Chapter 1491: Feather
Los Angeles.
Inside the Holy Citizen's Hall in the city center.
This is the scene of the 71st Academy Awards on Sunday night, March 21.
Zhang Guoshi and several members of the "Heroes" crew got a fairly good position on the left front. Listening to Xueer, the award presenter of the best foreign language film award on stage, finish reading the nominations one by one, they slowly began to open the envelopes. No matter what expectations I had, I still couldn't help clenching my fists slightly.
on stage.
Wearing a set of royal blue hollowed-out low-cut evening dress today, Miss Xue Er opened the envelope, glanced at it, and read out the award result: "The award belongs to "Central Station", congratulations."
Walter Sellers, a famous Latin American director from Brazil, suddenly stood up from a position in the audience, and then remembered to be reserved, and hugged each other with his partners around him.
Zhang Guoshi slumped in his seat the moment he heard the award results.
Last year, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" just won the best foreign language film. It is impossible for the Oscars to give this award to Chinese films for two consecutive years. .
But, after all, I am not reconciled.
Noticing that Jeter Lee who was sitting next to him had kicked him, Zhang Guoshi woke up again, quickly applauded with everyone, and subconsciously aimed at the big screen on the stage. Fortunately, the camera has been completely cut to the winner, and his gaffe was not captured, otherwise, it would be even more embarrassing than not being awarded.
Fortunately, Zhang Guoshi is not a person who can't take it or let it go. Now that this is the case, don't think about it anymore, and focus on the subsequent link.
The best foreign language film award was awarded two hours after the awards ceremony started, and then basically entered the final critical link.
"Elizabeth", which had shown a big hit before and won several peripheral awards, continued to sweep, which made Zhang Guoshi more or less uncomfortable. In his opinion, "Elizabeth" is not as good as "Saving Private Ryan", and even "LA Confidential", which Brian De Palma reached the peak after many years, is not as good.
However, this historical film has come all the way.
Oscar is just that.
Of course, the main reason why Zhang Guoshi is not happy is that if this is the case, why not publicize a little golden person for his "Hero" by the way?
Unknowingly, the awards ceremony came to an end.
When everyone thought that the overall situation was settled, Oscar slammed the steering wheel again, and the best director award unexpectedly fell to Spielberg in "Saving Private Ryan".
this……
Pork?
wrong.
Engage in balance?
kind of.
Thinking about it carefully, maybe, probably, it was Oscar's silent protest against Daenerys' entertainment.
Although, Saving Private Ryan is still distributed by Daenerys Entertainment.
In fact, Oscar didn't like Spielberg very much back then. After "Jaws" in 1975 directly pushed Spielberg to the top, in the following ten years, Lao Si also filmed many times to cater to Oscar. The film hopes to win the favor of the award.
Unfortunately, nothing was found.
Until "Schindler's List" a few years ago, frankly, dare not give it.
This time, the Olympic judges are probably more sincere. They probably feel that, with the rise of Daenerys Entertainment and the latest generation of Hollywood filmmakers, Lao Si has already been regarded as "one of their own" with them. The kind of "front wave" that was photographed on the beach, so I cherish each other.
After the amiable best director award, the best picture, without any suspense, finally fell on "Elizabeth".
Having said that, as of the latest box office week before the Olympic Awards ceremony, from March 12 to March 18, the cumulative box office of "Elizabeth" in North America has reached 95.07 million US dollars. While breaking 100 million, it is expected that there will be another 20 to 30 million US dollars in box office potential in the future.
The final domestic box office should land above $120 million.
With a production cost of 25 million US dollars, it is already very successful at the local box office.
However, it is "Elizabeth" who is about to make efforts abroad. After all, the Oscar awards in this era are still very high in gold, and overseas audiences are also very enthusiastic about it, just like "Shakespeare in Love" in the same year. After winning the Olympic Award, the overseas box office reached 189 million U.S. dollars, and the global total is close to 300 million.
As for possible controversies due to this, the box office can be more than ten times the cost, and others can be as controversial as you like.
Besides, Simon is not too worried about the deliberate suppression of the Olympic awards that may be encountered later. As long as the quality of the films produced by oneself is sufficient, suppressing the Olympic awards is tantamount to slapping oneself in the face.
Just like next year, "Chicago", a masterpiece of musicals that once Miramax was suppressed for several years after 1999, once again reached the top.
So stick to it for a year at most.
