Chapter 107

After listening to Eisner, Simon didn't rush to discuss the release conditions of when Harry meets Sally. Instead, he said, "Michael, as far as I know, Disney doesn't attach importance to the animation department. There was even a rumor that you were going to cancel the animation production. In that case, why can't you make "the lion king" for Denise pictures? "

"Rumors are just rumors, Simon," Michael Eisner said, shaking his head. "Seriously, I did think about closing the animation department. But if I did, you wouldn't be sitting here talking to me now. Our animation department is run by Roy Disney. So, do you understand? "

Simon thought a little and nodded helplessly.

Roy Disney is the nephew of Walt Disney, the founder of Disney. At present, the Disney family still holds a large stake in Disney Pictures.

After Walt Disney's death, the overall quality of Disney's animated films has been far worse than before. In recent years, Disney's brand image can only be maintained through more frequent replays of the previous classic animations.

However, as the foundation of Disney's start-up, it is obviously impossible for Disney's top management to rashly close the animation department on the basis of purely commercial interests. It must also take into account the feelings of the Disney family.

In order to save money, moving Disney's animation department to the abandoned warehouse in Glendale may have been the limit that the Disney family can tolerate. If Michael Eisner continues to push the Disney animation department to become a "foundry", it is hard to say whether the Disney family will rebound.

To figure this out, Simon had to say, "in that case, Michael, forget about the lion king. I'll find another way. The script is definitely not for you

Michael Eisner said, "Simon, you have to understand that you have no choice but Disney."

"I remember that globegroup just released" American rat Tam "last year, with a box office of more than $50 million, twice as high as Disney's" wonderful detective. "

"That movie," Michael Eisner said with a smile, "including director don Bruce, the main animators are all employees who left Disney. And Simon, if you want their team to help you make the lion king, it's even more impossible. "

Simon didn't quite understand the joint, but he just shrugged and said, "there will always be other ways."

Michael Eisner tapped his finger on his memo and said, "well, good luck."

Although Simon's plays are very popular in Hollywood, Michael Eisner didn't insist on Simon's attitude. Unlike live action movies, the production cycle of animated movies is usually as long as two or three years, and the cost is high.

Who knows what will happen in three years?

Seeing that "the lion king" could not be turned around, Simon also turned the topic back to "when Harry Met Sally" and said: "Michael, I'm sorry about the two director appointments you just mentioned. I can't agree. At most, maybe this is the last movie I signed out. After this time, I will only make films for my own company. "

Michael Eisner couldn't help shaking his head and laughing at Simon's words and said, "Simon, Coppola probably thought about that after Godfather. But after the huge loss of cotton club, he had to honestly shoot Peggy sue is getting married for Samsung film

Francis Ford Coppola's Cotton Club, released three years ago, was a complete disaster.

Due to the discord between the director and the leading actor, the repeated revision of the script and other changes in the shooting process, the budget soared from $25 million to $58 million, but the film only recovered $25.92 million in the North American box office. After Coppola's success in the godfather series, the ambitious establishment of the Western mirror film industry is also on the verge of bankruptcy.

Cotton Club happens to be issued by Orion pictures.

In a word, Simon didn't consider Orion, who also has a good relationship this time, and directly sought to cooperate with big film companies. It's also because Orion is in an ambitious state and can't give too good a schedule for when Harry meets Sally.

Due to the box office success of several films last year, Orion, which has relaxed its financial position, has decided to invest as many as nine films in person. In addition to acting as an agent for other independent producers, the company's distribution scale next year has been completely equal to that of the top seven.

However, Orion obviously does not have seven big details.

Simon looks at the movies that are basically full of faces, and he can understand why Orion, who has been making the double harvest movies of ticket room awards, will be in trouble step by step in the next few years.

The big sale of a single film is certainly unable to make up for the loss of many films.

"Maybe I'll be the second Coppola," Simon thought with a smile. "But Michael, people should have some dreams. What if they come true? So, there's only one. "

Michael Eisner recalled Simon's words, but insisted: "Simon, if so, Disney can't give you an Easter schedule."Simon thought about it and said, "Michael, I can make some concessions on the Commission. What do you think of 18%

Michael Eisner still shook his head and said: "I've seen the material of the last work" heartfire "written by the screenwriter of when Harry meets Sally. Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep are two big stars. The production cost is $25 million, and the box office is only $25 million. Simon, I don't think the market performance of this movie can be better than heartfire at the moment, so the difference between 18% and 15% is not big

"Michael, I think you've made a mistake. It was Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep who made only $25 million at the box office. I still don't understand who is so talented that Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep should be put together in love movies. They can't have any chemical reaction on the screen. Now when Harry meets Sally, I believe its box office is much better than heartfire

"Simon, your confidence doesn't make any sense."

Simon thought for a moment and said, "or, Michael, how about Denise pictures buying Disney's Easter schedule next year?"

"What do you mean?" asked Michael Eisner

Simon looked at Amy, who had been listening to the negotiation, and said, "can you give me the box office data report of last week?"

Amy was also a little confused, so she took out a page of report form from her satchel and handed it to Simon.

Simon then glanced at the data, handed it to Michael Eisner across the table, and said, "Disney's Easter remake is 1970's Adventures of the cat, which was released on April 10 with more than 1400 screens. The current box office is $13 million, and it will last for a few weeks. Then, according to the total box office of US $16 million, 50% of the box office is divided into 2 million, and Disney can make a profit of US $6 million. Michael, Denise pictures offered us $6 million. As a fixed distribution Commission, Disney only needed to give us 1000 screens next Easter. What do you think? "

Michael Eisner took the box office report, looked down at the above data, but began to think about Simon's novel cooperation plan in his mind.

