Capítulo 298: Chapter 298: I've Seen It Too
Simon was in his duplex apartment on Fifth Avenue in the Upper East Side.
Despite the continuous rounds of socializing until late last night, Simon still got up at 6 o'clock in the morning in New York to personally prepare breakfast for the two of them.
Today is October 6th, Friday.
Planning to spend one more day on the set of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," Simon and Janet are about to leave again. There are many matters at Daenerys Entertainment that require Simon's attention, and Janet also needs to return to the Melbourne headquarters to personally oversee the operation against the American junk bond market.
Moreover, now that the crisis in the American junk bond market is confirmed to be imminent, staying in New York could easily lead to unwanted associations, which is not a good thing.
Their next reunion is scheduled for early November, right when the Boeing 767 ordered from Boeing is due for delivery, and some of the most urgent matters in their hands should also be settled by then.
After breakfast, Janet rushed to the Westeros Company in the Midtown District, while Simon and Jennifer converged and first dropped the female assistant off at the Daenerys Entertainment New York division building in Greenwich Village. Simon took the opportunity to listen to some work reports before rushing to Brooklyn in East Manhattan, where "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" was being filmed.
In Los Angeles, it's still six in the morning, but the box office data for the past week has already been released.
From September 29th to October 5th, in its 14th week of release, Daenerys Entertainment's "The Sixth Sense" grossed an additional $5.09 million, bringing its cumulative box office to $275.06 million.
"Uncle Buck," which opened on August 11th, entered its 8th week, grossing another $3.26 million for a total of $57.02 million. With about $10 million in potential box office left, "Uncle Buck" is expected to become John Hughes' second-highest grossing film in recent years, after "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."
The earliest summer release, "The Bodyguard," saw a small rebound in ticket sales in recent weeks due to Daenerys Entertainment's profit-sharing dispute with Alister Records. Last week, it earned another $510,000, bringing its total to $118.31 million.
"The Bodyguard" is currently being shown on 286 screens, and it's very likely that its domestic box office will surpass the $120 million mark before it ends its run.
In September, Highgate Films released "Sweet Little Sister" and "The Woman on the Roof," acquired from the Cannes Film Festival, on September 8th and September 22nd, respectively.
Ella Doichman has developed an effective radial distribution model through releases like "Metropolitan," "Sisters," and "The Siddeley Sisters" earlier in the year. This strategy involves small-scale openings in key cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago to test market reactions before expanding to other cities.
Jane Campion's "Sweet Little Sister" was marketed in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, receiving media acclaim after test screenings. Doichman then decisively invested $300,000 in marketing in the three cities.
"Sweet Little Sister" opened on September 8th on 26 screens, achieving an impressive $19,000 per screen in its first week and earning $510,000 in seven days.
Considering the film's audience, Highgate Films' distribution team predicts that "Sweet Little Sister's" North American box office could reach $5 million.
Highgate Films spent only $500,000 on the advance payment for "Sweet Little Sister," and the total marketing costs were kept under $1 million. Although they have to pay the producers 50% of the net box office profit, the subsequent revenue from video tapes and TV broadcasts will all belong to Daenerys Entertainment, making this project a modest success.
As for "The Woman on the Roof," Highgate Films didn't pursue media acclaim but instead hyped the film's lesbian elements and erotic scenes. Doichman also arranged for the film's two leading actresses to appear on a local New York men's magazine with adult content.
To cater to audiences who dislike subtitles, Highgate Films specially produced a dubbed version for this Swedish film.
Highgate Films invested a total of $300,000 in purchasing, dubbing, and marketing the film. "The Woman on the Roof" opened in New York on September 22nd on 11 screens, earning $230,000 in seven days. Considering the $100,000 marketing investment in New York, this already covered the costs, with a per screen average of over $20,000, even outperforming "Sweet Little Sister."
However, in its second week of release, "The Woman on the Roof" saw a 36% drop in box office, still limited to New York, a steeper decline compared to "Sweet Little Sister." It's expected that after several months of extended screenings, the North American box office could reach around $3 million.
In comparison to Daenerys Entertainment's blockbuster films like "The Sixth Sense" and "The Bodyguard," these two 'small deals' by Highgate Films might seem insignificant, but Simon did not underestimate them. He always maintains that a $500,000 deal and a $50 million deal should be viewed the same way.
After all, a big tree without branches and leaves is doomed to wither. These 'small deals' are actually the branches and leaves of Daenerys Entertainment. Moreover, no one can be sure whether these inconspicuous branches and leaves might one day grow into another towering tree.
In addition to domestic box office, this week's report also included some of "The Bodyguard's" overseas box office data.
