hunt hollywood

Simon didn't have the heart to talk too much with the housekeeper, so this kind of dispute turned into a direct "physical conflict" last night. Not only that, after waking up in the morning, the housekeeper was forced to fight again, so Zuo What Yi and Isabel saw.

After a while, Simon followed him downstairs, with the radiance that he only had after some exercise.

When I came to the restaurant, I sat down under the awe-filled eyes of the two maids, and began to eat breakfast.

It was already nine o'clock, and Zooey and Isabel had already had breakfast, and after making arrangements for the two, they quietly left the restaurant.

Simon took a sip of the milk, picked up the cutlery and cut the fried eggs again, and finally said to the housekeeper: "The issuance of consumption point cards can be terminated. You should go back and discuss this matter with Jeff and the others."

At the beginning, in order to promote Internet users to try online consumption, Eaglet issued a consumption point card similar to a prepaid phone card.

For a $10 point card, Eaglet needs to bear no less than $2 in all aspects.

In the early days of Eaglet’s development, nothing happened. Now, the explosion of the Internet is accelerating, and the growth of e-commerce will also be greatly accelerated. Moreover, Eaglet has opened up the online payment channels of several major banks in the United States. It is increasingly acceptable to directly consume online by binding a credit card.Continuing to issue point cards is not worth the loss for Eaglet.

The housekeeper just hummed lightly, indicating that she was still angry.

In fact, she first raised this matter at the end of last year, but she didn't get a response.

What does the man say at this time?

Give me a little sweet date?

I am not so easy to be bought.

Simon didn't mind the housekeeper's pretended indifference, and continued: "There is also the ICQ instant messaging tool, which still can't be used as Amazon's customer communication tool. I hope it can develop into a pure instant social software. I tried it myself , The page instant messaging you developed is good, and it must have used ICQ's patented technology, so there is no need to bring ICQ over."

The housekeeper hummed again.

A thought flashed through my mind: Stick?

Simon still didn't care, and continued: "There is also the matter of cooperation between Ypay and other e-commerce websites. I remember I said more than once that the Internet industry will be very large, and no company can fully occupy it. Moreover, at this stage, promoting the Internet It is more important to make this platform more prosperous and accepted by more people than your impatient monopoly idea.”

Even Amazon, which was at its peak on the original timeline, accounted for less than 50% of the share of AOL e-commerce.

The housekeeper finally said this time: "I never thought of monopolizing the Internet."

Simon said, "But that's what you're trying to do."

The housekeeper fell silent again.

Simon continued: "Actually, I also thought about it. This is the ambition that every businessman has. However, things are not realistic at all. Especially in the early stage of an industry's development, a monopoly was directly formed. For this monopoly company It's not good, lack of competition, it will stagnate, it will become bloated, it will have all kinds of problems, and the end result will only be eliminated. Compared with other companies, Amazon has more than enough Resources, now there are just a few more people who are chasing far away, if you can't even cope with this competition, come back and be a bed warmer for me."

The housekeeper had already agreed with a certain guy's words, but when she heard the last sentence, she finally raised her head and gave him a hard look.

What the hell is the bed warming girl?

Simon smiled and said, "I recommend a book for you, "A Dream of Red Mansions". Jenny likes to read it very much. Well, you'd better learn some Chinese."

As a former housekeeper, Alice actually knew about it.

On the surface, he was still unconvinced, but he kept it silently in his heart, but changed the subject, saying: "Will you agree to Gates' cooperation terms on browser pre-installation?"

At yesterday's meeting, Damen suggested that it is not impossible to pre-install Microsoft in the IE browser, but Microsoft needs to obtain permission to adjust the corresponding functions of this browser. Not only that, Damen also requested to obtain World Wide Web related technologies for direct commercial use. authorized authorization.

The World Wide Web patents disclosed before actually have many limitations.

The most important point is that other companies are not allowed to directly use World Wide Web technology to seek profit. In short, they are not allowed to use World Wide Web technology to develop related application software for profit. World Wide Web browsers, web design software, etc. are all listed here.

Because this is the private plot of Eaglet Company.

In the past year, Eaglet has sold 10 million sets of browser software for only 2379 dollars a piece worldwide, and thus obtained a huge profit of 2.3 million dollars.

In addition, with the exponential explosion of World Wide Web sites, web design software, which varies in price between individuals and companies but averages between $300 and $500 depending on who buys it, has also sold 76 units, so Making this part of the revenue easily surpassed the original most profitable browser software, reaching 2.8 million US dollars.

