After Simon returns from China, the North American summer vacation will also be opened on May 10.

Because of the Atlanta Olympics, major studios deliberately avoided the 17-day period from July 19 to August 4 during this summer, so many movies were later or postponed.

This summer season will also be a potential watershed for Daenerys Entertainment.

Simon wants to control Hollywood to the greatest extent, it is obviously far from enough to guide the direction of capital. The most direct way is to make capital interested in Hollywood feel unprofitable.

The method is actually very simple.

Hollywood has limited resources.

Whether it is schedule, canvas, publicity resources, etc., the more Westeros system occupies, the less it will be left to other studios.

Simon has been quietly implementing this strategy before, and this is the case with other studios to cooperate with movies. Moreover, before that, in order to avoid triggering an overall rebound from other Hollywood competitors, Simon has always been cautious. Completed the annexation of the Metropolitan ABC Group, and coupled with the situation where most other Hollywood studios are controlled by foreign capital, Simon no longer needs to be too concerned.

Therefore, this summer, Daenerys Entertainment, or the entire Westeros system, will truly go hand in hand in hand in Hollywood.

Especially the three brands under Daenerys Entertainment.

Compared with the past few years, the summer season has been mainly focused on the bombshell of Daenerys Entertainment's core brand Daenerys Pictures or large-budget projects that cooperate with other studios. Gaomen Pictures and New World Pictures have not made much moves in the summer season. This time, the three brands no longer converge.

In addition, Australian capital such as Johnston Holdings holds most of the shares and the actual control is actually in Simon's hands.

In summary, this summer, from early May to the end of August, there are as many as 14 projects related to Daenerys Entertainment, which is far more than the number of summer movies released in other studios, ranging from four or five to two or three.

All 14 movies are produced and distributed by Daenerys Entertainment's labels independently, 9 projects are produced and distributed by 2 external cooperation projects, and 3 closely related MGM.

Moreover, the nine projects this time are mainly Gaomen Pictures and New World Pictures. Daenerys Pictures’ independent works and released only has one bombshell movie "The Deadhead Valley" directed by Tim Burton. Of course, if you include the two heavyweight "Mummy" and "Mission Impossible 2" that have been collaborated with, Daenerys Pictures is not at all light at all.

MGM’s three movies are centered on the 18th 007 movie "007 Ghost Party", which is also the beginning of Simon’s planning of the MGM Agent movie universe.

Monday, May 6.

Malibu, Daenerys Cinema.

Simon returned to Los Angeles and his first day at work was discussing the upcoming summer season with three brands under Daenerys Entertainment.

In chronological order, on May 10, Daenerys Entertainment's first project in the summer season was the modern version of "Romeo and Juliet" directed by Buzz Ruman and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Dennis.

In the original time and space, the North American distribution of "Romeo and Juliet" actually made a big mistake.

Because it is just a low-cost movie with a production cost of more than $10 million, even though Buzz Ruman's previous work "Heroes of the Dance" had a pretty good box office in North America, the producer 20th Century Fox Films still released the film in the unpopular schedule in early November, and the promotional resources and screen size provided were unsatisfactory.

In such an unfavorable environment, this modern version of "Romeo and Juliet" still won more than $46 million in local box office.

Twentieth Century Fox, who realized the potential of the film, adjusted its strategy during the overseas release process, and as a result, the overseas box office of the film exceeded 100 million.

As for the reason.

This is Romeo and Juliet.

If that Westerner doesn’t know this story, it’s the same as the Chinese don’t know "Dream of Red Mansions".

To use a popular word in the entertainment industry later, "Romeo and Juliet" is a full-name super IP. If you make this project, you can save tens of millions of dollars in publicity and distribution costs, because there is no need to promote and distribution at all. Everyone knows, oh, Romeo and Juliet.

There has always been a joke that I talk about in Hollywood.

Leonardo DiCaprio went to audition for "Titanic", which led to women in the entire building running to watch, which made director James Cameron completely determined to make sure that the other party was the leading actor.

Why does this happen?

Chinese movie fans shouldn't have delved into it.

In fact, it is because of "Romeo and Juliet". Before this project, Little Little Little's most famous role was Johnny Depp's dementia brother in "A Different Sky", and it is obviously impossible to gather such popularity.

This actually indirectly illustrates the success of Baz Ruman's modern version of "Romeo and Juliet".

This time, Simon certainly won't make a mistake like Fox again.

