hunt hollywood

And then, Monday, August 8.

Sony has not finalized the person in charge of Columbia Pictures, and jointly held the fourth recent press conference with Daenerys Entertainment, announcing the fourth part of Daenerys Entertainment's 10-film plan, "The League of Pinks".

Like Sleeping with the Enemy, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, and The Fugitive, "The League of Pink" is written by a newcomer, based on true events in the United States during World War II, about a former baseball player. The star's story of trying to build a women's baseball team after the men rushed to the field.

This North American local sports-themed film is not famous internationally, but it is also one of the top ten films in Simon's memory with a box office of over [-] million.

After "League of Pink", on August 8, at the fifth press conference, Universal Pictures and Daenerys Entertainment jointly announced the fifth part of the 30-film plan, adapted from Stephen King's novel "Dangerous Love". Ten days". "Ten Days of Dangerous Love" tells the story of a crazy book fan who accidentally rescued his favorite writer, found out that the other party had written the characters he valued to death, and then kidnapped and imprisoned him and forced him to rewrite the plot.

After Stephen King became famous, because of his high output, his novels were adapted into movies very frequently. Over the years, his works have been put on the big screen every year.Daenerys Entertainment has a copy of Stephen King's "Children in the Cornfield" copyright, and the Easter schedule in the first half of the year also has a "Pet Graveyard" adapted from Stephen King's novel of the same name.

However, apart from the box office of "Pet Cemetery" released this Easter, which earned more than 5700 million US dollars, the box office of most of Stephen King's other novel-adapted films is only 2000 to [-] million, and the producer will not pay too much. , You can't earn too much.

"Ten Days of Dangerous Love", a novel without ghosts and supernatural elements, was not favored at first. It was not until Simon took a fancy to it that Universal Pictures, which had reserved the copyright in advance, got up and took it seriously.

Five projects in a row and five press conferences are also intentional by Simon.He hopes that the 10-film plan can form an influence similar to 'brand effect'.Judging from the recent media response, the effect has been achieved. These films will not lack the attention of the media on various platforms from casting, shooting, post-production to release. This alone is enough to offset the millions of dollars in publicity and distribution costs.

With the announcement of five projects, Hollywood stars are getting more and more excited.

Century City.

More than a week has passed, and the media's criticism and mocking attacks on Michael Ovitz still haven't stopped. Sometimes Ovitz even wonders if someone is deliberately targeting him.However, the root cause of this incident is that Ovitz was too low-key before. The media was full of curiosity about him but lacked understanding. When some relevant information broke out, everyone naturally rushed to him.

Due to the recent negative news, or the banning of Daenerys Entertainment and the announcement of five films in the 10-film plan, C's customers have been losing recently.

After Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, Geena Davis, who just won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress last year, was also poached by WMA. WMA also poached a man named Michael Clayton Ovitz remembers that this client does not have a well-known blockbuster work, but the idea of ​​a dinosaur novel discussed with him a few days ago is very interesting.

I don't care about these now.

If these two are not too important, the WMA reaching out to Tom Hanks, who has gradually become popular in the past two years, makes it difficult for Ovitz to maintain his composure.

Tom Hanks' "Flying to the Future" last year not only broke [-] million at the North American box office, but also received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, who have already started to go downhill, are fine with job-hopping. If Tom Hanks, a star who is on the rise, leaves, it will be a kind of damage to C's reputation. Very serious blow.

With the continuous loss of customers, it is hard to guarantee that other stars will have the illusion that C has begun to decline and is not worth staying any longer.

Once the domino effect is formed, the result is disastrous.

Moreover, when Columbia Pictures suddenly announced on August 8 that Geena Davis, who had just switched from C, would serve as the heroine of the 31-film plan "The Pink League", Michael Ovitz knew that he had to act as soon as possible. make some sort of decision.

Friday, January 9th.

In the new week, only a low-budget B-level thriller from New Line Films was quietly released, heralding the complete end of this year's summer vacation.

Judging from the available data, this summer, the confirmed films with a box office exceeding 3 million include "Raiders of the Lost Ark 2", "Ghostbusters 2", "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids", "Lethal Weapon [-]", "Bodyguard" and "The Sixth Sense of Spirituality", of which Daenerys Entertainment accounted for two.

Considering that Daenerys Entertainment and Warner's "Batman" and "Flying Beyond" and Universal Pictures' "Back to the Future 2" will be released at the end of the year, if there are one or two dark horses, this year's box office will There are still more than 10 films with over [-] million.