For web design-related software, Eaglet’s operation team also considered renting instead of a direct one-time sale, which can ensure longer-term sustainable income.However, considering that Oracle has directly subverted the monopoly of traditional IT vendors such as IBM on database software by selling software at one time, Simon finally chose to sell directly.

So whether it's browser software or web design software, it's going to be largely a one-time gain.

However, even so, the benefits brought by these two simple software are enough for Eaglet to pay most of its initial development budget.

The financial information of Eaglet in 1992 is still being calculated, but because of the outbreak of software sales again, Eaglet’s loss this year has also been greatly reduced, and it may only be tens of millions of dollars in the end.

Moreover, this loss was deliberately caused by the Eaglet operation team.

Simon is not like Igret, and Jeff Bezos and Carol Bartz are not short of such vision.

Not only that, but according to the loss deduction provisions in the US tax law, the current losses can be converted into income tax deductions within the next 15 years.

In the original timeline, Amazon used this method to make the annual net profit of tens of billions of dollars not only do not need to pay taxes, but also get a part of the tax rebate from the federal government, which eventually formed a rare phenomenon of "negative tax rate" for federal enterprises .

If factors such as inflation are taken into account, it is not cost-effective to use current losses to offset future profits.

But from other perspectives, the current investment will actually be turned into the accumulation of Eaglet’s strength and advantages in the Internet industry. In the long run, this is very cost-effective.

In the restaurant at this time.

Hearing the housekeeper's question, Simon quickly shook his head and said, "I plan to let Jeff and the others discuss the pre-installation with the OEM directly, and Gates will forget it."

Alice paused, and said with a little teasing in her tone: "You said just now that you don't want to monopolize the Internet?"

It is indeed somewhat paradoxical to deliberately cultivate Amazon's competitors in e-commerce, while limiting the emergence of other competitors in World Wide Web technology.

Simon said: "These are two different things. I don't want to authorize Microsoft. I'm not worried about competition. You have to understand that I am also a major shareholder of Microsoft. Well, now, I should be the second largest shareholder. Microsoft's development can also give me brings advantages."

Bill Gates and Paul Allen were originally the first and second largest shareholders of Microsoft.

However, after the equity transactions in the previous two years, and Paul Allen's subsequent sale of part of the equity, his shareholding in Microsoft has now dropped to 18.6%, and Westeros' shareholding in Microsoft is still 21.3%. [-]%, so Westeros is now Microsoft's second largest shareholder after Bill Gates.

Alice naturally knew this, and asked, "Then why?"

"I just don't want a split in Internet standards," Simon said. "If more World Wide Web technology is licensed to Gates, in order to compete with Eaglet, Bill may take advantage of the market advantage of the Windows system and create some other different technologies." standards, and most likely standards that are incompatible with Eaglet. As you can imagine, if the original power system did not have a unified standard, some grids were 110 volts, some were 220 volts, and some were 240 volts. How much inconvenience will it cause users, and how much will it hinder the development of the electric revolution?"

The housekeeper nodded subconsciously, but immediately retorted: "Then, you are not worried that this will happen to e-commerce?"

Simon smiled and said, "Of course not. The e-commerce website, with a little more image, is more of a 'household appliance'. No matter what kind of appliance it is, it needs to adapt to the federal 110-volt voltage standard."

"But," the housekeeper hesitated this time, and said, "You allow so many 'electrical appliances' to come out to compete with Amazon, if, if I mess up, you will also be held responsible."

"If there is no competitor, I think you are more likely to screw up," Simon said, adding: "And, frankly speaking, the Westeros system is now very large, I have enough chips, and I’m not afraid that one or two of them will fail. For example, the several e-commerce websites that have been authorized this time, most of them have venture capital from the Westeros system.”

The housekeeper suddenly became depressed again.

In fact, she already understood this from the fact that he let Amazon and Blockbuster sell video tapes and movie merchandise.

However, she was still a little disappointed that he didn't have such strong confidence in her.

Damn guy.

How many times.

Always talking about what to do if you fail.

As if she was doomed not to succeed.

Simon didn't care about the housekeeper's little thoughts, and explained everything that should be explained. After lunch, the two left Seattle and flew to San Francisco together.

In the afternoon, I discussed with Igret's senior management the matter of changing the pre-installation thinking, and stayed in San Francisco for another night before Simon returned to Los Angeles.

