Although far on the East Coast, The New York Times' position in American journalism surpasses not only the Los Angeles Times but also holds significant international influence. Any news article in such a newspaper can trigger widespread social reactions.
There is a three-hour time difference between the East and West Coasts of North America.
Thus, as soon as dawn broke in Los Angeles, the article in The New York Times, which strongly questioned Simon and 'Run Lola Run', quickly spread throughout Hollywood.
Along with this article, the North American box office data for the past weekend was also released.
From March 6th to March 8th, despite two new films opening this week—Warner Bros. 'Lethal Weapon', starring Mel Gibson, and MGM's 'Angel Heart' starring Robert De Niro, 'Run Lola Run's box office momentum remained unaffected.
With 'Run Lola Run's release expanded to a large scale across 1176 screens on both the East and West Coasts, the film garnered a box office revenue of $18.51 million in three days, once again easily securing the top spot on the North American box office chart for the weekend.
Meanwhile, entering its fourth week of release, 'Run Lola Run's total box office also surpassed the $50 million mark, reaching $50.60 million.
In comparison, 'Lethal Weapon' which also caused a stir with its original screenplay selling for $250,000, despite receiving good reviews after its release, only earned $6.12 million in its opening three-day weekend. Although it ranked second on the list, this figure was less than one-third of 'Run Lola Run's first-place earnings.
As for the other new film, 'Angel Heart', its opening three-day weekend box office was only $3.28 million, even trailing behind 'A Nightmare on Elm Street 3' and 'Platoon', ranking fifth on the list.
Perhaps due to the intense competition, North American media reporters' instincts were indeed very sharp.
Clearly sensing a major event about to unfold from The New York Times article, Simon, who had planned to go to Orion Pictures headquarters in the morning to discuss countermeasures with Mike Medavoy and others, found that the swarming reporters had already jammed the not-so-wide mountain road outside his mansion.
Considering that going out today would definitely encounter even more frantic pursuit than usual, Simon simply called Mike Medavoy and others to come to Palisades.
Around 9:30 AM.
Since she also lived in Palisades and Simon now had close financial ties with Fox Pictures, Amy Pascal, Vice President of Fox Pictures, also rushed over as a representative of Fox Pictures' senior management.
After navigating through the crowded reporters, Amy Pascal drove into Simon's mansion, where several cars were already parked in the yard.
As soon as Amy got out of the car, Janette came to greet her.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Janette led Amy towards the backyard. Amy followed Janette, but couldn't help but look around.
An acre, in the British system, is approximately 4000 square meters. The mansion before them was more like a small estate, encompassing a private cliff, with green trees surrounding it as far as the eye could see. The Mediterranean-style villa, pool, and garden were tastefully arranged, and the front yard even had a private tennis court.
Amy Pascal wasn't entirely sure of the value of this mansion, but she remembered that a few years ago, Spielberg had also bought a 13-acre plot of land in Palisades, and subsequently invested over $4 million just in the construction of the house.
In recent years, housing prices in Los Angeles must have gone crazy.
Although she had become Vice President of Fox Pictures before the age of 30, especially as a woman, this was already quite rare in Hollywood. However, Amy Pascal felt a little dejected, realizing that such a mansion was still too far out of her reach.
As she thought this, Amy Pascal's mind couldn't help but recall Simon Westeros's attempt to recruit her at the Saturday party.
For a brief moment, she even suddenly felt...
Perhaps...
She really could take a risk?
They soon arrived at the backyard. Looking around, four people were sitting around a set of sofas on the edge of the lawn, presumably for sunbathing, with Simon among them. Not far away, under the villa's eaves, two or three younger men and women were busy making and receiving calls, likely secretaries or assistants to those on the sofas.
Seeing Amy arrive, everyone stood up and greeted her.
Among the four, Amy recognized three: Simon himself, Mike Medavoy, president of Orion Pictures, and Simon's agent, Jonathan Friedman. The last person, a middle-aged woman who appeared to be in her forties or fifties, was introduced as Pat Kingsley, Simon's newly hired public relations manager.
Realizing she was the last to arrive, Amy apologized somewhat sheepishly. Janette personally poured Amy a cup of coffee and handed her a folder, then moved towards the eaves. Everyone else also sat down again.
