Hollywood Hunter

The box office sales of five consecutive projects in the DC Cinematic Universe have strengthened Daenerys Entertainment's control over the series.

Terry Semel appears here today without any plans to fight for control, but he is not just accompanying Simon to check the production progress of the two projects "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises" and "Suicide Squad".

Concluding the topic about the hero of "Suicide Squad", Terry Semmel said: "Simon, don't you think the advancement of the DC movie universe can be accelerated?"

This is already an old-fashioned question.

Daenerys Entertainment has also created super hot items such as "Jurassic Park" and "The Lion King" in addition to the DC Movie Universe project. Warner has not had such good luck. The film business in recent years has been largely They must rely on the support of the interests generated by the DC movie universe.

This year's two "Superman" and "Steel Bones", next year's two "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises" and "Suicide Squad", this speed has made Simon feel a bit hasty. In the past, from Tim Burton's first "Batman", Warner only released four Batman movies in the ten years before the millennium.

Simon cannot agree to Warner’s proposal to speed up the advancement of the DC Cinematic Universe again, and Terry Semel also knows that Simon cannot agree to it.

Routine wrangling, the time has passed five o'clock in the afternoon.

Sending away Terry Semel, Simon did not leave work as usual, rushed to the administrative district office to continue discussing with Amy Daenerys Entertainment's employee compensation plan at the end of the year.

After the merger of MCA, although there was a substantial layoff at the beginning, after the expansion of the last two years, the entire Daenerys Entertainment Group, not counting the subsidiaries such as Blockbuster with a shareholding ratio of less than 50%, employees The total scale also rapidly expanded to 21,000 people.

As the entire group’s revenue and profits continue to hit new highs in the past year, Daenerys Entertainment has once again planned a generous year-end dividend plan this year. The total dividend scale for employees below the core management level will be increased. At 500 million U.S. dollars, each employee is equivalent to an additional half-year salary award.

In addition, Amy Pascal, Robert Iger, Nancy Brill and other core management compensation plans have another calculation, naturally more generous.

The average salary of Daenerys Entertainment's employees was originally the highest in Hollywood. With the release of this generous dividend plan, the resumes received by various departments of the group have skyrocketed several times in a short period of time.

In Simon's office, Office Building No. 1 in Administrative District.

Amy Pascal and Simon discussed the dividend plan that the personnel department had initially determined, but they couldn't help thinking about their own affairs.

Since joining in March 1987, the initial 4-year term to the extended 3-year contract, a total of 7 years, has witnessed the rise of Daenerys Entertainment Group step by step, and Amy herself will receive a very terrifying return. .

In the past six years, it’s just this year. According to some preliminary statistics from the financial department, even if a large cash dividend is given to employees, Daenerys Entertainment Group’s net profit this year will reach a terrifying US$2 billion level.

Among them, only a "Jurassic Park" at the end of last year brought Daenerys Entertainment more than 600 million U.S. dollars in net income before tax in terms of local release, overseas distribution and peripheral sales in 1993. The entire group has The film, television, games, music, publishing, theaters, retail, theme parks, etc. businesses are all in a prosperous state driven by the powerful locomotive of the film department.

According to the calculation of the net profit of 2 billion US dollars, Amy Pascal can get 5% of the net profit dividend and the equivalent stock in the future, which means up to 200 million US dollars in annual income.

In the whole world, there is probably no professional manager with a higher salary than her.

Moreover, this is only one year's income in 1993.

Amy's stock awards have not been honored for the previous six years.

Her boss has personally promised that she can cash out her stock awards at 30% of Daenerys Entertainment's IPO valuation. Until next year’s contract expires, all 7-year stock awards are redeemed, and Daenerys Entertainment successfully completes the IPO, Amy feels that she will definitely be able to occupy the Forbes list next year as a billionaire. A very good location.

One billion dollars.

Every time I think about it, Amy feels like falling into a dream.

The heads of traditional Hollywood studios, such as Steve Rose who has passed away or Lou Vasalman who retired after selling MCA, have spent a lifetime in Hollywood and have not been able to accumulate such a wealth. For her net worth, an executive at the same level as her in Hollywood at this stage may not have earned as much income throughout her career as she has been this year.

