hunt hollywood

Since it is very clear that nothing can escape ups and downs, we should try our best to do the things in front of us well.

According to the script in hand and the information in memory, judging by the standard of pure popcorn movies, the quality of "Deep Cold" is actually above the passing line. There are no shortage of elements, and they can all leave a good impression on the audience.

The reason for the failure was largely due to Disney's mistakes in its distribution strategy during the downturn and chaos. Later, it proved that the sales of the film's videotapes and TV broadcasts were very good, and even China on the other side of the ocean introduced the film.

The laptop was placed on the round table at hand. Simon read the script, thought about it a little, and typed his opinion on "Deep Cold" on an email that he planned to send to Amy Pascal.

According to the memo on the script, Stephen Sommers hopes to direct the project himself, and plans to invite big names like Harrison Ford to make it a blockbuster. Shrewdly, he probably guessed Simon's idea of ​​deliberately suppressing the production rhythm of various foreign cooperation projects.

If Simon agrees that Sommers will direct "Deep Cold" himself, "The Mummy 2" will definitely be delayed.

For the "Mission Impossible" series, Simon really has this idea.

Even at the last celebration party, Edgar Bronfman Jr., chairman of the Seagram Group, came to speak in person, and Simon would not be merciful. The release interval between the first "Mission: Impossible" and "Mission: Impossible 2" To be precise, it is two and a half years. As for "Mission: Impossible 3", at least the interval is the same, and it will be released at the end of 1998 at the earliest.

The Mummy, which is a collaboration with Fox, is different.

The Westeros system and Fox News Corporation behind the scenes are allies. Simon does not intend to suppress the "Mummy" series. The production interval of "The Mummy 2" will be the standard two years, and it will be released in the summer of 1998.

On the other hand, Stephen Sommers is a director of commercial films that Simon is very interested in. He hopes that this filmmaker can further expand his ability and develop towards a producer. Sommers has been a screenwriter and director before. This time, I can test the waters with "Deep Cold". While directing "The Mummy 2", I also serve as the producer of "Deep Cold", and the project will be handed over to other directors.

In addition, Simon also hopes to keep the production cost of "Deep Cold" within the previous $5000 million. Preparations are now underway, and filming will start in the first half of next year. It may be released in Easter 1998.In fact, a more suitable schedule is the end of next year, but there is already "Titanic" at the end of next year, and Simon does not want to put this movie under the crush of a big ship.

Stephen Sommers will produce "Deep Cold" in the first half of next year, and "The Mummy 2" in the second half of the year, and the rhythm is just right.

After thinking about it for a while, I added a sentence that the heroine can consider Natasha Henstridge.

The original Famke Janssen is now the famous "Wonder Woman" and is not suitable to play a vase in such a movie. Natasha Henstridge is just right, and the fat water does not flow to outsiders.

After writing an email, Simon picked up another folder.

Here are a couple of film synopses about Jeter Lee's new project.

Simon roughly remembers several films that Jeter Lee made in Hollywood around 2000, and they were all quite successful commercially. The Kiss, Simon didn't like it too much.

The main reason is that none of these movies really showed the essence of Chinese Kung Fu.

Simon also knows that this is mainly due to cultural differences. Those who really speak for the relevant projects are Westerners, and Jeter Lee does not have such a high voice as Jack Cheng, who was promoted to the front line by virtue of the "Rush Hour" series. The action scenes in The Movie are generally leaning toward Western fights, sometimes degrading into more mediocre shootouts.

None of this is what Simon wants to see.

For the planned "Hero", Simon has just sent his ideas to China recently, and the script is still being created. Moreover, it is impossible to start shooting such a big project in the short term. Simon does not intend to let Jet Li Bai wait for a year, so Personal intervention gave considerable authority to let Jeter himself and the screenwriter team of New World Pictures actively explore new projects.The condition is a budget of 2500 million US dollars, and Jeter Lee will also name the producer himself. As for the degree of participation, it depends on the enthusiasm of the other party.

