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However, when Daenerys Films decided to produce independently and was only willing to cooperate with the seven majors in local theater distribution, the attitudes of all parties changed significantly immediately.

Among the seven, Paramount and Universal directly rejected Daenerys Pictures' cooperation invitation on the grounds that the film schedule was full.

There are five remaining.

Since Daenerys Films only wanted to authorize distribution in North American theaters alone, Columbia asked for a buyout, but the price offered was only US$300 million.

If it is distributed, Hollywood independent producers usually get about 20% of the box office share from distributors.Calculated according to this ratio, Columbia's offer of US$300 million is only equivalent to an estimate of US$1500 million for the North American box office of "When Harry Met Sally".

The box office of 1500 million US dollars is actually not too bad in this era.A movie with the same production cost of 1500 million US dollars can get such a North American box office, and it can basically pay back through distribution through follow-up channels.

However, this figure is far lower than the box office of "When Harry Met Sally" in Simon's memory, so he naturally cannot agree.

The remaining four companies are all willing to share distribution.

However, both MGM and Disney offer distribution commissions as high as 15%, and the publicity fee is naturally calculated separately.Moreover, the two not only asked Simon to sign directors, screenwriters and other additional conditions, but also the number of screens and film schedules that could be given were not satisfactory.

Fox and Warner next.

Fox is willing to give the Easter schedule at the end of March next year, guaranteeing a minimum of 3 yuan for the opening screen, and a distribution commission of 1000%.However, Fox asked to take away the distribution rights of "When Harry Met Sally" in other North American channels.

The schedule given by Warner is the best among the seven. In November next year, Thanksgiving Day, a minimum of 11 yuan is guaranteed for the opening screen, and the distribution commission is 1000%.The additional condition is that "When Harry Met Sally" has the agency distribution rights for all channels other than North American theaters.

The biggest difference between agency issuance and buyout pre-sale is the payment return date.

If Daenerys Pictures retains the distribution rights of other channels, after the release of "When Harry Met Sally", if the market responds well, it will soon be able to sell out follow-up channels like "Run Lola Run" Right to withdraw funds quickly.

But if you choose agency distribution, you need to wait for the film company to complete the distribution through various channels before you can settle the accounts one after another.

Take, for example, the videotape release closest to the theatrical release.After a movie is released, there is a three-month window before the videotape can be released on the market.Then even if it is settled on a quarterly basis, it will take at least another three months.

Therefore, even if you choose agency distribution, even if you can eventually recover more profits, the payback period of several years is not something a small company like Daenerys Pictures can afford.

All in all, the conditions given by the five major companies that agreed to cooperate are basically not what Simon wants to see.

However, five of the seven major film companies are willing to cooperate with Daenerys Pictures, which is actually the result of the accumulation of Simon's two consecutive hit films.For an independent film, Simon wants to hold more distribution rights in his hands, and it is obviously impossible for the Big Seven to give too good conditions.For example, such a popular schedule as the summer vacation is even more out of the question.

Speaking of which, the situation faced by "When Harry Met Sally" is actually a true portrayal of the common encounters of independent Hollywood producers.

Although Hollywood has never lacked second- and third-tier film companies that can independently distribute films, the monopoly of the seven major studios on film distribution channels is definitely not empty talk. Only those who have experienced it understand how terrible this strong monopoly is.

Take New Line Films, for example, which was founded in 1967 by New Line Films founder Robert Shea.But until 1984, when New Line Films launched its first independently produced "A Nightmare on Elm Street", it could only win 165 yuan for the opening screen of this film, and it was still an unpopular schedule like November 11.

Even for the recent "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3", although the number of screens opened has finally expanded to more than 1000 yuan, the schedule is even more unpopular, February 2.For major studios, this kind of schedule is basically equivalent to a movie cemetery. Only very unpopular films or films from independent producers will be left in this unpopular schedule to fend for themselves.

So, why doesn't New Line Cinema choose popular schedules like summer or Christmas?

Because you can't get in.

Even after the "Paramount Act" that forced the separation of terminal theaters and film companies, the intertwined interest relationship between major film companies and North American theaters has not been broken.

