After Monday, under the strong force of Fox Films, in just a few days, the media trend about "Butterfly Effect" has changed significantly.

Compared with the media film reviews that focus on subjective tendencies, ordinary people are obviously more susceptible to the influence of realistic data.

$21.69 million at the box office in the first week.

The next weekend was a slight decline of 17%.

An average audience rating of 7.7.

All of this undoubtedly shows that the quality of the film "The Butterfly Effect" is far from being as bad as critics have criticized. Under the deliberate guidance of public opinion at Fox Films, the public gradually realized that the one-sided bad reviews of "The Butterfly Effect" were probably the result of someone deliberately smearing them.

Subsequently, News Corp.'s New York Post published an article that further convinced a lot of people.

It all goes back to Simon's sudden media skepticism in March, when a New York Post reporter discovered that Mark Hollington, the lone writer who had published an article in the New York Times questioning Simon, had recently bought a brand new Ferrari.

So, the problem arises.

Mark Hollington's previous income was simply not enough for him to pay for such an expensive sports car.

So.

Where does the money come from?

Is it because he was instructed to criticize a genius boy and suddenly earned extra money?

As a gossip tabloid with a huge circulation, The New York Post is known for its undisciplined news. In order to avoid a defamation lawsuit, the article does not directly challenge Mark Hollington at all, but the words are always directed in one direction to another.

In the face of the accusations of the New York Post, Mark Hollington was very 'cooperative' and immediately came forward to refute it, claiming that he bought the sports car in installments and did not pay the full amount, so naturally there was no 'extra money'.

The New York Times may not want to wade into the muddy waters again, and Mark Hollington's clarification article can only be published in another newspaper, the Daily News.

It's even more lively now.

It's no secret that the Daily News and the New York Post, which have similar market positions and similar circulation, are complete rivals, with both unscrupulous newspapers almost completely tearing their faces apart and often scolding each other, and even bringing out each other's bosses, Rupert Murdoch and Mortimer Zuckerman, to the point of being worthless.

Now, with Mark Hollington's clarification in the Daily News, the war is back on fire.

This kind of media tearing is usually very difficult to achieve.

It was Mark Hollington who was unlucky.

Things are getting bigger and bigger, and the matter of him collecting money to smear Simon Westeros is inexplicably confirmed in this tearing.

It was so lively until Friday, April 24th.

Due to the change in media trends and Fox Films' relentless marketing offensive, the box office decline of "The Butterfly Effect" in the second week continued to narrow compared to the three days of the weekend, only 15%, and another $18.28 million.

In two weeks, the total box office of "The Butterfly Effect" has reached $39.97 million.

Just this box office of nearly $40 million has already squeezed "The Butterfly Effect" into the fourth place in the total box office of films released in 1987, second only to "Lola Run", "Lethal Weapon" and Disney's "Cruel Fate" released in January.

Simon, on his part, was busy with a lot of things at hand, and he also cooperated with Fox Film to visit NBC's "Tonight Show" again, and spent a few minutes discussing the creative inspiration for "The Butterfly Effect" and so on.

In terms of the contract between the two parties, although Simon has the obligation to cooperate with the promotion of the film, he is actually the kind of person who does not like to show his head very much.

However, when Peter Saunders invited Simon to participate in the talk show, he directly sent a check for $300,000, and also said that the film's North American box office exceeded $100 million, and Fox Film would pay Simon another bonus.

The other party is so good, Simon naturally tries his best to cooperate.

Meanwhile, after Michael Owitz's visit, Robert Redford responded the next day, offering to accept a $500,000 plus 5% profit share pay terms.

After Saturday's party, the Madonna couple thought about it for a few days and also responded, offering to make cameo roles as Bunny and Pumpkin. In the end, the terms agreed were that the couple would receive $500,000 together.

In addition, Simon also agreed to write a song for Madonna's new album in the second half of the year.

