Hollywood Hunter

Simon was naturally not as "free" as Terry Semel in the afternoon. Since Semel did not leave after lunch, he simply took him to Culver City in the northeast of Santa Monica.

One of Gaomen's key projects this year, "Intersection of Life", has started shooting in Culver City.

Simon has been busy in Los Angeles these days. Although there is contact every day, Terry Semel has never found a chance to talk to Simon in depth. Today, he obviously wants to make certain things.

The two rushed to Culver City in Simon's car together. Simon did not keep it private, and once again shared many of his thoughts about the DC movie universe, including Warner's "Flash" and "Steel Bones".

"In order to ensure the integrity of the DC Cinematic Universe, so that all the films in this series can interact with each other to achieve an effect of one plus one greater than two, it is necessary to ensure that the entire plan will not have a second sound during the execution. Since Warner is unwilling to open up investment in "The Flash" and "Steel Bones", then I will serve as the executive producer of these two films, and the control of the project will be controlled by me. Daenerys Entertainment will not participate in sharing Benefits, I personally only take away a part of the reward that belongs to me. You can let them discuss with Amy and others. What do you think?"

Inside the carriage, Terry Semel couldn't help but smile upon hearing Simon's words.

This is the plan that Warner hopes to obtain during the internal discussions.

However, because he rejected Simon’s proposal for joint investment, Terry Semel was worried that Simon would let go of "The Flash" and "Steel Bones."

Now, Terry Semel is finally completely sure that Simon really cares about the DC movie universe project.

Otherwise, with Simon's current net worth, even if Warner is willing to pay generous remunerations, he does not need to be busy with projects that are not related to his company.

"I'll go back and discuss with Amy later," Terry Semel quickly agreed, after thinking about it, and then: "But, Simon, do you plan to use new people for these two projects?"

Simon did not reply directly, but asked: "How much money did Marlon Brando eventually take with the "Superman" that year?"

In 1978 Christopher Reeve's version of "Superman", Marlon Brando played Clark Kent's father, the film only had less than 10 minutes of parting, but in the end he took a very outrageous reward because of the pre-signed share clause. .

Speaking of, if Simon did not appear, many years later, in the first "Batman", Warner made the same mistake again on Jack Nicholson.

Terry Semel was stunned for a moment, then thought for a while and said, "Probably, it's close to 20 million."

Simon asked, "Do you think it's worth it?"

"It's not worth it," Terry Semel said, and then immediately added: "However, as long as we don't sign the share clause easily this time."

"Terry, you still don’t understand. Actually, superheroes like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are superstars based on popularity than Hollywood stars. There is no need to attract popularity through real stars. What we have to do is Make these movies as good as possible."

Terry Semel nodded sensibly.

Simon continued: "On the other hand, starting from next year’s first 10 DC film universe movies, take the Flash as an example. This superhero will be featured in "The Flash", "The Flash 2" and "Justice". "League" appeared in the three movies. If they sign first-tier stars, they will definitely not accept long-term contracts. When it comes to "Justice League", then it must have been a sky-high salary, and then, there will probably be no more. Like the Batman series, Daenerys Entertainment has 5 film contracts, which happens to be able to complete the first phase of the plan."

According to the recently discussed plan, in the next five years, Daenerys Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures will jointly release 10 DC movie universe films, namely "Batman: The Dark Knight" and "The Flash" in 1991, 1992 "Wonder Woman" and "Superman" in 1993, "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises" and "Suicide Squad: Mystery Mission" in 1993, "Batman v Superman" and "The Flash 2" in 1994, 1995 "Steel Bones" and "Justice League".

Terry Semel suddenly thought of a question and said: "Simon, Adam Baldwin only has 5 films, what about after the first stage?"

Simon said: "Everything has an end. At that time, "Batman" will be suspended for a few years and then replaced."

"It's a shame," Terry Semel said: "If everything goes well, after "Justice League", Batman's popularity will definitely rise to a higher level. There are other heroes. When that time comes, a "Justice" "League 2" is definitely very marketable."

