Chapter 146 (1/2)
After a short two-day break in Park City, Simon returns to Los Angeles, once again surrounded by busy work.
Santa Monica.
Simon, Amy and CAA president Michael owitz sit around the conference table in the conference room of Denise pictures headquarters. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss Denise pictures' upcoming films Rain Man and steel Magnolia.
The main production plan of ”Rain Man” has been finalized, leaving only some details. The two sides did not waste too much time on it.
When it comes to ”steel Magnolia”, the atmosphere becomes tense.
Danielis pictures wants to invite CAA director Herbert Ross and actress Sally Field, who are also the original creators of ”steel Magnolia.”. However, Michael owitz's offer was unacceptable to Simon.
”Michael, Herbert Ross and Sally field are packing 10 million dollars, which is too high. ”Steel Magnolia” is a group play. If I pay rose and field a lot of money, other actors will ask for more, and Denise pictures can hardly afford this project any more. So, we can offer Ross $5 million, and Ms. field only $1.5 million. ”
Herbert Roth is not only the director of the original steel magnolia, he is also the director of Michael Fox's North American box office of more than 60 million US dollars last year. Further on, Herbert Roth's 1984 song and dance film ”freedom” made 80 million US dollars in North America at the cost of 8 million US dollars, which also made the film company make a lot of money.
Hollywood director's status depends on the box office, so Herbert Roth is worth 5 million dollars.
However, although Sally Field won two best actress Oscars in 1979 and 1984, the actress has little box office appeal. Moreover, in the 1980s, few Hollywood actresses were worth more than $2 million. Considering that ”steel Magnolia” was a group play, Simon could only offer $1.5 million.
Michael owitz sniffed the words and fixed his eyes on Simon. This is his habitual gesture in the negotiation process. He said in a dissatisfied tone: ”Sally, but Simon, after two Oscars, do you think $1.5 million is possible?”
Simon was not affected by owitz's eyes at all. He said: ”it was a few years ago, Michael. We all know that no one in Hollywood can get a lifetime's first-line pay with one or two golden men. Compared with Ms. field's box office appeal, the $1.5 million is already very high.”
”It's impossible,” said Michael owitz, shaking his head and pausing. Then he slowed down a little and said, ”well, Simon, considering the specific circumstances of this film, I can make some concessions. Herbert is worth $6 million and Sally is worth $3 million. However, you have to agree to two other conditions. First, all the other supporting roles in the film are free To choose from CAA, second, Robin is still very interested in death poetry society. I hope you can give her the hero. ”
”If you insist on that, Michael, my answer is the same as yours. It's impossible. First of all, I'm not going to make steel Magnolia a package project of CAA. Secondly, Bob has agreed to play in the dead poets society, and I can't give Robin Williams the role any more. ”
Three weeks of small-scale screening has accumulated enough public praise. ”Good Morning Vietnam” officially opened on a large scale last Friday, and it took 11.75 million US dollars at the box office in three days over the weekend. The media predicted that the box office of the film in the fourth week will exceed 16 million US dollars. As a hot film destined to go on a long-term basis, ”Good Morning Vietnam” will soon break through 100 million US dollars in North America.
As a leading actor, Robin Williams has been promoted from a second-line actor to a first-line superstar.
At the end of last year, CAA temporarily changed its mind on the day of signing the contract, and Denise pictures failed to pick up the leak. Although Simon has some regrets, he doesn't plan to be led by CAA. At present, the company has reached an agreement with De Niro on the two film contracts of ”dead poets society” and ”sixth sense”. Although the contract has not been formally signed, Simon is unlikely to change his mind like CAA.
As their voices fell, neither of them spoke again. After a moment of stalemate, owitz relaxed and leaned back in his chair, saying, ”maybe we can only stop here for today's meeting.”
Simon stood up and held out his hand across the desk to owitz. ”Well, Michael, I hope we can work together again next time.”
Michael owitz was stunned. He didn't expect Simon to be more decisive than himself. This young man's saying obviously means that Denise pictures won't contact CAA on ”steel Magnolia” next. Even more, there is no turning point for the death poetry society.
He got up and shook hands with Simon, but Michael owitz said, ”Simon, you can't be impulsive in business. You can reconsider and call me at any time.”
”I think I've thought about it.”
”Good luck, then.”
Seeing owitz off, Simon sat back at the conference table, raised his wrist, looked at his watch, and said to Amy Pascal, ”give up Herbert Ross and Sally field. Let's pick from wma and ICM.”Considering Herbert Ross and Sally Field's status, Denise pictures has a budget of $15 million for steel Magnolia. But according to owitz's offer, the film budget will definitely expand to $20 million or even $25 million.
In the original time and space, the North American box office scale of ”steel Magnolia” was US $80 million. Even according to the production budget of US $25 million, danilisi pictures can still make a profit. However, relative to the total investment of the company's planned independent distribution, Simon can only expect the subsequent distribution of other channels to bring profits, which will greatly extend the payback cycle.
Amy Pascal likes steel magnolia, a story about women's lives in small Southern towns in the United States, but her expectation of the box office is far lower than Simon's. For commercial reasons, Amy actually wants to make the film a low-cost film with a budget of less than $10 million.
So, hearing Simon's words, Amy didn't retort, but said something else: ”Simon, we need to talk about the company.”
Simon regained his spirits and said, ”what's the matter?”
Amy handed over a folder and said, ”look at it first. In short, the company's capital is not enough.”
Simon took over the folder and opened it. There were budget statements and other expense statements for a series of danilisi film projects.
Apart from when Harry meets Sally and vulgar novel, which have basically completed the post production, Denise pictures has officially approved six films, including instinct, scream, steel magnolia, thunderbolt blue angel, Rain Man and death poetry club.
Among them, except that instinct, with a budget of $20 million, is co produced by Denise pictures and fox pictures, all the other five films are invested by Denise pictures alone.
The budget sizes of the five films range from US $10 million to US $25 million, with a cumulative funding requirement of US $75 million. With the money set aside, the $100 million loan danilisi pictures received from Wells Fargo left only $25 million.
But of the 25 million dollars, just buying out the copyright of ”baby thunderbolt” cost 7 million dollars. In the transaction with Lianmei, the cost of the two plays of ”Hobbit” and ”Rain Man” is 2 million dollars. Recently, the total cost of purchasing copyright such as ”Spider Man” and ”Ninja Turtle” has also cost millions of dollars. Considering the company's operating expenses in all aspects, Danni is now in a good position Liz pictures has just over $10 million of working capital left.
Amy looked at Simon, who was reading the document, and added: ”death came down last week. The cumulative box office in North America is $72.61 million. According to the contract, we can get 10% of the box office share next month, which is $7.26 million. However, if we want to buy the ”Lord of the rings” series copyright according to your offer to Saul zaenz, or the ”fairy diamond” in the hands of the Tolkien Heritage Foundation, we certainly don't have enough money. The scripts you picked out in Park City, the planned TV shows, and the publicity costs of the future scream movies, all of which require a lot of investment. Simon, I can feel your eagerness for many things, but I think you should slow down. You're only 20 next month, and you have plenty of time for most people in Hollywood. ”