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A photo quickly appeared on the projection screen.

Nicole Kidman.

In the photo, Nicole is wearing a close-fitting silver silk low-cut long dress, with a fur waistcoat on her shoulders, golden wavy hair, and flaming red lips. At a glance, she gives people the glamorous and dazzling feeling of an actress in the golden age of Hollywood.

Seeing the people around him looking at the screen together, Simon said: "According to my personal understanding, the greed, crime, corruption, and depravity of the City of Angels described in the book... In the final analysis, it is all because of it. And the desire of men and women is undoubtedly the easiest thing to do." One that makes people feel. The heroine Lynn Bracken, as a high-end call girl, seems to have a small role, but she is not only a key to promote the development of the storyline, but also the city of angels in this movie. A symbol of everyone. This is the reason why the candidate for this role is shown first. Therefore, regardless of the setting in the book, I think she should be around 30 years old, with the temperament of an actress in the golden age of Hollywood, and can simultaneously trigger A man's desire to conquer and protect, Nicole is the one that satisfies me the most in every way."

The original Kim Basinger, Simon is really indifferent.

Moreover, Kim Basinger won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in "LA Confidential", which is obviously mostly due to public relations. Not to mention other things, Julian Moore's performance in "Boogie Nights" in the same year was enough to shake off Basinger was several blocks away, but it was a pity that the producer of "Boogie Nights" was New Line Films, which basically had no public relations capabilities. Julianne Moore did not have as strong contacts and qualifications as Basinger in Hollywood, so it was a pity that he lost.

Linda Vargas kept switching Nicole's poses specially made for this movie, Brian De Palma seriously appreciated the taste, and Ella Deutschman whispered to Simon: "Boss! , Ms. Kidman's salary should be too high?"

Since Gaomen Pictures is going to be responsible, Ella Deutschman knew in advance that his boss planned to spend 3000 million to 4000 million to finish the film.

This is really stressful.

First of all, Brian De Palma's director's salary needs 500 million US dollars. Now, the heroine uses Nicole Kidman. This actress started from "Pulp Fiction" and later "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" series vase From the heroine to the Poison Ivy in the "Batman" series, it reached its peak, and now the quotation for commercial films also starts at 500 million US dollars.

Even if Gaomen Pictures is in charge, "LA Confidential" cannot be regarded as a literary film. This is the low salary of an artistic film.

Simon shook his head slightly when he heard Deutschman's question: "Linda has already negotiated with Nicole, $300 million, plus an Oscar for supporting actress."

Lynn Bracken is definitely the heroine in "LA Confidential". However, because there are not many roles, it is no problem to say that she is a female supporting role. Kim Basinger used to be the leading actress and reported supporting female supporting role. , otherwise, if you sign up for the heroine, it will definitely be useless.

300 million US dollars is acceptable.

It's just that, before the filming started, it was unavoidably rash to promise someone an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

What if it can't be fulfilled?

Ella Deutschman thought so, and was even more worried about the back.

If they are all of Nicole Kidman's level of casting, let alone a budget of 4000 million, 5000 million US dollars may not be able to finish the filming.

Such a black crime drama that is definitely not short and the subject matter is not popular, the cost reached 5000 million, plus the publicity and distribution of at least 2000 million US dollars, the global box office will take 15 million to 2 million US dollars to pay back.

Frankly, Ella Deutschmann has no confidence at all.

Maybe it's better to shoot "The Black Dahlia". After all, the copyright is also in the hands of Daenerys, and the reputation is much higher than that of "LA Confidential", so it is easier to succeed.

Simon ignored Deutschman's concerns. He knew the budget of "LA Confidential" was 3500 million, which was comparable to the original version. The main reason is that Nicole is actually the biggest name in this movie, and the salary of 300 million is also the highest. .

After discussing a few words, Palma also expressed his approval of Nicole's casting, and Linda turned to the next one.

Simon continued to explain in person: "On the surface, Jack Vincens seems to be a bad policeman, slick and sophisticated, seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, and even used a game-like attitude to hang out in the Los Angeles Police Department, but he did not completely abandon himself as a policeman. In the end, he took the initiative to help two young people track down the truth, so he died. This is a very complicated person. I prefer Kevin Spacey to play this role. He had a very wonderful performance in "Seven Deadly Sins" , and won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor last year with another "The Usual Suspects."

Compared with the later "Black Dahlia", the previous "LA Confidential" was most successful in the selection of characters. The three male protagonists, two of whom are Oscar winners, successfully supported the film.