At the beginning of the year, Daenerys Entertainment's key movies for the next year or two have been determined, but there are still many first-level projects that are gradually approved.

On Wednesday morning, Simon made an appointment with Roland Emmerich and Michael Bay to discuss a movie written by Roland Emmerich, called "Cosmos."

Roland Emmerich is still busy with the later stage of "Superman". Although he has already begun to wrap up, but after finishing the first "Superman", he will start preparing for the sequel almost immediately, and has no time to take care of other projects.

Therefore, Simon intends to hand over the "Shock Cosmos" written by the director himself to Michael Bay, who just finished the Victoria's Secret show at the end of last year.

"Shocks of the Universe" was Roland Emmerich's famous work in Hollywood in the original timeline. It was the success of "Shocks of the Universe" that allowed Roland Emmerich to shoot his Hollywood masterpiece " Independence Day.

This time, if nothing else happens, Simon intends to give both opportunities to Michael Bay.

The two films, especially "Independence Day", are also very suitable for Michael Bay's personal style.

As for Emmerich, as long as the "Superman" series can be successful, the director's reputation will not be much worse than the original timeline. Simon's plan this time is to let the other party be the producer of "Cosmos" , Next, may also be the producer of "Independence Day".

"Cosmos" tells the story of a human archaeologist who discovered that the pyramid is actually the "Star Gate" leading to another world, and led a group of soldiers to explore through the "Star Gate" and led the humans in the other world to resist the alien race. A story of domination and return to Earth.

Overall, this is a sci-fi action movie with a lot of brain holes.

Sci-fi action movies happen to be the genre that Michael Bay was good at in the original timeline.

After preliminary estimates, the budget of "Stargate" is 3000 million US dollars, which is slightly higher than Simon's expectations. However, for science fiction movies, such a production budget is not too high. Simon also believes that with Michael Bay's ability , is fully capable of completing the film within the $3000 million budget range.

Chapter 518 Several Items (Revised)

Roland Emmerich's "Stargate", another translation, is also called "Stargate".

On the original timeline, "Shocks of the Universe", which was released in 1994, not only achieved a very good box office, but like Paramount's "Star Trek", it used the "Star Gate" in the film as the main idea to form a The enduring series of sci-fi film and television series has produced more than ten seasons of related TV series and a large number of sequel films.

Simon has watched the original "Shocks of the Universe" and some "Stargate" TV series. According to his personal standards, the plot of "Shocks of the Universe" is not good. The key is to apply the concept of wormholes to movies. Very novel.

As a sci-fi action movie, the action scenes in the original version are also very rough, compared with the action blockbusters of Hollywood's later mature period, it is simply horrible.

Simon let Michael Bay be the director this time, also to make up for some of the flaws of the original.

Michael Bay's 'boom boom bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang—' is actually very pleasing to the eye by the standards of popcorn movies. The subsequent complete collapse of the "Transformers" series was mainly due to the plot, and in the final analysis, it was probably due to Michael Bay himself being tired of directing a series repeatedly. Paramount's lack of courage to change directors was also one of the reasons.

"As for the character creation, Lieutenant Colonel O'Neill is a tough guy, a resolute and resolute soldier. This is no problem, but Dr. Jackson's setting is a bit vague." In the office, Simon recalled James Spader's lackluster performance in his memory As well as the thin portrayal of Dr. Jackson in the script, he said: "As a leading actor who is more important than Lieutenant Colonel O'Neill, I hope his character can be more distinct. For this, you can refer to the character in "Jurassic Park" Performances by Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum."

Although it is a standard commercial film, in "Jurassic Park", Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum successfully portrayed two scholars with completely different personalities.One is gentle and rigorous, and the other is humorous and uninhibited.

In contrast, James Spader in "Shocks of the Universe" is not so much a Ph.D. in archeology and linguistics as a down-and-out middle school teacher, who actually gives people a sense of "Sex, Lies, and Videotape". down-and-out youth feeling.

In the final analysis, James Spader is still more suitable for acting in literary films.

Roland Emmerich obviously thought about this issue, and said, "So, Simon, what do you think about letting Jeff play Dr. Jackson?"

Simon immediately understood what Emmerich meant, with a strange expression on his face, and said, "Are you going to copy Dr. Malcolm?"

Roland Emmerich nodded, but shook his head again, and said, "Of course there will be some changes."

