At the end of the morning's work, Simon had lunch with Li Fuzhen, who came from South Korea, and Her Royal Highness the princess personally led the team to negotiate a cooperation.
The start of the project was finalized in June, and most of the preparatory work for "Fast and Furious" has been completed.
The first is the two male protagonists. According to Simon's intention, Boss Tang has been replaced by Dwayne Johnson from Vin Diesel, who has never been very cold. He has successfully signed five film contracts with Johnson. Three A mainline movie, two crossover projects.
Compared with Dwayne Johnson, who has a great reputation in the wrestling circle, Paul Walker, who is still unknown, is even simpler, so he signed a ten-year contract, not according to the number of parts.
According to the life of the series, two agreements are certainly not enough.
However, neither the studio nor the actor side, considering factors such as risks, has the possibility of directly signing a super long-term contract for 10 movies, so the future will be discussed in the future.
As for the heroine, Simon still chose Jordana Brewster, the younger sister of Boss Tang.
The actress just turned 20 this year and is still at the peak of her pretty beauty. However, compared to other Latina actresses who tend to be very anti-aging, Simon also remembers that Jordana Brewster's appearance declined very quickly after a few years, even a little abnormally fast.
Too lazy to delve into the reason, Simon has no intention of changing.
After all, it's not a B-level movie that sells meat. The female characters in the project gradually become less beautiful as time goes by, but are just right, otherwise it is easy to distract the audience.
Furthermore, this is a vase character with a weak sense of existence. Simon didn't intend to reshape Mia's setting either. Because Simon values the role of Lati Ortiz, the girlfriend of Mr. Don, played by Michelle Rodriguez.
Compared with Mia, the role of Laidi is not as impressive as Giselle played by Gal Gadot, but it is also much brighter.
All Simon has to do is strengthen the role.
However, in the original version of Michelle Rodriguez, Simon directly chose PASS. On the one hand, because of his big butterfly, the actress doesn't know where she is now. On the other hand, since it needs to be strengthened, Laidi's The appearance still needs to be more resistant.
At least the shelf life can't be shorter than Jordana Brewster.
Because of the importance, this role is still being screened.
In addition to the main characters, some of the planned resident supporting roles will also be shown in the first part.
Then there's the director.
Simon took one step and chose Justin Lin.
The Chinese-American director was excavated by Simon at Sundance three years ago, and was subsequently given the opportunity to direct "Ghost Records", which was a blockbuster. However, after the success of "Ghost Records", Justin Lin went to Disney and also directed a pseudo-documentary film.
Simon didn't stop at the time.
That Disney project, released in early 1999, ultimately failed to make a splash.
Because there is still a contract with Daenerys Entertainment, and he made a quick money outside, Justin Lin returned, and Simon himself intervened. Last year, he opened a new project, which is no longer a pseudo-documentary, but an R-rated film. Song and dance themed feature film.
Too bad it didn't make a splash.
Therefore, Simon chose Justin Lin to direct "Fast and Furious", whether it is Daenerys's side or Fox's side, there are hesitant voices.
Simon did not waver.
The reason why the former "Fast and Furious" series was able to reach its peak step by step was inseparable from Justin Lin's directorship. Before that, this series was completely a groping state of blind cat hitting a mouse to death, and I didn't know the specifics at all. Where is the direction.
Moreover, before the former Justin Lin directed "Fast and Furious 3", he has always been a small role in the non-mainstream circle, even with less experience than the current one.
To put it simply, "The Fast and the Furious" and Justin Lin belong to a state of mutual achievement. On the one hand, it fits someone's directing style, and on the other hand, it hits the correct frequency of the series, so they reach the peak together.
In addition, after exhausting the popularity accumulated by the previous "Ghost Story", Justin Lin had to accept a one-time trilogy agreement this time.
In addition to the main creative, it is the budget.
Simon doesn't quite remember the production specifications of the first "Fast and Furious". According to personal experience, it must not exceed 50 million.
This time, since it is going to be an important branch of the agent movie universe, and it is also planned to be a long-term series, the beginning is very important. So Simon's budget size was $60 million.
Among them, the total cost of the main creative does not exceed 10 million US dollars, and more than 80% of the investment will be used for the filming and post-production of the film.
Moreover, it is said to be 60 million, because of the theme, such a racing-themed movie can easily be sponsored by advertising. What's more, this also involves a branch series in which Daenerys dominates the 'movie universe', and there are more car manufacturers who want to stuff ads.
According to the recent investment feedback, the advertising revenue of this project will not be less than 20 million US dollars.
Of course, it does not mean that the car manufacturer directly gave 20 million in cash, but in addition to part of the cash, there are also vehicle equipment support during the shooting process and future joint publicity investment and so on.
After all, Daenerys Pictures, which is responsible for this series, needs to invest no more than 50 million funds, and the follow-up announcement can also be jointly supported by relevant car manufacturers.
Li Fuzhen came to Los Angeles for this very reason.
Her Royal Highness is mainly responsible for the entertainment and hotel businesses of Samsung Group. However, as a family heir, it is not impossible to intervene when it comes to such business cooperation.
What's more, Li Jianxi obviously also knows the relationship between his daughter and Simon. For the better development of Samsung Motors directly controlled by the Li family, he obviously doesn't mind using this network of contacts.
Simon is also happy to see it happen.
After all, Samsung Motors is the idea that Simon left to the Li family. Samsung's car business is developing well, so they won't let them think about Samsung Electronics and other companies that have fully controlled the Westeros system.