It took more than an hour to get a general understanding of the incentive schemes of the various departments of the collective. Simon remembered one thing and said to Amy: "When you redeem dividends, remind everyone that this money is best used to subscribe for the company’s stock, IPO You will definitely get a good return afterwards."

Internal subscriptions before companies go public is also a common practice.

Now almost no one is optimistic about Daenerys Entertainment's IPO prospects. The internal subscription price is definitely lower than the issue price. As long as the stock can be obtained, it will be an additional benefit directly after the listing.

Amy nodded with a smile, and then joked: "BOSS, can I subscribe too?"

The pencil in Simon's hand turned around and said, "As long as you have spare money after paying taxes, of course."

Amy will also need to pay personal income tax for the stock dividends to be redeemed next year. According to her income scale, it is estimated that it is not enough to drain all the cash in her hands, and may need to be compensated by loans.

Of course, Amy knew her problem, shrugged regretfully, and said, "It seems I have no chance."

This is really just a joke.

Although at that time there will definitely be a certain share of subscriptions from executives to employees, but Amy has no plans to take advantage of stocks worth several million dollars at most. After all, the total amount of internal subscriptions will be fixed at that time. Instead of using loans to take advantage of all the benefits, it is better to distribute your subscription share to the company's employees so that you can get more potential benefits.

Thinking about this, Simon's unintentional turning of the pen just now made Amy notice a string of penciled letters on the paper in front of him, and curiously asked: "What is that?"

Simon didn't hide it, holding up the folder and showing it to Amy.

Amy subconsciously said: "Westerosian (Westerosian)."

"Yeah, from Westeros," Simon nodded, flattened the file, and said, "I've been thinking about it recently."

Contacting Daenerys Entertainment's annual dividend plan, which was still in her hand, Amy quickly understood the meaning of the word Simon.

Over the years, the Westeros system has risen like a miracle and is now at the level of the chaebol empire. However, the young man in front of him is not content, and even intends to create a new economy. Everyone in this economy forms a class of its own, a class called ‘Westerosian’.

Thinking of this, Amy couldn't help but feel a little excited.

Because she is also one of the important creators of this new economy, a typical Westeros.

"Understood?" Simon smiled and looked at Amy's brighter gaze, then asked in a soft voice, "So, this dividend plan is just the beginning. Next, everything in the Westeros system Companies will promote higher salary and benefit plans. I want all employees working for the Westeros system to live the best lives. Of course, this is only the most basic. The key lies in the cultural awareness of the entire system Construction, I hope that in the future, everyone in the Westeros system can be proud of being a'Westerosian'. I hope that everyone outside the Westeros system will become a'Westerosian' as their life goal. I hope that'Westerosian' will eventually become a powerful existence that can control this world."

In the days that followed, Amy continued to linger the word ‘Westerosian’ and Simon’s words that day in his mind, and became a witness to Simon’s words one by one in more distant days.

The week before the Christmas stalls passed quickly in a more and more festive atmosphere.

From December 10th to December 16th, "The Lion King" remained strong. The box office decline narrowed to 23% in the fourth week of its release, and it earned $25.63 million. The cumulative box office reached $181.29 million. "Superman" in the summer file.

In the third week of its release, "Mission Impossible" ranked second on the weekly box office list, and its single-week decline also narrowed to 25%, with a revenue of 21.99 million U.S. dollars and a cumulative box office of 97.68 million U.S. dollars.

The third place on the list, "Slim Daddy", dropped directly to 8.23 ​​million US dollars in a single week, with a single-week drop of 27% and a cumulative box office of 56.22 million US dollars.

Clint Eastwood and Kevin Costner's new film "Perfect World" ranks fourth, with a weekly decline of 21%, earning $5.39 million and a cumulative box office of $22.31 million.

The fourth place is basically some old films before the Thanksgiving file.

Among them, "Gronimo", which was released at the same time by Columbia Pictures and "The Lion King", only had 1.62 million US dollars left in the box office, ranking 7th.

"Schindler's List", which opened on December 10, received $1.19 million on 25 screens, ranked 9th on the list, and reached $47,600 in a single week.

December 17, a new week.

