On June 10, three new films were released again this week: Disney's family comedy 'Big Business' Paramount's thriller 'The Presidio' starring Sean Connery, and MGM's horror sequel 'Poltergeist III'.
The strategy of questioning the fairness of 'Pulp Fiction's Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival failed. Some media then turned their attention to the film's excessive violence and its alleged borrowing from many other films.
However, with 'Pulp Fiction' once again creating a viewing frenzy, similar to last year's 'Run Lola Run', these off-field tactics only served to further increase people's curiosity about the film.
To be fair, for most audiences, especially the mainstream teenage demographic of 'Pulp Fiction', it would be difficult for them to truly appreciate what makes the film so good without being influenced by external opinions. However, when a large number of media outlets and many classmates and friends discuss 'Pulp Fiction', these individuals often have some understanding of the film and their own expectations before entering the cinema.
Thus, the swing dance of Vincent and Mia, the "gold watch" segment's foreshadowing of 'The Deer Hunter', Esmeralda and 'Taxi Driver', and countless other rich details became very interesting. Coupled with the film's novel circular narrative structure, the entire movie was unconsciously labelled as 'incredibly cool'.
Due to the immense popularity of 'Pulp Fiction', the popularity of several big-name actors in the film rose again. Newcomers like Samuel L. Jackson and Nicole Kidman also began to enter the public eye. Even Janette, who only appeared for a few minutes in the film, became a topic of discussion for many media outlets because of her brilliant performance as the taxi driver Esmeralda. Jonathan Friedman even joked privately, asking Janette if she was interested in signing with WMA.
Under such unstoppable popularity, in its second week of release, 'Pulp Fiction' maintained its position as the weekly box office champion with only a 15% drop, earning another $23.38 million in the seven days from June 10 to June 17.
After two weeks of release, the cumulative North American box office for 'Pulp Fiction' broke the $50 million mark, reaching $50.91 million.
Easily earning $50 million in two weeks, major North American media and box office tracking agencies generally predicted that the total North American box office for 'Pulp Fiction' would reach around $150 million, and the film would likely break the $100 million mark within six weeks.
Coincidentally, the interval between the releases of 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Basic Instinct' was exactly six weeks.
'Crocodile Dundee II', which ranked second on the list, after a significant 41% drop last week, still saw a 31% decline this week, taking in another $12.35 million, bringing its cumulative box office to $65.15 million.
Despite having an opening of over $30 million, given the film's current decline, 'Crocodile Dundee II's North American box office will likely barely break $100 million, far from the first film's $174 million.
After 'Crocodile Dundee II', Tom Hanks' 'Big' surprisingly only saw a slight 4.7% drop in its second week, almost matching its first week's earnings with another $12.01 million, bringing its cumulative box office to $24.60 million in two weeks.
While the $24.60 million North American box office might not compare to 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Crocodile Dundee II', comparing it to 'Funny Farm', which completely fell behind to eighth place on the weekly box office chart this week, shows how impressive 'Big's box office data is.
In its second week of release, 'Funny Farm', a film similar in genre to 'Big', saw a 26% drop in box office, earning only $6.01 million. Including its opening week's $8.11 million, its two-week cumulative box office reached $14.12 million.
According to 'Funny Farm's decline curve, the total North American box office for this film might only be around $25 million.
Moreover, if the box office drop in the coming weeks can remain as slight as the first week, 'Big' can clearly aim to break $100 million at the North American box office again, just as it did in the original timeline. Fox, which had not anticipated such good news, has already begun preparations to increase its screen count.
Beyond 'Pulp Fiction', 'Crocodile Dundee II', and 'Big', the performance of other films this week was lacklustre. Among the three new releases, the best opening was 'Big Business' with a box office of only $9.11 million.
After breaking $100 million at the North American box office last week, 'When Harry Met Sally', which had slipped to 10th place on the chart, quietly took in another $2.15 million, bringing its cumulative box office to $102.36 million.
As expected, 'When Harry Met Sally's box office figures will drop below one million dollars next week. Disney has already reduced the film's screen count to 635. It is estimated that when it closes in August, the total North American box office for 'When Harry Met Sally' will finally settle at around $110 million.
While the North American summer movie season was in full swing, the Hollywood writers' strike continued.
On June 13, after another round of negotiations, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers once again proposed a new contract. Although this proposal made some concessions, it still failed to meet the Writers Guild's initial expectations.
With the strike continuing for over three months, the fall TV season was already destined to be severely affected, but the writers, who had no income for an entire quarter, were also finding it increasingly difficult. Therefore, the Writers Guild ultimately decided to give the choice to the writers themselves, launching another vote to decide whether to accept the new contract offered by the Producers Alliance.
Simon did not feel that his butterfly effect had reached a point where it could influence the overall situation. The pilot episode of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' which might have some impact on the situation, was scheduled for June 20, by which time most writers would have already mailed in their votes.
Therefore, the outcome of the vote was obvious: the strike would definitely continue for another two months.
After several contacts, General Electric, which held $220 million in debt from New World Entertainment, responded positively to Simon's debt-to-equity swap plan. General Electric's CEO, Jack Welch, even personally called Simon several times.
However, during the communication process, General Electric proposed a plan similar to that of Warner Chairman Steve Ross: they wanted to use New World Entertainment as leverage to acquire a stake in Daenerys Entertainment.
Just as a person who has accumulated enough wealth often begins to pursue fame, many large corporations in the world like to enter the entertainment and media industry. Among the current Hollywood Big Seven, half of Columbia Pictures' shares are held by The Coca-Cola Company, and Paramount's parent company is Gulf+Western Industries.
