Los Angeles.

September 12th is a new week in the blink of an eye.

When she got up in the morning, Amy Pascal got the ratings data of "Who Will Be a Millionaire" after it was re-launched last night.

On the first day of the official autumn broadcast, the number of viewers of the first episode of "Who Will Be a Millionaire" rushed to 23.7 million. Not surprisingly, the average number of viewers in the first season will definitely exceed this number, and the highest ratings are even expected.

Breaking through the 30 million mark.

There is news from Robert Iger that ABC is considering raising the advertising price for this show again.

However, this matter has nothing to do with Daenerys Entertainment.

Daenerys Entertainment's next operational focus for "Who Will Be a Millionaire" is the overseas syndicated distribution of the series and the sale of remake rights. Although it is a reality show with a strong real-time nature, this program still has a very good

Regarding syndication potential, some Canadian TV stations are already in contact. Iger said that each issue can be negotiated for about US$250,000. Although there is a big gap in purchase price compared to ABC, the package sale of the entire season is still a very large sum.

Considerable income with almost no additional costs.

Now we just have to look forward to the ratings of the other three reality shows "Survivor", "Big Brother" and "The House of Beverly Hills" in the next few days.

It has been more than a week since Simon left. Amy has successfully negotiated a cooperation agreement with John Hughes on "Uncle Buck", but there are still some details to be negotiated with Warner about the cooperation on "One Flew Over the Child". Weekly meeting in the morning

It was held directly at the company's branch in Burbank. After the meeting, Amy rushed to the nearest Warner Studios to meet with Terry Semel.

Near noon, the two chose a high-end restaurant near Warner Bros. Studios and planned to chat while eating.

Because it is a gathering place for several major studios, many Hollywood celebrities will choose to dine in this restaurant. As soon as Amy and Semel sat down at the reserved seats, some people took the initiative to come over and say hello.

"Harry, I didn't expect you to be here. How was the filming of "Raiders of the Lost Ark"?"

"Hey Jesse, your performance in "Steel Magnolias" was really good. I think you will definitely win another Oscar this time."

"The casting of "Batman" can only start after our boss comes back... "The Sixth Sense", Michelle, you are really well-informed. Maybe we can arrange a meeting. Simon has been looking forward to working with you."

Well...he should be back this week."

"..."

Although the people who came to say hello did not neglect him at all, Terry Semel still clearly felt that big names such as Harrison Ford, Jessica Lange, and Michelle Pfeiffer were more interested in Amy Pascal.

Be more eager.

Hollywood has always been very realistic. Terry Semel understands that Warner is not the only choice for these big names, so the cooperative relationship between the two parties has always been equal. Although he is the top leader of Warner Bros. Pictures,

As a professional manager, Terry Semel's influence in Hollywood is even less than that of these first-line celebrities.

However, Daenerys Entertainment has become an anomaly. Several consecutive North American box office works have exceeded 100 million, which not only allowed this small company that was only established two years ago to rise rapidly, but also means that Daenerys Entertainment has

Enough strength to take the careers of many Hollywood celebrities to the next level.

Just like Robert De Niro, this two-time Oscar winner has a status that few stars in Hollywood can match, but in fact, before "Pulp Fiction", there has not been any work with a box office of over 100 million. Whether it is "The Godfather"

2" or "Taxi Driver", although both are very famous, their box office revenue is only tens of millions of dollars.

Even before this lunch, Terry Semel had received some similar requests.

After the scene calmed down, Amy and Semel ordered lunch while chatting, and then started talking about business.

"Terry, regarding "One Flew Over", since Simon originally negotiated a film contract with you, as long as the film can reach the North American box office standard of over 100 million, Warner has no right to participate in the possible sequel production. I don't think so.

I hope both sides will continue to struggle on this issue."

Terry Semel shook his head and said: "But this is not in line with convention. Amy, Warner and Daenerys jointly participated in the production, so we should own half of the copyright of this film, and participating in the sequel is the right we deserve.