For the role of the original Kevin Spacey, Simon remains the same this time.

As for the messy things about Spacey in his memory, Simon can't care so much. If he cares about these things, there are really not many people who can use them in Hollywood. Kevin Spacey was just picked out.Occasionally, Simon even thought that it would be better to find the Weinstein brothers who had been wandering around at this time. After all, they were also a pair of talents, but thinking that the two brothers were too difficult to suppress, he gave up.

Except for Nicole who has just been directly finalized by Simon, Simon did not make a decision on Kevin Spacey, but asked Palma and Deutschman to contact Spacey in person. If they are not satisfied, they really want to change, and It's okay to come up with an actor who is more satisfying to Simon.

Next, Ed Exley, who used to star in Guy Pearce, and Russell Crowe, who was actually the number one actor, starred in Bud White. Simon didn't force it. On the basis of the original two actors, he also recommended others. There are several candidates, the standard is that the salary is cheap and the acting skills are good enough.

Among them, Bard, who struggles with his irritable personality and has a cold side, Simon recommended Hugh Jackman this time.

"Contact", which is about to start filming next week, struggled for a long time last year for one of the original priest roles starring Matthew McConaughey. Simon didn't think Matthew McConaughey was like a priest at all, and finally found it in Australia. One candidate that satisfies Simon is none other than Hugh Jackman.

Uncle Wolf is a gentleman, it is more than enough to play a handsome and personable priest.

However, Uncle Wolf went berserk, with a size of 1.9 meters and muscles all over his body, it was more than enough to play a Bard who happened to be such an image in the original book.

Of course there is no Wolverine now. Linda is showing the posters and shots of Hugh Jackman starring in a TV series "The Barracks" in Australia two years ago. In this series, Hugh Jackman, who plays a prisoner, has short hair, Stubble, tattoos, gloomy and cold eyes, the shape can almost be used directly as Bud White.Compared with Russell Crowe, the temperament of youthful irascibility and childhood trauma is more obvious.

In addition, Matthew McConaughey entered Ed Exley's alternative this time.

Ella Deutschman felt that Nicole Kidman was too expensive at first, but at the end, she felt that a group of candidate actors was too low. After Linda finished introducing, she said again: "Simon, Bud's role , I think we can let Pete try, after all, he is the number one male lead," Deutschman added after seeing Palma look over, "It's Brad Pitt."

Simon shook his head immediately: "Actually, I have also considered that Pete's Superman image is too deep. To change the audience's potential impression, a certain contrast must be formed, so I let him appear in "Face Changing". If it is this movie, he It is not suitable for Bud, who is always positive, but you can try the role of Ed, the problem is that Ed is actually the third male lead, and he is not as important as Lynn, so Pete's position and salary are too high."

Deutschman said: "Pete took the initiative to contact me a few times. He has always hoped to open up his own acting path outside of Superman. The salary is not a problem. Simon, let him try it, Bud and Ed, take a look." Effect."

Simon thought about it for a while, and said: "Space's salary is 150 million US dollars. If Pete wants to participate, whether it is Bud or Ed, the film salary cannot exceed this figure, otherwise there will be no discussion."

Deutschman thought for a while, nodded and said, "It should be fine."

Simon said with a smile: "Then you'd better sign the contract before "Face Changing" is released, I am very optimistic about "Face Changing"."

If the new version of "Face Changing" starring Brad Pitt in the summer file is successful, the actor has broken through the shackles of "Superman" to a certain extent, and talking about the project will not be so easy to talk about.

Deutschman understands.

Afterwards, several people discussed the details of the script, preliminary preparations, etc. The time seemed to be insufficient again, and it was already noon in a blink of an eye.The main points that should be said have been pointed out, and the others are all in charge of Deutschman and Palma. Simon only needs to finalize some key points.

Because I was too involved in the discussion, I left the meeting room, and it was already past 12 o'clock.

Simon casually invited Deutschman and Palma to have lunch together, and he realized it after he went out. There was also a pair of little sisters who were almost forgotten by him, so he could only shout together.However, when entering the restaurant dedicated to executives in the studio, in order to avoid some topics being heard by the two little girls, Simon still sent a girl to accompany them to another table, and sat with Palma and the others.

So until after lunch, while continuing to work in the afternoon, Simon asked Linda Vargas to arrange a small audition for Scarlett's sister Vanessa.

The results were disastrous.

Compared with her sister, Vanessa is only in better shape, and in terms of performance, according to Linda's original words, she is similar to wood.