Finalizing these, "Vulgar" already has three superstars in Robert De Niro, Robert Redford and John Travolta at this time. Madonna and Sean Penn are equally famous.

With a budget of $8 million, Orion Pictures held a press conference on Thursday to announce the name of Simon's new film "Vulgar" and a list of the biggest names in the cast with great fanfare.

In the afternoon.

Daenerys Pictures headquarters in Santa Monica.

In Simon's office, Meg Ryan, who was dressed as an OL in a white shirt and black tube skirt, carefully poured coffee for Simon and Amy, and then turned around and went out.

Amy held the coffee cup, looked at Meg Ryan's leaving, and said to Simon: "She seems to be a little afraid of you, and it's not a good sign to make a woman afraid." ”

These days, Meg Ryan has officially started working 9 to 5 at Daenerys Films.

Simon just wanted to restore Meg Ryan to the way she should be a 26-year-old woman through regular life, and didn't expect her to do any substantive work, so he just arranged for her to be his secretary with Susan outside.

Hearing Amy say this, Simon, who was looking through the thick stack of actor information, just shook his head slightly and said, "It's not that I'm afraid, it should be embarrassing." ”

'Touched the porcelain' twice, it's no wonder if it's not embarrassing.

Amy naturally didn't understand Simon's explanation, but she just smiled and didn't ask.

Seeing Simon look down again and carefully look through the actor's information, and noticed that there was a copy on his desk near him, Amy put the coffee cup back on the table and curiously took the book casually.

These days, Simon always has a book or two on hand, and Amy thinks it's a good habit of her boss, so she doesn't think much of it. At such a young age, he has made achievements that many people will find difficult to achieve in their lifetimes, and it is completely logical to maintain the habit of reading at all times.

Amy even thinks she should take the time to recharge her batteries as well.

Thinking in her heart, Amy glanced at the name of the book in her hand, "Forrest Gump", the author's name is Winston Groom. Although I didn't know it, the young man on the opposite side chose it, and it wouldn't be too bad, so I opened it with interest.

Simon noticed Amy's movements and explained while looking at the information: "Amy, I'll ask Jonathan to help me negotiate some scripts or remake rights these days, but for now, I'll put it on Westeros' side. You know, there's a lot of money on the books over there, and we're going to make it in the future. ”

Now that he has a certain amount of capital, Simon has recently begun to implement what he has been trying to do since returning to this era, and has grasped the copyrights of many film projects that are destined to be popular in the future in advance.

Looking at the gold mine that can be picked up almost casually, I am sorry not to do this.

Amy smiled and nodded, "I understand." ”

Studios with the slightest ambition will hoard as many rights as they can, and Simon will not surprise Amy by doing so.

Daenerys Films only has the operating funds borrowed by Simon and the production budget of the two films "Death is Coming" and "Vulgar" on its books, and it must be impossible to do this, so it can only be carried out by Westeros.

Chatting casually, Simon quickly picked out an actress profile, pressed the call button on the desktop, and called Susan Landis in. Noticing Amy's curious expression, she casually handed over the information and said, "Na, this is my Mia." ”

Amy took the information and glanced at the name.

Nicole Kidman.

Who's this?

The thought flashed through her mind for the first time, and Amy glanced at the photo again and said to Simon, "If you have a videotape, you should at least watch her performance, right?"

Simon shook his head and said, "There's no need to waste time. ”

With that, Susan walked in, Simon pointed to the information in Amy's hand, and said, "Pass this actor information to Jonathan and tell them that they have two days to dig her up to MA." In addition, I am not satisfied with the black actors who play Jules, and I am not satisfied with the candidates recommended by several companies, so let them choose another batch and send them over, and the fame does not matter. Also, the female taxi driver was the same, charming, seductive, with an accent, I think I made it very clear. You don't need to recommend the local ones, pick the European ones. ”

Amy handed the information to Susan, listened to Simon's series of instructions, smiled helplessly and shook her head, finding that it was always difficult to guess what her young boss was thinking.

