The media and audience feedback that premiered by "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in Cannes was sent back to North America. Daenerys Entertainment immediately pushed the relevant news to various media platforms such as newspapers, TV and the Internet. "Hollywood Reporter" and "Variety Show" both gave very appreciative comments, and the first official trailer was also launched on the YouTube video website at the right time.

Everything is familiar.

In Hollywood now, Daenerys Entertainment is not only a large studio that attaches the most importance to marketing, but more importantly, the Westeros system also has a large amount of media resources.

Therefore, even if the final stage of a series of blockbuster bombs in the summer season is in full swing, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is still more than two months away from its release date on July 25. This movie is still at the moment when the North American film market coincides with the "Kung Fu Hot" and has attracted a lot of public attention.

On the other hand, in the summer season that started on May 16, the two new films "Police Story 4" and "Absolute Power" are also considered to be happy and some are worried.

"Police Story 4" is Jack Cheng's new film, continuing the popular "Police Story" series in Hong Kong. However, after the popularity of "Rush Hour" last year, the production specifications of "Police Story 4" were upgraded across the board, and the script was specially modified to cater to the Western market.

The project also attracted the attention of all parties in Hollywood and was eventually won by Disney, controlled by Vivendi.

The film was filmed around the world, and the final public promotion cost reached 25 million US dollars. North America started painting with 2,376 screens. On the first three days of the first weekend, thanks to Jack Cheng's popularity and a comprehensive media score of 7.8 points, it successfully won 17.81 million US dollars. The box office in the entire first week is expected to reach about 25 million US dollars.

It's a big sale.

As for the subsequent North American box office of the film, it depends on the subsequent box office curve. However, even if Disney gave very high conditions at the beginning, it would definitely make a fortune this time, which also made other Hollywood studios regret not being more bold when they offered the price last year.

Clint Eastwood's new film "Absolute Power" collaborated with Sony is in sharp contrast to "Police Story 4".

The production cost of $50 million and the screen size of 2,579 yuan is a crime thriller about a lone thief involved in a presidential murder that exposes evil and justice. The production is only $15.17 million in three days, and it is expected that the full first week will be around $20 million.

If the cost comparison of these two films starts at the beginning of the summer season, it will not be too much of a failure. Unfortunately, one cost 25 million, and the North American box office is conservatively estimated to reach 50 million US dollars, and the other is a budget of 50 million. There is little possibility that the local box office and cost will remain the same.

In general, the box office results for the first three days of the first week were that Disney made steady profits, and Jack Cheng's popularity in North America further stabilized. Even if Sony, which had a bumpy box office defeat, was disappointed again.

Los Angeles.

The result of Simon taking a break in China for a week was that the week he returned to North America was surrounded by a lot of work. Even if the new week on May 19 is coming, this is still the case.

Daenerys Cinema in Malibu.

After breakfast, Simon arrived at his office at 8:20, and Amy Pascal also arrived early, intending to talk about some things before the regular meeting of the senior management at 9 o'clock.

"About Godzilla, some other details are still under negotiation, but Toho requires a 30% investment share and there is no room for concession. Simon, if you have no problem here, can we sign the agreement recently?"

Simon sat on the sofa in the reception area of ​​her office, flipping through a list of documents that the girl A had just handed over, and asked with all his heart: "There is no problem with 30% of the investment, you can agree to them. What are the details you mentioned?"

"The main thing is to issue commissions and also have very important peripheral product sharing. The former has the initiative and can be stuck at about 15%, while the latter is mainly on Dongbao. After all, they have been operating Godzilla for decades."

Simon nodded and signaled Amy to continue. He just asked, and knew it and did not intend to interfere in these details.

Seeing Simon agreeing, Amy understood that the interception of Sony this time was basically finalized. She looked down at her memo, showed some smile and said, "Sony Pictures, I met Chris Lee again when I attended a party on the weekend. He said that the project of "2013 Ultimate Gods" has been established. Haha, mainly because Sony knows that he can't get "Godzilla", but Sony only gave a budget of 40 million US dollars."

Simon made some marks on the list of documents in his hand, and smiled and said, "It's good to have the project established. "Future Water World" said it only had 70 million."

After all, it was not a matter of being obvious. Amy didn't say much, and then smiled, and continued: "Also, Wu recently looked for a new project, and joined forces with the male lead of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" that was just premiered in Cannes. They planned a gunfight action movie. I have seen the story summary, probably telling a story about a killer who failed to do a mission and was chased. Wu is good at the type. However, Danny talked to him once. Wu has obviously not a high interest in continuing to work with us. This time he doesn't plan to be the director himself, but he is only responsible for the production?"

Simon knew what Amy meant.

If Simon thinks it is necessary to keep it, Daenerys can offer a higher price to fight for it.

Simon shook his head, "We stick to our own standards. If Wu can't accept it, let him be at will."

To put it bluntly, it was because of the success of "Broken Arrow" and "Mission Impossible 2", Bai Gewu had the idea of ​​winning more salary and voice for himself.

This is human nature.

