Four Hundred and One - Childhood Friend Who Has Changed His Mind

"Wayne, regarding the opening scale of "The Departed", the three major theater companies have expressed that they will provide maximum support."

Regarding the second two films of "The Matrix", they only need to determine the basic scope. After Wayne has settled Zack Snyder, the specific details of the film will naturally be discussed by the following people. Bruce Rosenblum changed the topic and brought the topic to the upcoming "The Departed".

"In the past few years, your films have brought enough traffic and a large amount of revenue to theater companies. Now those companies have long been eyeing this film, but they have not done much with the distribution department. By working, I easily secured more than 3,200 theaters in operation.”

As the director of the distribution department of Warner Bros., this is what makes him feel the most profound. Theater companies never look at the reputation of a film, and they never care about whether the film has so-called artistic achievements. The way they think about problems It's very pure, that is, whether the film can sell more tickets and bring them enough revenue and daily traffic.

The brand effect of Greenberg's production can affect far more than ordinary movie fans, but also affects the strategies of theater companies.

"This movie..." Wayne shook his head slightly and said without hesitation: "You all know the situation of "The Departed". I predict that the box office will be difficult to compare with the DC series. Even the already released "Hackers" "Empire" and "Twister," the box office or peripheral revenue may be higher than "The Departed."

"Then you showed the film with "Ransom"..." Bruce Rosenblum was surprised after hearing this, and immediately couldn't help but ask a question.

In his impression, Wayne's films cannot use market rules to measure box office numbers. "The Departed" does not want to be a purely commercial film, but in the other's previous projects, commercial elements are also common. .

"Don't worry about that." Before the owner could answer, Jeff Robinov interrupted the distribution director's doubts. "With the brand effect of Greenberg's production and Wayne's base of North American movie fans, we can ensure that the box office numbers will not be too low!"

Now the situation of the summer season is quite clear. The North American box office of "The Matrix" exceeded 170 million U.S. dollars. The box office of "The Incredible Hulk" released at the same time was less than 80 million U.S. dollars. In its third week of release, it could still beat the first week of "The Incredible Hulk". Mission: Impossible creates a threat.

This film has already made enough profits. After being the box office champion for two consecutive weeks, the popularity of the movie dropped, and the screening scale was just reduced, "Tornado" immediately took over the position of "The Matrix" and continued to dominate the weekly box office champion. s position.

Now that its first weekend has passed, "Twister" has gained a considerable advantage over Paramount's "Mission: Impossible." The Tom Cruise-led action blockbuster is basically unlikely to make a comeback under the pressure of Warner Bros.' "The Matrix," which was released in three weeks, and "Twister," which was released in its first week.

Therefore, the attention of all Warner Bros. executives and shareholders, as well as many people in the industry, is naturally focused on the upcoming "The Departed."

No one believes that Wayne will stumble, but considering the type of film revealed in "The Departed" and the specific information about the film, Warner Bros. has been covering it up, so more people are looking forward to whether this film can succeed. Make him fall down hard.

After all, as long as the statuette is involved, no one will be affected. It is very exciting to see whether Wayne will change his shooting style to suit the taste of the academy for the highest honor.

There are some things that everyone knows in their hearts, but they can never be said openly. Looking at the Oscar best director works in recent years, those essays that deliberately cater to the taste of the academy are basically difficult to gain market recognition, and even can Talk about being insulated from the audience.

Times have quietly changed a long time ago. The films that the audience likes to watch and the works that the nostalgic old men in the academy want to see are completely products of two eras and are completely different things.

"Don't worry, I can still guarantee that the cost will be recovered from the box office." Just like countless gatherings that have happened in this office before, Wayne said while standing up and adjusting his suit, preparing to leave after talking about serious business. "As for peripheral profits and offline copyright and video tape income, it all depends on what kind of results it can achieve at the Oscars!"

Needless to say, the marketing effect of the Oscar has been proven countless times. As long as a film wins a heavyweight award at the awards ceremony, the subsequent revenue it can bring to the producer is never a small number, otherwise it would not happen. Promoters like Harvey Weinstein work tirelessly every year to turn this into a business.