Ticket prices in North America have not increased significantly in recent years. In the past few years, there were only four or five or even fewer Hollywood movies with a box office of over 10 million each year to the current 80 movies. The rapid rise of Hollywood after the [-]s and [-]s is unstoppable.

In my memory, in 1990, the emergence of a series of blockbusters such as "Home Alone", "Pretty Woman" and "Ghost Love" and the further expansion of the global film market heralded the re-emergence of Hollywood. Every year, movies with a box office of [-] million yuan will basically fill the top ten of the list.

In this time and space, later people sorted out the development trajectory of Hollywood, probably in advance to 1988, the first time that Hollywood produced more than 10 billion blockbuster movies a year.

The appearance of Simon, the big butterfly, can be said to have advanced Hollywood's recovery by two years.

Around eight o'clock at night.

At the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, Sony, a latecomer, is hosting a reception for the Hollywood boss.

Simon is accompanied by Famke Jansen and is chatting with Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis. Goldblum and Davis are a couple, and both of them are currently at the quasi-first-line level.

"Batman" is nearing completion. As long as the box office at the end of the year meets expectations, the preliminary planning of "Wonder Woman" will probably start, and Simon has also accelerated the speed of making Famke Janssen "familiar".The other two original candidates, Helena Christensen and Erica Anderson, have both given up trying to compete with Famke, and Simon is no longer doing futile work.

For more than a year, Famke has played several small roles in some film and television dramas. This time, Simon arranged for her to be in Robert Altman's group play "Life Intersection" and the company's cooperation with Columbia Pictures. In the "Red League" respectively starred in two small roles.

Both films will get more attention, and Famke Janssen's body and appearance are enough to make her grab the audience's attention.

Everyone was chatting about "League of Pink", Michael Ovitz appeared nearby, found Simon's figure, and walked straight over.

Those who can appear in the banquet hall tonight are all well-informed people. Seeing Ovitz walking towards Simon Westeros, they all looked over curiously, and at the same time did not forget to whisper a few words.

When Michael Ovitz came to Simon, he didn't hide it, and said straight to the point: "Simon, can we talk alone?"

Simon said cheerfully, "Okay."

Nodding to Geena Davis, Simon and Ovitz walked to a sofa in the corner of the hall and sat down together. Famke Jansen tactfully did not follow.

Chapter 288 The Real Tycoon (Revised)

The two sat opposite each other on the sofa in the corner of the hall, but Michael Ovitz didn't speak again for a while, with obvious unwillingness in his expression.

Simon didn't urge, just looked at the crowd around him casually, feeling the melodious sound of string music floating over the dance floor.

A tall blonde woman in a white one-shoulder dress noticed the silence between Simon and Ovitz, thought about it, and tentatively came over to greet Simon and said, "Hi, Mr. Westeros."

This woman is really tall, and she has to break through 1.9 meters in high heels.

Simon raised his head and smiled at the woman, "Hi, Miss Hall."

There was a surprised expression on the woman's face, mixed with just the right amount of joy: "Mr. Westeros, do you know me?"

"Mick's girlfriend, Jerry Hall, right?" Simon patted beside him with an inexplicable smile on his face, and said, "Didn't Mick come over tonight?"

"He's in England," Jerry Hall responded casually, sat down beside Simon, nodded politely to Ovitz, then turned his attention to Simon again, and found a topic: "Wes Mr. Turow, I heard that "Batman" is going to be finished soon?"

"Yeah, besides, just call me Simon."

Simon nodded in response, remembering that Jerry Hall played the wife of the gangster disfigured by the clown in the first part of Keaton's version of "Batman", and felt that things were very interesting.At the same time, I have to say that this woman who has been able to trap Mick Jagger, the founder of the romantic Rolling Stones, for many years is also really beautiful. She is in her early thirties at this time, and she is at the peak of her appearance.

"It's an honor, Simon," Jerry Hall changed his words, and approached him without any trace, and said, "You can also call me Jerry."

A figure of a small mouse with big ears appeared in Simon's mind, and said with a smile: "It sounds like a boy's name."

"I can't help it. There are five sisters in our family, and my father wants a boy like crazy."

"Did his wish come true?"

"No."

Simon gave a sympathetic look.

After chatting and laughing, noticing that Ovitz was a little impatient, Simon raised his glass to Jerry Hall and said, "Jerry, Mr. Ovitz and I still have something to talk about."