Unfortunately, other Hollywood studios may have indulged in famous directors many times, but Simon won't. After all, there are countless cases in my memory that they have made the movie mess up because they succeeded. Daenerys, anyone who wants to float away, and Simon is not used to it.

Amy, who had long believed in his boss's judgment, did not refute it. He wrote it down on the memo and said: "Then it is "The Matrix". The Simon and the Wachowski brothers have talked to me several times during this period. "One Day" is about to be released. They think their projects can be launched?"

The Wachowski brothers had fallen into Simon's sight a few years ago. There were also two people who did not have the creativity of "The Matrix" that Simon slapped off, which was a big butterfly. However, after completing the debut feature film "The Shocking Flower" invested by Daenerys Entertainment, in order to allow the two brothers to accumulate more experience, Simon sent them to the crew of "One Day" to serve as deputy director for Roland Emmerich.

"One Power Day" will be released on July 4th on the United States' Own Day, and the Wachowski brothers' work has been successfully completed.

When Simon heard Amy mention this, he thought for a while, nodded and agreed: "Yes, but the problem is still the schedule, please pay attention."

"This must be a bombshell," Amy said. "Since you've always been so optimistic about them, I think the 1999 summer season should be very suitable."

"Um."

Many of the preliminary work of "The Matrix" has been completed. It is just the summer of 1997. If the production is stepped up, it will be fine even if it is released next summer. However, the film list in 1998 is already full, and it can only be placed in 1999. In addition, Simon knows how successful this project was. If it is not placed in the popular summer or year-end period, it will be a waste.

Even in the summer of 1999, there are still two years left.

As a business, with the same profit prospect, the shorter the operating cycle of a fund, the more cost-effective it will be. The same is true. The concept of earning 10% in a year is completely different from earning 10% in two years. Therefore, when the schedule is determined, the closer the schedule is to the schedule, the more beneficial it is for Daenerys Entertainment.

Even though Daenerys Entertainment is now a large studio with the most cash reserves in Hollywood, Simon has always paid great attention to this issue.

Amy Pascal certainly had no objection.

The two continued to talk about a lot of trivial things about Daenerys' various businesses, such as the Daenerys game department will simultaneously develop game projects of the same name with Lucasfilm's Star Wars Prequel series, such as another summer tour that will be launched after the end of the second "American Idol", such as Simon's implementation progress of the modification after the construction site of Universal Studios Rome last time.

So until nearly nine o'clock, the two got up to go to the conference room where the high-rise meeting was held on Monday. Shuttled through the corridor, Amy remembered another thing: "I almost forgot, Simon, how should we arrange the exchange and learning project with two Chinese universities?"

A few days ago in China, because the Siheyuan in Maoer Hutong is very close to the Central Academy of Drama, Simon took the time to go there and temporarily had the idea of ​​introducing a group of students to Hollywood for exchange and study, and he ordered casually.

I thought the two sides would have to communicate for a while before they would come up with a plan. When Amy mentioned it, she thought about it for a while and said, "You can talk to Chen Qing about this, because some of them have special identities. She must know that these people have arranged some comfortable positions for them and their treatment will be better. The others will be thrown into the film crew that is being filmed, and they will be considered interns."

Amy nodded to show her understanding.

The subsequent regular meeting lasted for an hour. When I returned to my office again, someone was waiting here. It was an Asian man in his forties named Zheng Shoudong.

Just listen to the name, it's obvious, Korean.

Of course, this is not accurate.

Simon had already read the information of the other party when he was in China. Zheng Shoudong, 43 years old, was born in Seoul, South Korea, graduated from Yale Law School. He is currently a US nationality and works at the American McKinsey International Law Firm, which is good at corporate mergers and acquisitions and bankruptcy reorganizations. In addition, he has been based in Hong Kong for 6 years.

Although he failed to achieve the level of McKinsey's partner, and even the chief of McKinsey's Hong Kong branch, this middle-aged man with a double degree in Yale's Ph.D. and Master of Economics's degree in Economics is also quite solid. He participated in many mergers and acquisitions and restructuring projects during his work at McKinsey.

Not top-notch, rich experience.

This is a criterion for Simon to choose puppets.

"Mr. Westeros, it's really...are so honorable to meet you."

At this time, facing Simon, the middle-aged man who was unable to go further due to his ethnicity was obviously a little nervous. When he greeted him, he bowed instinctively ninety degrees, which made Simon very satisfied. All he needed was a person who still retained Korean habits.

When the other party stood up straight, Simon did not shake hands with the other party anymore, signaling Zheng Shoudong to sit down on the sofa in the reception area and walk to the side by himself.

Zheng Shoudong kept wandering and waiting for Simon to sit down before he dared to sit down. His butt was slightly opposite to the sofa. Seeing that Girl A brought coffee, he subconsciously got up a little and thanked him repeatedly.

Simon patiently waited for the other party to be polite with the A girl, and then said for a moment: "Mr. Zheng..."

Zheng Shoudong quickly turned his attention to the young tycoon next to him, and interjected respectfully and carefully: "Bruce, Mr. Westeros, you can call me Bruce, this is my English name."

