Five Hundred and Forty-Five - Is the Step Too Big?

Contrary to what Bruce Rosenblum thought, Wayne had no time to think about box office figures. Frequent and intensive promotional activities almost drained the last bit of energy from the entire crew. "The Dark Knight" was in theaters The better the market performs, the more intensive the various activities on the crew's side will be.

Almost everyone is not a newbie. They have been on and off planes non-stop and have endless promotional trips more than once. Therefore, everyone has a similar way of adapting, which is to seize every free time to sleep, no matter whether they are in traffic or not. on the tools.

Under the early morning sunshine, a convoy of cars headed noisily towards the airport on the outskirts of Boston as the sky just dawned. The "Dark Knight" crew, after finishing their promotional plan in Boston, did not have any During the rest time, they had to immediately get on a plane and fly to the next city. The promotional tasks before the release of the movie were very heavy, and there was no time for them to rest.

Different from the situation in the past few days, after the group got on the plane today, they did not immediately fall asleep impatiently. The entire large passenger plane chartered by Warner Bros. was filled with all kinds of excited noises, even though Christian Bale , Nicolas Cage and other main actors, their eyes were bloodshot with exhaustion, and they were still infected by the excitement and could not sleep.

"Wayne, Wayne, we set a new box office record. The box office exceeded $200 million in the first weekend! Damn it, $200 million!"

Compared with other creative members of the crew, Naomi Watts was more cautious when facing Wayne. She directly pulled off the blindfold on his face and reached out her hands to grab it excitedly. Hold the opponent's shoulders and shake them vigorously. "Hey, boy, don't tell me you can still sleep. This is not 20 million, but 200 million!"

"Nami!"

He shook his head helplessly, and the corners of his mouth could not help but turn up. Anyone who sets such a box office record will definitely have a strong sense of accomplishment, and he is no exception.

Listening to the excited chatter of the crowd behind him, Wayne knew that his plan to force himself to calm down and have a good sleep was completely ruined.

Two hundred million U.S. dollars. In this era, there is basically no possibility of this number being broken. Although the North American theater market has been expanding rapidly, and the latest multiplex theaters are rapidly being built in major cities. However, at least in the past few years, it is still impossible to break this number.

Of course he knows that "The Dark Knight" was able to achieve such extraordinary box office figures only due to various coincidences, luck and other factors. Even if he wanted to copy Achievements like "The Dark Knight" are basically impossible.

"I want to remind you, Ms. Naomi Watts, you will be participating in a TV show immediately after the plane lands. If you don't want to appear on TV in this state, you'd better take the opportunity to rest for a few hours." Although Wayne felt in his heart He was also full of excitement, but his mind was much clearer. "If you can't sleep, go get a drink."

"Old old-fashioned...you look like an old man in his twenties."

Pouting at Wayne, the Australian actress rolled her eyes and turned away to share the happiness with the excited crew members.

Just when he was about to pull up the blindfold and force himself into a state of sleep again, it seemed that the people in the crew had a tacit understanding and began to line up one by one to send congratulations. Everyone was obviously completely ignited by this terrifying number. The plane The quiet atmosphere of the past is no longer there at all.

"Mr. Greenberg, to be honest, I really don't know how to thank you!" Charlie Sheen had been waiting until there was no one around him, and then he came over with a sincere expression. He looked at the young face who also looked tired. "This is very important to me, you saved my career."

After the film was released, it can be said that it immediately ignited the entire North American theater market, and as the film became popular, it was these main actors who stood on the big screen.

Although most media will give the main space to Christian Bale and Nicolas Cage, compared to other actors in the cast, he, as the double-faced actor, has also received a lot of attention. And as his agent has been helping to market his prodigal son character, it is now difficult to see those unfavorable remarks about him. It seems that in an instant, the bad things he did before were forgiven by movie fans across North America.

And all of this actually came from the man in front of him. His eyes looked at Wayne sincerely, and he gave him enough respect in both his expression and his words.

"Don't think too much, Charlie." Of course Wayne knew the bad private lives behind these actors. Ordinary viewers might believe the drama about the prodigal son turning back, but he wouldn't believe it at all. But this is a common phenomenon in the industry, and now So it will be the same in the future.

"Before the movie is officially released, Charlie, I don't want anything bad to happen to you in the media. You should understand what I mean."

"Of course." Charlie Sheen nodded. "I mean yes."

Wayne doesn't want to care what the other person thinks, or even whether his gratitude to him is true or false. His request is very simple, that is, no matter what he does, it cannot affect the good situation of "The Dark Knight."