In addition, there is also the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy that is ready to go. The first two can be ignored, but what about the last one?
Beverly Hills.
In the bar on the top floor of the Sunset Tower Hotel, after the awards ceremony, there was a lively Melisandre party as usual.
Zhang Guoshi and others rushed here, and they were socializing, and soon they were exposed outside the bar.
Find someone on stage.
Simon was sitting on the sofa by the railing chatting with several members of the "LA Confidential" crew, holding in his arms Christina Aguilera, who was petite and as soft as a cat.
Just as he was talking about the most famous "Black Dahlia" in the "L.A. Quartet" that Parma had already entered the casting stage, when he saw Zhang Guoshi and the others, Simon greeted them with a smile and motioned for them to sit down directly.
Zhang Guoshi didn't expect Simon Westeros to stand up to greet him. After greeting Brian De Palma, Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman in fairly good English, he sat on the sofa next to him Sit down, but Li Youhu, who came together and is also a member of the "Hero" crew, has already got close to a certain man, and has a tendency to squeeze a certain kitten away, but of course Aguilera will not back down.
Recently, it was Simon who pushed the kitten in his arms up and rushed away temporarily.
After continuing to chat about the details of the "Black Dahlia" project, Simon turned to Zhang Guoshi: "The documentary project about climbing Mount Everest has been made. At that time, there will still be a gap in funding, and China will make up for it. As a producer, if you have any questions, you can hold a production meeting to discuss them in detail in these two days, and then take them directly to China when you leave until the project is completed. "
Zhang Guoshi quickly converted.
5 million US dollars is 40 million RMB. In China, even if it is a movie, it is also a high-cost level, not to mention it is used to make a documentary. If other people in the circle listen to it, the first reaction may be that it is too much money.
However, I also learned about it in advance. Of course, Zhang Guoshi knew that Simon Westeros did not have too much money to spend, but that Daenerys has been releasing good blockbuster documentaries over the years, just like the "Gucci Mark". ", just in North America, it sold 50 million US dollars at the box office, which can be called a small miracle in related genres, and it also stimulated a surge in sales of the Gucci brand.
In comparison, the $5 million investment in the Mount Everest project, as long as it can be done well, can easily recover the cost with Daenerys Entertainment's distribution capabilities.
Moreover, didn't Westeros say that if it is not enough, China will make up for it. Obviously, it is not limited to the 5 million US dollars and can continue to be added.
&nbsax technology, compared with ordinary film movies, the cost of this shooting method will definitely increase significantly. Perhaps, 5 million US dollars is not enough.
Of course, this project is really not short of money.
With Daenerys Entertainment's signboard, shout out in China, whether it is a state-owned enterprise or a private enterprise, a large number of people rush in with banknotes.
Thinking about this, Zhang Guoshi nodded and said, "Simon, regarding the budget, news about this project has spread across the country recently. Many entrepreneurs have contacted me, hoping to sponsor, and the prices given are very generous. I think Jin As for the book, I hope there will be more brands to sponsor, what's your opinion?"
Simon glanced at Zhang Guoshi's expression, and he roughly understood his thoughts, and said with a smile: "Sponsorship is fine, since it is planned to be made into a commercial film for distribution, too obvious advertisement placement will disgust the audience."
Listening to Simon's tone, Zhang Guoshi knew that he had seen through his own mind, but he didn't notice anything, and directly admitted: "I think so too. Heh, at first I was worried that you would agree. After all, Hollywood pays attention to business. change."
Simon just smiled, and added: "Actually, there is another one inserted, the Wang of Vanke. If he is really sure that he will participate in the whole process, the documentary will be released in China. You can properly publicize it. Others who want to place advertisements are free of charge." Talked about it. In addition, I also know that China Film and CCTV are also interested in the cooperation of this project. This can be discussed. I always welcome cooperation, but the contract must list all the terms listed , According to Chinese sayings, brothers settle accounts clearly to ensure that there will be no disputes in the future."
Zhang Guoshi nodded yes again and again.
On the second day after the end of the 71st Academy Awards, the controversy remained, and the box office of "Elizabeth", which won the top spot, also rose as expected.
However, most of the public's attention was quickly attracted by another big event.
America's third punch to rally the euro.
On March 23, 1999, NATO bypassed the United Nations Organization and directly adopted a military decision to launch an air strike against Yugoslavia. The next day, March 24, the NATO Air Force began continuous large-scale bombing of tens of thousands of ground targets in Yugoslavia.
