Chapter 1763 Medium-Cost Movie

The most important thing is that Universal's original gold-fishing series, the love action suspense horror film about a domineering president and Mary Sue's girlfriend, the Fifty Shades series, was snatched away by New Era Pictures. Without this ginseng, only two people can survive. With two sequels to the masterpieces "Fast and Furious 8" and "Despicable Me 3", I'm afraid things will not be easy for Universal next year.

Paramount, which is always ranked at the bottom of the list of the top six, has nothing to say. Since the end of its cooperation with Marvel and DreamWorks Animation, Paramount has been on a high-speed elevator that is always going downwards. It can only get projects this year. There are only three so-called big productions, "Star Trek 3", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2" and "Ben-Hur". However, these were only released in theaters, and the results were very stable - blockbusters, blockbusters, blockbusters.

The impact of three consecutive attacks was that it was targeted by the local tycoon Z. After all, this brand is still very loud, and he still has the golden sign of "Mission: Impossible", so he can at least sell it for a good price.

Of course, people at Paramount don’t think so. They are still dreaming of their former hegemony, but they ignore the risk of losing their last life-saving ace.

Recently, New Era Pictures has been targeting Tom Cruise. They are taking the boss route. They have enjoyed their recent collaborations with Tom Cruise. Yang Cheng and Tom Cruise also maintain a fairly good friendship. When they met several times at events, Yang Cheng mentioned to him the suggestion of kicking off Paramount and cooperating with New Era Pictures.

Tom Cruise is very tempted. The only hesitation is whether his interests can be guaranteed. After all, the biggest beneficiary of every episode of "Mission: Impossible" is himself, not Paramount.

In fact, Paramount can only take comfort in the distribution of this ace series. They basically have no say in the actual production, and Tom Cruise is fully responsible for it. Except for the opening animation, Paramount Ramon can no longer find any sense of presence.

But if this series is lost, what’s the point of Paramount still living? Do they expect the Autobots to save their lives again?

However, next year, after the Autobots have completed their mission of making money for Paramount on Earth, they will return to Cybertron to live their own little life. Without Tom Cruise and losing the Autobots, Paramount's prospects will be All was bleak.

Immediately afterwards, Donna Round summarized the situation of New Era Pictures, "Hollywood's total overseas box office this year reached 26.73 billion, North America set a new record of 11.37 billion US dollars, and the global total was 38.1 billion, but the overseas box office year-on-year down 3.7%

Disney ranked first with 7.605 billion, Warner ranked second with 4.93 billion, Fox ranked third with 4.49 billion, Universal followed with 3.31 billion, and Sony ranked fifth with 2.15 billion~"

After a pause, he said in a slightly high tone, "What is gratifying is that New Era Pictures ranked sixth with a box office of 1.98 billion.

Trampled Paramount's 1.76 billion underfoot~

This is only the offline box office, not counting online and peripheral revenue. But even so, with the offline box office revenue, we also made a net profit of close to 100 million. "

Ruiz said happily, "Boss, should we open the champagne to celebrate? With a net offline box office revenue of 100 million, she deserves to be Donna, the most powerful woman in Hollywood~"

Yang Cheng laughed, "Open!"

He shouted at the door, "Jun Yu, come in and open a bottle of champagne~"

Liu Junyu heard the sound and came in. Seeing the happy smiles on the faces of the four bosses, she couldn't help but become happy. She trotted to the wine cabinet and selected a bottle of champagne. She opened it with a bang and poured four glasses. .

Yang Cheng raised his glass and said, "Come, let's celebrate Donna today and hold a more formal celebration party another day."

After everyone finished their drinks, Yang Cheng asked, "In addition to scheduled releases of established projects next year, what other plans does New Era Pictures have?"

Donna Ronde put down her wine glass, "Boss, still remember STX?"

Yang Cheng frowned and thought for a while, "I remember, a new company that performed very well?"

“Yes, it has only been established for more than two years, but it has suddenly emerged among many established companies.

I just moved to the top floor of an office building on the boulevard last year, not far from Universal~"

Yang Cheng was stunned for a moment, "Do you have any ideas about this new company?"

Donna Round did not answer directly, but said, "STX defeated Fox, Universal and our New Era Pictures at this year's Cannes Film Festival, and finally won the film "The Irishman" for $50 million. Overseas distribution rights.”

Yang Cheng thought for a moment, "A new film directed by Martin Scorsese?"