What's more, in recent years, as the Lijiang government has continued to loosen controls on the media industry, the Paramount Act has existed in name only.

Right now, the number of movie screens in North America as a whole is about 22000, of which 7500 screens are located in core prosperous areas, contributing as much as 80% of the North American box office every year.

After the Paramount Act expired, Warner, Universal, Columbia and other companies have re-entered the theater projection business in recent years, and now they have once again controlled nearly half of the core 7500 screens.

With the direct control of 40% of the total box office share in North America, coupled with the close interest relationship with other theaters, the second and third tier film companies can do small things, but basically they cannot threaten the monopoly of the seven majors.

Because of his attention to all aspects of Hollywood, Simon is actually very clear about these things, but he still has a strong unwillingness in his heart.

Glancing again at the memorandum that recorded the cooperation conditions of several major film companies, Simon looked up at Amy Pascal and asked, "Amy, what do you think is the possibility of us personally releasing this film?"

Amy Pascal shook her head and said: "Simon, it's too risky. This is 1500 million US dollars, not the 180 million of "A Nightmare on Elm Street". Local box office data is the most important basis for quotations from subsequent channel distributors. We will do the distribution ourselves, It’s not impossible, but the box office won may not even be half of what the seven majors do, which will have a serious impact on the revenue of all subsequent channels, and the gains outweigh the losses.”

After hearing Amy's words, Simon couldn't help but fell silent. He naturally understood these reasons.

Once again looking at the memo in front of him, Simon quickly weighed the cooperation plans in front of him.

Columbia's $300 million buyout is certainly not a consideration.

For Fox and Warner, even if the North American box office of "When Harry Met Sally" can still reach 9000 million US dollars, it may be difficult for Daenerys Pictures to get more than 2000 million from the box office.

Like "Run Lola Run", Simon pays more attention to the benefits of subsequent distribution channels.

These two are also excluded.

In the end it was just MGM and Disney.

However, the schedules given by MGM and Disney are at the beginning of October and at the end of February, all of which are cemetery-level schedules.

Moreover, Simon really didn't want to sign a director's contract anymore.

Today is already Thursday.

Simon handed Jonathan the story script for "The Lion King" on Monday. Although he hoped to cooperate with Disney, he had to go through Fox Pictures first.Because of the original contract, after "Butterfly Effect" and "Death Comes", he still owes Fox a script.

Although Fox Films does not make animated films now, the lawyers of both parties still struggled all day to sign a formal agreement of understanding, and Jonathan was able to promote the project to Disney.

Thinking of this, he sighed secretly, Simon knew that he still had to face reality.

Right now, Daenerys Films is the only sign that can make the heart of a big film company is himself. If he wants to reach a cooperation, he can only sign another film contract with MGM or Disney.

Picking up a pen and drawing a circle on the names of MGM and Disney, Simon handed the memo to Amy, saying: "Continue to contact these two companies, the Easter schedule in March, 3 guaranteed screens, this is our The bottom line. Everything else can be discussed.”

Amy nodded, she actually prefers these two.

As for Simon's signing of an additional film contract again, in Amy's opinion, it is not a big deal.

The fundamental reason why Spielberg can only direct films from Universal, Warner and Paramount in recent years is also due to contract restrictions.

After the success of "Jaws" that year, Universal changed Spielberg's seven-year "sell contract" into a four-film contract.Until now, Spielberg still owes two.

Therefore, although he publicly expressed his dislike for Universal Pictures President Frank Price, and angrily wrote the clause not to work with the other party in the contract, Spielberg still had to continue to work for Universal Pictures.

After confirming this matter, the two chatted a few more words, and there was a knock on the office door.

After Simon agreed, Susan pushed open the door and said, "Mr. Westeros, Miss Kidman's hair has been dyed."

As Susan said, a tall, fair-skinned but dyed black-haired girl walked in. It was Nicole Kidman, who was just 20 years old at this time.

Nicole Kidman with black hair.

Chapter 105 Accent Control

Nicole Kidman and another stylist who behaved a little girl stood still in the office. Simon sent Amy away, and then returned to the office to look at the girl in front of him.