What Simon wants is the real Chinese Kung Fu in Hollywood, not fighting and gunfights.

The information in hand is the result of the recent brainstorming over there.

There are no eye-catching ideas, and the setting basically revolves around kung fu masters from China who go to the United States to visit relatives and friends or investigate criminals, etc., rampant in Hollywood and kill the Quartet.

After browsing through several story outlines, Simon drew a cross directly behind.

I still plan to come by myself.

After all, most of the good ideas actually come from the material accumulation of the creators themselves.In terms of accumulation, there is probably no more Simon in Hollywood who has more than a dozen personal memories in his mind, and he is also more professional.

Just picked up another script with "Saving Private Ryan" on the cover, and there were light footsteps in my ears. The delicate little girl like a doll came to Simon holding a fruit plate, and looked at Simon with a pair of dark eyes. : "Dad, this is what Mom prepared."

The tone of the little girl calling Daddy is much more natural than some unscrupulous little girl who obviously called 'Sugar Daddy'.

Simon patted his knee with a smile, let the little girl sit on his lap, hugged the little person in his arms, continued to look at the script in his hand, and said in Chinese: "MiuMiu, are you used to living in the United States? "

The little girl sat on Simon's lap, still holding the fruit plate, obediently picked up a piece of apple and brought it to Simon's mouth, and carefully put back the toothpick. Hearing Simon's question, she nodded her head and said, "Very good, every day There are delicious food and many beautiful clothes to wear. Last weekend, my mother and I took a private plane to London, but it has been raining in London, not as good as New York."

Simon ate a piece of apple, saw the little girl brought over another piece of pineapple, bit it again, and said, "It's raining here in New York, you'll meet it sooner or later."

"No, that is, the weather in London is always cloudy, and the streets and people are also cloudy."

Simon didn't expect this girl's feeling for London to be quite accurate, and said with a smile: "Since I don't like it, I won't go there in the future."

"Well," the little girl said, and continued to deliver fruit to Simon's mouth. She restrained herself from eating a piece, and said, "Dad, can you spare some time to hang out with my mother?"

Simon turned a page of the script in his hand and asked, "Where do you want to go?"

The little girl said: "You can go anywhere, as long as you are with Dad."

Simon lowered his head and looked at the little girl with beautiful eyes flashing in his arms, and smiled. After realizing that this was probably what the little girl's mother taught him, he turned his head and saw that a certain woman was standing at the door of the villa not far away, looking at her. Looking at this side, seeing Simon noticed himself, he hesitated for a while, and walked over without waiting for the man to call.

Seeing her mother coming, the little girl turned her eyes around her mother and Simon, jumped off Simon's lap, and handed the remaining half of the fruit plate to her mother: "Mom, talk to Dad, I'll do it." homework."

When the girl ran away and disappeared into the villa door, Simon smiled and patted his leg. Ms. Liu blushed a little, hesitated a little, and leaned over to sit down, feeling the man's strong arms around her waist, and she got used to it a little. Soon he relaxed, and while continuing his daughter's work to deliver fruit to Simon's mouth, he actively searched for a topic: "Are you reading the script?"

Compared with the shirt and trousers that Simon had when he arrived before noon, the woman put on a dark green sleeveless silk dress that showed her figure, and she was born in dancing. She was sitting in the arms of the man, with a soft figure and elegant temperament. The pleasant woman's fragrance made Simon, who had been abstinent for nearly a week, feel a little ready to move.

"Yeah." Seeing the woman looking for a topic, Simon nodded and asked, "Isn't it summer vacation now, what homework does MiuMiu do? Also, has her school been confirmed in advance?"

"The school has been confirmed. I have arranged summer tutoring for MiuMiu. I have to learn about various courses in the United States."

Simon shook his head and said, "There's no need for this. Girls need to be rich and don't need to do so much homework."

The woman nodded obediently and agreed, "You...let her call you father, you have the final say."

