Six Hundred and Seventy-Nine - Give the Right to Rain to the Umbrella Seller.

"Listen to me, Dahe, we'd better not give up on that little reporter so quickly."

Although the original CEO was in a state of rage, Sony Columbia's distribution director Paul's tone remained unchanged. "I thought about it carefully. The little reporter was not completely useless, but we were all blinded by the unexpected box office performance of "The Flash."

The short and fat Da Hexiong raised his head slightly and looked at the man across the desk. At this time, he no longer cared about the height difference. He said in a slightly hoarse voice: "Tell me what you think."

"The box office of "The Flash" on the first day was 38.48 million U.S. dollars. I am actually not surprised that it would achieve such a high result."

Paul straightened his back, crossed his hands on the desk in front of him, and looked at Dahexiong very seriously. “The reason why we and that woman from Paramount chose to launch together on Saturday morning was because of this reason.

No one can stop the box office of "The Flash" on the first day. Wayne Greenberg's director brand bonus, coupled with the fan effect that DC has cultivated with one movie in the past few years, will all be concentrated on this day. break out. But did you realize that the Saturday box office of "The Flash" was only US$35.77 million..."

It's okay not to mention this number. When he mentioned this number, the Benziyi CEO's eyes immediately widened, like a rooster being strangled by the neck, and he shouted in a sharp and weird voice: "Shit, just? 35.77 million US dollars." ?”

The reason why he had this reaction is completely normal. After all, the box office of "Godzilla", which he was desperate for, during the entire opening weekend was exactly this number. In Ohga's opinion, the world-famous monster from his hometown should not behave like this at all.

"Hey, even though this is cruel, we have to face it." Seeing that the short and fat man was about to be dominated by anger again, Paul immediately waved his hand seriously. "Everything depends on who you compete with, congratulations. The box office of "The Flash" on the first day was close to 40 million US dollars. According to normal market rules, won't it exceed 40 million US dollars on Saturday?

I'm afraid if it weren't for the unanimous criticism from film critics and the violent accusations made by the young reporter who appeared on the TV, the Saturday box office of "The Flash" would have exceeded 50 million US dollars! This film's North American box office will surely exceed 100 million in its first weekend! What's more, when have Wayne Greenberg's films ever followed the laws of the market? ! "

After listening to his analysis, the Benziyi CEO nodded silently, and his anger was slowly suppressed. Just thinking about this, he felt chilled for no reason. Two of the six giants had joined forces and had prepared a plan for a long time, but they could only prevent each other's North American box office from exceeding 100 million in the first weekend!

From this point of view, it really can’t be said that their plan this time was completely ineffective. At least it didn’t let “The Flash” take everything in its opening weekend, right?

It's just that the current effect is not what Sony Columbia wants. In fact, Ohgao also knows that it is difficult to stop Wayne. But if you think about the other party's box office performance in the past few years, you know that the chances are slim. What he cares about more is actually the performance of "Godzilla" itself.

The year before last, Universal Pictures and Steven Spielberg still failed to stop "The Dark Knight", but they also did not prevent "Jurassic Park" from being firmly established from the global market under the pressure of Wayne's works. The theater market earned more than 600 million in box office.

He still can't figure it out. He clearly copied what Universal Pictures did a year ago, and was even more prepared than Universal Pictures. Why did he lose everything at the very beginning?

"My idea is not only not to give up on the young reporter, but we also need to add some funds so that the young reporter can sue Wayne Greenberg as soon as possible. Don't worry about the opinions of outside public opinion. As long as this matter is entangled, we will always There will be someone who will stand by the weak one.”

Although he was extremely contemptuous of the people in his heart, Paul didn't show it on his face at all, and he still had the patience to make suggestions. "Congratulations, we all know that if "The Flash" sells one less ticket, "Godzilla" is very likely to sell one more ticket. The cake is only so big. Since it has an effect, we can't give up early!"

His words were at least sincere on the surface. Dahe Xiong frowned and considered carefully for a while before nodding helplessly.

"Godzilla" has only been released for three days. It can be said that the first week has not passed. In any case, it is too early to give up now. And if you keep at it, there is still a glimmer of hope for a comeback at the box office. If you choose to do nothing now and just lie down, you are destined to lose all hope.

“Where are the film critics?”

Since the selection plan continues to be implemented, Benziyi CEO will naturally not ignore the film critics group. "According to your analysis, it is not that those film critics have not played their role, but their appetite is not small. Do you want to continue..."

