After Simon submitted the Basic Instinct script, Jonathan and Amy had been busy with the project these past days.
The original Basic Instinct, made in 1992 with a $49 million budget, grossed over $350 million worldwide. Its success largely stemmed from the intense controversy sparked by its subject matter and its near-NC-17 level explicitness; Sharon Stone's leg-crossing scene remained a topic of fan discussion for years. Basic Instinct's box office success even inspired a wave of erotic thrillers featuring femme fatales throughout the 1990s.
The original director of Basic Instinct was Paul Verhoeven, the Dutch director behind films like Total Recall and Starship Troopers. However, after completing the story outline, Simon directly passed it to Brian De Palma.
Compared to Paul Verhoeven, Brian De Palma, who excelled in suspense and had a particular fondness for voyeuristic themes, was clearly a better fit for directing this film.
Although Simon explicitly stated during discussions with Brian De Palma that this film, like The Butterfly Effect, would likely receive poor media reviews and could even provoke significant controversy, De Palma, whp liked the story very much, quickly agreed to take it on.
For the male lead, Simon still leaned towards Michael Douglas.
Michael Douglas happened to be a WMA client. The unexpected success of Fatal Attraction had elevated the career of this middle-aged star from a film dynasty. After several contacts, he also quickly agreed to participate.
Simon was well aware that the choice of female lead was crucial to the film's success or failure. However, with the two key creatives secured, Jonathan and Amy formally began negotiations with Fox. Now having accumulated sufficient capital and with Basic Instinct's commercial prospects looking very secure, Simon decided to participate in the investment.
Simon initially hoped Daenerys Pictures could fully finance and produce the film, then hand distribution to Fox, simultaneously fulfilling the original three-script contract. However, after the success of Run Lola Run, The Butterfly Effect, and Final Destination, although the story Simon presented still deviated from the mainstream, with the involvement of three box office draws—Simon, De Palma, and Douglas—Fox was naturally unwilling to let go.
After a week of negotiations, Fox and Daenerys Pictures finally reached a cooperation agreement.
With Hollywood talent salaries generally rising, following The Butterfly Effect and Fatal Attraction, Brian De Palma and Michael Douglas's quoted salaries both increased to $6 million. Simon's script fee remained a symbolic $1. The film's budget was initially set at $20 million.
With a production budget of $20 million, Fox and Daenerys Pictures would each contribute $10 million. The film would be fully produced by Daenerys Pictures, with Fox guaranteeing distribution and directly securing a July 15th release date next year, with the minimum screen count increased to 1500.
Regarding profit distribution.
After several rounds of tug-of-war, both parties finally agreed to split all revenue streams from all channels 50/50 according to the investment ratio. Simply put, Fox's marketing budget would no longer participate in profit sharing as part of the film's investment cost, allowing Daenerys Pictures to avoid the most inflated area in 'Hollywood accounting.'
Marketing costs for Hollywood films typically amount to about half the production cost.
Basic Instinct had a production budget of $20 million, so the theoretical marketing budget would be around $10 million. Splitting revenue 50/50 with Daenerys Pictures based on investment ratio might seem like Fox was taking a big loss, but that wasn't actually the case.
On the Final Destination project, Daenerys Pictures didn't invest a single cent but was expected to receive around $10 million in profits.
This time, if they didn't participate in the investment, Simon could have secured terms for Basic Instinct at least equivalent to those for Final Destination. Now, Daenerys Pictures was essentially giving up that extra potential income, while Fox was giving up its rightful share of the marketing budget profits, keeping both parties' contributions balanced.
Furthermore, the contract included a series of clauses, detailed down to specifying the duration of TV spot airings, to ensure Fox committed sufficient marketing resources.
...
Fox Studios.
It was already Tuesday, November 10th.
In a conference room within the studio's administrative building, Leonard Goldberg, Amy Pascal, Jonathan Friedman, and executives, stars, and agents from the three related companies formally signed several investment and actor contracts for the Basic Instinct project.
However, Simon was not present at today's signing ceremony.
After the press conference, during the signing banquet organized by Fox, Leonard Goldberg approached Amy Pascal to inquire about Simon's recent activities, even though he had received an explanatory call from Simon beforehand.
Since mid-October, many people around Simon had noticed he seemed noticeably distracted. Orion Pictures President Mike Medavoy couldn't help but complain about the slow post-production progress on Pulp Fiction; over a month after wrapping, the rough cut wasn't even finished.
Hearing Leonard Goldberg's question, Amy Pascal thought about Simon's recent vagueness and could only inwardly shake her head, but outwardly she had to defend her boss. "Leonard, you know Simon has been busy for a full year since last year. It shouldn't be a problem if he relaxes a little now."
Leonard Goldberg didn't believe Amy's excuse. He lowered his voice slightly and leaned in. "Amy, be honest with me. Did Simon invest the money he made from Run Lola Run into the stock market and lose it?"
Upon hearing this, Amy immediately thought of the week after the North American stock market crash last month when Simon didn't come to the company.
During this period, although the North American stock market had stabilized, the Dow Jones index still hovered around 2000 points, far below its August high of 2700. Simon had earned over $100 million from Run Lola Run in the previous six months. Given the market's previous bullish trend, it was hard to say he wouldn't have been tempted to enter the market and make more money.
"I really don't know about that," Amy said, shaking her head again despite her suspicions. After a moment's thought, she added, "But, Leonar, you can rest assured that, no matter what, it won't affect Daenerys Pictures' investment in Basic Instinct."
Leonard Goldberg pressed a few more times but couldn't get any information from Amy and had to walk away.
Amy Pascal watched Leonard Goldberg leave, her brow furrowing. She couldn't help but recall discussing the Basic Instinct investment with Simon some time ago.