"

Amy did not give in at all and said: "If you insist on this, Terry, we can only wait for Simon to come back before making a decision. You know his temper, Simon may even cancel this cooperation. Warner has already made it public to us

You may even be accused of deliberately announcing false news if things turn around."

Terry Semel took a sip of the mineral water the waiter had just brought and fell silent.

Although he wants to strive for more benefits for Warner, Terry Semel knows better that at the critical moment when Time Inc. and Warner Bros. are negotiating a merger, it is best not to make mistakes on his side.

After a while, Semel finally nodded slightly and said: "Okay, Amy, then, who do you plan to cast as the leading actor and actress in this film?"

Amy kept a calm expression on her face and said: "We plan to let Meg Ryan play the heroine. Her style is very suitable for this film, and she happens to owe Daenerys Entertainment a film contract."

Meg Ryan successfully entered the A-list with "When Harry Met Sally". Terry Semel recalled the script of "One Flew Over the Child" and some information about the actress, nodded with satisfaction, and added:

"Where's the hero?"

Amy said truthfully: "There is no candidate yet."

"So, what do you think of Mel Gibson?"

Amy thought for a while and said, "Can Mel's schedule be met?"

Seeing that there was something going on, Terry Semel nodded and said: "Of course, Semel will complete the filming of "Lethal Weapon 2" before the end of the year. "One Flew Over the Child" is scheduled for the end of next year. The film can definitely start shooting early next year, right?"

The request Terry Semel received came from Mel Gibson. Like Robert De Niro, although Mel Gibson's fame in Hollywood has become more and more popular in the past few years, he also has not yet had a box office movie.

A movie that has exceeded 100 million US dollars, "Lethal Weapon" with a box office of more than 60 million US dollars last year is already his most successful commercial film. Moreover, neither Warner nor Gibson himself has much confidence in next summer's "Lethal Weapon 2"

, it is difficult to predict whether the audience will like a sequel, so Mel Gibson urgently needs a film that can guarantee his popularity.

It just so happens that "One Flew Over Childhood" seems to be the perfect fit.

This project was personally selected by Simon Westeros. In addition to this, Mel Gibson also happened to know the general situation of the cooperation between Warner and Daenerys. The two parties agreed to produce a film with a box office of over 100 million.

, the contract will be terminated, so Daenerys Entertainment obviously does not want to continue to be so entangled with Warner.

Therefore, the chances of "One Flew Over the Child"'s North American box office exceeding 100 million are very high.

As long as he can get this film contract, Mel Gibson can ensure that he has another layer of protection against the risks of "Lethal Weapon 2". Everything will go well, and it will even allow him to successfully join the list of leading actors in the billion-dollar box office club.

Amy heard Semel's suggestion and said: "It seems that you recommended Semel to play Bruce Wayne last time, but Simon rejected it?"

"That's because Simon wanted to cast a newcomer to play Bruce Wayne like "Superman"," Terry Semel explained: "Amy, Mel is definitely suitable for this role in "One Flew Over the Child". Maybe everyone

A meeting should be arranged to discuss the project in detail."

"This will have to wait until we sign the contract," Amy said without Semel's eagerness at all, "and Simon must still have the final say on this matter."

"Simon will definitely agree," Terry Semel smiled, pointed to the west, and said, "He is in Australia now, and Mel is also an Australian."

When Amy and Semel met, it was already the early morning of September 13th in Melbourne, which was 18 hours earlier than Los Angeles.

The official work of this trip has ended. Simon and Janet woke up in the morning in Brisbane, Queensland, northern Australia. They came to visit the production yesterday, produced by George Miller and starring Nicole Kidman.

Over the Horizon was filmed near Brisbane.

Because he had already made the decision to win over the Australian Hollywood gang, Simon specially took a day to come here.

During breakfast, George Miller also brought up the topic that Amy and Semel were discussing across the ocean, and he also received a similar call from Mel Gibson.

