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New World Entertainment tried to formally launch acquisition negotiations with Westeros to no avail. Larry Kupin learned that Simon had liquidated all his stocks. In an interview with a newspaper yesterday afternoon, he threatened to sue Westeros for malicious manipulation. New World Entertainment stock, this matter has not yet been discussed.

In any case, Simon will definitely not give up New World Entertainment, at least Marvel in the hands of New World Entertainment.

However, Simon does not plan to make another shot in the short term.

In contrast to its lackluster film division, New World Entertainment's main profitable business is TV programming.

However, what soon followed was the longest general strike in Hollywood history.Hollywood studios, which often stockpile scripts, would not be hit too hard by a strike.Since TV dramas are often produced as scripts are written, the situation for the TV industry can be very bleak.

Once the strike continues, even if the funding problem can be resolved, New World Entertainment's TV production department will definitely come to a standstill in the absence of screenwriters, which will lead to further deterioration of the company's operating conditions.

therefore.

In the second half of the year, when the strike reaches a certain level, it is the best time for Simon to make another move.

147 Batman

"The biggest difficulty in the adaptation of "Batman" is how to show the power of Bruce Wayne. In the comics, the superhero's intelligence and force have reached the limit that a human can reach, and he is also strong. The financial resources and various high-tech equipment as the backing. If it is a manga, anime or TV series, of course these can be shown a little bit through the plot, but in a movie that is usually only about two hours, it is very difficult to highlight these , and a little carelessness can make Batman very mediocre."

Inheriting the memories of more than a dozen people, Simon has very detailed information about the various versions of the "Batman" movie.

From Tim Burton's first "Batman", Bruce Wayne was almost habitually robbed of the limelight by the villains, and even in the later "Justice League", Batman, who was supposed to be the leader of the team, was completely reduced to The marginalized passer-by character simply did not show any charm that this enduring superhero should have.

The role of Batman has been half a century since its birth in 1939. During this period, there were some live-action versions, but they basically did not leave any impression on the audience. This is actually the main reason why Warner has many concerns about launching the movie version. .Superman can also display various superpowers from heaven to earth. After all, Batman is just a mortal. No one knows what kind of techniques and styles to use to bring this superhero to the big screen.

Inside the restaurant.

Terry Semel listened to Simon's analysis and asked, "Simon, do you think you can solve these problems?"

Simon took a sip of the mineral water next to him, put down his glass, and said, "Of course, otherwise I wouldn't be interested in the film adaptation of "Batman"."

Terry Semel showed a curious expression: "Tell me carefully."

The plan in Simon's heart is to start the DC superhero universe in advance, linking Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and other characters.Compared with the higher special effects technical requirements of Marvel superheroes, it is not too difficult for the current technical conditions to meet the DC universe.

but.

These certainly cannot be confessed to Terry Semel, and Simon has prepared another speech in advance.

"In half a century of comic book creation, Batman has been given too many skills, which must be a trade-off. Therefore, I intend to focus on Batman's personal force value and his high-tech equipment, such as the Batmobile. , Bat fighter, etc. Compared with Bruce Wayne's wisdom and strategy, these elements are most likely to surprise the audience. If Warner is willing to hand over this project to Daenerys Pictures, I will set up a special effects and technical team to solve these problems."

Terry Semel shook his head and said, "Simon, your description is too general."

Simon said: "Take the personal display of force as an example, Terry, in my opinion, there is basically no action movie worthy of praise in Hollywood. I plan to learn some experience from martial arts movies on the other side of the ocean. ,do you know?"

Terry Semel nodded and said, "Probably, I know something."

Simon smiled and said: "If you are interested, I can recommend a few movies to you. Oriental martial arts have a history of thousands of years. Their martial arts novels are similar to superhero comics. They are about some people It is a story about punishing rape and eradicating evil in order to maintain justice. Moreover, compared with techniques such as boxing and fighting that have almost no aesthetic feeling, the impact of oriental kung fu displayed on the screen will be very shocking."

Terry Semel said suddenly: "I remembered, Bruce Lee."

"That's right, it's the kind of kung fu of Bruce Lee."

Terry Semel hesitated: "I still have some impressions of Bruce Lee's movies, Simon, you think his kind of action skills can be used on Batman."

Simon said: "According to the settings in the comics, Batman masters more than 100 fighting skills, a large part of which are Eastern Kung Fu. And, of course, I will not copy Eastern martial arts movies, I will measure for Bruce Wayne Customize a set of action designs."

Terry Semel looked at Simon: "You?"

Simon raised the tableware and flexibly held a knife in his hand, smiled and said to Terry Semel: "Terry, I know some fighting skills. And, if necessary, I will also hire some more professional action guide."

