenerys special effects.

In addition, Simon also really hopes that Daenerys Entertainment will have a little situation and 'entertain' the public, after all, even if "Titanic" completely fails this time, it will not hurt the foundation of Daenerys Entertainment Group, which has completed a comprehensive and diversified layout.

In short, the card god can play casually this time.

Simon pays the bill.

Back in Los Angeles, local time is still September 9.

Monday.

Simon's first focus is on the 1996 summer season that has officially ended, which is actually where Daenerys Entertainment can support James Cameron's casual play.

This summer file, the duration, to be precise, from the release of "Evaporation Secret" and "Romeo and Juliet" on May 10, to the full start of school in North America on September 5, lasted a total of 17 weeks, and in the past three days of the weekend from September 6th to September 8th, the weekend box office in the North American market fell from more than 62 million in the same period last week to about 35 million, which also clearly announced the end of the summer file.

For 17 weeks, a total of 6 films with a box office of more than 100 million have emerged in North America, and six movies are all more or less related to Daenerys Entertainment, even if Daenerys Entertainment did not invest in and distribute Eddie Murphy's new film "Fat Professor" at all, Simon privately pushed it to Fox.

You must know that "Fat Professor" in the original time and space is a movie invested by Universal Pictures, and Universal is now part of Daenerys Entertainment.

Moreover, in addition to the 6 local movies with a box office of more than 100 million, the entire summer file, not to mention the cooperation projects of "The Mummy" and "Mission Impossible 2", is only the films produced by the three labels of Daenerys Entertainment, whether it is "Black Man", "Police Empire", "Ice Storm", etc., they have achieved quite good results.

If the timeline is extended to the first eight months of 1996 from the beginning of the year to the end of the summer season on September 5, there have been 9 movies with a box office of more than 100 million yuan in North American theaters, namely:

First place: "007: The Ghost Party", $307 million.

Second place: "Mission Impossible 2", $216 million.

Third place: "Guillotine Valley", $177 million.

Fourth place: "Mummy", $156 million.

No. 5: Rush Hour, $141 million.

Sixth place: "Mortuary Haunting 2", $137 million.

No. 7: Romeo and Juliet, $123 million.

No. 8: "Fat Professor", $113 million.

No. 9: "Detective Nose 2", $108 million.

The whole list is clear at a glance.

Among them, Daenerys Entertainment is completely independent of the films, 9 films, accounting for 5, and there are two cooperative films, even the No. 1 "007: Ghost Party", because MGM's distribution capacity is insufficient, and the distribution in many overseas markets is responsible for Daenerys Entertainment, so it is also related to interests.

There is only one "Fat Guy Professor", which is considered a complete monopoly of Fox.

Although the first place on the list is temporarily occupied by MGM's "007: Spectre", although Simon actually does not want to compete for the limelight of this first place, but considering that at the end of the year, "Wonder Woman 2", which happens to have the distribution rights of Daenerys Entertainment, will be released in the DC Cinematic Universe series, and it is not yet known what the final result of the annual list will be.

In any case, just looking at this list so far, Daenerys Entertainment is no less than Disney at the peak of Simon's memory.

If you can completely sort out the connections in this series of films, it is not an exaggeration to say that Simon has basically controlled the entire Hollywood at this time, and in the century-old history of Hollywood, Louis Mayer, who was once in the limelight, has far less power than Simon at this time.

Daenerys Studios.

In Simon's office, David Geffen, who watched Simon Westeros' entire rise as an insider, looked at the young man opposite, and couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion in his heart. Even the Geffen Records, which he founded back then, went around and around, and at this time it was already part of Daenerys Records.

And now, not to mention anything else, it's just that this young man's power in Hollywood is enough for everyone to look up to.

On the sofa in the reception area, Simon took a sip of the soda that Girl A had just served, and was a little uncomfortable with David Geffen's gaze, you know, this is a recognized Hollywood closet boss, put down the cup, Simon went straight to the point and said: "David, I have another meeting later, so let's make a long story short." ”

"Oh, of course," David Geffen also quickly put away his thoughts and said: "I probably have already sent an email in advance, DreamWorks hopes to buy the script of "Saving Private Ryan" in the hands of Daenerys Entertainment, Simon, I also checked in advance, Daenerys did not make any preparations for this project, I think, you should not mind changing hands." ”

Simon was noncommittal and said: "David, "Saving Private Ryan" is a World War II-themed script, and it must be a blockbuster-level investment, which is very risky, why do you want to make this project?"