Simon is actually helpless.

Finalized a group of big names, and the budget he could use to select other actors was only $1 million. There are still a large number of characters in the film who have not been found.

Among the more important ones, Jules, that is, the role of the original Samuel L. L. Jackson, Simon still hopes that the other party can play it. But now, Samuel L. Jackson doesn't know where it is.

In this era when there is no Internet, it is not ordinarily difficult to search for a nobody.

Even Mia had a lot of twists and turns.

Simon originally wanted Michelle Pfeiffer to try it, and it didn't matter if it was a little expensive.

It's just that, after a simple audition, Simon found a very serious problem.

John Travolta is nearly 1.9 meters tall, while Michelle Pfeiffer is only in his early 1.7 meters. With the height difference between the two, as soon as they stand on the stage, the composition is directly crooked, how can they perform that classic swing dance.

After Michelle Pfeiffer, Simon added a height of 180cm or more to the casting conditions.

"Vulgar" is scheduled to start filming in July, and Simon still has too much work to do, so after a simple selection, he chose Nicole Kidman, who was once very familiar.

Waiting for Susan's office, Simon glanced at his watch and asked Amy on the other side, "Didn't you say three o'clock?"

Amy also looked at the time and said, "Otherwise, I'll have someone call and ask." ”

As he spoke, there was another knock on the office door, and Meg Ryan came in and said, "Mr. Westeros, Ms. Pascal, Mr. O'Brien has arrived." ”

When the two heard this, they stood up together and greeted them.

At the door of the office, a middle-aged white man with a round face about forty years old also walked in at this time, and held out his hand to Simon and Amy apologetically, "I'm really sorry, Mr. Westeros, and Ms. Pascal, there were some small problems on the way. ”

Simon listened to the typical British accent of middle-aged people, shook the other party's hand with a smile, and said, "It's okay, Danny, just call me Simon." ”

Amy shook hands with each other and greeted each other.

Simon motioned for Meg Ryan to bring in some more coffee, and the three of them sat down in the reception area together, looking at each other.

The middle-aged man, Dennis O'Brien, is a filmmaker who runs a film company called Craft Pictures in partnership with George Harrison, the original Beatles guitarist.

George Harrison founded the studio in 1978 to support a friend of his.

Later, Harrison's friend's film won $20 million at the North American box office at a cost of $4 million, and Craft Pictures was out of control, followed by successful films such as Sean Connery's Time Robbers, and gradually became a famous British one-man production company over the years.

But.

Craft Pictures just planted a big heel last year, and it was the "Magic City Surprise" starring Madonna and Sean Penn.

The $17 million production and the final $2.31 million North American box office may not be enough to cover the publicity costs of distributor MGM Pictures.

It's just that due to the overheating of the global economy in recent years and the influx of capital into the film industry, Craft Pictures did not go out of business because of the failure of "Marvel in the Magic City", but contacted Daenerys Pictures through Madonna's relationship, but became interested in "When Harry Met Sally".

The renewed success of "The Butterfly Effect" unravels the impasse that "When Harry Meets Sally" has been unattended before. This week, not only many second- and third-tier film companies, but also the Big Seven have basically re-expressed their interest in "When Harry Meets Sally".

However, Simon now has other plans.

It is impossible for Daenerys Films to establish its own distribution channels in the short term, and the promotion and distribution of "When Harry Meets Sally" naturally still has to cooperate with the Seven. But in terms of production, in order to maintain absolute control of the entire project, Simon plans to cooperate with some independent film studios to invest.

In this way, as long as a part of the funding can be obtained first, the whole project can be launched.

When Simon completes the operation of stock index futures in the second half of the year, Daenerys Pictures can inject follow-up funds into the entire project. At the same time, due to the success of the two films "Lola Run" and "The Butterfly Effect", Daenerys Pictures also has enough confidence to ask for more revenue sharing.