However, this is not a problem for Simon.

Acting skills are something that most people learn as an afterthought. There are very few Hollywood stars who dare to say that they have never taken acting classes.

He told Linda to arrange an acting class for Vanessa, and Simon also gave a small incentive. If the acting skills meet the standard by then, he can get a female high school girl in Daenerys' comet hitting the earth blockbuster "Clash of Heaven and Earth". The original character was Lily Sobieski's character.

Ok.

Speaking of which, Lily Sobieski is more in line with Simon's aesthetics than Vanessa.

It is not difficult to guess by looking at the name.

He simply asked his casting director to look for it. The little girl is 14 years old this year, and she is also a child star. It is easy to find, so she arranged to receive it in the bowl in advance, so as not to be caught by others.

Chapter 1087 Distinct Hierarchy

New York, Metropolitan Opera House.

This is the last show of the song and dance performance of "The Book of Songs" by Guofeng Art Troupe on Saturday, January 1.Simon came to the west coast to visit pregnant women as usual on the weekend, and by the way, he accompanied Grace to watch the show live for the first time tonight.

At the end of the performance, Simon didn't mean to meet the art troupe, and left quietly with Grace and Bryce Levison who came over together.

I came to a nearby temporarily booked restaurant for supper.

After ordering and returning the menu to the waiter, Bryce Levison glanced at a man and a woman sitting opposite each other, and subconsciously said in a sour tone: "I think the performance just now is very ordinary, it's just someone It’s just a group of goblins I raised, I really don’t understand why so many people are chasing after it recently.”

Simon ignored it directly.

With a smile on the corner of her mouth, Grace looked at Simon and said softly: "I saw an article in the "New York Times", saying that it was a Chinese classical dance performance at the Metropolitan Opera House in the past two months, but scalpers resold tickets and made money. More than $100 million."

Simon nodded: "I heard that too."

Since its premiere on December 12 last year, the Guofeng Art Troupe has held one show every Wednesday and Saturday, until today, a total of 7 shows. Because of the quality of the show itself and the hype surrounding the event, the popularity has been getting higher and higher, resulting in Tickets for each performance are hard to come by, and the result is that the scalpers are cheap.

Preliminary statistics show that the total ticket revenue for the 9 performances at the Metropolitan Opera House was only 530 million US dollars, and the off-site scalpers earned more than 100 million through selling tickets at a premium. The performance of the art troupe has attracted more attention.

In fact, scalpers are very common on Broadway.

The Guofeng Art Troupe can only be regarded as a "small scene" this time. In Simon's memory, the phenomenon-level musical "Hamilton" premiered in 2015. During the most popular period, the scalpers who made profits by reselling tickets started here in a year. 'Squeeze' on the play took 6000 million US dollars.

Bryce only looks through fashion magazines at most on weekdays, but he doesn't care what the newspapers say. Hearing this, he changes his attitude: "If this is the case, why don't you increase the price?"

Simon took a sip of his coffee.

Grace helped to explain: "Once the ticket price of a Broadway show is determined, it cannot be changed casually. After all, a show cannot be popular for a long time. Once the price increase affects the attendance rate, it may trigger a chain reaction. In addition, scalpers raise the ticket price. It can play a role in publicity to a certain extent, giving people the impression that this drama is very popular."

Bryce felt that she had gained insight, and then she glanced at a guy who ignored her twice in a row: "Grace has been here for more than three months, what do you plan to do in the future?"

Simon finally replied this time: "Born, raised, and inherited the family business."

Bryce's eyes widened slightly: "That's it?"

"Is there any parent who isn't like that?"

"I mean," Bryce thought for a moment, and said, "You are also responsible to Gray."

"Of course, I can't give it to you except marriage. Everything else is fine."

"Then you will publicly admit this child?"

Simon said: "If Gray wants to make it public, then make it public."

Bryce was immediately dissatisfied: "You are just trying to shirk, Gray loves you so much, she will definitely not make it public for your sake."

"Okay, when the baby is born, I'll have a front page in the New York Times."

"I'll remember, don't try to play tricks then."

Grace finally interrupted: "Stop it, Bryce, I don't want my child to be stared at by the media all day long."

Bryce stared at Grace resentfully: "You're just helping him escape, it's hopeless."

After supper, it was already approaching ten o'clock. Simon wanted to take the two women back to the apartment on Fifth Avenue, but Grace insisted on going home. The woman changed her place again after she became pregnant. The location is near Park Avenue on 66th Street, a 15 The large flat floor on the 11th floor in the multi-storey apartment building is mainly for privacy considerations.