"It's mainly ......" David Geffen originally wanted to prevaricate, but after a little hesitation, he finally told the truth, with a wry smile on his face: "Okay, Simon, in fact, Steven was very moved after seeing this script, but unfortunately we were late." ”

Hollywood is full of deceit.

It's just that for Simon Westeros, if he uses the means of lying today, even if he gets the script of "Saving Private Ryan", once the matter is revealed, this young man can only consider himself unlucky like other deceived filmmakers, and in case of a rebound, the entire DreamWorks will be implicated.

It's better to tell the truth.

Even, if it weren't for Spielberg's request, David Geffen wouldn't want to accept the errand at all, as a shareholder of DreamWorks, his attitude is the same as what Simon just said, and he is also not very optimistic about such a war film with a huge investment that may not be popular with the audience in the future.

Simon had already guessed the general situation of the matter, and since Geffen confessed, he didn't go around the bend again, and said: "Since Steven is interested, Daenerys can let it go." However, it also happens to be an opportunity, so it's better for Steven to pay off the last film contract he owes Daenerys Entertainment this time. ”

David Geffen didn't expect Simon to agree so quickly, but he was stunned again.

Looking at the expression on Westeros's face, this bigwig, who has been in Hollywood for many years, inexplicably feels that he may have stepped into a pit on his side.

It's just that it can only be said to be a feeling.

There is no evidence.

However, David Geffen quickly reacted that if this project can be made into a collaborative film with Daenerys Entertainment, it will also be a good thing for DreamWorks, which has developed so smoothly after its ambitious establishment.

The problem is that Spielberg asked him to come over to talk about the script, because he didn't want to have any contact with Daenerys Entertainment anymore, after all, Daenerys kicked him out after the success of the "Jurassic Park" series, and Spielberg produced two blockbuster films for Daenerys Entertainment that time, "Jurassic Park" and "Schindler's List".

The young man on the other side later got rid of Spielberg and used the newcomer, which was really a little chilly.

Simon saw David Geffin hesitate, and then said: "David, you can go back and discuss with Steven, if he wants this project, my conditions are also very simple, our two companies jointly invest, Daenerys Entertainment is responsible for distribution, oh, in terms of production, I am very relieved of Steven, so I will not interfere at all." ”

There is another point that Simon didn't say, and it is easy to think about it whether it is Geffen or Spielberg. After completing this project, Spielberg's film contract from Universal Times was completely cleared this time.

Seeing that Simon had already made clear conditions, David Geffen nodded slightly, but said again: "The problem is, Simon, we have signed an agreement with Paramount. ”

"That's not a problem, I think Paramount's side can also be discussed, Daenerys's side, I only ask for half of the investment share and the distribution rights of the film. ”

David Geffen was not very optimistic about "Saving Private Ryan", but at this time, seeing Simon Westeros, who was still expressing the same attitude before, asked for this, he suddenly confirmed some of the intuition he had just now, and naturally felt that it was definitely not enough to leave only half of the investment share for DreamWorks and Paramount to share.

However, after continuing to discuss, Simon refused to give in anymore, so he had to get up and leave for the time being, thinking in his heart about how to go back and discuss with Spielberg, and, or if he could get rid of Paramount completely.

Seeing off Geffen, Simon was about to attend the production conference of "American Pie", which had just been established some time ago, when he was temporarily stopped by another thing.

Girl A brought the news that had just come from San Francisco.

After this period of secret negotiations, Tinkobar, who is in charge of Girl C, successfully negotiated the acquisition agreement with Apple.

After all, it's just a small business of billions of dollars, and Simon explained to Girl C last month, and in just one month, Apple agreed to Tinkobair's takeover offer.

The main thing is that Apple is really at the end of its rope.

Obviously, the new technology industry has flourished in recent years, as an old giant that created the PC era, Apple has been bucking the trend under the impact of Microsoft, and the most direct performance is the market value, compared with the market value of more than $7 billion in the early nineties, Apple's market value has almost fallen to the $2 billion threshold recently, a decrease of more than 70% compared with the peak.

Moreover, Apple, which can barely maintain profits in previous years, has fallen into the quagmire of losses since last year, and in the first two quarters of this year, Apple's total loss has reached $300 million, and the annual loss is expected to exceed $600 million.

Unless a miracle happens, Apple will go bankrupt in two years at most.

On the other hand, this time, Jobs, who had already sold Pixar to Simon, has unwittingly fallen into obscurity, and without the appeal brought by "Toy Story", it is impossible for the other party to return to the helm of Apple, and Simon does not intend to allow this to happen.

Therefore, selling itself to Tinkobar is almost the only way out for Apple.