However, Samsung will only be one of the sponsors.
As a blockbuster Hollywood blockbuster, it is impossible to use a car from an Asian corner.
After lunch, Li Fuzhen did not immediately go to meet with her team. The consultation meeting on her side was at three o'clock in the afternoon, so she followed Simon to his office.
Back in the office, Miss Li was allowed to wander around the spacious space like a curious cat. Simon came to the desk and began to review the various documents sent by Girl A.
After half an hour, girl A knocked on the door again, this time the US stock market data just closed on the east coast.
Hearing Lady A's introduction, Miss Li, who was casually flipping through some decoration books by the bookshelf by the wall, came over, and naturally sat in the man's arms under Simon's gesture, looked at the newly released documents together, and said, "Dad Say, you are taking a risk this time, if you mess up, Gore will definitely not let you go."
Simon glanced at the data on the document and felt that the women's suit did not feel very good. He felt the buttons and untied them one by one, and said, "So I can only let him go first."
Miss Li symbolically pressed Simon's big hand, preventing it from being ineffective. She could only let the man act with a blushing face, and diverted her attention: "Why do you want to take the initiative to create conflicts? It's still such a sharp question. You don't provoke Washington, and they don't dare to provoke you?"
Simon didn't answer, but instead asked: "On the South Korean side, can you take the initiative to keep a distance from the authorities, so you can live in peace?"
Li Fuzhen tilted his head to think for a moment and said, "No. However, the United States and South Korea are different."
"I have always believed that there may be differences in the system, but human nature is figured out." Simon said: "Because I have too much, I naturally have conflicts with other people in this world. This is not that I can avoid it if I want to avoid it. Therefore, I either choose to be a sheep or a lion. If it is the latter, since it is a lion, of course, I will actively hunt instead of waiting for the prey to run into my mouth.”
Miss Li thought for a while and was a little confused: "Is this... is it a thing?"
"Of course, with regard to the election, one of the goals I want to achieve is that in the future I will say who is the president and who can be the president. As long as I don't change this goal, I will take this step sooner or later." Simon said here, no No more words, but patted the waist of the woman in his arms: "Take off your coat, let me see if you have gained weight."
Li Fuzhen glanced over, still obedient, and then quietly stopped talking, enjoying the feeling of intimacy.
Simon also stopped talking, and turned more attention to the document in his hand.
The two major U.S. stock indexes, Nasdaq, which is the most concerned at the moment, fell 2.9% today, and the closing index was 7423 points, which was 8367 points from the highest point two days ago, and the cumulative decline reached 11.2%.
In just two days, it was just the Nasdaq disk, and the stock market wealth of more than 1.2 trillion US dollars disappeared.
At the same time, the leading companies, Ingreat and Tinkerbell, no longer have the previous trillion-dollar market value.
Ingreat's stock price fell by 3.3% today, with a closing market value of US$972.6 billion, which is close to US$200 billion from the highest market value of US$1,163.5 billion.
Tin Kebeier's stock price also fell by 2.7% that day, with a closing market value of $886.1 billion, and the market value from the highest point has also shrunk by $150 billion.
Whether it is a shrinkage of US$200 billion or US$150 billion, it is a number that many US stock companies are far from having an opportunity throughout their entire life cycle, so it can be seen that this time the Nasdaq fell tragically.
On the other hand, the Dow Jones index fell 3.6% on the day, which was deeper than the decline of the Nasdaq. This is mainly because the main energy of the Westeros system and many stakeholders is to control the trend of the Nasdaq.
In the end, on the last trading day of the week before the general election, the Dow Jones index closed at 12,961 points, which was 14,179 points from the previous high and shrunk by 8.6% in two days.
As the leader of the New York Stock Exchange, Daenerys Entertainment fell again by 4.3% this Friday, and the closing market value was only 8263 points, and the shrinkage from the highest point was also close to 200 billion US dollars.
It is conceivable that even if Gore loses the election next Tuesday and the U.S. stock market rebounds, it will be difficult to reach the peak state of the three companies breaking through trillions at the same time on Wednesday.
Of the three companies, Ingret, Tinkerbell and Daenerys, only Ingret has the hope of hitting a certain target again in the next rally. Moreover, even if it breaks through again, considering another plan in the making, it will not be able to persist for too long.
In any case, although the two trading days next Monday and even next Tuesday still cannot let people relax, today, the two major US stock indexes are well controlled in the downward trend of about 3%, which still makes Simon greatly relieved.
Of course, there is a huge price behind it.
It’s not just the human consumption and interest exchange with other parties’ capital for the purpose of stabilizing the market, but the pallet of funds that have been poured into the Westeros system. Today, it exceeds 13 billion US dollars.
Considering that there is a trading day next Monday, the investment in the whole process is expected to reach the level of 20 billion US dollars.
It's easy to put this money in, but it's not that simple to get it out. It is expected that the subsequent escape will be completed, and the shrinkage ratio will not be less than 30%. That is to say, because of Simon's operation this time, the Westeros system will lose at least 6 billion US dollars.
In comparison, this year's presidential election, known as the most intense presidential election in history, has totaled only $650 million in campaign funds from both sides.
Simon doesn't feel bad about the $6 billion that was burned. Anyway, he can make up for it through the ongoing short-selling operation in the future. For the general election, his personal feeling is that it is still too cheap and must be improved as soon as possible.
Running for president of the United States without burning billions of dollars is a hooligan!