As for Wayne's purpose in saying these words, several other people present understood that Jeff Robinov suddenly smiled, met his eyes and assured: "Don't worry, Warner Brothers will invest maximum resources to ensure that " The probability of winning "The Departed"."

"Okay, you go on, don't forget the party on Saturday." Wayne waved his hand, turned around and walked out of the office with Nina.

This is the last weekend he can have a little leisure time, and then he will inevitably start the promotional activities for "The Departed". It just so happens that Zack Snyder is back, so the party is scheduled for this Saturday.

When there were only two executives left in the office, they looked at each other, and Bruce Rosenblum said: "What do you think is the probability of "The Departed" winning the Oscar that Wayne wants? ?”

"It won't be less than 60-70%!"

If he had known earlier, this probability would have been extremely high in history, but Jeff Robinov still felt that what he said was quite conservative. "Bruce, there are still a lot of rules to be found in that game. Look, even if the shots of "The Departed" are not in line with the taste of those old guys, most of them will hold their noses and vote for certain reasons. Give your vote.”

Bruce Rosenblum nodded, and suddenly an obviously sarcastic smile appeared on his face. "Perhaps the biggest obstacle for Wayne's film to win awards will not come from its competitors, but from the high box office of the film itself!"

The Academy has never liked films with strong commercial elements. They believe that such films lack artistry, and almost everyone in the industry knows this. Whether a movie has strong commercial elements or not, usually just depends on its box office performance.

"The Oscars are still far away, let's focus on the summer competition first..."

At the same time, in the office of the chairman of Walt Disney, another Hollywood giant also located in Burbank, two childhood friends were discussing the film "The Departed."

The big production released on the same weekend as "The Departed" is "The Ransom" produced by Disney and distributed by its subsidiary Buena Vista International.

Although "Ransom" has a luxurious creative lineup, the director is veteran Ron Howard, and Mel Gibson is even more popular, facts have proven countless times that no one can underestimate Wayne Green. Berg's film.

"We need to think of other ways to disrupt Wayne Greenberg's promotional rhythm." Disney tyrant Michael Eisner sat on the large sofa and tapped the table with one finger. "Warner Bros.'s revenue and performance are becoming increasingly difficult to catch up with. Their success rate for big productions this year is too high!"

As a former agent king, Michael Ovitz is a childhood friend with the other party. The reason why he resolutely gave up the agent empire he built this time and joined Disney, one of the six giants in Hollywood, as CEO. I got the position because of the strong invitation from my childhood friend.

However, in the past few months since joining Disney, his life has been completely different from what he imagined, and the two of them have gradually developed quite a lot of conflicts. However, he is still trying to integrate into this giant. He has given up so much, so he naturally hopes to stay completely.

"There is a high probability that Warner Bros.'s revenue will rank first among the six companies this year." Michael Ovitz's voice is unhurried, and in some aspects he does have stronger capabilities. "Warner Bros. did not release detailed peripheral sales data for The Matrix. I obtained some specific statistics through my relationship with Warner Bros."

As the largest brokerage company controller in Hollywood, the connections he has behind him will always be a mystery, but this can guarantee that there are almost no secrets in the industry that can be hidden from him.

Michael Ovitz took out two pieces of printing paper from his briefcase and placed them on the table in front of his childhood friend. "Look, just from the peripheral income of "The Matrix" and the data of "Tornado" in the past few days, Warner Bros. is going to make a lot of money again!"

"Listen, Mike." Michael Eisner picked up the statistics and didn't look at them immediately. Instead, he kept staring at the opponent. "What we are going to talk about now is the upcoming "The Departed," which is our main competitor. No matter how strong "The Matrix" and "Tornado" are, that is also the trouble for Universal Pictures and Paramount. We have nothing to do with it!”

This is the main reason for the many conflicts between them. Michael Eisner has been in power over the years, and he always looks condescending no matter who he faces, and the tone of his speech is the same.

As a CEO, he didn't get any extra respect from his childhood friends. And regarding Disney's work arrangements, all aspects are restricted by the other party. This is completely different from the CEO he imagined, and there is no right to freedom at all.

"Let's take a look first. Don't you want to interrupt Wayne Greenberg's promotional rhythm? There is an answer here." Trying to suppress his emotions, Michael Ovitz pointed at the statistical report and said, He said patiently.

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