Jerry Hall took out a business card from his bag and handed it over generously, saying, "I'll be in Los Angeles these days, Simon, maybe we can have coffee together sometime."

Simon took the woman's business card, nodded and said, "Okay."

Seeing that Simon didn't intend to leave his business card, Jerry Hall stood up tactfully, and nodded to Ovitz again.

Michael Ovitz ignored the woman who had just left, looked at the young man across the street casually putting the business card into his shirt pocket, and finally said: "Simon, Barry and the four of them are all transferred to WMA, and everyone's previous unhappiness is over. ,what do you think?"

Simon had guessed many of Ovitz's countermeasures, but he didn't expect him to propose such a solution.

However, letting Barry Levinson and others all jump to WMA seems to be the best way to resolve the grievances between the two parties. The close relationship between Simon and WMA is well known.By doing this, Ovitz can also protect the careers of his clients to the greatest extent.

However, Simon didn't mean to nod, and said, "Michael, I'm actually not a person who holds grudges too much. I won't send someone with a baseball bat to force the opponent into an alley and beat him up just because of a few quarrels. You want I understand that with the resources I have now, if I want to target a person, his fate will definitely not be very good. However, I am not a person who is good at forgiving. Those guys who have provoked me, all I ask is that they never Don't appear in my field of vision again."

"Simon, Barry and the others don't appear in front of your eyes every day."

"Michael, you should understand what I mean. Now most of Hollywood is in my field of vision. Of course, there are still some corners left. I don't plan to look at the past. Too perfect is not good. So, they can stay there."

Michael Ovitz thinks of Paramount.

If the young man in front of him is willing to give up the rift caused by the two scripts being robbed, Paramount will definitely not mind turning to Daenerys Entertainment.

And maybe MGM, or even the declining Orion, but he clearly doesn't intend to.

Just to not strive for perfection.

From the past few contacts, Michael Ovitz could realize that Simon is a person with a tendency to perfectionism.Now, when a perfectionist stops striving for perfection, it doesn't necessarily mean that the person starts to mess up or degenerate, he may become stronger.

After all, nothing is perfect in this world.

After another moment of silence, Ovitz finally said dejectedly: "Simon, if Barry and the others leave C, will the matter be settled?"

Simon nodded: "C has many excellent filmmakers, and I am actually looking forward to working with you."

Now that the decision has been made, Ovitz stopped dragging his feet and said: "In this case, you must also ensure that WMA will not poach people from C."

"It's impossible for me to agree to something like this, Michael, I'm just closer to Jonathan, and WMA is not my company. This is a competition between your talent agency companies."

It is actually beneficial to Simon to maintain the state of competition among major talent agency companies, and he certainly cannot limit this.

Michael Ovitz also realized something, stopped talking, got up and stretched out his hand to Simon, and the two shook hands, a tacit understanding was reached.Leaving the party hall, Ovitz got into the car waiting outside the Four Seasons Hotel, and directly dialed the numbers of Barry Levinson and others through the car phone.

Simon didn't know how Ovitz communicated with Barry Levinson and others, but the next day, Hollywood spread the word that Barry Levinson, Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise and Meg The news that Ryan's four first-line filmmakers are about to leave C.

Things were quickly confirmed by C.

However, the official caliber to the outside world is that the four of Barry Levinson chose to leave C for their own career development.

Subsequently, Barry Levinson quickly disclosed his new project "Avalon" in cooperation with Paramount Pictures, with a budget of 1500 million US dollars and plans to release it next year.

Dustin Hoffman expressed his intention to take a year off from acting and go to the UK to act in a stage play.Immediately afterwards, news spread in the circle that Hoffman's roles in Warren Beatty and Disney's new film "The Greatest Detective" have all been deleted.

Tom Cruise's manager, Paula Wagner, joined her client in exiting C, announcing the creation of Cruise Wagner Productions via a Los Angeles Times announcement.

Meg Ryan just became popular with "When Harry Met Sally" last year, and she is the most shallow of the four.

After the incident, Meg Ryan's public relations manager also announced his resignation immediately. Talent agencies big and small in Hollywood didn't intend to extend an olive branch to her. Sister acts as its agent and public relations spokesperson.

Immediately, some paparazzi discovered that Meg Ryan's boyfriend, Dennis Quaid, who had been dating for more than a year, appeared intimately with another unknown actress in a bar in West Hollywood. Facing the paparazzi's questioning, Dennis Quaid confessed Recently broke up with Meg Ryan.