"My advice is, keep going!"

Before the other party could finish speaking, Paul gritted his teeth, looked across the desk, and continued: "Since we have spent a lot of money up front, there is no need to think forward and backward about subsequent investments. Dahe, this is a war, I think If you want to survive, you must do whatever it takes, and you can’t admit defeat in advance!”

"I will propose additional follow-up investment in "Godzilla" at tomorrow's high-level meeting." Ohgaxiong picked up the cold coffee on the table and drank it in one gulp. "That's it, "Godzilla" must not fail like this!"

On the "Godzilla" project, the total production cost, publicity investment, and "public relations" investment have exceeded 200 million U.S. dollars. You know, every penny invested by Sony Columbia , all are their own working capital, and there is no external financing at all for this project.

If you throw so much money into it and it sinks to the bottom of the sea without hearing any echo, someone will be held accountable afterwards. However, both the project initiators and the leaders of various plans are all Da Hexiong. He dare not consider now how he will face the board of directors if this project loses a lot of money. I am afraid that Dao, who has always trusted him so much, will Sheng Hefu still couldn't protect himself.

It's better to just keep fighting and see if there will be any turning point later than to stand there and wait to die.

After a brief exchange between the two, Paul politely exited the CEO's office. No one could notice what was hidden in his eyes at this time.

"Film critics? We give up investment in this area. If Sony Columbia is willing to continue, then let them continue."

It was the same early Monday morning, and the same box office report was posted. After reading it, Paramount Iron Lady CEO Shirley Lansing said directly to the distribution director Nick Crowley. "You will continue to keep in touch with Paul later, but we will not spend even one cent on the next plan."

As one of the few female executives in Hollywood, her vision has always been sharp and her clarity of mind is second to none in the industry.

"The Flash" has indeed been affected to some extent. After all, the North American box office did not exceed 100 million in its opening weekend, but the main revenue-generating film is "Godzilla". Paramount released "Collision", which can be said to have withdrawn with one foot. It has become the viewing choice of mainstream audiences.

"Okay, actually from the beginning, I didn't think that group of "vampires" could play such a big role." Nodding, Nick Crowley happily agreed.

As he said, the influence of film critics during the summer season is definitely the lowest among all seasons in North America throughout the year. This was something he discovered two years ago when Disney was still in chaos.

In particular, the Disney-owned Public Television Network also has a very famous film review program, and the host is the ace film critic Roger Ebert. Therefore, any careful Disney executive will notice that the ratings of this show have been getting lower and lower in the past two years.

As the only gold medal film critic recognized by the Pulitzer Prize, all the programs he hosts are like this, which also shows that more and more mainstream movie audiences in North America are gradually ignoring the influence of film critics on viewing choices. .

In fact, there is one thing that Hollywood film company executives are not aware of. This group of vampires in the film critic industry does not have a perfect standard of consideration at all.

Since its emergence decades ago, the film critic industry has always been the most unstandardized industry, which is special among all film practitioners. To put it bluntly, anyone can become a film critic because it is different from the strict requirements of other jobs in the film industry.

If a film director has not gone through rigorous study, whether it is on a crew or in an academy, then the director will definitely be unqualified. In the same way, behind-the-scenes work related to the film industry requires a lot of learning and accumulation.

Even celebrities who least require study and accumulation, after all, if they want to be on the front line and continuously improve their status, they still need to hone their acting skills continuously. Even the A-list superstar Tom Cruise, who is most criticized by movie fans for his acting skills, if we take a closer look, his acting skills and professionalism still have no difficulty in handling commercial films.

However, all of this is not important to film critics. You do not need to study a course at all, and no school will offer such a course. There is no need to be recognized first, or to obtain a so-called degree or technical certificate. Only with a certificate can you become a film critic.

Therefore, rational insiders must understand that what these greedy vampires say can only serve as a "guidance" to the older generation of movie fans.

The reason why everyone is tacitly communicating with well-known North American film critics when releasing new movies is not at all because of their guiding role in film art. It is more like spending a sum of money as a routine film promotion channel. At the same time, it reaches a small number of elderly movie fans who have the habit of reading film critic columns.

"Those critics should cherish it, I'm sure."

Talking about this, Nick Crowley's eyes were filled with pity. "With Warner Bros. and Wayne Greenberg taking the lead this time and choosing not to invite film critics to test screenings of their films, more and more film companies will ignore them when releasing their films."