"It depends on the situation. If Adam Baldwin is still willing to participate in the show, and the salary proposed is more reasonable," Simon shrugged and said: "One thing is certain, Daenerys Entertainment will not mention star work. I will only pay them what I think is reasonable."

Terry Semel also remembered that the creator of the "Batman" series tried to renegotiate the contract some time ago. He also publicly expressed his attitude in the media under Amy's commission.

Adam Baldwin is now bound by the contract and can only perform the agreement honestly.

However, after completing the agreement, if you want to let the other party participate in the performance, it will definitely not work without paying enough.

If it were Warner, Terry Semel felt that he would definitely compromise.

Just like the "Lethal Weapon 3" that is being prepared, because of the success of "Lethal Weapon 2", Mel Gibson not only has a base salary of up to 10 million US dollars in "Lethal Weapon 3", but also takes 20% of the film's all channels. Profit sharing.

Moreover, this is only Mel Gibson's salary.

The director and producer of the film, Richard Downer and Mel Gibson's two partners in the film, Danny Glover and Joe Persie, also signed a more or less share clause before agreeing to join. The third part.

Because of the signing of the sharing clause, the estimated production cost of "Lethal Weapon 3" is not high compared to the second, only 35 million US dollars, but even if the third film is more successful than the second, most of the profits are All will belong to this main creation, and Warner will only earn one hard money in the end.

This is indeed working for a star.

However, Warner does not have many choices. The "Lethal Weapon" series is still profitable. Investing in other films may cause Warner to lose money.

Daenerys Entertainment is in sharp contrast with Warner in this regard.

At the end of last year, the "Flying over Childlike Innocence" in the Thanksgiving file had reached 156.26 million US dollars at the box office as of the past week.

According to the current rate of two to three million dollars in a single week, about 10 million dollars can be added before the downgrade. The film was hit by "Batman: Hour of War" and the box office dropped by about 10 million US dollars than expected. The local box office is expected to exceed 160 million US dollars, but it is also much better than the summer "Lethal Weapon 2".

According to the original contract, "Flying Innocent" has achieved a box office of over 100 million, and the sequel copyright will also return to Daenerys Entertainment.

However, as for the sequel, Daenerys Entertainment just tried a little bit on the creators such as Mel Gibson and stopped mentioning it.

You must know that the global box office of "Lethal Weapon 2" so far is only over 200 million U.S. dollars. Through the subsequent overseas release of "Flying Childhood", the global box office exceeds 300 million U.S. dollars but there is no problem at all.

For a series with a global box office of more than 300 million US dollars, Daenerys Entertainment said to give up and give up. Simon Westero's persistence and confidence in the film business are also impressive. He is obviously very confident that Daenerys Entertainment's new project market has outperformed the production of the sequel to "Flying Over the Innocence".

In this matter, Warner has no confidence at all.

Perhaps this is probably the reason why this young man can rise rapidly.

The two talked all the way and arrived in the Carlson Park area south of Culver City in 20 minutes, where "Life Intersection" was filmed.

Arriving on the set, Terry Semel just greeted Ella Docman, the president of Gaomen Films, who came to visit the class in the afternoon, and hurried away again by car. His car had just been following Simon's car. Now that these things have been finalized, naturally there is no need to stay.

It happened that a group of shots were being filmed, and Simon and Deutschman did not bother, quietly watching Robert Altman direct the shooting from the periphery.

This plot is about the Finnegans, one of the eight branches in the film.

Howard Finnegan is a TV host, and Ann Finnegan is a housewife. The two have a son, Casey, who had a very happy life until Casey suddenly suffered a car accident.

At the same time, according to the film’s setting, the Finnegans’ neighbors happen to be a mother and daughter, their mother Tess Trainer and cellist daughter Zoe Trainer, who sing in the jazz bar every day in their old age.

In my memory, in addition to the actor Tess Trainer, the other three role actor Simon all know, namely Bruce Davidson, Andy McDowell and Lori Singer, all of whom are Very familiar actors in Hollywood. One of the more interesting points is that Lori Singer has a cousin named Brian Singer.

Moreover, combined with the information of other actors in the original version, Simon found that the original "Intersection of Life" project is probably a package project of ICM, one of the three major talent agencies in Hollywood. In the film, Tim Robbins and Robert Jr. Actors such as Downey, Andy McDowell, and Julian Moore are basically artists under the ICM banner.

