Two Hundred and Fifty Four - I Want Pg One Thirteen
Warner Bros.'s publicity department submitted suggestions to Jeff Robinoff that there are three proposed schedules for "Batman," which is currently being filmed and produced.
The first one is, of course, mid-June. Wayne Greenberg’s films have a high success rate. There is no need to worry about market competition. They can be released during the hottest time of the summer. If you want to maximize box office and other benefits, this period is the most suitable. .
The latter option is in May, which is the beginning of the summer season, because during this period, Wayne's first few films have been successful, and they can continue the fans' own movie-watching habits, and it is also easier to operate in terms of publicity. .
At the same time, this has another benefit. If "Batman" can be successful at the beginning of the summer season, it will be a good start for Warner Bros., and the box office pressure of subsequent films will be much less.
Jeff Robinoff was still worried about this year's summer season. During the entire period, almost all the films produced and distributed by the company were wiped out. It was not until September that he saved some face with "The Return of the Clown."
"Jeff." Wayne held the phone between his neck and took a sip of coffee. "We cannot continue the name of this film from the previous two films. We want fans to know at a glance that this is a new work after the reboot."
"Yes, you can decide what to call it. As long as it is different from the previous ones and tells the public that this story has no connection with the first two movies."
Jeff Robinoff supported his decision as always. This is the habit of the CEO of Warner Bros. He absolutely supports all issues in the production of the film, and then quietly waits for the success of the film and the projects he promotes to earn large amounts of revenue. This is enough.
"When the company promotes it externally, let's call it "Batman Begins."
Without any embarrassment, Wayne simply plagiarized the name. Now that he had a ready-made successful template, he was not going to waste time thinking about it.
He continued: "Tell the distribution department that the clown can be mentioned more in external promotions. Let the fans know that these two stories take place in the same universe and the same city. They will eventually meet. Using the clown Arthur The huge popularity has raised the audience’s expectations to the highest level.”
"I understand, you don't have to worry about publicity and promotion. The distribution department has already set up many plans." Jeff Robinov paused for a moment and thought about it for a while before continuing: "You have to hurry up and Before mid-January, a 30-second trailer was edited with Dwayne Scott.
In this trailer, it is best not to involve large-scale shots. The company has already booked the Super Bowl halftime ad show in advance. The trailer will be placed in the first advertising spot and will be watched by hundreds of millions of households. We must pay attention. The impact. "
Based on Jeff Robinoff's understanding of this young man, he should know the reason why large-scale lenses are not allowed. This is a work with an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars. There must be no negative comments, and there is no need to rely on triggering Argument demarketing.
The film itself is the biggest selling point, and there are many powerful conditions for marketing and promotion. There is no need to use controversies to promote it.
"no problem."
Wayne knew how important this film was to him, and it was impossible for him not to restrain his production style. "Don't worry, I will strictly control the large-scale shots and there will be no overly bloody scenes. After the film is completed, it will also be at the PG13 level. I will not be willful with this project."
Of course, he knew clearly in his heart that if this film was sent to MPAA for review by another production company, it would probably be an R-rated film based on the current standards. However, Warner Brothers is different. They themselves are in MPAA. With one member, it won’t be too difficult to get the final rating of the film at PG13.
Even without him specifically mentioning it, the company will operate according to this level. The difference between these two different levels of audiences is too huge. With such a high investment in this film, we must not be able to keep out those underage movie fans, otherwise the pressure to recoup the cost will be too great.
When it comes to MPAA ratings, Jeff Robinov isn't worried at all. "Okay, don't worry about the company. Just focus on the filming and production. Warner Bros. will definitely ensure the film's rating."
"By the way, Jeff." Wayne glanced at Tim Burton, who was sitting opposite and listening, and said into the microphone: "I need some funds in the near future. You know, all my cash is invested. When it comes to the company’s share expansion financing, so..."
"I understand. When I get to work tomorrow, I will urge the financial department to calculate your director's share as soon as possible." After calculating the time in his mind, Jeff Robinov said without hesitation:
"Ask your accountant to come to the company the day after tomorrow, and the first $200 million of theatrical distribution from "The Return of the Clown" will be settled with your accountant as soon as possible."
"No problem, that's it. Tim is still here with me. We'll talk when we get back to Los Angeles."
After talking about the business, Wayne was about to hang up the phone, but the voice from the other side interrupted him from putting down the phone.