If Jeff Goldblum is used in this "Cosmic Soldier", then the next "Independence Day" may be a little troublesome.

Levenson in "Independence Day" is a copy of Malcolm in "Jurassic Park" to a large extent. He is equally unruly, equally talented, and perhaps also a little downcast.

Shaking his head, Simon rejected Emmerich's idea, saying: "In this case, the emotional line of the script needs to be greatly adjusted, and Jeff's age is too old. And, to copy a 'Dr. Malcolm', It’s okay to do this. “Jurassic Park” is still in theaters, and even next year, the audience should be more sensitive to it. I think that since Jackson was able to become a doctor at a very young age, he should focus on academics His nerdy character, a little simple and dull, but knowledgeable enough."

Michael Bay, who listened carefully as an apprentice most of the time, said at this time: "Simon, the two leading actors, one is serious and the other is dull. After the movie is made, it will definitely look dull. According to the traditional brother movie model, the two protagonists The personality should show a clear contrast."

Simon nodded and said, "This is indeed a problem, then adjust the character of Lieutenant Colonel O'Neill to make him more humorous."

Having said that, noticing that both of them had expressions of thought, Simon looked at the time and said, "Forget it, you guys discuss this matter again in private, come up with a revised opinion, and then we will make an appointment again." .”

The two agreed, and everyone discussed some details about the setting, and Roland Emmerich and Michael Bay got up to leave.

After sending the two away, Simon also rushed to another meeting room in the office building.

There are already many people waiting for him here, including Robert Rehm, who is now the president of Paramount Pictures after several twists and turns.

Others are mainly the creators of the "Mission: Impossible" series.

Except for Nicolas Cage, the protagonist of the "Mission: Impossible" series, who has already been confirmed, the project has started casting roles since the second half of last year.

The original version of "Mission: Impossible", at least the first few films, is completely centered on Tom Cruise. Although the beginning of the film has a good prototype of the team, with Tom Cruise's strong character, he does not Anyone is allowed to compete for their own light in a movie, and at the same time, due to considerations such as salary, no stars similar to Cruise's coffee are allowed to appear.

It was not until later that the attractiveness of the soup to the audience was no longer so strong, and the "Mission: Impossible" series paid more attention to other team members, and "Hawkeye" Jeremy Renner and "Superman" Henry Cavill were introduced one after another. To enhance the film's box office appeal.

This time, frankly speaking, Nicolas Cage still lacks the box office appeal compared to Tom Hanks, so Simon intends to adopt a relatively flattering team model from the beginning.

Of course, for the consideration of the sequel salary, the team members will not be completely fixed, but the computer expert Luthor played by Ving Rhames and the auxiliary clown who can increase the jokes like Benjamin played by Simon Pegg will Get it fixed from the start.

Considering the freshness factor, the heroine needs to be replaced.

This also gives the project a lot of room for manipulation.

In the original version, because of Tom Cruise's various principles, the heroine is basically not a first-line character, she must not suppress the hero's brilliance, and she must not be too tall. Of course, Cage does not need these "taboos".

Therefore, Daenerys Entertainment intends to use first-line actresses this time, compared to Emmanuelle Beard, who was not well-known in North America in the first part of the original version.

As of now, besides Nicolas Cage, the director has been decided, because the original Brian De Palma is going to shoot "Dawn of Love Owl", and Simon also feels that the other party is not suitable.

After several searches, the Australian director Philip Noyce, who had just directed "Midnight Ring", successfully obtained the director. Eyebrow Chase" and Angelina Jolie's "Agent Salter."

The box-office hit "Midnight Ringer" also proved that the director who has made personal films since childhood is a generalist similar to George Miller's movies, enough to support this project.

The roles of master hacker Luthor and colleague Benjamin have also been confirmed.

Luthor is still played by the original Ving Rhames. Simon and Rhames have collaborated in "Pulp Fiction". Simon is well aware of the black actor's outstanding performance skills.

Simon Pegg is still a nobody, so the role of Benjamin can only be replaced, and finally chose Dana Carvey, who partnered with Mike Myers in "Wizards", although the actor's comedic talent is not as good as Mike Myers, but it seems just right in a commercial production like "Mission: Impossible".

Franz, played by Jean Reno in the original version, is basically cut off this time.

As a European movie star, Jean Reno will not always play a supporting role in a Hollywood film project. The original version uses two European stars, Jean Reno and Emmanuelle Béart. market's sake.