Simon shook his head, "No, Mr. Zheng, if you plan to work for me, I want you to try to use your Korean name."

Zheng Shoudong was not sure, so he thought it was a bit inappropriate for him to interrupt, and some sweat oozed out of his forehead, and then nodded quickly: "Oh, of course, of course, no problem."

Whatever the young tycoon in front of him said must be what he said.

Zheng Shoudong still doesn't understand why he suddenly appeared in front of Simon Westeros, so when his boss notified him about this a few days ago, he thought it was an expired April Fool's Day joke. It was not until he returned to the United States and officially received the date of Simon Westeros' meeting. McKinsey's global chairman came to him from his Chicago headquarters yesterday and quietly interviewed him for the reasons. He was finally confirmed.

All this is not a dream.

The only thing Zheng Shoudong can confirm is that this time was definitely a great thing for him.

It can be called a turning point in life.

The result now is that the more you like this meeting, the more you are, the more you are, the calmness and calmness you are in your daily life will disappear. Feeling the sweat beads on your forehead, almost all middle-aged people want to cry.

As long as he is not blind, he will probably not be satisfied with his performance at this time.

Of course, Simon could see the nervousness of the middle-aged man next to him at this time, but he didn't mind and continued, "Let's just talk about the serious business, Zheng, I hope you come and work for me. Is there any problem?"

Zheng Shoudong's eyes lit up and he nodded without hesitation: "Of course, of course, Mr. Westeros."

"Very good," Simon affirmed, and continued, "This is the thing. I plan to make some investments in South Korea next, so I will find you, Zheng, first of all, what do you think about the current economic situation in South Korea?"

Zheng Shoudong quickly determined two things.

I have been hired.

The reason why I was attracted to Simon Westeros was also found.

Therefore, he also began to relax. When he heard Simon's problem, the middle-aged man quickly considered it for a moment and said: "Mr. Westeros, in my opinion, South Korea's economic situation is as shaky as Thailand, which has been attacked recently. This can be seen from the bankruptcy of Hanbao Steel at the beginning of the year. If Mr. Westeros wants to invest in South Korea..."

Zheng Shoudong said that he became more transparent about why he was found, but he paused for a moment and quickly said: "The next step is indeed an excellent opportunity, because South Korea's economic development has been pretty good in recent years and has many companies worth investing in. Therefore, once the economic crisis in South Korea next causes some companies to fall into trouble, Mr. Westeros can launch the acquisition of vultures."

Speaking of this, Zheng Shoudong paused again, and saw the young man next to him nodding slightly, continuing: "However, there are many obstacles in this, because the South Korean economy is not open, just talk about corporate equity. At present, South Korean law stipulates that the highest proportion of foreign capital holdings of Korean corporate shares is only 7%, and it is impossible to gain control at all. Of course, South Korea has been promoting financial reforms since last year. Once the crisis occurs, I think that as long as Washington puts pressure on Seoul, many restrictions will be relaxed in the short term."

When Simon heard Zheng Shoudong say this, he smiled a little on his lips: "So, Zheng, should you understand what I want you to do?"

Zheng Shoudong did not hesitate this time and bowed slightly to Simon on the sofa: "Yes, Mr. Westeros."

"Very good," Simon repeated the affirmation just now, pushing the document that Girl A had just put in front of him to Zheng Shoudong: "Since that's the case, this is your first position after working for me. The position of director of the Bank of New York is just a part-time benefit. Oh, it should be Bank of New York Mellon now."

Zheng Shoudong showed an unexpected expression again, carefully picked up the document that Simon pushed in front of him, opened it and looked at it. This was an employment contract.

He quickly flipped over, only the kind he signed.

This made Zheng Shoudong feel the illusion that he was dreaming again.

Even though he has been in Hong Kong before, Zheng Shoudong also knew that New York Bank had recently successfully acquired Mellon Financial Group and became a first-tier bank in the United States. What's more, given his previous work nature, he certainly knew what the position of director of a large bank with assets exceeding 100 billion yuan means.

It’s just that his ethnicity, even though he was in management at McKinsey, he never dared to think about such a position.

However, Zheng Shoudong was not a fool after all, and he soon figured out the joints.

No matter how Simon Westeros will find this position for him, he will join the board of directors of the Bank of New York Mellon and if he wants to firmly sit in this position, he must completely obey Westeros. Once he has his own ideas, he will be not far from the rolling and even go further and lose everything else Westeros gives him.

Simon did not explain too much about this, and I believe the other party will definitely understand it.

As for the deeper level, the two New York Mellon board seats won by Zheng Shoudong some time ago are the first and for easier control of the other party, and secondly, it is related to the subsequent layout for South Korea.

Veronica has been conducting financial reviews of various companies in the Westeros system for a while, but based on previous data, Simon can probably confirm that the cash reserves that the entire Westeros system can use should be around 60 billion US dollars.

Even compared with Simon's wealth that has continued to shrink due to the Nasdaq plunge during this period, the money is still not much.

Simon had no intention of using all the money.

For the top of the pyramid, borrowing money to make money is always the king.
Chapter completed!