"Wayne, what do you think of this year's Oscars?" Jeff Robinoff asked tentatively. "If the company operates at full capacity, "The Return of the Clown" should be able to compete for two technical awards, but for best director..."
“As long as there is a nomination!”
Wayne has no illusions. This film can help him accumulate points, and that's enough. "I will not attend any of the preview screenings, canvassing parties and receptions. Let the company's public relations department do the work. Just ensure there is a nomination."
His words relieved the CEO of Warner Bros. Although this film is full of social attributes, humanistic care and some exploration of family issues. But the main theme is still an American horror film. It is not difficult to organize a nomination with the company's media resources, but it is too difficult to win an award.
"Well, you go ahead and get busy. I'll inform you of the results after the nominators' luncheon."
After hanging up the phone, Wayne smiled and shook his head. He understands that no director in the circle can resist the temptation of the Oscar for Best Director. Jeff Robinov is afraid that he will get ahead of him, so he cannot resist the temptation and force public relations.
He shrugged at Tim Burton. "Okay, the company has settled it, let's talk about the rest of the shooting plan..."
The CEO of Warner Bros., who was far away in Los Angeles, did let out a sigh of relief after hanging up the phone in his study.
With the revenue generated by "Return of the Clown" and Wayne's current importance to Warner Bros., as long as the other party expresses its intention to forcefully compete for awards, even if it knows that the success rate is less than two cities, the company must support him unconditionally.
Especially in the past two years, Wayne's projects have accounted for a large share of Warner Bros.'s movie revenue. It can be said that it is one leg that supports the company, and the other leg is the sum of other projects.
Not only the box office figures, but also the attributes of his films, in offline operations, the profits are much higher than the box office revenue. The film "Joker" is still the main force in the video tape market even now.
Especially after the "Jurassic Park" two years ago, the investment in Hollywood commercial blockbusters in the past two years has become higher and higher, with investment costs of tens of millions or hundreds of millions, which has caused increasing pressure to repay the capital.
Even in those traditional movie countries in Europe, the media have begun to badmouth Hollywood movies, but they only see the return on investment ratio at the box office, and they always feel that badmouthing Hollywood makes sense.
A full-length film must have about 20 to 30 million U.S. dollars in promotional funds. With such a huge investment scale, even if the box office exceeds 200 million U.S. dollars, the producer will lose tens of millions of U.S. dollars in revenue. .
This can be regarded as a common phenomenon in Hollywood in the past two years. Just looking at these, the six major movie giants should have gone bankrupt at least dozens of times, but that is not the case.
Hollywood has not collapsed because of this, let alone the six giants. Many small companies have not disappeared because of this. Various film investment funds are still emerging one after another. Not only have they not reduced the enthusiasm and scale of investors, but there have been more big investments and big productions. Continuously shooting.
The reason for all this is that in addition to earning box office revenue in theaters, the film can also generate several times the box office revenue offline.
Since the 1980s, the emergence of video recorders and video tapes has given all Hollywood studios a shot in the arm. This carrier can be said to have saved Hollywood for the first time.
At the same time, George Lucas started the concept of commercial blockbusters and created terrifying offline revenue, so the majority of movie revenue gradually shifted. As there are more and more profit models and profit channels, Hollywood production costs are also increasing year by year.
After the 1990s, through the operation of complete upstream and downstream channels, the profit point of a movie is no longer the box office divided by the theater company, and may not even account for 20% of the total revenue. .
Of course, all subsequent income will also be based on the box office figures. All income from offline copyright sales of various TV stations, licensing of peripheral products, ranging from houses and cars to children's toys and pencils. Built on box office numbers.
And now the most important video tape, whether it is rented or sold, this kind of carrier can create terrifying profits. With the popularity of video recorders, its production cost has been so low that it can be ignored, and almost everything sold is profit.
In this market, Wayne's film attributes have always been the most popular type. In terms of video rental and sales alone, the profits created by several of his films are several times the box office profits.
This is the important reason why Warner Brothers, in order to tie him down, gave him a high box office share and even let him invest in the company.
The offline profits that Wayne's films can create are terrifying. Even if this number is not made public, the remaining five giants of the companies in the industry can more or less guess it.
So he is so important to Warner Bros., and this importance is still growing. No matter what Jeff Robinoff does, even during award season, he must take his feelings into consideration, and it is because of this.
If Warner Bros. doesn't support it, there are some big capital companies that are willing to line up to support it. This has always been the case in this circle. Whoever can create more benefits is capital's best friend.