Chapter 132

Amy Pascal was not surprised by Simon's frequent and sudden ideas. After thinking about it, she said, "I remember that Warner proposed to sell DC to marvel three years ago because of poor business conditions, but it was rejected. I'm not sure about the current situation. However, after the stock market crash, most big companies are restructuring their assets and reducing their debts. The cartoon industry has been on the decline since the 1970s. If you offer a sufficient price, Warner will probably agree. "

Simon tapped his fingers on the table and imagined the magnificent scene of Marvel DC superhero universe fusion in his mind. He asked again, "do you think Semel will call me this afternoon?"

Amy nodded and said, "I think it's about" Lola Run ". Orion should have mentioned it to you, too? If "Lola Run" can win in the next award season, it will be very good for the copyright operation of both of them

"Lola Run" was painted in North America in August. Now it has passed the three-month window period, and the video can be released at any time. After Simon sold the overseas copyright to Warner Bros., with Warner's perfect international distribution network, the box office of "Lola Run" in the overseas market in the past half year also smoothly exceeded 200 million US dollars, and then it will enter the later operation stage.

The memory of "Lola Run" in North America basically did not get any honor, but now the situation is different.

With a global box office of $400 million, Warner Bros., one of the seven largest film companies, cooperates with Orion film, which is already good at award public relations. Coupled with the unquestionable excellent quality of the film itself, "Lola Run" will definitely become a big hit in the next award season.

Perhaps Simon's only weakness is age.

Before that, the youngest Oscar winner for best director was 32 years old. If Simon can be 30 years old, he is likely to break the record. But now, the possibility is almost zero, and perhaps the only thing Simon can look forward to is a nomination.

I raised my wrist and looked at my watch. It was already three o'clock in the afternoon.

There's no call yet. Terry Semel is likely to call himself before work, maybe a dinner party invitation or something. However, Simon has already made plans for the evening, and there are other jobs to follow. If he wants to buy DC, he can only wait until the weekend or next week.

Just as the door of the conference room was knocked, Amy's assistant Vanessa looked in and said, "Mr. westrow, Ms. Pascal, Mr. Craven is here."

Simon and Amy stand up together, and Wes Craven comes in with a middle-aged white man in his forties who wears glasses.

Today is Friday, December 18.

Simon gave out the story outline of "scream" in the plan yesterday. After Amy and Craven contacted, although they had not agreed to direct, Wes Craven also suggested hiring a screenwriter to write the play first to see the effect.

The middle-aged man with glasses should be the screenwriter recommended by Wes Craven.

After a brief greeting, Wes Craven said, "Simon, Amy, this is Bruce Joey Robin. He is the screenwriter of last year's" the girl next door ". I think we can let him try" scream. "

Simon could hardly hide his surprise when he heard Bruce joy Robin's name.

Before working with Wes Craven on "here comes death," Simon learned that he directed a less successful "girl next door" for Warner Bros. last year, but he didn't expect that the screenwriter of the film would be Bruce joy Robin.

There may not be many people who know Bruce joy Robin, but there should be few people who don't know the ghost.

Bruce joy Robin is the writer of ghost.

In the original space-time, ghost love, which was released in 1990, has not only become one of the most tearful love movies in history, but also grossed US $500 million at the global box office with a production cost of US $22 million. In addition to a series of awards nominations such as the best picture Oscar, the film is definitely a big box office success.

Simon had tried to find Bruce Joey Robin's whereabouts before, but there was no result. Now he didn't expect to meet him in such a coincidence.

This may not be a coincidence.

After all, Hollywood is still too small. Many of the people they are interested in may be close at hand, but they just haven't noticed.

He was thinking about whether he should attend more social parties in the future. After taking his seat, Simon was completely relieved of his surprise. He talked about scream as usual, and unconsciously led the topic to the direction he wanted.

Several people chatted for a while. Hearing Simon's query about his ability, Bruce Joey Robin said: "Simon, the girl next door's box office performance is really unsatisfactory, but the script is based on the novel. I think Wes and I have done our best under the creative framework given by the studio."

"So," Simon said, looking at Bruce Joey Robin, "Bruce, do you have any other scripts, creative? Although I have provided the story outline of scream, I still hope the screenwriter can be creative enough. "Bruce joy Robin nodded and said, "of course."

Simon raised his hand and said, "tell me about it."

Bruce Joey Robin pondered for a moment and said: "I watched the prince's revenge a few years ago. When I saw the scene of Hamlet's father telling his son to take revenge for himself after his soul was gone, I had an idea. Now the story has been well conceived, but it hasn't been written yet. Sam and Molly are a couple about to get married. One night, they are robbed on their way back to their home after watching the drama. Sam is stabbed to death by a gangster and becomes a ghost who can't communicate with normal people. He floats around Molly, but finds that his death is not an accident... "

In the conference room.