General Electric's acquisition of NBC television network two years ago was driven by similar motives.
Although Daenerys Entertainment had only been established for less than two years, the continuous success of many films had clearly piqued General Electric's interest. Exchanging a debt that might have been lost for shares in a rising star in Hollywood was definitely a very profitable deal.
Simon, of course, decisively refused, just as he had during his previous contact with Steve Ross.
General Electric proposed exchanging shares in New World Entertainment, after the debt-to-equity swap, for 49% of the future new company's equity. Although the other party did not demand absolute control, Simon believed that $220 million would not even secure half of Daenerys Entertainment's current equity, let alone half of the new company's equity after the merger.
The wealthy General Electric was unyielding during the communication process, so there was no need to continue discussing the matter for now. Simon could only hope that 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' would achieve the expected success.
Los Angeles.
At Daenerys Entertainment headquarters in Santa Monica, Simon had just returned after visiting the 'Scream' set in Bakersfield, a small town north of Los Angeles, that morning.
In the large conference room, Simon sat at the head of the oval conference table. Besides Amy and a few others, there were ten other white men, all aged between 25 and 30. These were the ten finalists for the role of Batman's male lead.
According to the plan, after confirming the male lead, Simon also hoped to put the actor through about six months of various training. Therefore, he planned to finalize the matter before the end of the month.
After briefly flipping through the resumes of the ten people around him, Simon looked up and said to everyone, "As you can see, you are the final ten. Bruce Wayne will be chosen from among you. This meeting today is not an audition; I just want to chat with you all".
Amidst polite responses in the conference room, Simon quickly continued, "First, I must reiterate that Daenerys Entertainment will not make any concessions on the terms. To get this role, you must sign a 15-year, five-film contract. I can also tell you very clearly that, if all goes well, this contract will only take ten years to complete at most. The reason for requiring 15 years is to prevent you from breaching the contract midway. If you do, according to the contract, for the remainder of the term, unless you pay a breach of contract fee that you cannot actually afford, you will not be able to accept any other films. Yes, just like some disobedient singers at record companies, you will be shelved".
After a moment of silence, one person finally asked, "Mr. Westeros, what if Daenerys Entertainment breaches the contract?"
"We will not breach the contract", Simon shook his head and said, "If the project is not going well, we can actively choose to terminate the contract with you".
"That doesn't seem fair".
"Unfortunately, there aren't many fair things in the world", Simon looked at the person, then scanned the room, and said, "Most of you ten have only played a few supporting roles in some films, and perhaps you can only maintain that status going forward. 'Batman' offers you a chance to reach the top in one go. If this film is successful, you will immediately become A-list superstars like Tom Cruise, Eddie Murphy, and Michael J. Fox. I must also remind you again that playing Bruce Wayne will not bring you a very high salary; this will also be written into the contract. But you can earn generous income through advertising endorsements and by appearing in other films. So, if anyone feels that this contract is not worth the price I just mentioned, you can leave now".
After Simon finished speaking, he waited patiently for a moment. No one left the office, so he continued, "Okay, then, let's get down to business. First, congratulations to everyone; you have entered the final round of auditions. But next, Daenerys Entertainment will conduct a background check on you to ensure that you have no past history of racial discrimination, sexual assault, robbery, etc., that could cause huge problems for the character you are about to play. We already reminded you of this at the beginning of the audition. Now, if anyone has such a past that you do not want us to know, please withdraw voluntarily, so that both parties can avoid unnecessary trouble".
After another moment of silence, still no one left.
Simon nodded in satisfaction and said, "Secondly, once you get this role, Daenerys Entertainment will arrange six months of comprehensive training for you, including physical training and acting classes, among other things. Of course, we are well aware of everyone's financial situation, so Daenerys Entertainment will pay the bills. But this process will definitely not be easy. If anyone thinks they cannot endure it, please leave now".
The ten people still sat neatly in the conference room.
Simon continued to state some requirements and answered some of their questions. After about ten minutes, he once again said seriously, "So, I think everyone has no more questions. The final hurdle, which you were also reminded of before the audition, is that to get this role, you cannot have any drug or medication addiction. Now, our invited medical team is next door. Among you, those who are confident that they can pass the test can go next door to have the doctors take blood samples. Otherwise, you can leave directly".
After saying this, Simon ignored the few men whose expressions clearly changed, nodded to Linda Vargus, the casting director who had been helping him with casting since 'Run Lola Run', and then stood up with Jennifer and walked straight out of the conference room.
Returning to the floor where his office was located, Simon arrived at the outer door and saw a curly-haired woman wearing a crop top and tight jeans sitting on the sofa in the secretary's office. The woman's name was Valeria Golino, the female lead in the original 'Rain Man'.
Under Simon's intervention, 'Rain Man', which was still in its final filming stages, also chose Valeria Golino to play Tom Cruise's girlfriend. However, her scenes had already wrapped last month.
Seeing Simon appear, Valeria Golino quickly stood up and walked over to extend her hand to Simon: "Hello, Mr. Westeros".
Simon looked the woman up and down, a satisfied expression on his face, and shook her hand, saying, "Didn't your agent come?"
Valeria Golino shook her head and said, "My agent went to New York. I talked to Mr. Freedman, and he said I could come by myself".
Simon didn't press further, instructed Susan to bring two cups of coffee, and then said to Valeria Golino, "Come in with me".
Valeria Golino nodded, clutching her shoulder bag somewhat nervously, and followed Simon into his office.
Sitting down behind his desk, Simon hadn't even had a chance to speak to Valeria Golino when Susan's voice came from the phone on the desk: "Mr. Westeros, Mr. Friedman is on the line".