Similar to the original Uma Thurman, Nicole Kidman at this time is also wearing a long-hem shirt and black slacks, but the two have very different hairstyles.

Uma Thurman's hairstyle in the film belongs to the bob head with bangs, while Nicole Kidman has black shoulder-length hair and long bangs covering her eyebrows. This is the result of Simon's repeated adjustments several times.

Nicole Kidman is only 20 years old now, and black hair can make her look more mature than blonde hair.Moreover, as we all know, Nicole's eyebrow shape makes her look quite aggressive, which is definitely not the temperament Mia should have.

At this time, under the thin long bangs, Nicole's original aggressiveness disappeared, and she even looked like another person, charming, wild, and full of temptation.

Although it is completely different from Uma Thurman's style, it also conforms to Simon's aesthetics.

No matter how much meaning it has been interpreted by the audience, "Pulp Fiction" is in the final analysis an exercise in technique and style.

On these details that do not affect the overall situation, Simon naturally sets according to his own preferences.After all, if the director has no feelings for the characters in his shots, it is doomed to be difficult to pour too much emotion into a movie.

"Tony, her hair is still a little long. I hope that when she dances, the ends of her hair can float freely, so it must not touch her shoulders." Simon looked around for a while, and gave a few instructions to the stylist standing behind Nicole, and waited. The other party nodded, took another step back, and said to the woman, "Take off your shoes, let me see."

In just a few days, job hopping, audition, and contract signing... Unknowingly, I have become the heroine of the most watched new film in Hollywood. Nicole Kidman still feels a little incredible at this time.

Hearing the young man's order, Nicole Kidman did not hesitate, obediently took off her high heels, and stepped barefoot on the cool floor.

Simon looked down and nodded, "It's beautiful."

Although not as obvious as Quentin's foot fetish, Simon also finds a woman with a pair of beautiful feet very sexy.

Although Nicole Kidman felt a little weird in her heart, when she heard Simon's compliment, she still said politely: "Thank you, Mr. Westeros."

Having said that, Simon looked at Nicole's chest again, and was about to say something when the phone on his desk rang.Walking over to pick up the microphone, Simon leaned on the desk and turned around, gesturing towards Nicole while answering the words on the other side.

Nicole Kidman found herself understanding Simon's gesture with ease.It's just that, looking at him taking it for granted, he also has the idea of ​​making a grinning face at the man.

Of course, she just dared to think about it, but she still raised her hand and unbuttoned her shirt.

Simon listened to the other side of the microphone, his accountant Charles Peyton told him that the two funds for selling the distribution rights of "Run Lola Run" had all arrived. He chatted with the other party with a smile on his face, glanced casually at the other side and unbuttoned his shirt Button up Nicole.

According to the plot where Vincent and Lance inject Mia with adrenaline, the heroine must have breasts, but Nicole in her natural state is definitely a princess of peace.

At this time, seeing Nicole's good results after squeezing and padding, Simon nodded in satisfaction, and then signaled the woman to get dressed.

Is it really that unattractive?

Seeing the careless gesture of the young man in front of her, Ni thought a little depressed, and buttoned the buttons again.

Simon briefly chatted with the other party for a while, put down the microphone, and said to Nicole: "Very good, let's stop here today. You come back tomorrow, get your hair done a little bit, and then take a photo of the final makeup. The movie schedule is very tight. Others Things will be notified to you in time.”

After hearing what Simon said, Nicole squinted at the stylist who was still nearby, hesitated a little, and said, "Mr. Westeros, can I treat you to dinner? I haven't thanked you for giving me this role yet." Woolen cloth."

Simon smiled and looked Nicole up and down, and said, "You can just call me Simon. Forget about dinner, it's been a mess recently."

The gossip about Simon and Sandra's relationship has been fired for a whole week, and the paparazzi are still persistently trying to take pictures of the two on a date recently.Simon didn't want to spread any more messy things.

It was almost five o'clock in the afternoon when Nicole Kidman was dismissed.

Simon was not in a hurry to get off work, and went back to his desk to reorganize the preparation progress of the three films of Daenerys Films.