Now, this project is basically a packaged project under WMA.

Except for Aunt Moore, whom Simon personally stuffed in for some evil tastes that are not humane, most of the others are no longer original actors.

In this set of scenes being filmed, the two groups of actors who are neighbors have all changed.

The role that originally belonged to Lori Singer was handed over by Simon to his default Wonder Woman actor Famike Jensen. Because the role was set as a cellist, Famike had specially dedicated a few months before. Cello. The post-dubbing is of course inevitable, but there are not too many flaws in the shot.

After Simon returned to Los Angeles, Amy said that Jonathan came forward and hoped that Daenerys Entertainment could renegotiate an agreement with Adam Baldwin and others. Although this matter did not cause much disturbance, they probably all understood it, because With different positions, Simon and Jonathan will never be as close as before.

However, Simon did not deliberately alienate Jonathan.

The relationship between film studios and talent agency companies has always been this way, interdependent and mutually opposed. Disney CEO Michael Eisner and CAA President Michael Ovitz are recognized close friends in Hollywood, and the two are still neighbors.

Similarly, Jonathan helped Simon a lot at the beginning. As long as there is no too acrimonious contradiction, the two sides will get along with each other in harmony.

In essence, Simon is still a person who does not like to conflict with others. However, as the industry under Simon's name continues to expand, all kinds of conflicts of interest are destined to only increase.

Today’s filming is only for the Finnegans, and does not involve Trine’s mother and daughter.

Simon and Deutschman were discussing some recent events, and the shooting on the scene soon ended.

Robert Altman, with his messy hair and blessed body, finally had time to come over and say hello to Simon. After a brief glorious period in the 1970s, Altman was almost out of luck in the early 1980s due to the failure of several consecutive films The shooting stage, therefore, the success or failure of "Intersection of Life" is very important to this director.

After chatting with Simon and Deutschman for a while, Altman ran to prepare for the next shot.

The actors of the Finnegans also stepped forward to talk to Simon.

Simon is also very familiar with the two actors in front of WMA.

Howard Finnegan is played by Sam Neal, which is also the result of Simon's promotion.

Ann Finnegan’s actor is Shella Ward, a very temperamental woman. The original time and space has appeared in famous movies such as "Death of the Dead" and "Lone Power Day" and the famous TV series "Crime Scene Investigation" series.

Guys who can mix in Hollywood are usually very winking.

Realizing that Simon is interested in Shella Ward, Ella Docman and Sam Neal step aside unknowingly, as if there is something important to discuss.

Ella Deutschman couldn't be more clear about the preferences of his own boss.

Sheila Ward was standing next to the makeup trailer on the set and chatting with the very talkative young man in front of her, until another shot started, but no one called herself, she finally felt wrong.

She subconsciously lifted the hair on her forehead, and Shera Ward unnaturally held her hands in front of her and took a small step back, saying, "Simon, I, it seems time to go back to work."

Simon nodded and said, "I should almost leave."

Shella Ward was stunned. She didn't expect Simon to say that, but she was a little at a loss for a while.

Not knowing how to react, he heard the opposite youth say again: "Are you free tonight, eat together?"

This is normal.

For some reason, Sheila Ward felt relieved, let herself relax as much as possible, and looked at the opposite youth and said, "Is it just eating?"

Simon nodded awe-inspiringly: "Of course."

Shella Ward couldn't help but rolled her eyes slightly, remembering something, and said: "You, it seems...that, do you have dinner with other women?"

Simon spread his hands and said, "So, in order to avoid becoming a gossip headline tomorrow, we can only quietly dine in my villa."

Shella Warddan's phoenix-eyed eyes glanced across Simon and said, "Mr. Westeros, can I refuse?"

"sure."

"Then I won't have to come back to the crew tomorrow, right?"

"Of course, tomorrow is Saturday."

"I mean, next week."

"I'll talk about next week's business next week," Simon raised his wrist and looked at his watch, then raised his head to the woman: "Then, it's so set. I'll have someone pick you up after get off work."