The outbreak of war inevitably leads to shocks in global stock markets.
For several days in a row, the major global financial market indexes in North America, Europe, Asia, etc. have fallen. In addition, it stands to reason that under the background of war, energy prices tend to rise, but this time it was uncharacteristically. The international crude oil price did not rise but fell, and once fell to a low level of less than 9.5 US dollars.
For this war in Eastern Europe, Simon is actually more concerned about one thing.
Will a certain period of history repeat itself?
Regarding the bombing of the embassy, all kinds of insider secrets were flying all over the sky, making it difficult to discern the truth.
Even if Simon pays attention, it's hard to do anything.
You can't just ask people to go to Washington to find out if there is any plan against China in this military operation?
People who are being questioned are bound to be puzzled.
A war in distant Eastern Europe has nothing to do with China.
Do you... Simon Westeros, do you think there will be a relationship between the two, or do you hope there will be a little relationship between the two?
In order to avoid being self-defeating, Simon could only stand on the sidelines
.
Big deal, about the cooperative project of climbing Mount Everest, postpone it for a year or two.
New York.
Eaglet Corporation headquarters at Rockefeller Center.
It's March 24th.
Wednesday.
After finishing an investment meeting with the Brazilian sovereign fund team, James Raybould returned to his office, where two guests with Asian faces had already arrived.
The two are from CNOOC's IPO team.
CNOOC's IPO roadshow started last week, starting from Hong Kong, first going to Europe, and then to North America.
After circling the globe, arriving in New York, and sorting out the purchase intentions during the whole road show, CNOOC's IPO team fell into dire straits.
The planned issuance of 2.2 billion new shares, after a round of roadshows, not to mention compared with China Telecom’s oversubscription level that exceeded three times the planned issuance level, in fact, even less than double the total subscription amount that meets the listing conditions, all Subscription intentions add up to less than 500 million shares.
what to do?
I went to the doctor in a hurry, crammed my feet temporarily, made some contacts, and finally found the Westeros system.
After all, Simon Westeros is not only rich and powerful, but also has a good relationship with China. If the Westeros system is willing to come forward, not to mention other capital partners who have responded, just Westeros is enough to easily eat CNOOC's 2.5 billion US dollars in financing.
So there is today's meeting.
After politely shaking hands with each other, everyone sat down in the reception area. James cut straight to the point, and said to one of the round-faced middle-aged people: "Mr. Wei, I carefully read the prospectus of CNOOC last night. My answer is, unfortunately. Even if the current environment of stock market volatility and oil price plummeting is put aside, CNOOC’s valuation price-earnings ratio of 21 to 24 times is really too high.”
The round-faced middle-aged man surnamed Wei did not expect to face a basin of cold water, but he did not give up. Without the help of an interpreter, he said directly in English: "Mr. Raybould, we can talk about the price again."
"Sorry," James insisted, paused, and said, "Mr. Wei, the reason why you contacted us is obviously because of the good cooperative relationship between the Westeros system and China. We were also very impressed with CNOOC's IPO at first." Interested, the two sides have just cooperated in the listing of China Telecom, but you didn't give us this kind of cooperation opportunity at that time. Now, CNOOC's IPO is about to run aground, and you came here again, hoping that the Westeros system can help you out. And frankly, that's not what friends do."
When the middle-aged man surnamed Wei heard the words, his expression was inevitably a little embarrassing, and he felt regretful in his heart. He subconsciously argued, "Mr. Leibold, I am just an executor, and this matter is actually not something I can decide."
James probably understood this too.
China is so large.
When a country is big enough, it is impossible to get up and down a line, and there must be multiple ropes twisted together.
As a result, he took a sip of the coffee brought by the secretary, and James was not in a hurry to see off the guests. After putting down the coffee cup, he said, "Actually, I asked Simon about this."
The middle-aged man surnamed Wei straightened up subconsciously.
James shook his head slightly, extinguishing the hope of the other party, and said: "What Simon means is that the current environment is indeed not suitable for an energy company like CNOOC to go public. Even if we help to push the stock market forcibly, the stock price will continue to fall. Not to mention the losses of investors, if such a stock price trend occurs, it will definitely affect the development of CNOOC itself. I think you are definitely unwilling to see this happen.”
The middle-aged man surnamed Wei could only nod.
James said patiently: "So, Simon hopes that you wait for two or three years before trying again. At that time, if CNOOC thinks that we can cooperate, we welcome it very much."