Compared with Michael Ovitz's "infantry soldier" incident, which is still being picked up by the media piecemeal, Barry Levinson and four people left C, but the major mainstream newspapers in North America showed an abnormal silence, appearing in the page The above are just some official announcements that are not painful.

Most of the public who are not sensitive to gossip will only think that these people may choose to leave C because they are dissatisfied with Ovitz, who has been attacked by the media recently.

Of course, there has never been a shortage of tabloids in the circle who want to hype up big news to attract attention, but these newspapers usually have very low attention, and they don't dare to blatantly pick out the inside story of the matter, just hinting a few words in a half-covered manner .

Speaking carefully, tabloids actually know better what kind of people can provoke and what kind of people cannot be provoked.

If Simon Westeros is just a simple director, no matter how hyped it is.

Public figures are used for speculation.

However, when the director was still a super rich man with a net worth of billions of dollars and the sky in Hollywood, in order to avoid being sued for bankruptcy, various gossip newspapers did not dare to be too blatant.

As for Hollywood, in the face of media inquiries about Barry Levinson and others' departure from C, even stars with big mouths in the past remained silent.

Simon Westero's effort this time is almost an understatement, but it really made many people realize that after the era of big studios, another powerful Hollywood figure who can be called a "tycoon" was born.

In recent years, the executives of various studios have basically maintained a flattering attitude towards Hollywood's first-line stars in order to win them over to appear in their own films. Good Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Barbra Streisand et al.

Now, instead of lowering his stance and taking the initiative to make friends with celebrities, Simon Westero has knocked down several of the hottest first-line celebrities in Hollywood.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that as long as Simon Westeros does not let go, even Barry Levinson, Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise and Meg Ryan can still rely on their previous fame Lost in Hollywood but without the resources they once had easy access to, their careers are doomed to decline.

Several parties involved accepted the reality in disgrace, and did not openly challenge Simon Westeros, but also understood their situation.

After all, Simon Westero didn't do everything right after all, and if he jumped out to provoke him at this time, it would be tantamount to making life difficult for himself.In the days that followed, when I saw a young man who seemed to be always plain and modest, as if he didn't seem to be aggressive at all, even some celebrities who were used to rebelliousness couldn't help but feel a little awe in their hearts.

Things keep coming.

The circle is still whispering about the inside story of Barry Levinson and others leaving C. The release of the new Forbes 400 richest people in the United States immediately triggered another storm of public opinion.

Chapter 289 The Richest Man (Revised)

Until a few days before the finalization of the new issue of the magazine, Malcolm Forbes, the second-generation head of "Forbes" magazine, was still discussing with the editorial team this year's ranking of the 400 richest people in the United States.

Compared with previous years, one obvious difference on this year's local list is the withdrawal of Sam Walton.

Due to the continued deterioration of his physical condition, Sam Walton has officially dispersed and transferred the shares in his name to the family trust and the names of several children at the beginning of this year.

If Sam Walton did not transfer his shares, the retail tycoon's assets of more than 80 billion US dollars would definitely continue to sit firmly on the No.1 throne of the US wealth list.Now, although the Walton family will be counted as a whole on the "Forbes" global list to be released next month, the position of the richest man on the local list has become a question that many people pay close attention to.

During this period of time, Malcolm Forbes has received countless calls about this matter. Many rich people look indifferent on the surface, but they are actually very fancy about their wealth ranking in their hearts.As the most authoritative wealth list in the world, "Forbes" magazine is also very cautious in determining the data of these lists.

After careful investigation and multi-party evidence collection and a lot of discussions among the editorial team, the new list is finally finalized.Malcolm Forbes also knows that this year's list is bound to spark plenty of controversy.

Saturday, April 9.

With the release of the new issue of "Forbes" magazine, Malcolm Forbes's phone kept ringing in his home in the wealthy area of ​​Farchers in the western suburbs of New York early in the morning. The first sentence many people spoke was' Mal, are you kidding us? '

Of course, the Forbes list cannot be a joke.

However, the name of a certain young man who topped the list this year made too many people feel a little dazzling.

Beverly Hills.

In the villa of Trousdale Manor, just after five o'clock on the west coast, Simon began to receive calls from all parties congratulating him on winning the top spot on this year's rich list, even Sophia from France and Janet from Australia They all called.