"Then just leave the English class, as long as you can communicate with the children here in the future." Simon said, smiling again, and continued: "Actually, the Chinese are smarter than most of the children of the same age here, and they have accumulated more experience." Too many, there is no need for tutoring, otherwise the other children will have no way out."

The woman obviously didn't know this, and she had some doubts: "No way?"

"After a long time, you will know."

"Well," the woman agreed again, hesitated a little, and asked again: "Simon, will you be here this weekend?"

"Yeah, I'll go to the art troupe tomorrow to see if they are lazy." Simon looked at the woman's fair and slender neck and said half-jokingly, "And you, are you lazy?"

Feeling the man's gaze, the blush on the woman's face became more intense, and she said, "No, we have been working hard on creating and choreographing dances during this time, and sometimes we are busy until late at night, and we all don't want to let you down expectations."

It has been exactly one month since the Guofeng Art Troupe arrived in the United States.

This month, if I have to describe it, compared to the previous life, everyone seems to have stepped into heaven in one step, and the life of a princess in a fairy tale is probably nothing more than this.

As long as the IQ is normal, no one will take this generous gift for granted for no reason.

Therefore, for the tasks assigned by Simon, the whole team is doing their best, and no one dares to slack off, for fear that the public performance at the end of the year will be messed up, and all the crystal shoes and pumpkin carts will disappear. After enjoying the luxury at this time, whether it is The girls of the Guofeng Art Troupe are still hired choreographers to come to the United States, and they absolutely don't want to go back to their previous lives.

In order to achieve this goal, any effort is worthwhile.

Compared with the Guofeng Art Troupe, the mother and daughter here feel like they are falling into a dream. If you use the simplest measure, the treatment that the mother and daughter enjoy is ten times that of the girls in the Guofeng Art Troupe.Waking up in the bedroom of this seaside manor villa many times, Ms. Liu would wonder if she was dreaming.

Even if it is a dream, of course the longer the dream lasts, the better.

So also dare not have the slightest slack.

After chatting intimately in this gesture for a while, confirming that Simon will be here this weekend, Ms. Liu did not dare to ask for anything else, and returned to the villa with an empty fruit plate, leaving time for the man to be alone.

Simon's attention was also refocused on the script in front of him.

"Saving Private Ryan", an epic war blockbuster released in 1998 directed by Spielberg, once historically achieved a global box office of nearly 7000 million US dollars at a production cost of 5 million US dollars, and was also the North American box office champion in 1998.

Even compared to "Titanic" in 1997 and "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" in 1999, the North American box office of "Saving Private Ryan" was more because 2 was a small year for movies. , but since he can win the annual championship, such an achievement should not be underestimated after all.

Simon the big butterfly doesn't fan the script.

However, because of the strength of Daenerys Entertainment in Hollywood, the best scripts will naturally flow into Daenerys Entertainment first, and this time is no exception.

As a war movie, the script of "Saving Private Ryan" is actually not that popular. Since a series of Vietnam War-themed movies in the 80s, Hollywood has not seen a big-selling war movie for many years, and the production budget of war movies is usually Both are very large and risky, which also limits the investment of the studio.

In the original time and space, if it weren't for Spielberg, it would be difficult for this movie to appear on the big screen.

Now, history has changed, and the script of "Saving Private Ryan" was successfully cut by Daenerys Entertainment, and Simon has to consider how to deal with this project.

Spielberg still owes Daenerys Entertainment a film contract inherited from the Universal era, but the gap between the two parties in the "Jurassic Park" series is very deep. The director's restrictions on fulfilling the film contract are also very broad. According to the agreement, it doesn't matter if Spielberg delays the film contract for another ten or eight years.

In addition, Spielberg is now focusing on the operation of DreamWorks, and it is unlikely that he will let the other party take over the project.

That being the case, Simon could only consider other options.

According to Daenerys Entertainment's film list arrangement, there is little hope of launching this project in the short term, and Simon will not give up making this film history classic. This is actually in line with Simon's concept of maintaining diversity in Hollywood, but this time, " Saving Private Ryan is obviously not going to be released in 1998, and a long-term plan must be considered.