There are too many classic action scenes in the mind.

Simon's positioning of Batman's fighting style is straightforward and sharp. It is completely easy to tailor a set of action designs for Bruce Wayne from the movies, TV and video games in his memory, and he does not even need to specially invite action directors.

In fact, there are no professional action directors in Hollywood at all. This profession gradually flourished in the late 90s when filmmakers from across the ocean entered Hollywood, and Hollywood action movies only started to become popular after that.

These days, action scenes in Hollywood movies are basically drunk street brawls.

Terry Semel remembered that at the end of the year before last, Simon broke the legs of five young people with one against five, and immediately no longer doubted that this young man could design special action shots for Batman.However, he couldn't help feeling a little emotional again, what could this little guy who suddenly broke into Hollywood do.

"Simon, if I understand correctly, what you meant just now is that you want to fully undertake the production of "Batman"?"

"Yeah, I'm going to write the script and direct it myself. Terry, you know, I've always been used to having complete control over my projects. The few films I've worked on so far have been very successful as well."

Terry Semel asks: "What about that film deal you owe Disney?"

"I recently plan to redeem the director contract signed with Disney. If Disney does not agree, it will be ranked after "Batman". The contract does not stipulate that I must fulfill the contract with Disney before I can shoot other movies."

Due to the success of "Run Lola Run", Disney signed a very loose contract with Simon.

This is actually the treatment of many first-line directors in Hollywood.Just like Spielberg, the four-film contract he signed with Universal after "Jaws" has not yet been completed, but he has frequently cooperated with Paramount and Warner over the years.

"Now that you've got so many ideas, Simon, what's the budget, how much are you going to spend on this movie?"

Simon blurted out, "$5000 million."

Terry Semel visibly taken aback: "One?"

"of course."

Simon nodded, and he also understood why Terry Semel would ask such a question.

Ten years ago, "Superman" had a production budget of $5500 million, a then-record film production budget.

But in fact, the investment of 5500 million U.S. dollars for the first part of "Superman" was a one-time filming of the material of the trilogy. Even, until the "Superman Returns" in 2006 in the original time and space, it was still using Marlon Brando's original material. Shot taken.

The budget of Hollywood movies has shown an explosive trend, but there are still very few budgets that can reach 5000 million US dollars.

In Simon's plan, he intends to use the next half a year to improve the technical aspects of "Batman". Daenerys Pictures will also set up its own special effects studio just like Lucas did when he produced "Star Wars". All of these require huge investments.

On the other hand, Simon's reported budget of 5000 million US dollars is actually to force Warner out of the project as much as possible.

In the original time and space, the production budget of Tim Burton's "Batman" was only 3500 million US dollars, and it was the result of Warner's introduction of the British record giant Polygram's joint investment, which also led to the success of the first "Batman". , For the next many sequels, Warner had to continue to bring PolyGram, the investor who shared the profits.

Even, in order to save the budget, Warner also signed the biggest omni-channel profit-sharing contract in Hollywood history with Jack Nicholson, who played the clown.

After the success of "Batman", Jack Nicholson successively earned more than 5000 million US dollars from the film box office, video tape sales, peripheral products and other channels. This salary record was not broken until 2000.

After the success of the film, the Batman IP became a big gold mine. It is difficult for outsiders to understand why Warner made such a series of stupid decisions.But the reason is actually very simple. In the final analysis, the current Warner has no confidence in the "Batman" movie at all.

In all fairness, Simon actually felt that Tim Burton's version of "Batman" didn't have many bright spots at all, and it was even very bad.Bruce Wayne played by Michael Keaton has no Batman temperament at all, and the heroine Kim Basinger's acting skills are dropped throughout the whole process. Even the well-known clown is only at the general level of Jack Nicholson.To be more mean, Jack Nicholson's Joker is so good because the protagonist is so bad.

So, why is Burton's "Batman" so successful?

The reason is actually very simple.

As a superhero character that has lasted for half a century, the popularity of "Batman" in the hearts of Americans is very similar to that of "Journey to the West" across the ocean.Everyone knows that Bruce Wayne took the road of punishing rape and eradicating evil because he witnessed his parents being killed by gangsters when he was a child, just like the people on the other side of the ocean know that a certain monkey jumped out of a rock.

then.

For the first time, this superhero who has existed in the hearts of generations in the United States has been put on the big screen in a high-budget live-action film format. Many people are not interested in comics at all, just because they have heard it too many times since they were young. Batman's name is likely to enter the movie theater.Not to mention fans who grew up with comics.

Therefore, the first time "Batman" is put on the big screen, as long as the film is not too bad, it is destined to be a big hit.

