No movie can be completely useless.

What's more, since the original "Sleeping with the Enemy" was able to achieve more than $100 million at the North American box office, it must have some elements that can arouse the audience's interest.

Therefore, after Daenerys and Fox's joint word-of-mouth public relations, when the film was released on June 15, the mainstream media's evaluation of the film was either optimistic about the performance of the new protagonist Michelle Pfeiffer, or praised the film's

The soundtrack of the scene, or the deeper exposure and accusation of domestic violence in the film, in short, are basically positive.

When the comprehensive media score statistics were released, the 6.7 score of "Sleeping with the Enemy" even exceeded the 6.4 score of "The Detective" in the same period, and was much higher than the 5 score or less that the distribution team estimated before the film was released based on feedback from test screenings.

points. In addition, "Sleeping with the Enemy" is the first of Daenerys Entertainment's 10 external cooperation films that the media and fans have been paying attention to for a long time. The foundation of popularity has been laid before the filming of the film begins.

In the end, in the first three days of its opening weekend, "Sleeping with the Enemy" screened on 1,719 screens and earned a box office of US$18.86 million.

The movie's average sales exceeded 10,000 in three days, making it one of the best-selling movies.

In comparison, the box office of Disney's "The Greatest Detective" at $22.54 million in its first three days exceeded that of "Sleeping with the Enemy," but the number of screens it was released on was 2,332. The average number of theaters in the three weekends was

However, the box office performance was not as good as "Sleeping with the Enemy".

The US$18.86 million it earned in the first three days of production is already comparable to the US$19.76 million of "The Last Days" in its first seven days.

Calculated based on the weekend's box office ratio which is equivalent to 60% to 70% of the first week, "Sleeping with the Enemy" is expected to have a box office of US$27 million to US$30 million in its first week. Even though "Sleeping with the Enemy" is due to its reputation, subject matter and audience,

It is impossible to get out of the beautiful long-term trend like "The Last Days", but as long as the drop in the next week does not exceed 30%, it is quite easy for "Sleeping with the Enemy"'s North American total box office to hit the 100 million yuan mark.

What's more, even if it doesn't exceed 100 million, compared to the total production cost of "Sleeping with the Enemy" of US$15 million and the publicity budget of US$7 million, even if Fox only holds half of the investment share, including a 10% distribution commission

, the return on investment of this movie can easily exceed that of "Die Hard 2", which is scheduled to be released on June 29.

Unlike "Sleeping with the Enemy", which had a total production and promotion investment of US$22 million, the production cost of "Die Hard 2" starring Bruce Willis reached US$70 million. Counting the huge domestic and overseas investment

According to the publicity budget, the film's global box office needs to be at least three times the production cost, which is US$210 million, in order to break even.

In Simon's memory, the global box office of "Die Hard 2" was only over 200 million.

In the new week, Simon flew to the East Coast on Monday, June 18, in order to guest star in Madonna's Saturday concert.

Originally, he decided to take a year off to relax last year, but after all, he couldn't make it because there were always too many things at hand. Simon simply regarded this guest appearance as a way to relax. After the guest appearance, Simon will fly to Melbourne to personally follow up on "Batman: Darkness"

The filming of "The Knight".

During this time, Simon has been in very close communication with Madonna's team.

Madonna only sold the live broadcast rights of her concerts for 6 million, which is equivalent to five times the ticket revenue of each of her concerts at the Brenda Berry Arena, and even reached 10% of the total ticket revenue of this round of concerts.

In order to achieve the best stage effect and make all parties involved feel value for money, after hard work and hard work, Daenerys Entertainment was forced to give two free movie guest appearances, and Madonna got it from Simon.

Two new songs.

Of course, originally it was all hers.

If Simon doesn't want to, it's certainly impossible to get songs from him.

However, after all, Madonna’s debut was not too long, and there were not many songs suitable for live guitar performance. Although Simon regarded this guest appearance as a way to relax, he did not want to perform in a mediocre way, so he agreed to it.

Although Simon's guest appearance did not mention anything like an appearance fee this time, it involved two new songs. In addition to the previous song "Bad Romance" that Madonna plans to cover as the main feature of the next album, the calculated share still needs to be calculated.

Forget it, of course, Simon doesn’t need to worry about this himself.

Madonna ended her Toronto tour on June 17th. Without Simon's participation, she would have moved to New York and would only need to do proper rehearsals to familiarize herself with the show. However, because of Simon's participation, this week, in addition to the night concert starting on the 20th, she will also have daytime concerts.

All was spent rehearsing and perfecting the three songs that Simon participated in.

Considering that the live broadcast revenue earned from one concert is equivalent to a quarter of her total box office revenue of this 60-show tour, Madonna is also very motivated.

In the busy schedule, time soon came to Friday again.

The complete weekly box office data from June 15th to June 21st is also officially released.

Disney's "Top" finally won the box office championship this week with a box office of 34.74 million U.S. dollars.

Following closely behind, "Sleeping with the Enemy", which opened in the same week, ranked second with a seven-day box office of US$27.62 million in its first week. Such box office data has clearly exceeded the initial expectations of the distribution team. It is expected to be released after next week

, the film will be able to recoup all production and distribution costs with the North American box office, and then just wait for the profits.

Although the two summer movies related to Daenerys Entertainment have not won the weekly box office championship, however, the third-ranked "Uncensored" is even better than the second-ranked "With Enemies".

"Sleep" is even more eye-catching.

In its third week of release, after significantly increasing the number of screening screens, "Ghost" only dropped 12% compared to last week, and the box office took in another US$18.01 million in a single week.