When Bruce Joey Robin finished, before Simon spoke, Amy couldn't help saying, "Simon, this is a great idea. We should buy it, shouldn't we?"

Wes Craven also nodded and echoed: "it's really good, but I'm not good at this type, otherwise I would have directed it myself."

Simon thought for a moment, but said, "actually, I happen to have a similar idea about ghosts," and then, noticing Bruce joy Robin's nervous face, Simon said with a smile, "it's just that the ghost's idea is similar to yours, and the story is totally different. Your story is about love, but the core of my story is family love. However, I think this story is also suitable for you to create. So Bruce and Denise can sign three screenplays with you. What do you think? Two commissioned scripts and one original script. "

Bruce joy Robin didn't expect to get three contracts in a flash. He was a little surprised and excited, but he said cautiously: "Simon, are you sure these three plays can be shot?"

"In fact, you want to ask if your script can be filmed?" Simon laughed and said, "the answer is yes. Of course, you also need some patience. Well, I know that sounds like a clich é of all film executives. If you don't feel at ease, you can add some restrictive clauses to the contract, and you need to talk to Amy about that. "

Bruce joy Robin nodded, but tried again, "what about the right of authorship?"

"The signature of scream belongs to you, the signature of ghost movie belongs to me, oh, I mean my ghost movie, your ghost movie, the signature belongs to you naturally," Simon explained, and asked, "any other questions?"

Bruce joy Robin shook his head.

"Well, you can get your agent in touch with Amy about the specific salary contract. Let's talk about scream first."

In Simon's plan, "scream" will become the first film to be produced and released by Denise pictures on next year's Halloween schedule, so he also attaches great importance to it.

The script writing meeting lasted until the end of the day. During the meeting, Simon took time to take a call from Warner Bros. CEO Terry Semel and invited him to a reception tonight. Because of the arrangement in advance, they had to change their meeting to tomorrow night.

In addition, Terry Semel mysteriously reminds Simon that there will be a surprise next Monday.

Although the other side didn't make it clear, Simon naturally knows that next Monday is the day when the new nominations for the Golden Globe Awards will be announced. As one of the most important weathervanes of Oscar, the gold content of Golden Globe Award is very high compared with other Union awards.

Now that "Lola Run" has been sold out, Simon naturally won't spend money on award PR any more. Because of his short age, he is unlikely to win the award anyway, and he is even indifferent to it.

However, Orion and Warner have spared no effort for their own interests.

Five o'clock in the afternoon.

Seeing off Wes Craven and Bruce Joey Robin, Amy calls her assistant to come in and collect the information on the conference table. Meanwhile, she says to Simon, who is reading the minutes of the conference: "why didn't you see Jennie this afternoon?"

Simon did not lift his head, turned over the memo in his hand, and explained: "her parents have come from New York, and they will invite me to dinner in the evening. At noon, I will send her back ahead of time."

Amy thought of the gossip in yesterday's newspaper that "Simon westero escorts the female assistant home, and they are very close." she said with a smile, "are you going to start a crime so soon?"

Simon wondered, "well?"

Amy's tone was full of ridicule: "you have run away their daughter."

Simon didn't answer directly.

Amy didn't joke much. Instead, she said seriously: "Simon, when Harry meets Sally, vulgar novel and instinct have all confirmed the distributors. We are going to release scream ourselves. These are all OK, but what about death Poetry Society and steel Magnolia? And so many copyrights you recently bought? I think we should first sign a fixed distribution contract with the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and then put into specific production, otherwise we will be very passive in the future. "

Simon raised his head when he heard Amy talk about the business and said, "it's not difficult to sign an issuance contract, but we can't get too favorable terms. The release of death Poetry Society and steel Magnolia depends on the situation. I prefer Denise film to do it by itself. The production budget of these two films will not be too high, and there is nothing to lose. "Amy nodded helplessly and said, "but now we have 100 million dollars. If you don't want to sign a fixed distribution contract with the big seven, we can't make too many movies according to your idea, or we will all fall into the hands. The big movie companies will be happy to see us lose 100 million dollars. "

Simon shook his head and said, "I didn't say that all this money can only be invested in Denise pictures' own films. There are so many projects in Hollywood that we can fully participate in the investment. You can let the news out soon. About $100 million can be invested in seven or eight films. Apart from "scream", "dead poets society" and "steel Magnolia", I will choose another project for the company recently, and all the remaining funds will go out. Many film companies should start to lack money now. "

Amy couldn't help saying, "it seems more risky."

Simon said with a smile: "so, the next step is to see your negotiation skills. Don't forget, if you make money, you can take 5% of it. If you lose, you will have nothing