A fixed commission of US $6 million. According to the 15% commission ratio, the young people in front of them are equivalent to pricing the North American box office of when Harry meets Sally at US $40 million.

If "when Harry meets Sally" can get 40 million US dollars at the North American box office, including the proceeds from the subsequent release, it's definitely a lucrative project.

With that in mind, Michael Eisner quickly said, "Simon, that's not the way it works. In addition to the box office of "Adventures of the cat", the re release of this animated film can also stimulate the sales of its video tapes and derivatives, from which Disney has made more than $6 million. "

Simon nodded. "Of course I know that, Michael. However, in addition to $6 million, Disney can give priority to buy out the distribution rights of "when Harry meets Sally" through other channels. Orion's North American video and TV distribution rights of "Lola Run" will also bring them huge profits in the next few years. At the same time, you can also get a director appointment from me

Michael Eisner said, "two."

Simon shook his head: "only one, Michael. If you insist on two, I can only say sorry."

Michael Eisner rubbed the box office report still in his hand, weighed it again for a moment, and said: "Simon, when Harry meets Sally, danelis pictures will pay a fixed commission of $6 million for its North American box office of less than $40 million. Over $40 million, Disney takes 18% of the total. You agree with this, I agree with other conditions. "

Amy listened to Michael Eisner and looked at Simon, worried that he would agree.

Under $40 million, danielis pictures has taken enough risk based on a fixed commission of $6 million. There's no reason why the box office is better. Instead, Disney takes a higher commission.

To Amy's disappointment, Simon got up, reached out to Michael Eisner and said, "deal."

Michael Eisner didn't expect Simon to be so straightforward. Seeing the young man smiling and extending his hand to him, he had to stand up and shake hands with each other, but he felt that he might have been bypassed.

Yes.

It's about two movies.

Before this meeting, he was more concerned about signing Simon's next two directing contracts.

Compared with "when Harry meets Sally", which is not very good-looking, the two films of young people in front of him seem to be more valuable. After all, the other side's profound film skills in "Lola Run" are beyond the reach of many famous Hollywood directors.

Now.

There's only one left.

It has to be said that Michael Eisner really guessed Simon's mind. Although he didn't plan to give up on the number of films, Simon did use some small means to divert Michael Eisner's attention.It's the limit Simon can bear to sign another film contract. He doesn't want to be tied between several major studios like Spielberg.

In fact, if Columbia Pictures does not put forward additional conditions, the buyout price can be higher and the schedule can be negotiated. Simon even prefers to cooperate with the other party. However, the buyout price of $3 million is far from Simon's psychological expectation.

As for the cooperation with Disney, Simon's original psychological ceiling even raised the Commission to 20%. Now, although we need to pay US $6 million for less than US $40 million, the commission ratio is only 18% for more than US $40 million, which does not exceed Simon's upper limit.

In any case, if the box office of when Harry meets Sally is not as good as it used to be, it will be a failure, and Simon can afford a failure. But if the film is as successful as the original, although the distribution Commission is a little higher, but only the North American box office, Denise pictures is still hopeful to recover the production cost of $15 million.

As the head of a big film company, Michael Eisner would not turn back on a young man. However, after shaking hands with Simon, he added: "in this case, Simon and Denise pictures will have to pay $6 million in commission in advance after signing the contract."

Cash is very scarce for any film company.

According to the Convention, the distributor usually settles the distribution commission after the movie is released, but if it can get $6 million in advance, Disney can even make an extra movie.

But Simon shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, Michael. Denise pictures has no money."

Michael Eisner, listening to the young man who was just decisive and shrewd, began to play a rogue in the twinkling of an eye. He reluctantly reminded him, "Simon, if I remember correctly, you should have received a lot of money from the sale of" Lola Run "recently

Simon shook his head again and said, "Michael, you must know that because of the uneven distribution of interests, I'm preparing a lawsuit with my girlfriend, and the money can't be moved for the time being."

Although he was a little depressed about Simon's decision, Amy almost laughed when he heard his nonsense.

Michael Eisner expression more helpless, said: "Simon, don't you see you show a big flaw? You just used the term "girlfriend."

Simon calmly corrected: "Oh, sorry, it's an ex girlfriend."

Michael Eisner finally laughed and shook his head and said, "well, for the sake of this not so funny joke."

After the basic contract framework was established, the three continued to discuss some details.

Although he always heard a lot of people around him talk about it, when he first met Michael Eisner, he was really impressed by Simon's shrewdness and decisiveness, and left them for lunch at noon.

After negotiating with Disney, Simon will not consider MGM any more.

Compared with the enterprising Disney under the leadership of Michael Eisner and Jeffrey carsenberg, MGM has almost become a real estate and hotel company since it was bought by gambling tycoon Kirk Kerian in the 1970s.

Over the years, he has transferred his studio, built a hotel, and auctioned off a large number of precious props reserved in MGM's golden age. Perhaps he feels that the company's profits have been drained. In March this year, cochrian transferred MGM to Ted Turner, the boss of CNN.

Ted Turner is still raising money to pay the $1.5 billion offer from cochrian.

However, in Simon's memory, Ted Turner didn't come up with the money in the end. What the media tycoon valued was actually MGM's thousands of film copyrights accumulated for more than half a century.

Turner Broadcasting Company is preparing to build a new basic cable station, which needs a lot of content resources.

In the end, it successfully retained some of the most precious films in MGM's film library, and after some twists and turns, MGM returned to cochrian's hands again.

In the next few years, gambling tycoons will start to use MGM for capital operation.

All in all, the most powerful film company in Hollywood is probably the film company.