This sentence is definitely not a joke. Among others, even he, the distribution director of Paramount Pictures, has decided not to invite these film critics for test screenings of the company's next big project.

Perhaps in the eyes of ordinary people, Nick Crowley is not famous. Even when he walks on the street, he will not be recognized by some small stars in the industry. But among film company executives, he has always been known for his steady vision and ability.

It seems that all executives from Disney are like this. Another smiling Mickey Mouse who led Disney to become the world's number one media group, the world-renowned CEO Robert Iger, also behaves in this way.

In terms of fame, he is certainly not as famous as the later Robert Iger, but the projects he led Paramount Pictures to launch will definitely be familiar to movie fans. The "Transformers" series gave the "Mission: Impossible" series a second chance of glory, and even a series of films such as "Star Trek", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", "Xx: Return", etc. were all produced by this stable person. Unremarkable executive.

In a way, it’s not an exaggeration to call Walt Disney the Whampoa of Hollywood. It’s just a pity that these top management talents have all left because of the chaos. In the front is Jeffrey Katzenberg, one of the three giants of DreamWorks, and in the back is Nick Crowley. They have all reached the pinnacle of their careers outside of Disney.

"We are no longer involved in the film critics' matter."

Now Shirley Lansing is more concerned about how to make "Collision" sell more money, and has basically given up on the subsequent tacit understanding with Sony Columbia.

"However, Nick, don't cut off contact with Sony Colombia, especially keep an eye on that old fox Paul. I have a feeling that what he did this time is too abnormal and must have other purposes."

"Okay, I'll keep an eye on him."

The two looked at each other and smiled tacitly. The executives in the circle knew each other well. Sony Columbia's distribution director, this time's behavior was abnormal in many ways. It was precisely these abnormalities that the two of them noticed.

What does Paul usually do? That was in the early 1990s. After suffering two consecutive losses from Wayne Greenberg, he was a shrewd person who immediately had a long memory.

Especially in the past few years, he has released a large number of small and medium-cost projects under the eyes of other Hollywood giants. If you look closely, the success rate is terrifyingly high. The outside world has never recognized the ability of the native CEO. In the hearts of these executives in the circle, they basically recognize that Paul is the one who can lead Sony Colombia out of the pain.

One thing is very telling. After suffering two losses that year, did he ever make the decision to collide with Wayne Greenberg again? Not once. Every time, I let my own projects hide far away and watch the fierce fighting between other giants. But this time I took the initiative...

"Let's get down to business."

In the eyes of Nick Crowley, what is the most important? It’s not the tacit understanding with Sony Columbia, nor is it the fact that Clash is basically hopeless. "The main reason why "The Flash" was able to get a box office of almost over 100 million in its first weekend under our campaign has been found."

Yes, that's what he cares about most, and it's also what Shirley Lansing cares about most. Because no matter from which aspect, the tacit squeeze between them and Sony Columbia cannot only achieve such a small result.

Not to mention Wayne's die-hard fans, not to mention the fans accumulated from DC's previous movies, because most of this group of people had already entered the theater on the first day of the release of "The Flash", and they took this into consideration , launched just the day after "The Flash" was officially released.

Hearing this, Shirley Lansing immediately perked up. "Hmm, tell me, how did Warner Bros. and Wayne Greenberg do it?"

"The Internet, yes, it's still the Internet." Nick Crowley took a deep breath and said helplessly: "All of us still underestimate the power of the Internet. In fact, I have always been curious why I walked into the theater. The main audience watching "The Flash" happens to be composed of young people.

After two days of detailed investigation, the Internet Department of Warner Bros. Distribution Department accidentally came into my sight. Those who go to work at Warner Bros. headquarters every day are actually only the main "trunks" of this department, and more members are located in major cities throughout North America.

They grouped together to guide public opinion on all movie-related websites, and their methods were actually very crude. They were nothing more than singing a lot of praises for "The Flash". But the effect turned out to be very ideal. Countless young people with Internet habits were influenced and entered the theater. Pay attention, Shirley, what comes next is more important..."

Having said this, Nick Crowley's face was extremely serious, and he stopped joking in his voice. He continued solemnly: "Under the leadership of the "trunks" of the network department, these people were just binge-watching "Torno" two days ago. "The Flash" received good reviews, I found that starting this morning, the Internet began to be flooded with a lot of negative reviews of "Godzilla"!