Chapter 969 Two Victors (Repair)

"Victor, I have officially expelled the team of ex-French President Mitterrand's son Christophe in Luanda, which is enough to show my sincerity. So, what I want to know is that Kamega will visit the United States next month , What is the intention behind it?"

Angola.

Inside the presidential palace in the capital Luanda.

After a sumptuous luncheon, Angolan President José dos Santos was having a private meeting with Victor Merisis in a luxuriously decorated reception room.

Victor Merisis, who recommended himself at the beginning, has gained more and more trust from Simon over the past year. Similarly, because of Merisis' Angolan nationality, even though he is a standard white man, it is still easier to enter Angola high-level.

Victor Merisis, who was busy at the plantation today, suddenly received a lunch invitation from the president. He had already expected this question.

Fundamentally, the situation in Africa has not improved since the Rwanda war two years ago.

Speaking only of Angola, the opposition Savimbi armed forces entrenched in the south of Angola are still active even though their living space has been reduced to a minimum, and sometimes have some conflicts with government forces. In the east, the relationship between Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo has also begun to deteriorate. War may break out.

On the other hand, Angola's economy has been in the lowest state due to the perennial civil war.Even if Africa's products are rich enough, there will always be people who are hungry. Once people are hungry, they can do anything.

All in all, the dos Santos regime in Angola is far less secure than some might make it out to be.

Victor Merisis leaned on the comfortable leather sofa with a cigar in his hand, and waited for a petite black maid to leave the room as silently as a cat after delivering the coffee, and then said: "Mr. President, this is actually Obviously, the United States has decided to overthrow Mobutu of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In fact, since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, this is an inevitable trend. The world now has only the United States as a superpower. Although it seems that there is the United Nations as a check and balance, this containment The effect is actually very small, and the United Nations is powerless to stop what the United States wants to do."

Dos Santos's eyes flickered, both confirmed and a little worried, on the surface he quickly showed his white teeth to Merisis, and asked with a smile: "In this case, Victor, what do you think we should do? "

"Oh, Mr. President, I'm just a farmer, and frankly, it's not something I can dictate."

"So, what does Mr. Westeros mean?"

"The boss will definitely be very concerned about this matter, but how about it..." Victor Merisis paused a bit when he said this, and he didn't overwhelm the appetite of the African head of state: "I can only say, Mr. President , if you have any ideas, I can send a message to ask."

"As I said just now, to expel Mitterrand's son's team and completely cut off the arms deal with France is my attitude," Dos Santos said: "I have also understood one thing in the past two years. It is definitely a very good choice to cooperate with Mr. Westeros."

"Yeah," Victor Merisis also laughed, "Because our boss is just a businessman, as long as everyone has the same interests, we can coexist, and like France, they just want to continue to colonize Africa. This is absolutely intolerable."

Merisis's words were both a bit harsh and a reminder.

In fact, both sides know it well.

Since the establishment of relations with the Westeros system and the initial vigilance, Dos Santos has discovered many benefits. Before 1994, although the United Nations did not impose an embargo and sanctions on Angola, Angola wanted to obtain various Material, had to deal with difficult Western countries.

Just like France, Christophe Mitterrand, the son of former French President Mitterrand, once secretly mastered an arms export route from Eastern Europe to Angola through France as an intermediary. In order to obtain these arms, the Angolan government must give secret Trump's son has a lot of interests, and he has to be restrained by the French government.

After establishing contact with the Westeros system, although there is a relatively cheaper and more convenient channel for importing arms, the Angolan government still maintains relations with France in order to avoid constraints and other scruples.

Until the beginning of this year, Mitterrand passed away, and the influence of this evergreen French political tree disappeared. Coupled with the recent changes in Africa, Dos Santos, who had been observing the Westeros system for a long time, decided to choose a side. And it is very shrewd to stand on the side of the Westeros system, not the side of the United States that is too clear, even though Dos Santos has visited the United States before under the matchmaking of the Westeros system.