May 10th may not be the most prime time of the summer season, but it is far better than the early November period in the original time and space. Moreover, based on the production cost of $15 million, the promotion and distribution of "Romeo and Juliet" also reached $15 million, with 2,107 screens.

It has to be said that on May 10, the same day, the super blockbuster "Evaporation Order" produced by Warner Bros. was released.

In general, the two projects are simply incomparable.

However, compared to "The Secret of Evaporation", Simon is more optimistic about "Romeo and Juliet".

The "Evaporation Secret Order" in the original time and space is a criterion for Schwarzenegger's personal career to decline from prosperity. Later, Schwarzenegger could only maintain his popularity with the sequel of "Terminator" which was constantly remake and failed. However, outside of the "Terminator" series, Schwarzenegger had no other representative work to show off after "Evaporation Secret Order".

A lean camel is bigger than a horse.

In any case, in the face of the behemoth of "Evaporation Secret", "Romeo and Juliet" seems a little too weak, and it seems unwise to directly confront the two.

However, it is inevitable to make the summer season.

If you want a better schedule but don’t want to compete with blockbusters, this kind of good thing does not exist in the summer season.

Compared with "Mummy", "Mission Impossible 2", "007 Ghost Party", etc., "Evaporation Secret Order" is actually the weakest one, because it is very clear that the box office potential of this project is very clear. The original time and space are barely over 100 million, but because there are no competitors. This time, although it also costs 100 million, the rise and fall of the other, "Evaporation Secret Order" wants to exceed 100 million, and the hope is slim.

On the contrary, "Romeo and Juliet" has a great hope to become the first dark horse in the summer season.

Because this romance film with handsome men and beautiful women and a full-name big ipo is facing the main consumer force in the summer season, teenagers, think about the girls who ran to watch Little Li Zi's beauty in the entire building in the original time and space, they simply didn't run away.

After "Romeo and Juliet" which started on May 10, "Mummy" was followed on May 17.

Putting this project on May 17 is also viewed as the premise that "Evaporation Secret Order" may be a soft persimmon, "Mummy" and "Evaporation Secret Order" are the most direct competitors, and at the same time, they will not squeeze the living space of "Romeo and Juliet".

After several consecutive internal previews, the main "Mummy" of the new version of Keemer and Rachel Weisz, at least in Simon's opinion, is no less than that of the Brandon Fisher version. Fox, who is responsible for the release, also made this project the focus of the summer season, spending a budget of $35 million. At the same time, with the support of Daenerys Entertainment, the number of screens of the film opened has reached 2,986.

Then, on May 24th, another movie worth talking about: "The Black Man".

That's right.

It is the movie "Black Man" starring Jet Lee.

Simon has been quietly pushing New World Pictures to introduce excellent Hong Kong films in North America in recent years. "Red Anime" is one of the most successful ones. "Red Hour" during the Valentine's Day schedule at the beginning of the year is a peak for Hong Kong stars to enter Hollywood. And this "Black Man" was finalized before "Red Hour" was released.

The production cost of the film is as high as HK$60 million, which is definitely a super bombshell level across the ocean, and the project was originally intended to enter Hollywood.

Compared to Jack Cheng's humorous kung fu, probably because of his feelings, Simon prefers Jet Lee. With his big boss personally pushing, the two sides hit it off. However, the 60 million Hong Kong dollars on the other side of the ocean, which was actually only 7 million US dollars, was instantly reduced to a small cost in Hollywood.

As a co-producer, New World Pictures has obtained the omni-channel distribution rights of "Black Man" with a $2 million investment. This is actually the main purpose of Hong Kong to try the waters. After all, during the discussion of the project, Jack Cheng tried to hit Hollywood so many times, and only one "Red Anime" can be produced. Therefore, what the people there value most is the Hong Kong island and Southeast Asian market, which is also the big head of Hong Kong films.

However, Simon knew that "Black Man" means that for Jet Lee is equivalent to "Red Fan District" and Jack Cheng.

Jack Cheng filmed "Red Fan District". In order to enter the Western market, he also came to the United States to shoot. Jet Lee attracted Hollywood's attention entirely with his own charm.

In the original time and space, after its release in North America, "The Black Man" successfully achieved a box office of more than $12 million, far exceeding the production cost of $7 million. Not only that, it is even a small head in terms of box office. This kung fu movie from Hong Kong Island has achieved greater success in the video tape market, but the cumulative revenue of video tape rental and sales exceeded $50 million.