In this era, the overseas distribution of Hollywood movies generally lags more than three months behind the domestic release. Daenerys Entertainment is very cautious about the overseas distribution of "The Sixth Sense," so among the summer releases, only "The Bodyguard" has gradually entered overseas markets in September.
Daenerys Entertainment's dispute with Alister Records over "The Bodyguard" soundtrack has been making headlines, but Alister Records had to accept Daenerys Entertainment's financial audit last week under their firm stance. The audit is now nearing its end.
On the other hand, the suspension of "The Bodyguard" soundtrack sales did not impact the film's box office as many had anticipated. This controversy not only stimulated a small rebound in domestic box office but also sparked intense curiosity among overseas audiences about "The Bodyguard."
From its earliest release in the UK on September 8th, the film has earned over $86 million in the past month in countries like the UK, Spain, and Italy, even before premiering in major markets like Japan and France.
"The Bodyguard" was remembered for its larger overseas revenue, with the domestic box office just over $100 million, but nearly $300 million from overseas. It seems this film will follow the same box office distribution pattern as the original.
With the overseas box office unaffected, Daenerys Entertainment naturally gained more leverage in its dispute with Alister Records.
Thanks to this leverage, when Simon returned to Los Angeles over the weekend, Alister Records transferred a total of $38.25 million to Daenerys Entertainment's account after completing the financial audit
, of which $7.53 million was compensation for overdue payments from Alister Records.
Daenerys Entertainment also made some 'compromises' by not disclosing the specific amount of the settlement, giving Alister Records some face-saving leeway.
However, it's probably an open secret in the industry, and Daenerys Entertainment's firm stance with "The Bodyguard" soundtrack has served as a strong warning to all other production studios working with Daenerys Entertainment: attempting to undermine Daenerys Entertainment's interests in collaborations will not lead to compromise, even at the cost of mutual destruction.
Los Angeles.
Century City's Fox Studios.
During the two weeks Simon was away, Fox Studios had quickly completed the preparations for the first of ten projects, "Sleeping with the Enemy," scheduled for release in the prime slot of June next year. Therefore, everything was fast-tracked for the film, which could start shooting by the end of this month.
Compared to that, the other three films scheduled for release next year, "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" is planned for late July or early August, avoiding the intense competition at the end of the summer season. This is ideal for a thriller that can benefit from word-of-mouth in a less competitive period, and it also avoids competing with another thriller, "Sleeping with the Enemy."
"The 10 Days of Danger" is tentatively scheduled for Halloween at the end of October next year. After this year's "Scream 2," the third installment will take a year's break, so there won't be any internal competition then.
"League of Their Own" is expected to be released around Thanksgiving next November, thus avoiding December's "Home Alone."
The other six of the ten films are likely to be released sporadically throughout 1991 and 1992. Simon has openly stated to many that the focus is not on the first four films, but rather on the 'big bombs' that will follow.
After a morning meeting on "Sleeping with the Enemy," everyone had lunch together, and Simon was about to head back to Santa Monica when Joe Roth called him back to the president's office within the studio.
Sitting down, Joe Roth handed over a document, saying, "Simon, this is the copyright transfer agreement for 'Terminator.' Hemdale initially asked for $3 million plus 5% of the film's net profits across all channels. After a month of negotiation, the $3 million copyright fee remains unchanged, but the share has been changed to 5% of the film's net box office profits."
Simon flipped through the copyright transfer agreement handed over by Roth.
The copyright transfer price of $3 million, although not reaching the exorbitant price Simon paid in secret for the Tolkien's Middle-earth series, was still very high. With this money, Hemdale probably wouldn't expect much more in profit sharing, hence their agreement to change from 5% of all net profits to 5% of net box office profits.
Sharing all net profits and sharing net box office profits are completely different concepts. Anyone with a slight understanding of Hollywood accounting rules knows that Hollywood movies rarely show a profit on paper, let alone just from box office earnings.
Putting down the agreement, Simon asked Roth, "What about Cameron?"
Roth shook his head, "Cameron insists on directing it himself. Simon, I think, we can completely do it without him."
Simon asked, "Have you seen Cameron's sequel script?"
Roth nodded, "Yes, it's pretty good."
Simon shrugged and said, "I've seen it too."
The two exchanged looks and smiled bitterly.
Having seen Cameron's sequel script, unless they completely abandon the idea of the liquid metal robot, they might as well prepare for a lawsuit if they try to proceed without Cameron. Roth might say it's pretty good, but he's clearly aware of the pivotal role of the liquid metal robot concept.
Therefore, completely sidelining Cameron is not an easy task.
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