In three weeks, this fantasy romance film, which started less than expected, has grossed a total of US$58.33 million at the box office. Daenerys Entertainment has now begun to generate profits.

Moreover, the nearly flat box office curve for three consecutive weeks indicates that the total North American box office of "The Last Days" will probably not stop at US$100 million. The industry generally predicts that the North American box office of "The Last Days" will be

, at least to the same level as "Pretty Woman".

Hollywood originally thought that the strength of Daenerys Entertainment has always been thrillers and horror films. In recent years, the "Dead Man", "Butterfly Effect" and "Scream" series have become so famous that it can be said that at the time,

Apart from the unexpected "Run Lola Run", Simon Westeros mainly made his career in horror films.

Looking back now, I realize that Daenerys Entertainment has unknowingly created three classic romance films that are worthy of being recorded in the history of Hollywood movies: "When Harry Met Sally", "Pretty Woman" and "The Ghost Story".

". The success of "Batman Begins" at the end of last year further proved that Simon Westeros has unlimited potential in comic book action movies.

Taking into account the blockbuster literary films produced by High Gate Pictures, it is obvious that Daenerys Entertainment has no shortcomings at all.

"Total Recall", which originally obviously suppressed "The Last Days", saw a 41% drop in box office in its third week compared to last week. Although it has significantly narrowed, with only a 26% drop this week, the single-week box office has already

It fell to fourth place on the list, with only 15.74 million US dollars collected, and the cumulative box office was 72.14 million US dollars.

According to this box office decline trend, the total North American box office of "Total Recall" is expected to be only about 120 million US dollars.

The fifth-ranked crime thriller "Presumed Innocent" starring Harrison Ford, produced by Warner Bros., also gave an unexpected box office trend. Although it had a low start, it only had a weak drop of 13% in the second week.

It collected US$10.17 million, and the total box office is expected to reach more than US$50 million.

In addition, in the new week, two new films will be released in North American theaters, namely "48 Hours" starring Eddie Murphy and the fantasy horror comedy "Little Children" produced by Steven Spielberg.

Monster 2》.

Inside an apartment on Fifth Avenue East at 68th Street.

Simon and Janet were sitting in the restaurant, eating breakfast and casually looking through the box office data of the past week.

The two films that have been released in the summer, "The Last Days" and "Sleeping with the Enemy," are considered to be the overall situation. Relying on the box office results of these two films, next, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" will be released on July 6.

", "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" on July 27th, and "The Evil Dead 3" on August 10th, Simon is not too worried.

Janet waited for Simon to put the box office report aside and said: "We have basically reached an agreement on the mattress company named Simmons. Would you like to take a look in the morning?"

Simon noticed Simmons because this mattress company is so well-known on the other side of the ocean that it is simply synonymous with mattresses.

However, I have read the information before and found that the operating conditions of this time-honored mattress company in recent years have been unsatisfactory. Moreover, before Simon noticed this company, Simmons had been sold continuously in 1986 and 1988.

twice.

The first time was a private equity fund that bought Simmons for US$124 million in 1986. After two years of operation, Simmons got rid of its original operating difficulties in one fell swoop and was still thriving after the 1987 stock market crash.

The Simmons management team, which believed that it had made the greatest contribution in this process, proposed a management buyout to the private equity fund in 1988. The private equity fund did not persist and readily chose to cash out, ultimately taking away US$240 million.

Simmons also became an employee-owned company.

Then, obviously overestimating its own capabilities, coupled with the high debt assumed during the management buyout process and the untimely reform of internal interest distribution, Simmons' originally good business conditions have deteriorated sharply in the past two years, and the situation has begun to fall into the same situation as this time.

Troubled tobacco industry giant Reynolds Nabisco is no different.

Simon heard from Janet that the negotiation had basically been completed and asked: "What is the specific price?"

"$96 million for 100% equity," Janet said: "However, after the acquisition, we will also have to bear $136 million in debt."

More than $100 million in debt, apparently left over from the last management buyout process.

Simon thought to himself and asked: "Isn't it Apollo Management Company's sole investment?"

Janet shook her head and said: "Of course not. We have cooperated with two other private equity funds. We invested US$36 million, accounting for the majority, and have subsequent control of Simmons."

Simon nodded in approval.

The investment of US$96 million, even including US$136 million in debt and US$500 million in cash, is still undertaken by Apollo Management, but this is not in line with the investment style of private equity funds. Put all the funds in

On a project, it will not only increase the risk, but also prevent the fund from exiting at the right time.

Simon only assumes part of the investment and can also gain control of the acquired company. This is the best investment method in Simon's opinion.

After thinking about it, Simon said: "After the junk bond market collapsed, Drexel Securities, KKR, Carl Icahn and Ronald Perelman used highly leveraged methods to swallow up companies and quickly sold assets through spin-offs.

The cash-out model is no longer applicable. Next, private equity should focus on improving the operating conditions of the acquired companies. Perhaps, while conducting corporate mergers, Cersei Capital can also cultivate a team of specialized professional managers.

"

Janet nodded seriously and said, "I will discuss it with them today."

Simon heard Janet's simple promise and added: "Of course, what I said may not be right. After all, you are the experts."

Janet leaned towards Simon and said, "Even if you are wrong, I will listen."

Simon pretended that he couldn't bear it and hid, and said with a smile: "Don't do this, it's too easy for men to swell."

Janet's eyes flickered twice and her gaze moved downward: "You are swollen, do you need my help?"

Simon raised his hand and knocked on the woman's forehead.

After laughing for a while, Janet said softly: "I have asked them to start long positions in crude oil futures. If you make a wrong judgment this time, we will suffer a big loss."
To be continued...