In order to avoid "Steel Bones" on December 24th, North American theaters gathered together and released 7 new films this week, three of which are commercial films with large-scale openings.

Disney's "Nuns Are Crazy 2" is the most watched one, with 1,938 screens opened.

Warner Bros. produced a comedy starring Jack Lemmon, the comedy "Meeting forgotten Friends", with 1,672 screens opened.

MGM produced "Philadelphia Story" starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, with 1,317 screens.

Among the other four small-scale films, there is "In the Name of Father" by Gaomen Pictures. This feature film starring Daniel Day Lewis has 13 screens.

As the flagship of Disney's end-of-year schedule, "Nuns Are Crazy 2" has high hopes.

It's a pity that everything fails.

After the opening of "Nun Crazy 2", both word-of-mouth and box office failed to show the potential of the first film. This small blockbuster with a production budget of 38 million U.S. dollars increased to only 7.56 million U.S. dollars in three days in the first weekend. Not even half of what Disney expected.

Considering that the real blockbuster of "Steel Bones" will be intercepted in the future, the total box office potential of the film in North America is likely to be only about 30 million US dollars, which is not enough for Disney to recoup the cost.

Moreover, the black comedy’s overseas box office potential is limited. "Nuns are also crazy 2" lost at the North American box office. Basically, there will be little income overseas. Disney’s total budget for the production and announcement of this project has reached 55 million US dollars. It is now destined to be End up with a loss.

Warner Bros.'s comedy "Meeting Forgetting Friends" is destined to be just a foil for this year-end schedule.

It is MGM’s "Philadelphia Story", due to its excellent media reputation after its release and the addition of Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, making it the only new film on Monday to earn more than $10 million in its first weekend. Videos.

Because of the weak performance of the new film market, the benefits of increasing the box office volume for the Christmas audiences almost all fall on the heavyweight films of the Thanksgiving holiday schedule.

Therefore, from December 17th to December 24th, "The Lion King" continued to hold the top position of the box office list with a weekly box office decline of 11%. In the fifth week of the release, it again earned $28.39 million, and the cumulative box office reached 200 million,968 10,000 US dollars, officially breaking through the 200 million US dollars mark, and became the second local box office in 1993 to exceed 200 million US dollars, while steadily advancing toward 300 million US dollars at the box office.

Daenerys and Paramount’s "Mission Impossible" also achieved a 16% reversal this week. The box office rebounded to 25.53 million U.S. dollars in the fourth week of the release, and the cumulative box office broke through the 100 million U.S. dollar mark, reaching 112,321. Ten thousand U.S. dollars.

MGM’s "Philadelphia Story" ranked third in the rankings, with a revenue of $13.67 million in the first week and seven days.

Taking into account the long-term nature of the movie's award-winning nature and the budget of 26 million US dollars, the box office of 13.67 million US dollars in the first week is also considered outstanding.

Disney's "Nuns Are Crazy 2" earned $11.21 million in the first week and seven days, ranking fourth, and the defeat is set.

The fifth place is "Slim Daddy" starring Robin Williams produced by Fox Pictures. This week’s decline was the highest, reaching 25%. The box office rose to 10 million US dollars, reaching 10.32 million US dollars, and the cumulative box office increased to 66.54 million US dollars, considering that there will be a good harvest next week in the Christmas week, the possibility of the film entering the 100 million yuan club has once again increased.

In terms of several other new films, Warner Bros.’s "Meeting Forgetting Friends" earned only $4.61 million in the first week, basically ending in the next two weeks.

Although Gaomen Pictures' "In the Name of Father" once again encountered traditional paper media's word-of-mouth attack, the overall media score was still as high as 8.6.

Moreover, with the six nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Screenplay in the new Golden Globe Awards on December 20, The reputation of "Fame" has greatly increased. Relying on the proficient genre film publicity strategy of the Gaomen Films team, the film successfully reached 29,000 US dollars in the first week of the exhibition, and the income was 380,000 US dollars.

It is worth mentioning that in addition to the almost scheduled awards season of "Schindler's List", Daenerys Entertainment's "Lion King" also won the new Golden Globe as an animated film. Award nomination for best film in musical comedy category.