underworld began to slowly leave theaters in North America after about four weeks of release, with a box office of over 50 million US dollars in North America and over 20 million US dollars in overseas markets.
As a producer, Charles received a remuneration of 1.9 million US dollars, and after the overseas market settlement, he could still receive about 1 million US dollars.
Capet Pictures originally had about 1 million US dollars in operating funds, so Charles paid the film and television rights fee for the novel the devil wears prada.
"Why so fast?" Evelyn specially called to inquire after receiving the payment from her son.
"It's nothing, anyway, it's just a follow-up payment of 1.3 million US dollars. Now the company still has enough funds to operate. Capet Pictures is proactive in payment, so wouldn't it be more convenient to purchase novel adaptation rights in the future?" Currently, Capet Pictures does not have many scripts in storage, and acquiring scripts will definitely continue.
"Alright," Evelyn also had no objection. It was a good thing for her son to have his own ideas.
"By the way, Lionsgate Films has bid to acquire Artisan Entertainment, with 100 million US dollars in cash plus assuming Artisan Entertainment's 60 million US dollars in debt, for a total acquisition amount of 160 million US dollars."
"Will Artisan agree?"
"Probably. Artisan's three shareholders need to cash out their shares for cash! Lionsgate Entertainment's offer is very sincere."
"I understand!" Charles hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair, Artisan Entertainment, alas.
In the evening, Charles received a call from Naomi Watts inviting him to dinner.
It was a quick drive from Beverly Hills, so he drove his corvette. Charles was a bit confused, didn't the newspapers say that Naomi Watts and Heath Ledger were together?
When he arrived at Naomi Watts's house, she was busy in the kitchen, and two dishes were already prepared on the table.
"Naomi, is today a celebration? Is someone else coming?" Charles asked from the doorway.
Naomi Watts turned around and smiled, "Only you are coming. Wait a moment, I still have two dishes to finish before we can eat!"
"Oh," Charles nodded, but it seemed that Naomi Watts's blonde hair was more vibrant.
Soon, Naomi Watts took off her apron and brought two more dishes.
Then, she took out a bottle of wine from the cabinet and poured a glass for each of them.
"What day is it today?" Charles saw that this situation was definitely a celebration, a birthday?
"Universal's new movie, King Kong, I'm the lead actress, with a production budget of 200 million US dollars, and Peter Jackson is still the director," Naomi Watts had already signed a contract with Universal today.
"Oh, I see. King Kong is indeed going to be a blockbuster, which is good for you," Charles also felt the same way.
"You should indeed take on more commercial films to boost your commercial influence."
"Congratulations, drink up!"
The two glasses clinked. Naomi Watts took a sip of red wine and then asked, "Evelyn thinks I should learn from Nicole Kidman. What do you think?"
"Nicole Kidman is good. This year, she had three films released: The Human Stain and Dogville were both low-budget art films with decent reviews. As for the other film, cold mountain, the budget was a bit high, and the box office did not meet expectations, causing Miramax to lose a lot. Moreover, she also took on two films this year, especially The Stepford Wives, for which she received 17 million US dollars, the highest among foreign actresses," Charles knew that Nicole Kidman's box office poison career began this year and she would continue to flop for several years.
Naomi Watts must have been envious of the 17 million US dollars in salary, but she was an oscar best actress winner and also commercially incomparable to herself.
"I can't compare to her," Naomi Watts had that much self-awareness.
"By the way, aren't you with Heath Ledger?" Charles asked suspiciously.
"We broke up. Heath Ledger and I weren't very suitable. He's now with Michelle Williams, the young actress who played his wife in brokeback mountain," Naomi Watts said casually.
"This, cough cough," Charles smiled. So brokeback mountain brought them together.
"This is normal. Are such things rare in Hollywood?" Naomi Watts said. What's more, for Heath Ledger and herself, there was a big age gap, and he was too much of a playboy.
Charles was too lazy to complain about the private lives of Hollywood stars; they were too messy to look at.
"Then let's not talk about this, let's eat first!" Charles felt that Naomi Watts's cooking skills were a big plus.
"I heard that King Kong's set is very troublesome?"
"Yes, Peter Jackson went to New Zealand to look for suitable locations, but didn't find any, so he plans to build a Skull Island set, plus he also needs a 1930s New York street set."
Naomi Watts recalled the information as she spoke, "Although Universal Studios has early New York outdoor filming locations, they are too small. Director Jackson wants to rebuild a larger one in New Zealand!"
Charles pouted. No wonder the budget was 200 million US dollars; it was a money pit! Charles had indeed seen King Kong. The first half an hour of the movie was the 1930s New York scene, but it seemed verbose, redundant, and a waste of time.
The production cost exceeded 200 million US dollars, plus the later distribution also required a large amount of capital. King Kong's global box office seemed to be 550 million US dollars, but North America only had about 218 million US dollars.
It wasn't a loss, and breaking even and making money would depend on subsequent DVDs and TV broadcasts, etc. It certainly couldn't be considered a successful commercial film. After all, operating DVDs and other revenues would take a lot of time.
"The success of the lord of the rings has greatly increased Peter Jackson's ambition, and Universal Pictures is also very confident in him!" Charles found it difficult to comment, after all, his highlight was the lord of the rings, and the quality of the future the hobbit was really not good, but the huge audience still led to a big box office explosion.
"This year will be the last one. The first two films' global box office combined exceeded 1.8 billion US dollars, and the third one will definitely exceed 1 billion US dollars in global box office!"
Now Peter Jackson is a true top director, and King Kong is also a sci-fi epic.
Naomi Watts also nodded in agreement with Charles view; the lord of the rings was indeed well-made.
There were few places to criticize in terms of plot, scenes, action, people, emotional expression, and so on.
"By the way, don't you have any new movies planned for development now?"
Charles spread his hands and said, "Universal didn't give the green light. No, waiting for saw to be released. I don't have money, and the efficiency is too slow."
"You, a producer takes several years to develop a movie just because they lack funds. You can release two movies a year, which is already very good compared to many people!"
Naomi Watts shook her head with a smile. This was ambition.