They separated from each other in the underground parking lot of the building. After watching the two women enter the elevator with a pair of female guards, Simon told the driver to leave.

Inside the elevator.

Although there were two people standing beside him, Bryce couldn't help but said, "Why don't you go to spend the night with him?"

Through the windbreaker, Grace stroked her belly, which was already showing signs of pregnancy, and said, "You've been pregnant before, and you must know that women don't look good when they're pregnant. I don't want him to see it."

Bryce rolled her eyes immediately, and then said, "I look good when I'm pregnant."

Grace just smiled: "I just asked you to leave with him, why didn't you go?"

"I..." Bryce glanced at the two female guards behind him. He couldn't say that he couldn't stand a guy's torment by himself. I don't want to get pregnant suddenly."

Grace didn't answer this time.

However, I can be sure in my heart that unless there is an accident, my man will never let his best friend get pregnant. It's not because of morality, but because he actually cares about his offspring, but Bryce is by no means a very good girl. mother's choice.If she hadn't raised her two children, Rita and Lei, well, there probably wouldn't be a little one in her womb at all.

On the other side, bidding farewell to Grace and the two, Simon told the driver to go to a block at the intersection of Madison Avenue and 53rd Street in Midtown.

There is a 36-story high-end apartment building that was just completed last year.

The girls of the Guofeng Art Troupe needed a place to live when they came to perform in Manhattan. Coupled with the large number of surrounding service teams, Simon directly bought out this building that had not yet opened for sale as a dormitory apartment. The 36-story building, depending on the type of apartment, There are a total of 150 properties, which is more than enough for the Guofeng Art Troupe with a total of more than 200 maids and guards to live in.

In fact, that is to say, this building is a daughter country at this time.

Simon arrived, and the male bodyguards around him stayed outside the door. A pair of female guards directly under the Wei family took over the security work quietly. They took the elevator to the 32nd floor of the building and rang the doorbell to enter an apartment. Ms. Liu and Simon changed A little girl named MiuMiu lived here together.

Unexpectedly, Simon would come, a waitress who opened the door was quite surprised, and then a group of women who were chatting in the living room stood up one after another.

Simon looked over, except for the mother and daughter, the others should be the choreographers of the Guofeng Art Troupe.

"dad."

A certain little girl ran over first, with a happy expression, but she was inevitably timid when she came close.

Simon picked up MiuMiu, walked directly to the sofa and sat down, put the little girl on his lap, looked at five or six women around, and asked with a smile, "It's so late, what are you talking about?"

Simon spoke standard Mandarin, and the others still didn't realize that Westeros would suddenly enter the door. In the end, it was Ms. Liu who spoke first: "Simon, it's like this. Today's last show. In the past two months, the performances of the art troupe have been very good." Success, everyone can't sleep, so come and celebrate together."

"It's time to celebrate."

Simon nodded, and glanced at the open red wine and fruit salad on the coffee table: "It seems that I appeared at the wrong time to disturb you."

Ms. Liu shook her head quickly: "Of course not."

Seeing the flustered look of the woman, Simon changed his posture while holding the little girl in his arms, and said, "This performance is indeed very successful, and you will return to China for the New Year soon, so I will ask Chen to come up with a reward tomorrow." Everyone has a plan."

The women who still didn't dare to sit down showed joyful expressions, Ms. Liu said: "Simon, then, I will thank you for everyone."

"Don't be so polite," Simon smiled, resting his chin on the head of the little girl in his arms, causing the girl in his arms to struggle and chuckle, while looking at other women: "However, this celebration can only end here, or you You can take the wine to drink in other apartments."

When Simon said that, Ms. Liu's face immediately turned rosy, and the other women left with a sense of humor when they saw this.

However, the action is not so neat.

For Ms. Liu's mother and daughter, if other women say they are not envious, it is a lie.

Not to mention other things, just from the allocation of apartments in this building, the Guofeng Art Troupe can be said to have distinct classes.Let’s just say that the apartment where the mother and daughter live is two-story duplex, with six bedrooms and three living rooms, equipped with a bunch of maids and guards. The apartment in the living room, and there are no female maids and guards around, because they are service personnel themselves.

Therefore, at this moment, if a man says something to stay and continue to chat and drink a few drinks, even if there is some hesitation in their hearts, it is basically difficult for them to refuse.

Even, if it can go further...

It's a pity that the man didn't speak after all.