"Death Comes", "Pulp Fiction" and "When Harry Met Sally", the shooting dates are confirmed in May, July and September respectively, and the shooting cycle is basically about two months.

All aspects of "Death is Coming" have been finalized, and the shooting will start next month, and the schedule is also set for October 10rd in the second half of the year.

After Handicraft Films confirmed their participation, as the funds arrived, within a week, several main creators of "When Harry Met Sally" also signed formal contracts.The preparations for the next four months are definitely more than enough.

As for Pulp Fiction.

After all, the circle of black actors is not too big. After the major brokerage companies sent a bunch of materials again, Simon successfully found Samuel Jackson.

Samuel Jackson was born in 1948 and is 39 years old this year.

After receiving a degree in theater arts in the early 70s, Samuel L. Jackson acted on Broadway in New York for ten years. In the 80s, he began to play some small roles in Hollywood, but he remained unknown.

The role invitation of "Pulp Fiction" was a big pie that fell from the sky for Samuel Jackson. The other party agreed without hesitation and officially signed the contract yesterday.

After Samuel Jackson, the next supporting roles are very easy to handle, only the role of the female taxi driver, Simon still has not found a suitable candidate.

I don't know if I have a tendency to control my accent, but Simon found that among all the female characters in "Pulp Fiction", he was most impressed by the female taxi driver.Therefore, the selection of this role is also extremely harsh.

After all the recommended candidates last week were rejected by Simon, the agency sent a list of European actresses.Simon also had an official audition on Tuesday.

As a result, he found that he had made a mistake.

In addition to appearance and temperament, Simon hopes to get an actor with an accent whose English is not standard.Then, all the actresses who participated in the audition had all kinds of strange accents, and Simon couldn't tell who was real and who was faking.

In addition, Simon always felt that the actors who participated in the audition seemed to be missing something, so he simply rejected this batch of lists.

Now, Simon no longer expects to find a female taxi driver with a natural accent. He only expects an actress who can fully meet his requirements in appearance and temperament.

As for the accent, it can naturally be adjusted during the shooting process.

Chapter 106

An open-air restaurant on the hillside of Beverly Hills.

In the rising sun, two Hollywood bigwigs, Barry Diller and Michael Eisner, were sitting leisurely on the edge of the terrace overlooking the entire Los Angeles.

After ordering the meal, Michael Eisner said to Barry Diller, "You haven't seen last week's box office report, have you? It's $1388 million, with a total of 5385 million in three weeks. Goldberg won't be playing again this year. So embarrassing."

Today is Friday, June 5th.

Michael Eisner did not mention the name of the movie, but Barry Diller understood that the only movie that can break through $1000 million in a single week at the current unpopular schedule is Fox's "Butterfly Effect". "This one.

Barry Diller did not pay much attention to the film business because he focused on the operation of the Fox TV network. He asked, "What about "Run Lola Run"?"

Michael Eisner's expression became more emotional, he shook his head slightly, and said: "759 million US dollars, a total of 1 million, Orion may earn more than 7560 million from the box office. In addition to "Platoon", From February to now, Orion’s stock price has tripled, and its market value is now close to $8000 billion. I heard that Summer Redstone and John Kruger are planning to seize control of Orion.”

Barry Diller also felt a little unbelievable. Thinking of a certain young man who had been talking about around him during this time, he couldn't help saying: "What a miraculous little guy, maybe I should meet him some time."

Michael Eisner smiled and said, "If you want to see him, you can follow me to Burbank later."

Barry Diller gave a puzzled look.

The waiter brought the breakfast for the two of them at this time, the conversation paused for a moment, and when the waiter left, Michael Eisner picked up the cutlery and ate breakfast, then said: "That little guy opened a production company, Have you heard?"

Barry Diller nodded with a smile, and said, "Of course, Daenerys Pictures also poached one of our vice presidents of production from Fox."

Michael Eisner showed a schadenfreude smile, and continued: "Daenerys Pictures is looking for a film distribution cooperation, and Disney should be one of their choices. In addition, Simon Westeros also handed over a The animation script was given to us, and I want to entrust Disney to produce it. I made an appointment with Amy Pascal to have a formal talk today. Wait for someone to make a call and let Westeros come over together."