The benefits of doing this are obvious.

The powerful Westeros system has a very strong influence in the United States. Relying on the Westeros system is actually tantamount to relying on the United States. At the same time, Angola does not need to be constrained by the United States government too much. It needs to be transferred through the Westeros system.

As for Simon Westeros, dos Santos was actually very wary at first, after all, the young super-rich overthrew a government in Rwanda.

However, after a long period of observation, Dos Santos also gradually discovered the truth that Westeros intervened in the Rwanda War. It was not fundamentally to save the Tutsi refugees who had been massacred, but to show the strength of the Westeros system. Influence.In the final analysis, when did those white people in the West care about the life and death of black people?

Discovering this, on the contrary, reassured Dos Santos.

Dealing with Western countries may be abandoned at any time, just like the Mobutu regime in the Democratic Republic of the Congo at this time. However, cooperating with the Westeros system can obtain the benefits equivalent to cooperating with the United States without the need to cooperate with the U.S. The government is too deeply involved, and those politicians are more cannibal than businessmen, and they are ruthless.

In comparison, as long as the Dos Santos family guarantees the interests of the Westeros system in Angola and continues to deepen this interest relationship, then the Westeros system will be the most solid umbrella for the Dos Santos family, and, unless Simon Westeros intends to give up its own property in Angola, which is obviously not easy for Dos Santos, and the possibility of a breakup between the two parties is very small.

It was recently heard that the new Rwandan President Kamega plans to visit the United States next month, which strengthened Dos Santos's thinking.

The two chatted for more than an hour in the reception room. They promised to convey the sincerity of Angola to their boss as soon as possible, and Victor Merisis got up to leave.Dos Santos also made a good gesture and personally sent Merisis to a Soviet-made Mi-8 helicopter on the tarmac of the presidential residence.

There are almost no four seasons in Africa, only rainy and dry seasons.

Angola is in the dry season, and the drought this year is obviously more severe.

Victor Merisis left the capital of Angola in a Mi-8 helicopter, and overlooked the country along the way. All businesses were depressed and devastated, but his eyes did not fluctuate much.

It is about 900 kilometers away from the capital, Roanda, to Cuando Province, where Merisis is in charge of the plantation. The cruising speed of the Mi-8 helicopter is only a little over 200 kilometers per hour.

Of course, compared to the land route, this is already a rare fast.

At present, there is a team of 120 Weijia private troops stationed in the plantation, all of them are from Ukraine, and the team is led by another UFMS vice president, Victor Kostarev. Victor Kostarev is Simon Has been quietly supporting the UFMS executives who are used to check and balance Kerim Derevyanko. However, this Weijia private army executive who is also from the former Soviet special forces obviously prefers to go to the front line in person rather than following someone's orders Meaning what balance to play in Ukraine.

In fact, Victor Kostarev has no self-consciousness at all, and prefers to be a pure soldier.

Simon is also happy to hear this.

Because of its purity, Victor has a strong appeal in the Weijia private army, and has enough military loyalty, which also means that if there is a day, Simon needs Victor Kostarev to replace him. Kerim Derevyanko, the process will be quite smooth.

Although a tacit agreement has been reached with the Savimbi forces entrenched in the south almost bordering the plantation, the 600-square-kilometer plantation far away from Luanda is not peaceful because of the local separatism prevailing in African countries. The dilapidated and down-and-out areas in other areas, and the material-rich plantation area is simply a fat sheep, which will inevitably be coveted and harassed by armed forces in some places.

With 600 square kilometers of land, 120 Weijia private troops could not see it at all.

After receiving Simon's authorization, Victor Kostarev and Victor Merisis gathered a group of extra-staff guards here, the number of which was as many as 600, because they were all local residents of Angola, and there was no clear Most of the time, there are also incarnate farmers working in the plantation, so they didn't attract too much attention from the authorities.