Chapter 144: kiss boots

On Tuesday morning, Phil Wood, as usual, left the house early in the morning to go to work at the newspaper.

However, what is different today is that the moment he left the house, a Fox TV OB truck stopped at the side of his door. Before he could react, the reporters from Fox TV directly surrounded him .

"Hello, Mr. Phil-Wood, have you read the newspapers these days!" A beautiful reporter from Fox TV asked a little exaggeratedly.

Phil Wood frowned slightly, and said, "I haven't watched it yet, what's the matter?"

The beautiful reporter seemed to remind me very kindly, saying: "The box office of "The Truman Show" has exceeded 40 million US dollars, and it has successfully won its first weekly box office championship. As for "Cut Throat Island"?"

"Sorry, I didn't see the name "Cutthroat Island" in the top ten list last week, so when are you going to kiss that women's boot!"

Facing this beautiful reporter, Phil Wood's expression didn't change at all, as he looked very kind, but in fact contained a hint of sarcasm.

He already knew the result, from the box office of the premiere on the first day, he already knew the situation he was about to face.

"Friday night, I will personally go to Fox TV to fulfill my original promise and kiss that damned women's ankle boot in public." Phil Wood cursed, turned and left quickly.

The beautiful Fox TV reporter on the side didn't continue to ask questions, everything was arranged, and Friday night was the highlight.

As for Phil Wood?

Although he was a little upset, he would not violate the original agreement. For him, 150,000 US dollars was not a small amount, enough to be worth more than half a year's usual income.

Besides, the box office results of "Cut Throat Island" really made him a little speechless, but if it was a little better, maybe he could find a passable excuse.

Almost at the same time, a small dispute broke out in Paramount's conference room.

"The word-of-mouth of "The Truman Show" is not bad, and with the achievements of Ryan Gosling in the past, we can definitely increase some publicity budget appropriately." Shirley Lansing sat at the top of the conference room, looking very strong .

Not far away, Robert Evans put forward different opinions, "Shirley, I admit that you chose to invest in "The Truman Show", which was a great decision and brought a considerable amount of money to the company. income."

"But I must remind you that Ryan Gosling is different from ordinary film directors. His ambition is too great. We must let him restrain himself."

Robert Evans seemed to say casually: "It is said that he has frequent contacts with some shareholders of Orion Films, and seems to want to buy the distribution department of Orion Films."

Hollywood has never been a secret. From the moment Eric Prescott came, the news that Ryan wanted to buy the distribution department of Orion Films had spread to some Hollywood film companies.

"Robert, please remember your identity, you don't need to worry about these things." Shirley Lansing forcefully stopped Robert Evans from continuing.

In fact, the two argued for hours at Paramount's internal meetings.

Robert Evans can be regarded as the veteran management of Paramount. He joined Paramount as early as 1967 and has released classic films such as "The Godfather" and "Love Story".

Shirley Lansing has just joined Paramount for a few years, and she entered the ranks of high-level management in the first year, and directly became the chairman of Paramount Pictures Group in the second year. Many inside Paramount were unhappy with her.

Of course, these people have to admit that since she joined Paramount, she has released several blockbuster films one after another, such as the "The Truman Show" just talked about, which is one of them.

Robert Evans shrugged his shoulders and made a concession. He couldn't really fall out with Shirley Lansing, otherwise he would be the one who was finally kicked out of Paramount, not Shirley. - Lansing.

Hello everyone, our official account will find gold and coin red envelopes every day, as long as you pay attention, you can receive them. The last benefit at the end of the year, please seize the opportunity. Public number [book friend base camp]

At present, Shirley Lansing has increased the publicity budget of "The Truman Show" very strongly.

Ryan didn't pay attention to the box office trend of "The Truman Show", and left these matters to Sofia.

He and Penelope Pataky formed an acquisition team, cooperated with Merrill Lynch personnel, and frequently contacted Orion Films shareholders.

Faced with a transaction worth tens of millions of dollars, Ryan needed the professional legal protection of Penelope Pataky, and even the entire lawyer and tax office temporarily put down other work and focused all their energy on this transaction.

Of course, Merrill Lynch did not stop in contact with the Canadian film company.

In just a few days, Merrill Lynch sent a relatively good news that Orion Pictures agreed to conclude this transaction.

The only headache is that the price is very high, as high as 43 million U.S. dollars, and it is not the entire Orion film industry, but only includes the distribution department and some video tape distribution channels, as well as the Orion brand.

You must know that the acquisition invitation issued by 20th Century Fox to Carlock Films is only 50 million U.S. dollars, and it includes all assets, including a large film library.

Of course, the reason given by the other party is very good. They believe that the Orion brand and a complete distribution channel in North America are worth as much as 43 million US dollars.

Faced with such a high price, Ryan would naturally not agree and could only continue the negotiation.

After two very brief negotiations, the shareholders of Orion Films lowered the price to 38 million US dollars on the premise that all cash must be paid in one lump sum, and after the completion, they insisted on the price and would rather terminate the transaction.

Ryan is very clear that the price of 38 million US dollars is still very high.

If it was the distribution department and brand of Orion Films in its glory days, he would definitely agree to it without hesitation, and even increase the price.

But the current Orion Films has gone through a bankruptcy reorganization, and now it will merge with another company. The so-called perfect distribution channels, at most one-third of the remaining one-third would be good.

As for the Orion brand!

Far from the previous influence, for the price of 38 million US dollars, it is too expensive.

At the same time, Gail-Anne-Hurd learned of Ryan's plan to acquire Orion's distribution department and brand, and put forward a proposal to buy the rights to the sequel of "Terminator" from Carlock Films, or follow the 20 Century Fox Collaboration.

The earliest "Terminator" copyright is not in the hands of James Cameron, but in the hands of Gail-Anne-Hurd and Heimdale Film Company, each of which holds 50% of the copyright , Orion Pictures is the distributor of the first "Terminator", and has always had a close cooperative relationship with Heimdale Films.

(James Cameron sold the Terminator rights to Gail-Anne Hurd for $1 before the film was made.)

By the way, by the way, Carlock Films bought the rights to the sequel of "Terminator" from Heimdale Films.

Gail-Anne-Herd's proposal made Ryan somewhat hesitant. In his previous life, "Terminator 3" was a hit at the box office because of the high cost of filming. The filming budget of the entire film reached $200 million.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's salary alone is as high as 30 million US dollars. This is not counting James Cameron, who has already directed "Titanic" and won the title of King of the World. His director fee, so The cost of movies keeps rising.

Of course, "Terminator 3" earned a box office of 433.4 million US dollars worldwide. For the film investment company Twentieth Century Fox, it still made money, at most a little less than expected.

Ryan rubbed his head, and didn't think about Gail-Anne-Heard's proposal for the time being, unless she could persuade James-Cameron to give up the director's position, let's not talk about whether James-Cameron has a schedule. Ryan couldn't accept the constant increase in film investment budget.

According to the transfer agreement signed between James Cameron and Gail Anne Hurd, unless he voluntarily relinquishes the position of director, he can only direct the "Terminator" series of films.

Well, a very speechless couple, no, to be precise, it should be an ex-husband and ex-wife.