It should be noted that the people who wrote these negative comments are the same people. It can be said that they have suddenly changed their identities on the virtual platform of the Internet! Shirley, do you know what it means? "

What does it mean? Shirley Lansing's face became more and more solemn. "It means that Warner Bros. is once again ahead of everyone. It means that in terms of online marketing, Warner Bros. not only arranges stalls selling umbrellas, but also controls when it rains with the other hand!"

"That's right!"

The two people here are not ordinary people, and of course they know what these mean. There is basically no doubt that the Internet represents the future, especially after the giant Warner Bros. has taken the lead. If it arbitrarily uses this low-cost investment platform to smear other competitors, everyone will still be able to do it now. Unstoppable.

Even if Warner Bros. didn’t realize how powerful this so-called “troll army” and “anti-fan” department was before, they will realize it after the release of “The Flash” this time. Giving the right to rain to umbrella sellers is a disservice to everyone.

"Nick, it's important that Paramount has the same department!"

Shirley Lansing thought of this at the first moment, stared at her distribution director and said: "The relevant staffing should all be according to Warner Bros. If possible, go to Warner Bros. Network Department to recruit a few people, and we will Be fast!”

"I try my best, but actually it's not easy."

Nick Crowley nodded and said directly: "I also thought of this, but there is a difficulty. The main managers of Warner Bros. Network Department are all die-hard Wayne Fans organization members, and their incomes are not low. So, I just have to dig as hard as I can.”

"If necessary, we can offer double or even triple the salary!" Shirley Lansing frowned and said fiercely: "The speed must be fast. What I need is the operating rules of the network department. We must establish the relevant framework as soon as possible. At the very least, we must ensure that when Warner Brothers attacks us in this regard, we must have a certain degree of strength to fight back!"

Hollywood has never been short of smart people, and similar conversations don't just happen between Paramount CEOs and distribution executives. At the same time, Twentieth Century Fox CEO Townsend Rothman also proposed the establishment of a network department at a high-level meeting.

Also responding equally quickly was DreamWorks, which is now working closely with Warner Bros. This quasi-giant in the film industry founded by the Big Three has a much simpler power structure than the Big Six, so at the suggestion of Steven Spielberg, the decision to form a network department was passed on the same day.

The first-weekend box office performance of "The Flash" and the sudden and powerful effect of the "movies" behind it almost made half of the Hollywood movie companies suddenly realize. They also saw for the first time the influence of the Internet platform on young people, just like the impact of the Super Bowl on movie promotion.

With this group of so-called "water armies", this kind of influence becomes controllable, and no one can resist this temptation.

One thing everyone believes is that the influence of the Internet platform will only grow. After a simple survey, you will find that the number of personal computers in North America has been growing explosively year by year. The Internet represents the future. .

Some film companies saw this and started to set up their own online marketing departments non-stop, but more film companies are still focusing on the summer movie war.

After "The Flash" grossed more than 95 million US dollars at the box office in its first weekend, it also couldn't avoid a sharp decline in attendance after the weekdays arrived. The North American box office on Monday reported US$9.36 million, compared with US$21.1 million last Sunday, a box office drop of more than 50%!

But no media will use this to measure the success or failure of "The Flash" because the film's Sunday box office base is too high. After several times in Hollywood, it was able to get more than a thousand dollars on the opening day of the Monday working day. There are also only a handful of works that have grossed US$10,000 at the box office.

Since Tuesday is a traditional discount day for theaters in North America, many families have the habit of watching movies together on Tuesday. Therefore, the box office of "The Flash" increased slightly on that day, earning 10.38 million US dollars. $8.38 million on Wednesday, $7.95 million on Thursday...

At this point, "The Flash" has been officially released for one week, and it has grossed US$131.42 million at the box office in North America alone! In particular, this achievement was achieved amidst the ongoing controversy. For a while, the media changed their tone. No one mentioned the opinions of professional scores and film critics. After the sun came out on Friday, the major mainstream entertainment media Once again, Wayne was put on the altar.

“In the second half of 1997, Wayne Greenberg, who had just won an Oscar for being a villain, and with $200 million from Warner Bros., finally made up his mind to give up the strong dark style that had made him admired by hundreds of millions of people around the world. Determined to stand from the perspective of all movie fans and shoot a top-notch commercial audio-visual feast..."

Compared with the tone of reading the box office report on Monday, Naomi Watts's voice was extremely brisk at this time. It's still the same Greenberg Manor restaurant, but at this time, whether it's the Australian girl reading the newspaper or the audience eating breakfast, the mood has completely changed.