Tim Burton's movies have always had a very eccentric innocence that just doesn't lend itself to a superhero movie. The success of "Batman" is entirely just at the right time.

Later facts also proved this point. Burton continued to direct the sequel "Batman Returns", the budget cost more than doubled, but the box office dropped sharply compared to the first one. "The sequel is not as good as one, and finally completely rotted after "Batman and Robin".The Batman IP was not resurrected by Nolan until many years later, and then, DC was also brought into another big pit by Nolan without any accident.

at this time.

In a restaurant near Warner Studios in Burbank, it was confirmed that Simon planned to invest a huge sum of 5000 million US dollars in the filming of "Batman". Terry Semel really showed hesitation. Simon noticed that Terry Semel Without looking too eager, the two began to eat quietly.

After two or three minutes, Terry Semel said again: "Simon, Warner is looking forward to your coming to direct "Batman", but we do not intend to completely let go of this project. At least, we must participate in part of the investment , so a $3 million production budget is too high."

Simon shook his head and said: "Terry, for a superhero movie like "Batman", we can only gain the audience's recognition if we are willing to invest more. Just like "Superman", the first "Superman" has a production budget of 5500 million U.S. dollars , the global box office reached 3 million. Last year's "Superman 4", Canon Pictures cut the budget cost to 1700 million US dollars, and the North American box office immediately fell to just over 1500 million, and there was no splash overseas."

Terry Semel was obviously more aware of these situations than Simon. After hearing the words, he was silent for a while and said, "So, Simon, why don't you write the script first, and let's evaluate it together. Maybe it doesn't need 5000 million US dollars."

"According to my plan, the $5000 million will only be higher, never lower." Simon shook his head and said, "Terry, I know that Warner can't bear the investment risk of $5000 million, so I plan to do it myself. Give "Batman" to me, maybe I can produce another box office champion like "Run Lola Run", of course, the distribution rights must belong to Warner, this is a win-win thing."

Terry Semel thought about it again for a moment, and said, "Simon, if you plan to make "Batman" alone, yes, but Warner will only grant Daenerys Pictures the filming rights, and the copyright still belongs to us."

Simon asked: "Like Canon Pictures and Salkind's "Superman 4"?"

Last summer's "Superman 4", Canon Pictures only got the right to shoot Superman, and the copyright is still in the hands of British producer Alexander Salkind.

Terry Semel nodded: "That's right."

Simon shook his head: "Terry, I can't make a movie and get kicked away by Warner."

Terry Semel denies: "We definitely wouldn't do that."

Simon said: "How about this, we signed a five-year licensing contract. Within five years, Daenerys Pictures failed to launch a sequel, and the copyright returned to DC."

Terry Semel thought for a while, and said: "Five years is too long, three years at most, and Warner needs to retain the investment rights for the sequel."

Simon insisted: "Three years is too short, it must be five years. Moreover, if Warner wants to invest in the sequel, Daenerys Pictures must also retain certain distribution rights."

The two bargained back and forth for more than ten minutes, and finally roughly finalized a cooperation plan.

Daenerys Pictures acquired the rights to Batman for the customary five-year copyright term.Daenerys Pictures cannot start a sequel within five years, and the copyright will automatically return to DC.

However, Simon and Terry Semel have not yet negotiated a specific agreement on many details such as the investment rights and distribution rights of the sequel, as well as the profit distribution of peripheral products in the future, and the two parties need to conduct more detailed negotiations next, but this result has already Simon was overjoyed.

Chapter 148 Live Streaming

After Simon and Semel's lunch, Daenerys Pictures and Warner Bros. quickly began negotiations on the specific cooperation matters of "Batman".

Money doesn't ensure a movie's success, but it's clearly easier to make a great movie with a big budget.Now that Simon has spent $5000 million with an ignorant and fearless nouveau riche temperament, Warner also made up his mind to let Daenerys Pictures test the water first.

After finishing "Batman", Simon happily accepted the eyes of some people looking at the fat sheep, and continued to accelerate other things in the plan as a fat sheep.

On the other hand, on the Saturday after Simon and Semel negotiated "Batman", the 45th American Film and Television Golden Globe Awards Ceremony was held at the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel. Without any suspense, it became the biggest winner of this year's Golden Globe Awards, and all five nominations for "Run Lola Run" fell through.

Regarding the experience of "Run Lola Run" at the Golden Globes, the media responded with doubts, ridicule, regret, and gloating, but Simon quickly brought this matter over.The nomination for the Writers Guild of America Award was ignored, and he already doesn't have much expectations for the Golden Globe Awards, and he won't have much regret in the face of this result.

