Hollywood Hunter

Friday, January 3, 1992.

In a new box office week, when people started to work after the holiday, the box office of a series of films at the end of the year just past has dropped significantly.

From January 3 to January 9, the box office of "The Flash" fell by 49%. Compared with the box office of $53.18 million in the previous week, this week's revenue shrank to $27.12 million.

However, within three weeks, the cumulative box office of "The Flash" quickly reached $153.16 million.

With a box office base of US$27.12 million in the third week, it is not a problem for "The Flash" to continue to earn US$100 million. The total box office in North America can easily exceed US$250 million, becoming the North American box office runner-up in 1991.

The box office trend of "Toy Story" has been very stable. The box office fell by 43% this week after the new year. The box office fell to 7.79 million US dollars in a single week, and the cumulative box office was 166.83 million US dollars.

Immediately afterwards, films such as "Captain Hawk", "Assassination of Kennedy", and "The Golden Eye of 007" all saw box office declines of about 40% or 50% this week.

Of course, according to past box office rules, after this week's deep drop, the box office decline next week will be re-adjusted to a level similar to that of the popular schedule at the end of the year based on factors such as media word-of-mouth and audience popularity.

After dealing with some of the work accumulated by Daenerys Entertainment at the end of last year, Simon flew to New York on January 6, and in the following days has been busy with the final preparations before the construction of the Westeros Building.

The specific design work of the Westeros Building was in charge of the famous North American SOM architectural design office. The design office of David Johnston’s girlfriend Leslie Whittaker’s family also had thoughts about it, but Simon did not Perhaps due to personal factors, the design of such an important building was handed over to a medium-sized company with little experience in super high-rise building design.

In comparison, SOM Architects, established in 1936, has a lot of design experience in high-rise buildings.

The construction of the building was also contracted by the historic Tishman Speyer real estate construction company.

For ordinary people, Tishman Speyer’s reputation is not so loud. However, the series of projects that this engineering construction company has undertaken are all familiar. The most classic, the twin towers of the World Trade Center, is built by Tishman Speyer. Responsible for construction.

In addition, Tishman Speyer has undertaken the Disney World project in Florida and a large number of Hilton hotel projects around the world.

The selection of SOM Architects was entirely based on Simon's personal wishes, but Tishman Speyer's choice had other factors.

Simply put, Tishman Speyer is equivalent to a local snake in the New York real estate industry.

This engineering and construction company, established at the end of the last century, is operated by the Speyer family, which is behind the scenes, and has a complicated network of connections in New York political and business circles. There is even the Rockefeller family behind the Tishman Speyer. The current and former heads of Tishman Speyer have also served as chairman of the New York Real Estate Union.

The final design of Westeros Tower is 622 meters high and 139 floors.

Including 135 floors above ground and 4 floors underground.

The residence of Simon and Janet will occupy the entire ten floors of the top 50 meters of the building. The apron platform of the original Avengers Building is also preserved in this building, which is also the most difficult greeting in the Westeros Building.

Compared with the 443 meters of the existing Empire State Building and the 417 meters of Twin Tower One, it is 200 meters higher, and it is the tallest building in the world.

Such a skyscraper that is destined to become a landmark can make any architectural design firm become famous, and it can also make any engineering construction company that takes over become famous. As New York’s veteran engineering construction landmark, Tishman Speyer is naturally not Will let such an important project fall into the hands of other contractors.

As soon as the news of the Westeros Tower project broke out, Tishman Speyer took the initiative to get in touch with Simon.

Simon didn't have the desire to engage in such a horrible place. What's more, Tishman Speyer had sufficient qualifications to build this building. After several negotiations between the two parties, the contract was officially signed last year.

In return, Tishman Speyer also provided a lot of assistance in the approval of the Westeros Building.

However, although the main construction task was handed over to Tishman Speyer, Simon would not completely trust the other party because of the veteran qualifications of this engineering construction company.

Similar to old buildings such as the Empire State Building, Simon hopes that Westeros Building will also stand for a hundred years.

Therefore, all the details of the project should not be lost.

For this purpose, Westeros has organized a dedicated financial supervision team to monitor all expenditures of the Westeros Building project in the next five years of construction.

At the same time, Simon also organized a technical expert group in Australia from building materials to structural engineering through the contacts of the Johnston family. In the next five years, this group of people will be based in New York, keeping an eye on all the construction details of the Westeros Tower.

The two teams worked together to ensure that the construction party would not have any chance to take advantage of the loopholes.

After a busy week, I reviewed all the details of the planned building and signed a series of contracts on everything from building materials procurement to accident insurance. The preliminary preparations for the project were finally finalized. It is located at 59th Street next to Madison Avenue in the Upper East Side. The six buildings between 60th Street and 60th Street will be officially demolished next week.

It is estimated that it will take two months to demolish these six buildings and complete the follow-up cleanup.

Counting the expenses for purchasing this piece of land in the early stage, SOM's design expenses, Tishman Speyer's underwriting deposits and building materials procurement contracts, etc., in order to complete this building, Simon has invested more than 400 million US dollars.

Because of Simon's extremely high requirements for all the details of this building, the five-year construction cycle and subsequent annual expenditures will not be less than 200 million US dollars.

After the completion of the building, internal water and electricity decoration, etc., are also a considerable expense.

Overall, the total budget of the Westeros Building is likely to reach more than 1.6 billion US dollars, which is undoubtedly the single building with the highest budget cost in history.

In the original time and space, the total expenditure of the New World Trade Center, which was rebuilt to the highest specifications, was only US$3.1 billion.

That building was started in 2006, 14 years from now.

Now it is 1992. The U.S. dollar is very valuable, and most of the richest Americans have net worth less than $5 billion.