Even a lot of people don't understand Tinkobair's intention to buy Apple for a while.

Continuing to a nearby conference room, New World Pictures President Danny Morris was signaled to start the meeting, Simon holding a draft acquisition agreement between Tinkobar and Apple.

Tinkobar will buy Apple in a cash-and-stock deal for $2.8 billion, a 33% premium to the market capitalization of about $2.1 billion at the time, with $1 billion paid in cash and $1.6 billion in Tinkobar's stock.

At the same time, Tinkobar will also take on about $1.2 billion in debt to Apple.

The total value of the transaction is $4 billion.

This is a significantly higher price than Apple's sluggish state at this time. However, the higher offer was also key to Tinkobay's ability to negotiate a deal within a month. After all, if the time drags on too long and the news leaks, Apple's stock price may rise by more than 30% in a few days.

Simon doesn't want to have long nights and dreams, and neither does the C girl who gets Simon's face-to-face instruction in private. As for Apple, at this time, Datin Kobail does not have the confidence to slaughter a fat sheep at all, and probably doesn't want to dream a lot at night.

So that's basically the final solution.

As long as Simon has no objections here, the news will be announced tomorrow morning.

In addition, such an acquisition will not encounter any resistance in terms of authority review, and Simon can now consider the next step in the layout.

The first is the system.

Since Igrete got the initial source code of the Linux system in 1991, Simon began to plan a graphical interface PC operating system with Linux as the kernel, and the current team of Igrete has been developing it for 5 consecutive years, and has begun to use the operating system of Igret's own data center.

As for the PC version, the original plan was to officially launch in 1997, and now, with Apple, a series of core patents for the graphical interface operating system, the Westeros system will also be fearless of Microsoft's patent barriers.

The big deal is a lawsuit.

Secondly, there is the hardware.

Many people may not know that the British ARM company that proposed the ARM architecture was first invested by Apple, and now Apple is still the majority shareholder of ARM, and the Newton tablet in recent years is a processor with ARM architecture.

Take Apple, and then take full control of ARM.

Then, using the resources of the Westeros system, to promote the research and development of ARM architecture chips suitable for mobile electronic devices, even though the era of mobile Internet may take 10 years to fully come, but in the case of iCam, iPlayer and other products have been successful, with ARM chips as the core, research and development of more portable mobile electronic devices, and through the Bluetooth, WIFI and other technologies that have appeared at this time, to create a mini family mobile Internet ecosystem, more than enough.

Simon read the draft agreement between Tinkobar and Apple, and quickly began to write all kinds of brainstorming on the scratch paper in front of him, and before he knew it, an hour had passed.

It wasn't until Danny Morris reminded that I remembered that this was the production meeting of "American Pie".

Simon quickly glanced at the meeting memo handed over by Girl A next to him, and finally retracted his mind and turned to the theme of this meeting, and said to Danny Morris and others: "Regarding this project, at the public level, we need to package the film as a story about youth and growth with a special connotation, but you must understand that in fact, the selling point of this movie is only one word, sex." Only by firmly grasping this point, whether it is the production of the film or the future distribution, will everyone not go astray. ”

Over the years, many of the movies in Simon's memory have been butterfly dropped, and many films that have never been heard of have emerged.

The "American Pie" under discussion belongs to a story that is lucky not to be dropped by butterflies, although the details of the script are very different from Simon's memory, but the overall has not changed much, so it was decisively won by Simon, and the whole green light.

In the past, after the first part of "American Pie" sold more than 200 million at the global box office at a cost of only $11 million, even Simon couldn't remember how many sequels he made for a while.

Although there are various analyses of the core of the film, youth, growth, balabala, but in fact, the key to the success of this series is indeed only one word, sex. The film even goes so far as to create a proper noun such as 'MILF' that has become a fixed adult vocabulary, so you can see this.

As for the rest, they are all foils outside of this core.

So, for the new version of "American Pie" to succeed this time, Simon had to make the team at New World Pictures understand the core of the project, no matter how much more vulgar themes are whitewashed in the future.

Grasp the main contradiction.

Although it is not comparable to the DC Cinematic Universe, or even the Conjuring Cinematic Universe, according to memory, this series is actually a goldmine-level big IP, as long as the first part can be successful, the follow-up can be produced for many years as in the original time and space, including a number of non-theatrical versions that are only available for the videotape and DVD markets.

Daenerys Entertainment still has a huge BesTV video chain system, so it can maximize the benefits of this series in all aspects. Combined with the information in memory, this seemingly inconspicuous youth film series, properly developed, is enough to bring Daenerys Entertainment $1 billion in revenue in the future.