Hollywood New Century

In the afternoon, Simon Pike and Nicole Kidman went back to work after dinner.

"Simon, Ronald Perelman and Avi Allard have agreed to sell their Marvel shares, Ronald Perelman owns 18% for $60 million Tier 1 Avi The 15 percent that Allard owns is $50 million!" CAA's Brian Lorde reported on the call.

"Okay, the option deadline is the end of this year, right?" Simon asked.

"Yes, Avi Allard took a $2.5 million bond and Ronald Perelman took a $3 million bond, just get the rest of the money into their accounts by 12.31 of this year, and then our The target is Carl Icahn, Isaac Perlmutter is very opposed to selling Marvel, but as long as you get Carl Icahn, you are the largest shareholder of Marvel!" Brian Lord on the phone seemed to be Very confident.

"Yes, there are some creditors behind Carl Icahn. You can contact the people below and let them pressure Carl Icahn to sell Marvel shares," Simon Pike believes that with CAA's resources, the acquisition of Marvel will not The difficulty is the price.

"By the way, what about their Iron Man project?"

"Of course it's on hold. After all, it's the acquisition period of Marvel Entertainment. Isaac Perlmutter has put the project on hold. He now regularly meets with Carl Icahn for his continued support!" Brian Lowe De said with a smile.

"That's good, Isaac Perlmutter is a bit difficult to deal with. He owns shares of Marvel 14, and Carl Icahn supported him before, and his voting power exceeds 50%. Simon also knew that the Israeli Jew was a famous miser, and that Carl Icahn had to get him down first.

What price will this "Wolf of Wall Street" shout?

"Simon, please trust CAA, we will definitely let you join Marvel Entertainment!"

After hanging up the phone, Simon went to the editing room to have a look. "No Country for Old Men" has just been closed and entered the post-editing process. The post-production of this film is simple, and there are no special effects, so it is edited and dubbed.

With the Coen brothers at the helm, there really isn't much to worry about.

At night, the banquet hall on the third floor of the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills was lively, where Sony Columbia held a grand celebration banquet for "The Da Vinci Code".

With a box office of $213 million in North America and $750 million in the world, "The Da Vinci Code", a religiously controversial film, is no less in a hurry than "The Death of Jesus" released in 2004.

Not only many high-level players from Sony Entertainment attended, but also many other guests who came to participate.

Simon Parker, the most powerful independent filmmaker this year, is certainly on the list.

As of the end of August, the North American box office of "The Queen Wears Prada", produced by Xinghai Pictures and released by 20th Century Fox, has exceeded 120 million US dollars, and overseas markets have also been released.

"Didn't you say that "The Da Vinci Code" was boycotted by many Catholics? I heard that it was protested by a parade when it was filmed in the UK last year. Why is the box office so high?" Simon Pike asked Nina Jacobson next to him, Catholic believers in the United States should not go to movie theaters. That's called boycotting.

"Simon, that's just news that Sony deliberately amplified. It's good if the movie is controversial, and there are only a few defenders in the United States. What's the use of their boycott? Believing in Catholicism has nothing to do with watching this movie. After all, they focus on suspense and thriller. Yes, religious genres are more attractive to people to watch, people have always been very interested in religion, and this movie is really wonderful!" Nina Jacobson smiled and was full of envy.

"The 750 million global box office is higher than the box office of "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl", but now the global box office of "Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Gathering Soul" has broken through $800 million and went straight to 900 million, and it is estimated that it has surpassed One billion dollars will be very promising!" Simon said and looked at several of the main creators of "The Da Vinci Code" over there, director Ron Howard, starring Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou, let · Reynolds and a few others were chatting and laughing.

Nina Jacobson said with a smile: "The budget for our independent production of "Spartan 300 Warriors" by Xinghai Film is 65 million US dollars. I have always been up and down in my heart. My heart seems to be getting more and more anxious."

"Don't worry, I've discussed with Zack Snyder many times to set off a storm of male hormones, lest people outside always say that Simon Parker only shoots women's scenes, this movie is definitely enough for men!" Simon said and pursed his lips.

"Ha, that's their jealousy, why do you care about that?" Nina Jacobson smiled, no matter what the show, as long as it's a good show, it doesn't matter.