Although "Run Lola Run" has the joint efforts of Warner and Orion, but in terms of network resources and public relations strength, "Run Lola Run" is definitely not comparable to Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun". , Spielberg also returned empty-handed this time.

However, the nominations for the 60th Academy Awards announced immediately after the Golden Globe Awards Ceremony once again allowed Simon to see the conservative side of Hollywood.

Many people originally thought that even if "Run Lola Run" could not win the award, it would definitely get a few heavyweight nominations, but the result is that "Run Lola Run" only got one innocuous nomination for best editing, and nothing else.

After analysis, everyone thinks that this is mainly because of Simon's current complicated identity.

If Simon is just a young director who has just risen in Hollywood and "Run Lola Run" has achieved such dazzling results, the Oscars will definitely not mind supporting the laggards.

But now, in addition to the director, Simon is also a super rich man with a net worth of more than one billion dollars.The judges may feel that since Simon Westeros has made a huge amount of money in just over a year, it's not appropriate to give him immediate credit.

In any case, regardless of the state of mind, "Run Lola Run" only received a technical nomination for best editing after all.

Of course, the nominee for this award is still Simon.

At the beginning of February, the cooperation negotiations of "Batman" were still going on, but Westeros signed another contract involving 2 million US dollars with the British Tolkien Heritage Foundation in a low-key way.

Although the price paid was twice the copyright of "The Lord of the Rings", Simon actually got more.

In addition to successfully winning "The Silmarillion", Westeros also re-signed the authorization contract for several works of Tolkien with the Tolkien Heritage Foundation at a price of 2000 million US dollars.

In the 1969 contract, the producer who held the copyright was required to pay the Tolkien Estate a 7.5% share of net profits.

Now, Westeros pays 2000 million US dollars in one lump sum, and the original sharing clauses of "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" are cancelled, and the contract of "The Silmarillion" also does not contain sharing clauses. Works are copyrighted until the end of the statutory copyright period.

In addition, the new contract also expands the scope of products that Westeros can develop, avoiding possible disputes in the future.

In Simon's memory, since the contract in 1969 did not clearly cover digital game development rights, the Tol King Heritage Foundation claimed $8000 million on the grounds that Time Warner had illegally produced the "Lord of the Rings" series of online games.Although the litigation between the two parties was settled in private, the amount of compensation involved is definitely not 2000 million US dollars.

The managers of the Tolkien Heritage Foundation may not lack long-term vision, but when Simon increased the copyright transaction price of about US$100 million by dozens of times, money also exerted its due powerful power.

Perhaps both parties felt that they had taken advantage of it, and the deal was reached. Neither the Tolkien Heritage Foundation nor the Westeros Company publicly disclosed this matter.As for the future, no matter what the result is, each of them has already bought and left.

In all fairness, Simon himself does not dare to [-]% guarantee that the Thor King Middle-Earth series can achieve the same success in the original time and space, but his chances of winning must be much greater.

From mid-January to mid-February, negotiations between Daenerys Films and Warner Bros. lasted for a month, and the detailed cooperation plan for "Batman" was finally finalized.

The five-year licensing scheme remains unchanged. Daenerys Pictures paid $200 million for the copyright of "Batman", which is another fat sheep compared to the $20 for "Spiderman".The two parties agreed that the first film would be invested by Daenerys Films, and Warner Bros. Pictures would obtain the worldwide distribution rights of the film.If the first film is successful, Warner has up to 50% of the investment rights in the sequel.However, after the sequel project is established, Warner must decide whether to participate in the investment within one month, and if the time limit is exceeded, it will be regarded as an automatic abandonment.

In terms of film distribution, Warner's position is very firm. In the end, Daenerys Pictures only won the opportunity to renegotiate the distribution commission of the sequel, but did not get the right to self-publish.

In terms of peripheral products, because of the success of the peripheral products of the "Star Wars" series that year, this part of the revenue has become the focus of the two sides' tug-of-war.

In the final contract, it took more than ten pages of ink to confirm that the surrounding products are from real people and comics, as well as the first and sequel. 10% of the net profit of film-related peripheral products is shared, and the rest of the income is determined by the investment share of both parties.

All in all, this is another cooperation plan that is very unfavorable to Daenerys Films like "Rain Man" some time ago.

but.

Winning the copyright of "Batman" is an absolute victory for Simon.Now that he has eaten the copyright, he has no intention of letting it go.As long as he firmly holds the copyright of "Batman", the initiative in many things in the future is destined to be on his side.

In order to be more 'active', one week after Daenerys Pictures formally signed the contract with Warner Bros., Simon once again bought the copyright of "Superman" from British producer Alexander Salkind by spending money.