After winking at Nina beside him, the assistant picked up a blanket and covered him. After Charlie Sheen saw this, he smiled again, nodded, and took the initiative to leave Wayne's side. .

"Boss, are you so sure that he is not really a prodigal son?"

Nina knew that her boss was not sleeping, so she asked in a low voice while flipping through fashion magazines. "I actually know everything about the crew." Wayne curled his lips. From the bottom of his heart, he didn't believe that the other party could quit those junk things. Not just Charlie Sheen, almost all the actors in the industry have the same virtue, the prodigal son returns? It can be said that those who can really turn back are very rare.

The reason why he warned the other party was that after a few working days, "The Dark Knight" will inevitably face "Jurassic Park 2". For Universal Pictures, as long as it is right for its own family The other party will do whatever it takes to distribute a film that is beneficial. This is just the normal state of competition in Hollywood, and he does not value it higher than the bottom line of the production company at all.

Not to mention his relationship with Steven Spielberg, as long as both parties stand as competitors, he believes that any means that can defeat the other party will be used without hesitation. Sometimes, business will It's really just business, and the existence of interests forces you not to be a little soft-hearted.

"Jimmy called me this morning." Seeing whether Wayne would fall asleep soon, Nina took the opportunity to start reporting on the work of the past few days. "He said that Weiyi is already interested, but if they want to make the plan come true, there may still be talks. Avi Adela, the CEO of Weiyi, should want more benefits."

"Let him talk slowly, we are not in a hurry."

Wayne raised his eyebrows in surprise, and Wayne was also a little surprised. He had come up with the idea in a whimsical way, but he didn't expect that the other party would actually be tempted. He didn't expect Universal Pictures to hand over the rights to the Hulk, nor did he expect Artisan Entertainment to let go of Black Panther easily. All of this was just to disrupt Marvel's plan to covet the rights in his hands.

"Well, shouldn't you be surprised that those people actually take action..."

He was also murmuring about this, because he had no plans to shoot Iron Man or Black Widow at all, but if Marvel could really buy back the rights to "The Incredible Hulk" and "Black Panther", it would disrupt his work plan. It seems that it is not impossible.

In fact, he was just thinking inertia, because the impression of surprise in his mind was deeply influenced by his previous life. The Marvel movie at that time was indeed very buggy to a certain extent, but the situation now is obviously different. This is A comic company whose shares changed hands frequently and relied on borrowing funds from banks and investment institutions to survive was actually on the verge of reaching its end.

"By the way, boss." Nina seemed to suddenly remember something, opened her work record book, pushed up the glasses on her face habitually, and said: "Luke Simmons and Joseph have already done the work. We have made almost all preparations, and now we are waiting for the first funds to be deposited into the insurance company’s account to start the preparations for "Charlie's Angels"."

If this film wants to achieve qualified screen effects, the investment must not be too low, Wayne thought silently. The production cost he proposed for the entire film is US$50,000 to US$60 million. Of course, this money can be divided into many times and paid into the account of the insurance company, as long as preparations can be started in the early stage.

"I need to remind you, boss."

When it comes to money, Nina's face becomes serious. "If you don't use the money you invested in the Internet stock market early on, if you want to implement the next series of plans, Greenberg Studio will be under considerable financial pressure. Blue Sky Studio has been fine in the near future, but this is always a situation that can be swallowed up at any time. A bottomless pit of money.

After "Charlie's Angels" is launched, according to the plan you have set, the studio will successively launch projects such as "Tomb Raider" and "Resident Evil" in the next two years. By the way, there will also be preliminary preparations for "Lord of the Rings" , also requires a large amount of real money investment, and the capital recovery period of this project is too long. And those two stories about dogs, the indeterminate Marvel superheroes..."

"Hey, hey!" Wayne waved his hand impatiently, wondering if his steps were a little too big. "I'll call Jeff back and ask for more information on the follow-up income from "The Matrix". Also, after my income from "The Dark Knight" comes in, I should be able to relieve most of the pressure and ask Jimmy to talk to Fox. , see if I can advance my upfront remuneration for "X-Men" in advance."

In fact, he knows that the only one that is really under financial pressure is "Charlie's Angels". With his related income coming in, when other projects are launched, Greenberg Studio will not invest alone. Warner Brothers will definitely have to get involved, or even force it. In a hurry, it's not like he can't resort to lending chickens to lay eggs.

In the next few years, it has been a long-standing plan to increase the weight of Greenberg Studio, and this will not change.