After sitting down and just opening the document in her hand, Amy Pascal heard Pat Kingsley next to her say, "Simon, and everyone, it's now pretty much confirmed that this is a clearly premeditated media attack, and it's just the beginning, a test. If we don't respond immediately, the situation will become even more unfavourable for us".
Amy Pascal had read the article more than once before coming. Although she wasn't naive, hearing Pat Kingsley's confident tone, she still asked somewhat doubtfully, "Pat, is there any evidence?"
Pat Kingsley and Amy weren't familiar, so hearing the question suddenly, she instinctively shook her head.
Simon saw Amy looking at him again and said, "Amy, if you want to prove that 'Run Lola Run' wasn't personally directed by me, who should you investigate first?"
Amy Pascal thought for a moment, then understood, saying, "The crew".
"Exactly, the crew".
Simon nodded, gesturing to Pat Kingsley with a raised hand.
Pat Kingsley then added, "Ms. Pascal, you must have read that article too. Mark Hollington simply concluded, based on Simon's background and most ordinary people's common perception, that 'Run Lola Run' couldn't have been personally completed by Simon. This seems very rash and absurd. If he truly cared about the truth of this film, he should have contacted the crew members involved in its production".
Amy nodded earnestly and said, "Pat, you can just call me Amy. So, what should we do next? I've already spoken with Mr. Goldberg, and Fox will try to cooperate as much as possible".
Although the contract for 'Final Destination' had not yet been officially signed, and might even be delayed further due to this incident. However, 'The Butterfly Effect' was set to be released on April 10th, leaving only a month. As a closely interested party, Fox also hoped that The New York Times article wouldn't stir up too much trouble.
'Run Lola Run's box office was doing great, but then this move suddenly came. Among the five people present, Mike Medavoy was clearly the most anxious, otherwise, he wouldn't have called Simon before dawn. At this point, he couldn't help but say, "Simon, the negatives for 'Run Lola Run' must still be there, right? I think you should quickly edit a behind-the-scenes clip. This is clearly the best way to clarify".
Simon shook his head and said, "Mike, there's no such behind-the-scenes footage as you imagine. To save on budget, I even hoped that every shot could be done in one take, so it was impossible to waste film shooting irrelevant things".
"Then have the crew members endorse it," Mike Medavoy said, then thought for a moment and added, "Orion can pay for it, just include it in the promotional expenses".
Listening to Mike Medavoy's urgent tone, Simon's agent, Jonathan Freedman, couldn't help but say, "Mike, I actually think that being too eager to clarify isn't a good thing".
Mike Medavoy was instantly puzzled, but Simon nodded slightly.
Pat Kingsley also agreed, saying, "That's right, if we immediately jump out to clarify, it will only invite more questions, because the people manipulating this don't want to see the truth. They just want to damage Simon's and 'Run Lola Run's public image and keep moviegoers questioning".
Mike Medavoy was just momentarily flustered with concern. Having been in Hollywood for many years, Pat Kingsley only needed to explain briefly, and he immediately understood. He also knew that Pat Kingsley hadn't finished speaking.
The ultimate goal of some people doing this was to curb 'Run Lola Run's box office.
After all, 'Run Lola Run's box office data of $18.51 million from the past weekend had already surpassed most blockbuster films during popular release windows.
The annual number of moviegoers in North America is basically fixed, hovering around $1 billion in recent years.
'Run Lola Run's projected box office of $150 million to $200 million, based on the current average ticket price of around $4, equates to about 37 million to 50 million moviegoers. This is already a very noticeable, or even glaring, proportion of the total 1 billion moviegoers.
If 'Run Lola Run's box office is too high, it's destined to be a zero-sum game, affecting the box office of other films.
In fact, according to 'Run Lola Run's strong box office curve, not to mention the recently released 'Lethal Weapon' and 'Angel Heart', even films scheduled for the Easter holiday a month later, or even early summer blockbusters in May, could see their box office shrink due to the impact of 'Run Lola Run'.
Thinking of this, Mike Medavoy couldn't help but rub his temples.
He even had a premonition that, for this reason, even if no one was behind The New York Times article, once such a spark ignited, a whole bunch of people would rush to pour gasoline on it.