In addition to the two major action film series "Mad Max" and "Lethal Weapon", Mel Gibson has also starred in successful romantic comedies such as "Percent of Man". Since the characters are very suitable, he can also get a favor, Simon

I readily agreed without any hesitation.

However, Nicole Kidman found Simon after breakfast and politely declined the invitation to film "Girls on the Road".

There were indeed too many problems with the script of "Butterfly Lovers", which was originally scheduled to star Brooke Shields. Since Nicole refused, Simon did not force it.

After breakfast, Simon and Janet said goodbye to George Miller and others. However, they did not rush back to Melbourne directly. Instead, they flew to Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, just south of Melbourne.

Simon has never forgotten his ambition to encircle this super-large island at the end of the world, and Janet has also been secretly acquiring various plots of land on the island.

With the help of the Johnston family, a shell company under Simon's name bought a vast forest land of more than 500 square kilometers in northern Tasmania for only US$7 million some time ago. Although the local government has restricted the forest farm.

There are various strict restrictions on logging and other matters, but Simon has never thought about logging these precious virgin forests, so these restrictions are irrelevant.

Counting other farm and forest lands, Simon is already a large landowner with 150,000 acres of land.

Of course, this is still far inferior to the Kidman family.

The Kidman family owns a total of nearly 100,000 square kilometers of land across Australia, which translates to more than 24 million acres. They are truly super landowners.

However, compared to the relatively thin Johnston family, the Kidman family is very large. Starting from Nicole's great-grandfather Sidney Kidman, over several generations, the number of the Kidman family has exceeded

With hundreds of people, Nicole's family has deviated from the core of the Kidman family. It can only obtain some fixed rights and interests through family trusts and does not have much say. This is the main reason why Nicole rarely discloses the affairs of the Kidman family to the outside world.

After spending another full day in Tasmania, it was probably time to return.

Back in Melbourne, the two of them rushed back to the Johnston family mansion in a car from the airport. Simon leaned back leisurely in his chair and read the information on his several properties, but Janet picked up the car phone and dialed a series of numbers. Over there

Apparently no one answered, so the woman reluctantly made several more calls before finally getting through.

"What, Singapore, why did Bingshan go to Singapore again... Really, dad won't eat her, why do you have to hide her all the time? She doesn't want to get married, and dad won't forcibly abandon her to anyone, you know

What is her number in Singapore... Hmm, how long does it take to get from here to Singapore... Hum, I'm just asking, I won't chase her to see her, just hide if you want... Hang up, bye.

"

After Janet hung up the phone, Simon smiled and said, "Are you still not here?"

"I'm going to Singapore for a temporary business trip again. I don't think we should come to Melbourne often in the future. Haha, if we only come here once, my aunt will be tormented and run around," Janet said with a smile on her face.

He said helplessly, and then added: "Actually, it's understandable. Don't look at how good your father is to you. In the past few years, I always had a straight face when I came back, and several times he forced me to go on blind dates.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t be hiding in Los Angeles and not wanting to come back.”

Simon couldn't help but become somewhat curious about Aunt Janet. He suddenly discovered that although he had seen real people or photos of Janet's other family members, he had never seen a photo of Veronica Johnston: "Your aunt and

You should be different, right?"

"It's all the same. You know, my aunt is a few years younger than Tony. Although they are brother and sister, most of the time, her father treats her like a daughter. My aunt is also very afraid of my father. Haha, in fact, everyone in our family is very afraid of her.

Afraid of daddy."

Simon listened to Janet's words and said with a smile: "Why didn't I feel it? Your father is very good."

Janet came over, hugged Simon's face and kissed him, and said: "Dad couldn't be more satisfied with you, so why would he be cruel to you? However, that may not be the case as time goes by. Wait, um, wait...

…You understand.”

Simon shook his head: "I don't understand."

"Little bastard."
Chapter completed!