Hollywood New Century

At night, Simon was watching TV at her home in Beverly Hills, while Emily Blunt watched the script for "26 Dresses," which Elaine McKenna spent two months writing.

"Simon, is this script for me? Or is the protagonist Anne Hathaway, and I play her sister, the supporting actress?" Emily Blunt, who had read the script, came over and asked Simon.

"Well, how can you have this idea? Because this supporting actress is also a bad-minded female character?" Simon smiled and put his arms around Emily Blunt.

"Don't think too much, if Anne Hathaway is the protagonist and you play the supporting role, the imitation is too serious. Originally, this movie also has a lot of fashion elements, which is a bit different from the previous "The Queen Wears Prada" There are similarities, the actors must not be the same, and it has long been decided that you will play the lead," Simon said, clapping on Emily Blunt.

"What about the supporting actress?" Emily Blunt asked, looking up.

"A little actor, Jennifer Smith, and I belong to a brokerage company, and I used to know each other!" Simon has already prepared Jennifer Smith to star in "Gossip Girl", and now she can also give her a chance to show her face, after all, Blake Liver Lee has had the experience of the protagonist in the movie.

Just as he finished speaking, Simon's phone rang, and it was Brian Lord.

"Simon, Isaac Perlmutter has promised to sell Marvel shares, and he hopes to exchange his shares for the ownership of ToyBiz," Brian Lord reported the good news by phone.

"ToyBiz is worth at least $80 million. Forget it. Promise him. If ToyBiz is given to him, it can be regarded as a return to the original point. After Isaac Perlmutter's shares were obtained, Marvel Entertainment immediately began to privatize," Simon didn't care. At this point, what cares about Marvel is that it will be beneficial to you to privatize it earlier.

"clear!"

After Simon hung up the phone, he smiled slightly and couldn't bear it. If ToyBiz is sold, Marvel's stock price will drop a lot, and the money shared by various shareholders from ToyBiz will definitely not make up for the loss caused by the drop in the stock price.

If Isaac Perlmutter insists not to sell his 25% shares, Simon is really not easy to handle, and now he can exchange ToyBiz for what he needs.

Without ToyBiz, although the market value of Marvel Entertainment is much lower, its own capital has increased by 80 million US dollars, and its cash flow of 250 million US dollars is obviously better.

"What's the matter, excited!" Emily Blunt asked.

"I'm just happy!" Simon kissed the girl on the face, his eyes burning brightly: "The future of Xinghai Pictures is full of sunshine, and the door to success has been opened!"

"Iron Man", we can speed up the preparations now. Kevin Feige got his plan, and I believe there will be a feeling of meeting a confidant.

Three days later, it was still the office of Marvel Entertainment, upstairs from the Mercedes-Benz Sales Center in Beverly Hills.

Isaac Perlmutter walked away with the ToyBiz deal he wanted, leaving, of course, his stake in Marvel Entertainment.

"Thank you CAA for doing a beautiful job this time," Simon Pike and Brian Lord hugged.

"Going private will not be a hindrance, and you will be the owner of Marvel Entertainment in the future," Brian Lord congratulated.

"Your credit cannot be ignored, and the process is quite complicated, but it's all good now, everything is over!" Simon is really happy.

"After that, Xinghai Pictures and our CAA can continue to maintain various cooperative relations, you are our high-quality customer!" CAA also takes money to do things, and everyone is satisfied.

After Brian Lord left, Simon chatted with Operations Officer David Messer and Kevin Feige of Marvel Studios about the new movie "Iron Man" in the pipeline!

"My plan, you have all read it, what do you think?" Simon asked directly.

"The plan is very detailed and a bit bolder than our previous ones, with "Iron Man 1" in 2008, "Thor 1" in 2009, "Captain America" ​​in 10 years, "Iron Man 2", and then "Avengers" in 2011 "!" David Messer had to admire, this plan is indeed quite bold.

"Robert Downey Jr. also agreed that the actor's contract requirements were acceptable, and he agreed not to ask for a sequel," Kevin Feige said.

Simon shook his head and said: "I am very confident in the future of the Marvel series, cooperation is a win-win situation, 9 contracts, the highest salary can get 20 million US dollars in the future, this one has to be written no matter what, we are not A single series, but a universe, a movie can take $20 million, and you know that's the price of a top star!"

Simon doesn't allow anyone to get the incredible salary figures of Robert Downey Jr. in his previous life, the advance payment plus bonus, the maximum of 20 million is not negotiable.

"$20 million! That's absolutely no problem, he's now getting $500,000 for Iron Man!" Kevin Feige explained.

"Marvel hero movies can make worthless actors popular all over the world, which is more important to them!" Simon also knew that after the success of "Iron Man", the subsequent actors were not paid very high, except for Robert Downey Jr.

"As for the candidate for Little Pepper, someone recommended Gwyneth Paltrow. She is the Oscar-winning actress, and her salary is also very cheap, only $3 million!" Kevin Feige continued.

"Gwyneth Paltrow," Simon thought for a while, then shook his head: "Not suitable, go to Kate Beckinsale, she is more suitable for the role of Little Pepper, and she is now in the role of "Underworld" She is also very cheap for the genre film!"

"Kate Beckinsale, this is also possible!" Of course David Messer would not object to the meaning of the new boss.

"The actor of War Machine, we are looking for Terrence Howard, the black actor in "Crash", which is the highest paid in the movie, 4.5 million US dollars!" Kevin Feige continued.

"For such a role, is it appropriate to take such a high level in the first Marvel movie? Will the sequel rise or fall?" Simon smiled and said seriously:

"Either we will reduce the pay, or we will change people. Hollywood lacks black actors?"

"In terms of influence, he is definitely not as good as Kate Beckinsale. To be able to participate in such a large-scale production of over 100 million dollars, you must have the awareness to start getting low pay!"

4.5 million US dollars is indeed too high. The protagonist Robert Downey Jr. only takes 500,000 US dollars. Chance, this is an actor's chance to become famous!

Kevin Feige nodded, seeing Simon Pike's confident look, it seems that "Iron Man" can indeed be expected.

"What about the Marvel hero "The Incredible Hulk" released by Universal, which is co-produced by us Marvel and Universal, and is also an important part of the Marvel universe!" David Messer reminded Simon again.

"Hey, headache!" Simon also has no choice, the distribution rights are not in his hands, the production rights and distribution rights of the film are basically half of the investment quota.

"The Incredible Hulk is almost ready!" Kevin Feige is also one of the film's producers.

"Forget it, Kevin, you promise that Universal will not blindly adapt our Hulk, and we will see if we can recover the distribution rights in the future!" What can Simon do? Universal has the distribution rights, just like MGM owns the "007" series In the same way, although the production rights are in the hands of Dan Qiao Pictures, of course MGM is in charge!