Saturday, January 11.

After the busy workday, Simon rushed from Manhattan to East Hampton on Long Island in the morning to visit Steve Rose.

At the end of last year, Steve Ross had privately combated the recurrence of prostate cancer for five years, and recently started chemotherapy.

Simon also knows that this media tycoon, who is the same age as Rupert Murdoch and Sam Redstone, will pass away this year without any accident.

Ross is 65 years old this year. For those who have reached the top of the pyramid, 65 is actually not that big.

Murdoch and Redstone, who are similar in age, are still in control of their media empire even after nearly 30 years.

For an ambitious person, losing to time is undoubtedly a great regret.

Rose was very happy about Simon's visit. He had told his family to prepare a sumptuous lunch in advance, and invited some guests to accompany him.

After a lively lunch, the others were sent away, and Steve Rose and Simon walked around the manor in East Hampton together.

As the best summer resort for the wealthy in Manhattan, East Hampton, which is still in the coldest time of the year, is not so eye-catching. Recently, it happened to have fallen snow covering the grass and dead trees. A vast expanse of decline.

Putting his hands in his trench coat pockets at random, he talked about some things about the DC Cinematic Universe. Simon looked around again and said: "It's quiet enough here, but it seems too cold. Steve, I still suggest you go to Los Angeles. The climate on the edge is more suitable for cultivation."

Steve Rose also wore a thick black trench coat and a hat.

The chemotherapy has left his hair running out.

"I still prefer the East Coast, and Time Warner's headquarters is also here, you know, Simon, I can't leave recently."

Of course Simon knew.

Just two years later, the news that Rose will earn $79 million in annual salary through his work in 1991 has once again become a hot topic of media controversy. Moreover, after last year's merger, Rose also drafted a ten-year salary agreement for himself, which will continue to be implemented even after his death.

Simon can feel that the cumulative annual salary of more than 100 million US dollars for two consecutive years and the ten-year salary contract are obviously the rhythm of Ross arranging the funeral.

This undoubtedly once again caused strong dissatisfaction among other factions within Time Warner.

With too many memories in his mind, Simon certainly knows how terrible cancer is.

Huge wealth can ensure that a person will not be financially burdened after suffering from cancer. However, cancer is difficult to cure after all, and this disease varies from person to person. Some people can survive for decades after suffering from cancer, just like normal people, but some people are aggressive.

In Ross' current situation, changing the environment does not help.

Simon and Rose don't actually have a deep friendship, but this self-made black and white media magnate undoubtedly has a strong personality and is very good at wooing and making someone feel good about him.

Clint Eastwood has been only arranging movies for Warner Bros. for the past ten years, and it is because of Rose's influence. Spielberg even regarded Rose as his father's existence. The original time and space "Schindler's List" also specifically indicated that it was dedicated to Rose.

Although there are not many contacts, Rose also gives Simon a feeling that is very worthy of association.

The two continued to stroll for a while, and Rose's wife came over to call her husband and Simon to return to the villa. Rose's current body is not suitable for staying outdoors for a long time.

Back in the warm living room, when the servant brought coffee, Rose said again: "One more thing, Simon, I hope you can help me."

Simon nodded and motioned for Rose to speak.

"Yes, I hope that next, well, Terry and Bob can take over my current CEO position together. I have already greeted Steven and others. Of course, if you can get your support, they both want It will definitely be easier to take over Time Warner."

The Terry and Bob that Rose is talking about are Terry Semel and Robert Daly. These are the two close friends that Rose has cultivated over the years.

Terry Semel has been the CEO of Warner Bros. Pictures in recent years, and Robert Daly is responsible for the communications business of Warner Bros.

In Simon’s memory, after Rose’s death, Time Warner’s CEO was indeed Terry Semel and Robert Daley.

Daenerys Entertainment's cooperation with Time Warner is very sophisticated. In the stock issuance last year, Simon also bought 1 million shares of Time Warner. Although the proportion is very low and there is no voting right, Simon Weiss Tello holds a stake in Time Warner, which in itself means too much.

Therefore, Simon is indeed capable of supporting the successor Rose wants to promote.

Since the two of them were in charge of Warner in the memory, Simon certainly didn't mind giving this favor, nodded seriously, and said: "No problem, Steve, I will support them then. Well, then, what about the chairman?"

Rose heard this question and smiled helplessly.

Now Time Warner, Rose personally assumes the position of chairman and CEO.

Pushing Terry Semel and Robert Daly into the position of co-CEO is probably the limit of Ross's layout.

"Chairman, Levin will probably be the chairman."

Nicholas Levine, another important shareholder of Time Warner, an executive of the original company system, is also one of the main rivals of Ross within Time Warner.

Because of Ross's suppression, Levin now has only one vice chairman position with few real powers.

However, once Ross passes away, Nicholas Levin will unite the forces of the original company system, and perhaps the high-level support of Warner’s internal long-term dissatisfaction with Ross. If you want to get the position of chairman, you really need Bitri Semel and Robert. · Daly has an advantage.

Simon actually had some bolder ideas, such as merging the entire Time Warner.

However, this idea is just thinking about it.

Controlling MGM by holding aside shares is already the limit that the current anti-monopoly regulations and related media controls in the United States can tolerate.

Even if the regulation of the media industry is further liberalized, with Daenerys Entertainment's current size, it will be difficult to acquire Time Warner again.

What's more, Daenerys Entertainment itself also needs competitors.

Time Warner is just right to be such a competitor in the future. Of course, it may be more on the surface. After all, the cooperation between the two parties is really closer.

Steve Rose took the initiative to compromise and cede the chairmanship to Nicholas Levine, which happens to create some excuses for Daenerys Entertainment and Time Warner’s ‘confrontation’.