"Sony is so good this year, the box office of the romantic comedy "Remote Control of Life" is also very good, next will be Will Smith's "Knock When Happiness", and "007: Battle Royale Casino" will be released at the end of the year. "Can't be underestimated!" Simon took a sip of the red wine in his hand, and Sony is shooting Marvel's adaptation of the movie "Spider-Man 3" and "Soul Chariot"!

"The filming of "007 vs. Casino Royale" started in January this year and will not end until July. Sony has arranged the schedule to be released in November. It's really a bit urgent!" Nina Jacobson felt that Sony lacked confidence in the film .

"Anyway, it belongs to MGM. What Sony wants is the distribution rights of the movie, and MGM is responsible for any losses or profits. What Sony wants is to sell its own Blu-rays.

-DVD, grab your own DVD player market," Simon said with another sigh,

"Look, we don't have a release, we just don't have a library. How fierce is the HD DVD battle between Blu-ray DVD and HD-DVD now, not only the six majors, but also the independent publishers are starting to stand in line!"

"Well, Simon, this question is not considered by our company. Let's make our own movies." Nina was helpless, the little boss thought about the problem too much.

"Oh, forget it, in a few years, let them know the terrible thing about Xinghai Films, it's still too weak now, it's better to have our own distribution network first, then we can also release some overseas literary films or some possible films. An independent film that has been missed." Now Xinghai Pictures is just an independent film company that produces one or two films a year, so you shouldn't think too far, because the more you think about it, the more unhappy Simon will be!

"Yes, we should keep our films competitive, and it will be much easier to enter the distribution industry at that time," Nina Jacobson certainly knows the importance of distribution, a little ambitious people who do not want to enter the distribution industry.

"Nina, you can collect some information about independent distribution companies. At that time, we will directly acquire a small distribution company, which is much faster than establishing it yourself!" Of course Simon knows that distributors are not cheap, because the more mature the distributors, the better the film library. The more, the more expensive.

The main directions of small distributors are also genre films, and non-mainstream films such as horror, thriller, gore, and violence are their mainstream release films.

Nina Jacobson nodded, and since Simon had said so, this matter had to be planned.

But where did he get the money? Part of the loan money was used for the production of "Spartan 300 Warriors", and he siphoned off another $20 million!

Now Simon Pike has one more impression of Nina Jacobson, mysterious.

After chatting with Nina Jacobson for a while, the two separated, after all, this kind of occasion is all about pulling relationships.

Simon Pike chatted with Tom Rosenberg, the chairman of Lakeview Films, whom he had met before.

Lakeview's "Million Dollar Baby" won the Best Picture Oscar in 2005, and the "Underworld" series is also produced by Lakeview and distributed by Sony's Mubao Pictures.

"Simon, Xinghai Pictures' Spartan 300 has a budget of $65 million and is solely owned by Xinghai Pictures, you are amazing!" Lakeview Pictures was founded in 1994 by Tom Rosenberg and another producer Yes, compared to the two-year-old Xinghai Film Industry, it is really much less courageous.

After all, Lakeview Films is trying its best to attract investment to develop the film. "Million Dollar Baby" has been in preparation for several years. First, some funds were raised by pre-sale of European and RB copyrights, and Warner Bros. made up the funds to support "Hundred Dollar Baby". The development of Ten Thousand Dollar Baby!

"Well, you know, I don't want to waste too much time. The process of finding distributors to invest in movies is a waste of time, and there are still many contractual conditions. I was forced to invest by myself," Simon smiled. Continue to speak:

"The "Air Combat Hero" that will be released in September, with David Larison as the film's investor, how fast the project is progressing!"

"What's the matter, he has a fortune of tens of billions of dollars, the father of the top ten richest people in Forbes," Tom Rosenberg did not understand the behavior of young people like Simon, but in a sense It is said that those who are willing to pay are welcome.

"Underworld 2, which was released at the beginning of this year, has a much better reputation than the first film, and the box office is better!" Simon laughed. "Underworld 2" grossed $62 million in North America and $110 million worldwide, but the production The fee is higher, $50 million!

"Underworld 1" cost only $29 million to make, $52 million at the North American box office, and $95 million worldwide!

This type of film, the DVD market sells very well, but the second film won the word of mouth, but it is not as profitable as the first one.

Tom Rosenberg looked at the smile on Simon's face and sighed: "Is Underworld 2 more successful than the first one?"

With a cost of 50 million US dollars, Mubao Films felt that the box office did not meet expectations!