Because of the success of "Black Man", Jet Lee was able to get Mel Gibson's "Deadly Weapon 4" and further invaded a villain in Hollywood, and further triggered a widely circulated "Waiting for Two Hours" joke.

This time, as long as "Black Man" can succeed, Simon plans to quietly plan for Jet Lee.

The Hollywood situation has opened up in the original time and space. A number of B-level films starring Jeter Lee are really unsatisfactory. As for the little villain in "The Deadly Weapons 4", don't get involved this time.

In fact, there is another better opportunity recently.

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

In the original time and space, the first male protagonist considered in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was Jet Lee. He failed to reach a cooperation due to various reasons and was eventually taken over by Fa Ge.

Simon doesn't plan to change this time.

Because fundamentally, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is more inclined to a literary and artistic martial arts, rather than an orthodox martial arts that really pursue visual effects. Moreover, in the film, the male protagonist Li Mubai does not have many big dramas, but focuses on two women, Yu Xiulian and Yu Jiaolong. According to Ang Lee, this is a martial arts version of "Reason and Emotion", and the core is still the story of two women.

Therefore, Fa Ge is just right.

Forced Jet Lee into this project may backfire. After all, when the audience sees it in the future, hey, the kind of straightforward fight in "Black Man", who wants to see what martial arts realm you and Yu Xiulian are talking about? We need to look at Kung Fu.

On the other hand, Simon also instinctively hopes to introduce more excellent Chinese actors to Hollywood.

The reason why I gave "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" to the original version of Fa Ge was due to this.

As long as everything goes well, Hollywood will have three well-known Chinese actors, Jack Cheng, Jet Lee and Fa Ge.

In fact, there are two Chinese directors.

Ang Lee, and Bai Ge Wu, who directed "Mission Impossible 2" released on May 31 after "Black Man". In fact, as long as you don't talk about shooting war epics like "The Wind Whisperer" and "Red Cliff", Bai Ge Wu will definitely be able to last longer in Hollywood. Of course, Simon will definitely not let Ang Lee film "Hulk" again, and "Boyant Pi" is so good.

The original version of "Mission: Impossible 2" was directed by Bai Gewu, and this time it conforms to history.

On May 31, Paramount's Mission: Impossible 2.

On June 7, New World Pictures' third project this summer, Adam Sandler's "Super-age Transfer Student". This is Simon's consideration of supporting a new generation of comedians, including Ben Stiller, who has passed the audition for "The Ghost of Terror".

On June 14, MGM's "007 Ghost Party" opened the Agent Cinema Universe. This project does not involve Daenerys Entertainment's funds, but the situation will change if the subsequent Agent Cinema Universe begins to cross-fusion.

June 21, "Police Empire".

This crime film written and directed by James Mangod and starring Sylvester Stallone was initially considered last year's awards season. After the film was completed, it was several internal trials. Although the quality was not much, the critics who were still involved in the trial did not think that the film would win the favor of the Oscars. In addition, the competition for the Oscars last year was really fierce, so they simply adjusted to this summer.

It is intended to be released as a commercial film.

Of course, I didn’t have much expectations, so I put it after "007: The Ghost Party" on June 14 and before Daenerys Pictures' "Dragonhead Valley" on June 28. However, the production cost of the film is only $10 million, and even if it fails, it is nothing. What’s more, with Stallone’s appeal, it is a summer season after all, and a little publicity can still attract a lot of attention.

June 28, "The Cuthead Valley", no need to say much.

July 4, the only holiday, which is actually a Thursday, a normal box office week in advance, and another important MGM project, "Bird Cage", was released.

"Bird Cage" is a very alternative project, starring Robin Williams, with a budget of $30 million, but it was slightly overspent during the production process, reaching $31 million. The film tells the story of a gay club.

Yes.

Gay men.

This project is very alternative in Hollywood, so when it was initially launched, MGM had many concerns.

Simon intervened a little.

Because in Simon's memory, "Bird Cage" is the seventh place in the annual box office in 1996 in the original time and space, but it only won $120 million in local box office, and it happened to be produced by MGM. Although Simon didn't catch a cold after reading the script and the film, to be honest, he prefers lesbians, well, lilies are the king.

But as long as the audience likes it.

Who can't get over making money?

From May 10 to July 4, 9 consecutive weeks, 9 movies, and important projects in the Westeros system have basically been launched.
Chapter completed!