Although she didn't think using one's own money to make movies was the best choice, Amy had originally assumed Simon would use the money he made from Run Lola Run to invest in Basic Instinct.
Simon's decision surprised Amy. He wanted Amy to use the Final Destination contract as collateral for a bank loan to fund Basic Instinct.
A significant portion of Hollywood film production financing comes from bank loans.
During the initial financing for When Harry Met Sally, Daenerys Pictures lacked the standing to secure production funds from banks and had to partner with Handmade Films. But now, with three consecutive successful films under Simon's belt and Basic Instinct being a script he wrote himself, obtaining a bank loan shouldn't be too difficult.
However, connecting this with Simon's sudden, unexplained second trip to New York after late October, even missing today's signing ceremony... stringing these clues together, it was obvious that her young boss, and likely his girlfriend too, had probably lost a large sum of money in the stock market crash.
Over $100 million! Who knows how much is left now.
Just thinking about the severity of the market crash on October 19th made Amy shake her head. He's still young, after all.
But.
I wonder if the young boss will face a similar setback in filmmaking.
After all, if you calculated carefully, she should have a 5% share in the profits from Final Destination.
For Basic Instinct, and most Hollywood films financed through loans, the usual practice is to use the film's pre-sales contracts to apply for bank loans. But both Fox and Simon disagreed with pre-sales. Loans required collateral, so Danielews Pictures had to use the Final Destination profit participation contract as leverage.
Now.
If Basic Instinct fails. If When Harry Met Sally. fails. Or even if Pulp Fiction fails, and the young boss just lost a fortune in the stock market crash... then she'd have worked for nothing and might even need to find a new job.
These thoughts flashed through Amy Pascal's mind, growing more worrisome the longer she thought about them. After the banquet, upon returning to her own home also in Palisades, she couldn't resist picking up the phone. Remembering it was already early morning on the East Coast, she refrained from calling.
Having drunk some wine the previous night and gone to sleep worried, even having a nightmare about Daenerys Pictures going bankrupt and her pitifully begging Leonard Goldberg to take her back at Fox, Amy Pascal was awakened by a shrill phone ring. She looked at the clock; it was just past 4 AM.
Sitting up, rubbing her temples, feeling the still-dark sky outside, Amy couldn't help but feel irritable.
My god.
4 AM? What emergency could there be now?
Have aliens attacked Earth?
Should i start evacuating?
Muttering this to herself, Amy still picked up the receiver.
It was Jonathan Friedman on the line. He didn't waste words, directly telling Amy to check her fax machine.
A moment later.
Pulling a page of news clipping from the fax machine, Amy Pascal just glanced at it and her eyes widened wide. All her earlier irritation, fatigue, and sleepiness vanished completely.
Simon Westeros Works Another Miracle, Hollywood Kid Rakes in $1.6 Billion
This.
This has to be a joke, right?
Might as well say aliens are attacking Los Angeles – I could drive to Mexico to hide out, been thinking about taking a break lately anyway.
After receiving one news clipping, the fax machine didn't stop; several more clippings came through.
...
From $75 Million to $1.62 Billion, The Youngest Billionaire is Born
West questioned by CFTC, suspected of insider trading
Quantum Fund Sues Lehman Brothers, Simon Westeros Involved
Simon Westeros Spends $1.1 Billion Buying Tech Stocks
...
After reading several clippings in a row, Amy Pascal finally confirmed that, although it seemed utterly unreal, this was genuinely, truly not a joke.
Her young boss had inexplicably become a billionaire.
Wait.
$1.6 billion.
My god, how did he do it?
While Amy was receiving Jonathan Friedman's fax, across a still-dark Los Angeles, countless phones and fax machines began operating frantically. By the time the winter sun slowly pweked over the horizon in LA, all of Hollywood had received the confirmed explosive news.
Simon Westeros had madly profited $1.6 billion in just a few months through operations in the index futures market.
Although many instinctively thought of taxes, regardless, this newcomer who had just emerged in their circles had suddenly become one of the wealthiest individuals in Hollywood, with a personal fortune even surpassing that of most of the controlling figures behind the major studios. It was simply unbelievable.
After confirming the news, many people, amidst their astonishment, were left with a series of question marks.
How on earth did he do it?
What happened?
Is this some massive, crude prank the East Coast 'unscrupulous media' is collectively playing on Hollywood?
However.
Publications like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post wouldn't recklessly play such a clumsy joke; it wasn't April Fool's Day.
Moreover, with the news breaking so widely this morning, many also sensed an underlying implication.
Perhaps something bigger was about to happen.
After confirming the news, people connected to Simon—Amy Pascal, Jonathan Friedman, George Norman, Pat Kingsley, etc.—all flew to New York. No matter what, their employer or client suddenly becoming a billionaire was quite an exciting thing.
East Coast.
In the Presidential Suite of The Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, Simon stood on the balcony looking down at the road in front of the hotel. Seeing the dense crowd of reporters, numbering one to two hundred, he also felt a headache coming on.
Last week, when Simon suddenly received notifications from the SEC and the CFTC demanding he submit all of Westeros Corporation's trading records for index futures and stocks during this period, he had a sense something was about to happen.
However, Simon still complied with their request, transmitting a series of documents without reservation to the headquarters of the two agencies in Washington.
His operations ultimately had no aspects, so Simon wasn't too worried.
Receiving the inquiry notice from the CFTC on Monday, Simon very cooperatively came to New York. Yesterday morning, he completed a three-hour meeting with CFTC staff in the hotel suite, answering a barrage of questions repeatedly, and hadn't sensed anything amiss during the process.
However.
Simon didn't expect to wake up and find the situation erupting so fiercely and suddenly. Influential mainstream newspapers like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post had almost all of Westeros Corporation's trading data from the past few months.
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