"Yes, Martin has assembled Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, and it is still the crime theme he is best at. This is just a prototype of a project that has not yet been released. STX dared to make such a heavy bet. After this deal was reached, The day before, STX also reached an agreement with Aaron Sorkin's first directorial work "Molly's Secret" for US$9 million, obtaining the distribution rights of the film in the United States and Country Z.

Because of these two transactions, STX has attracted attention in the industry.

You must know that in this era where big companies like to make blockbusters, accumulate big IPs, and insist on making sequels, STX seems to be unique. They prefer medium-cost films led by stars, with a maximum investment of no more than 80 million US dollars. Superheroes, without CG special effects, just tell a story.

I think what STX is doing is filling a gap in the current market.

Hollywood has become a battlefield for capital and blockbusters, but the frequent release of blockbusters has also left out some audiences. This has resulted in a large blank area in the market for genre films that focus on storytelling.

This kind of project may not have a high box office, but the leading role of celebrities is enough to ensure the profitability of the project. The key is a good reputation, which can help us establish a high-quality brand image, which cannot be bought with money. "

Yang Cheng pondered, "If this is the case, we don't need to acquire STX. We can completely follow their route and specialize in creating this type of movie."

Ryze also nodded, "Boss is right, I don't see the shining point in STX that we must acquire."

Eddie used to be half an insider, and he has more say. “Today, there are two consensuses in Hollywood: first, if you don’t build theme parks, sell toys, and only sell movies, you will die;

Second, if you make a mid-budget movie, you will die too!

These two consensuses that have dominated Hollywood since ten years ago are unlikely to change qualitatively in the short term. "

Donna explained patiently, "You are right, but you have also seen the result of this, that is, Hollywood prefers various big IPs. Such movies do not rely on stories and stars to attract people, but rely on those... The characters and stories that the audience is already familiar with in movies, comics and games are used to bring the audience into the cinema.

To be honest, I personally don’t like the setting of Batman vs. Superman, or Iron Man vs. Captain America. They completely lose the beauty of the art of movies and are purely popcorn condiments.

Grand and exaggerated visual spectacles have become the basis of blockbusters. The movies built on this do not need to be good movies, as long as they can make sequels. But such movies are not suitable for repeated viewing. What can really be passed down are movies that tell stories. . "

Eddie retorted, "But for Hollywood, the more money you spend on a movie, the better. Mid-budget movies cannot attract audiences. Their quota is only one or two movies per year, and their main goal is just to win the Oscar. This is mainstream! "

Donna sighed heavily, "I know what you said is right. Nowadays, the six major universities, including us, are focusing on superhero movies or movies that can make sequels. In the past two years, every time I hold a meeting, At the meeting, the discussion was not about the movie itself, but about what kind of sequel this movie should have.

This is not a normal phenomenon. Although I am not a director, as a film practitioner, I don’t like to only shoot sequels or series of movies. "

Eddie said cruelly, "However, only movies like this can make money. We must be alive first before we can talk about other things, such as the good movies you call~"

Listening to the argument between the two people, Yang Cheng suddenly found it very interesting. The first impression Eddie gave him was that of a rigid old scholar. Unexpectedly, one day, he heard the point of view of 'interest only' from his mouth. , is this a kind of progress or regression?

Ruiz interjected, "This is the era of capital. When the blockbuster strategy works, film companies can gain greater profits. As the tide rises, capital pays more and more attention to Hollywood. Big capital begins to buy film companies, and film companies are buying IP. , forming a cycle.”

Donna got a little angry after being refuted and targeted by the two people one after another. She said with a cold face, "But you also listened to the report I just made. Except for the two leading companies, for most film companies, this business is getting bigger and bigger. As things get worse, Viacom, the parent company of Paramount, is already considering selling this golden brand of the past.

So what do you say? "

Seeing that the two were silent, Donna continued to question, "The merger of Disney and Fox is a general trend, and no one can stop it. What is the reason? Is it because other than Disney, including Fox, they are no longer able to produce enough quantity and quality Content to compete?

The time has come for the industry to reshuffle. What I'm worried about is that the situation of one superpower and many superpowers will not be sustainable, and only one company will be left alone. Where will New Era Pictures go from then?

I have been in this industry for decades, and my deepest feeling is that you must never follow blindly.

At present, big IP sequels are the mainstream, but how long can this trend last?

Shouldn't we respond in advance? Even if there is no rush to transform! "

Eddie and Riz faced each other in silence again. They had no choice but to give an answer to Donna's question.

Donna added, "The reason why I mention STX is to let you realize that there is actually room for survival in mid-cost movies, and some mid-cost projects can also make money. This is why STX can stand out from the crowd!"

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