Chapter 191 186 Transformers Conquer the World
Chapter 187 186. Transformers take over the world
Los Angeles, Sunset Strip.
This is the city's Star Street, home to various commercial facilities. Anyone traveling to Los Angeles must pass through it, and the daily flow of people is huge.
When the new week comes, Ecker Park next to Sunset Boulevard is packed with people. A large number of people gather, taking photos and exclaiming.
In the center of the crowd, a silver-white robot more than two meters tall was standing in the center. It was Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons and the leader of the Decepticons.
This robot was carefully crafted by the MGM props department and has various built-in mechanisms, although it cannot move.
But through remote control, Megatron's hands and feet can already make small movements.
Coupled with professional voice actors speaking in the dark, the effect is definitely far different from the later Universal Studios version.
But in this day and age, it is beyond people’s imagination.
"Stupid humans, I come from the planet Cybertron, which is 30 billion light years away from the earth. You can call me Lord Megatron."
"My source of fire was stolen by a despicable thief. Now I am looking for a pair of glasses with the coordinates of the source of fire burned on the lenses."
With a mechanical voice, Megatron's eyes suddenly glowed blue.
Some people immediately screamed and backed away. It was unclear whether they were deliberately cooperating or were really frightened.
After all, the latter is not absolutely impossible to happen, because happy education really gave birth to many idiots.
The blue light is naturally not a weapon, but a holographic projection built into Megatron's head.
The camera projects a pair of glasses in the air through the eyes, the same glasses that Sam wears in the movie.
A website address was clearly displayed on the lens, which was a Transformers promotion website specially established by MGM. The whole show was done to give everyone a sense of participation.
"You little bugs, write down this website address and leave a message on the website after you find the clues."
"Everyone who leaves a message will be regarded as a slave to the Decepticons. When I conquer the earth, I will spare your life!"
The two mechanical arms danced, and in the domineering voice, Megatron was coaxing.
A young man came out and asked: "Megatron, I am a fan of Transformers. Can I take a photo with you?"
Megatron waved his hands and said with some disgust: "No, humans are low-level carbon-based creatures. There is a natural gap between us and advanced mechanical life forms like me. You are not worthy of taking a photo with me."
The young man was a little disappointed. He was unsure whether he should get closer. After all, he had never seen such a big and moving robot before. The unknown was mixed with fear.
When his girlfriend saw this, she stood up and said, "Mr. Megatron, I have written down the website address and will definitely help you find glasses. Can we take a group photo now?"
Megatron nodded slightly: "Okay, because you are so sensible, I allow you to come within one meter of me."
When the young people finished taking the photo, another little boy with a runny nose jumped out and shouted: "Mr. Megatron, I also want to take a photo with you, is that okay?"
"Well, come here, but don't put snot on my skin, it will rust."
Ha ha ha ha
The onlookers burst into laughter.
"You also have to take medicine and get injections, so that your cold can be cured. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir!"
After a few questions and answers, everyone realized that this was the movie promoting itself. Such a unique promotional method was indeed very eye-catching.
Not long after, reporters who received the news rushed over and captured the lively scene on camera.
"Megatron, I hate Decepticons, I'm a fan of Optimus Prime."
"Hmph! Then you should go to Boston, that damn red truck landed in that city."
"Megatron, how many times has Starscream betrayed you?"
"countless times."
"Then why didn't you kill him and ask him to rejoin the Decepticons again and again?"
“Because the manufacturer wants to sell toys, and there’s nothing I can do about it!”
Ha ha ha ha
Two more young men came closer and bowed to Megatron.
"Lord Megatron, we are willing to be your loyal servants."
"Hmph! Very good, then do you know the Decepticon slogan?"
"of course I know."
"Shout it out loud and open the eyes of these ignorant humans."
I saw one of the young men raised his arms and raised his head: "Decepticon!"
The one next to him shouted loudly: "Retreat!"
After shouting, the two men immediately ran away, and the crowd burst into laughter.
Megatron shook his head speechlessly, and after a while he finally managed to say: "Very good, with a loud voice and great energy!"
The funny reaction caused the originally subdued laughter to rise again.
And Megatron is just one of many Transformers, and similar situations are happening in major cities around the world.
Times Square in New York, Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Arc de Triomphe in Paris, Big Ben in London, Tokyo Tower, Red Square in Moscow, Kingdom Building in Riyadh, Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai
As long as you pass nearby, you will be attracted by the tall and domineering Transformers.
This on-site interaction is part of viral marketing.
The so-called viral marketing, simply understood, is to use all resources to fully mobilize consumers' enthusiasm and relationship network to achieve rapid replication and dissemination of information.
All the resources here are literally, including online and in real life, so that consumers can see marketing information everywhere.
Whether it is active or passive, you have to accept it.
So this time MGM also invested money and gave the treatment that a blockbuster should have. Eric directly approved the budget of 70 million US dollars, and if it is not enough, he will add more.
Including the production cost, the total cost of a "Transformers" from filming to release has exceeded 220 million US dollars.
Not to mention 2003, even if it is put in 2023, it is still a large-scale A-level production.
But this money is not spent in real terms, because you can ask the government for a tax refund, and the preferential terms in different regions are also different.
After getting the refunded money, the actual total cost is less than 150 million US dollars.
But when promoting it to the outside world, it is natural to use the slogan of 220 million cost. It sounds bluffing and the audience will be interested.
So don't believe the official publicity costs of many movies. Whoever believes is a fool.
The figures in the publicity are all watered down. After squeezing them out, cut off 30% first. Those with more connections can save 50%.
For example, the cost of a Marvel movie in the later period often exceeded 200 million US dollars, but it was actually fake and not that high at all.
The corresponding pressure to recover the cost is much smaller when the cost is reduced.
Unlike China, where the box office must reach 3 times the cost to recover the cost, Hollywood can recover the cost at 2 times or just over 2 times.
In addition, Hollywood has a complete copyright protection and development system, as well as extreme peripheral development capabilities.
Even if a movie loses more than 100 million US dollars at the box office, it can generally recover the cost within the golden period of copyright within five years, and the good ones can even make a profit.
And big productions with good reputations such as "The Lord of the Rings", "The Matrix" and "Titanic" can sell more than 100 million US dollars in various copyright fees every year.
So even if a large company seems to lose a lot of money with several blockbusters a year, it is difficult to go bankrupt under the protection of a series of systems.
After viral marketing is launched, cinemas, stations, subways, shopping malls, supermarkets, toilets, roadside billboards, and electronic screens.
In reality, you can always notice the Autobots and Decepticons inadvertently wherever you can see them.
Some are large posters with the words "On November 16, the Decepticons will attack the earth."
Some are just Transformers head logos.
Hasbro has also started to launch pre-sales of movie version toys, and has also linked up with KFC, McDonald's, and Coca-Cola.
As long as you buy, you have a chance to win a movie ticket. As for whether you can win, it's a matter of personal luck.
Transformers cosplayers have also appeared in various comic exhibitions and COS exhibitions.
Cosplay in Europe and the United States has always been known for props, and has also had a considerable influence in the circle.
On the big screens of Times Square and Nasdaq in New York, the second trailer of Transformers began to play in a loop.
In addition to a lot of adrenaline-pumping robot fights, there are also battles between human armies and Decepticons.
Various main battle aircraft, tanks, and ships appeared, and the extreme explosion turned the entire city into a sea of fire and ruins.
At the end of the trailer, Megatron transformed into a huge silver-white alien fighter plane and slammed into two skyscrapers that were very close to each other.
There is no doubt that this shot alludes to the 9/11 incident, a scene that the whole world will never forget.
On the Internet, major portals, forums, and chat rooms have also begun to be gradually occupied by related topics.
In addition to buying pages and resources, MGM's main publicity strategy is still to hire a large number of water armies.
Even the words that the water army will launch are prepared in advance. As long as a few people rush into a social group, they can quickly lead the topic astray.
Facebook is an important position for publicity, and the goal of the current middle school promotion plan has been achieved.
Facebook's registered users are approaching 40 million, of which about 35 million are active users, and the retention rate is quite high.
Mainly because under Eric's guidance, there is a major update every month, and the version iteration speed is very fast.
Especially at the end of September, the like function was just updated. Originally, Fitz's team was puzzled and puzzled by this function.
They believed that the like function would distract users and turn them into a tool that only knows how to like and like, thus weakening the sharing and social nature of Facebook.
However, under Eric's strong request, the function was launched.
And it turns out that after the like function was launched, although users began to seek likes, their desire to share also became stronger.
In just one week, the average number of updates posted by users increased by 2 per day, because more posts can get more likes.
The next step is a promotion plan for the working class. After dealing with young people and children, it will be much easier to attract their parents.
Beverly Hills, Cooper's house.
After dinner, Eric sat on the sofa and watched the news.
On the NBC channel, the male host glanced at the script and said, "Betty, I found something very interesting on my way to work today."
"When I passed Lincoln Street, I saw a large crowd of people. As a reporter, I went closer."
"Then I saw a scene that I will never forget. Bumblebee was standing in the middle, calling on humans to fight against the Decepticons together."
"OMG! My favorite cartoon from childhood has come to life. Look, it's like this."
The TV screen switched to the live footage, where Bumblebee was interacting with the crowd, and his humorous remarks made everyone laugh.
The screen switched back to the studio, and the female host said cheerfully: "It's so interesting. Is this a new promotional method launched by the mall? I'm going to take my son to see it."
The male host waved his hand to explain to her: "No, it's an Autobot, named Bumblebee. Haven't you seen Transformers?"
"No, I'm a girl." The female host shrugged.
"Well, then you must go and see them, you will fall in love with them."
"Oh my God, it's just like my childhood dream has come true. This is a happy day, this is the best day."
After watching for a while, Eric switched to other channels. Not only NBC was reporting, but many TV stations could not ignore this hot spot.
What he didn't know was that not only American TV stations could not ignore it, but also countries such as Britain, France, Japan, China, and Russia could not ignore it.
The living Transformers, although they were pseudo-alive, still brought a huge sense of freshness to the society. It was so damn interesting.
Media reports are equivalent to advertising for the movie, and you don't have to spend a penny.
With MGM's huge investment, the bombardment of publicity lasted for nearly a month.
Transformers in major cities have become gathering places for people, just like the check-in places for Internet celebrities in later generations. You will feel sorry for yourself if you don't go to see them.
The most popular one is naturally Megatron. The contrast between his humorous chatter and the ultimate villain's personality has made him loved by everyone.
In mid-October, "Legally Blonde 2" was released in theaters. With the success of the previous film, the second film has attracted attention without any promotion.
MGM also held a premiere for it, and arranged Gadot, Chris Evans, the British trio and others to stand on the stage, and took this opportunity to continue to promote Transformers.
Half a month after the movie was released, North America took in 60 million US dollars, and it has just been released overseas.
This data is not as impressive as the first one, and the reputation has also declined compared to the first one, but it is certain to make money.
However, when the producer signed a contract with Reese Witherspoon for the third film, she refused.
The reason was simple. She didn't want to continue to consume this IP. She hoped to wait for a few years and wait until everyone was more prepared before filming.
The heroine went on strike. Without the soul, the sequel would definitely be shelved.
But now MGM has too many profitable projects, and this one is not bad. Eric didn't even take it seriously.
"Happy Death Day" was completely withdrawn, and the final global box office was 152 million US dollars.
Although Gadot was a little disappointed, she didn't care about it. Now she is fully devoted to the promotion of Transformers.
In the midst of the hustle and bustle, time entered November, and major companies began to exert their strength.
"The Matrix 3", "Elf", "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World", "Kill Bill", "Transformers".
The most intense box office battle in 2003 is about to begin.