Chapter 1457: Feelings Are Really Easy to Sell

New Line's headquarters are not in the Daenerys East Coast headquarters building on West 66th Street on the Upper West Side, but in Greenwich.

The evening party was also held in the ballroom of a hotel in Greenwich Village.

From the founding of a distribution company in 1967, to the second-tier in the 1980s with the "Emma Street" series, to bankruptcy in the wave of Hollywood consolidation in 1992, and later incorporated by Blockbuster under the control of Daenerys, New Line Pictures The ups and downs of the book can almost write a wonderful novel with ups and downs.

This time, as Daenerys increased the two major platforms of premium cable channel dho and Blockbuster rental chain, while still continuing to implement Simon's quietly determined competition strategy to squeeze the living space of other studios, the new line that had been silent for several years once again Being reused, it is planned to open up the fourth largest label of Daenerys Entertainment besides Daenerys, New World and Gaomen.

The party held by New Line tonight is to build momentum for the company's expansion next year.

When the little maid took Mona Elmeri to the hotel where the party was held, the battle this time was obviously much bigger than the last time she attended the party in the film and television industry. There were also promotional procedures such as autographs and photos before entering the door. Although it was obvious that the reporters at the scene were not very interested in her, a strange oriental girl, appearing in front of the photo wall, the little girl was still very satisfied.

How many celebrities in China, no matter how old they are, can stand on this kind of occasion?

Entering the banquet hall, there were not many people present. The little girl saw her manager Jenny Leisenberg at a glance, and walked straight over. When Leisenberg finished the conversation with the middle-aged man in front of her and turned to her, she smiled and used English greeted: "Good evening, Jenny, why are you here so early?"

"The early bird catches the worm," Leisenberg said, waiting patiently for Mona to whisper a translation into the little maid's ear before forgetting to introduce: "By the way, Fan, this is Format Van Sant , he was the director of the very good Good Will Hunting two years ago, Gus, this is Fan, a great actor, she starred in two consecutive TV series in China and achieved phenomenal ratings. "

Listening to Mona's real-time translation, the little maid shook hands with the meticulous middle-aged man in front of him with a beard and haircut in English as much as possible: "Hello, Mr. Sante, I have watched your "Good Will Hunting", Like it very much."

"Thank you, Miss Fan, it's a pleasure to meet you." Gus Van Sant shook hands with the little maid, and his tone was very polite, but the two sides were not familiar with each other after all, and there was no topic for a while, so he turned to Leisenberg again: So, Jenny, let's arrange a meeting as soon as possible and talk about it in detail."

"No problem, I will give you the exact time tomorrow."

Watching Gus Van Sant leave, the little maid showed just the right doubts, and Jenny Leisenberg didn't keep it secret, and revealed with a smile: "The new film that Gus is preparing has taken a fancy to one of my names." The actor, William Macy, if you've seen Fargo, he got an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in that film."

The little girl has been trying to catch up on common sense in Hollywood during this time, and movies are naturally the most important one. Hearing this, she said: "I know about the Coen Brothers' movie, and Director Sante, I believe he is preparing another one." Very good movie."

"Heh, let me introduce you to Bob, and then you need to socialize by yourself," Leisenberg smiled, gestured in one direction, and led the little maid through the crowd at a buffet table, looking around It happened that there was no one there, and he continued the topic in a low voice: "Actually, after "Good Will Hunting", Gus's new film last year was a complete mess. It cost Disney $50 million and only recovered less than 20 million at the box office. Typical The sophomore effect, Daenerys was right not to continue working with him after "Good Will Hunting". Many filmmakers in Hollywood are like this. Once they achieve success, they think that they are the center of the universe, and that their agents and studios Any interference with him is heinous, demanding absolute control in the new film, playing at will and squandering recklessly, the result is often like the sports car rushing towards the valley in "Thelma and Louise", boom!"

The little servant girl saw Leisenberg spread his hands in an explosive shape at the end, and smiled cooperatively. She didn't quite understand, and she was thinking, maybe this manager is beating herself?

No need.

Even though "Huan Zhu Ge Ge" and "Legend of Sword and Fairy" in China are in full swing, in Hollywood, she is not inflated at all, and she is still in awe.

As he spoke, he quickly came to several other people.

The little maid and Mona used the Internet to check the information of the founder of New Line, Robert Shea, in the villa on the Upper West Side in advance. After looking at the photos, they recognized the gray-haired British gentleman who was one of the conversation parties at a glance. middle-aged people.

There seems to be a sale going on here.

The other party is two people, somewhat similar in appearance, probably two brothers.

"Yeah, Bob, it's a SNL-esque hodgepodge, but Adam's 'Tea Boys' in Thanksgiving has proven that it's popular with audiences."

"And it's cheap."

"Yes, the cost is very low. Besides, for the role of Mary, we can invite a supermodel to play it. Cindy Crawford is good."

When Robert Shea heard this, he interrupted subconsciously: "Cindy can't, although she is very famous, it turns out that she is more suitable for some small supporting roles, and she can't support a movie alone."

The long-haired one of the two brothers quickly gestured and said, "Then Daniela...Heidi...Fernanda, oh, yes, Roberta, Roberta Chilco, although Luo Berta acted like an action actress in that 007 movie, but she was too much of an American sweet girl...”

The long-haired man will continue, Luo

Burt Shea saw Leisenberg approaching with the little maid, and finally interrupted: "Peter, Bob, frankly, because they don't go through the theater channel but put it directly on the TV and video platform, the New Line side Mainly make low-budget action movies or crime, thriller, horror genres, even if you give me a literary script, I can try it, but comedy movies, sorry, this is not the genre that audiences favor on the small screen, maybe you guys You can pitch your ideas to the New World.”

Shay opened his words, and it was obvious that the two brothers were a little frustrated, but the long-haired man quickly said: "Or, Bob, we still have an idea to make a spoof horror comedy based on "A Nightmare on Elm Street" , you know, last week's "Scary Movie" sold more than 55 million copies in the first week, which is simply a miracle."

Robert Shea shook his head directly this time, and frowned visibly: "Sorry, Peter, I don't want to see "A Nightmare on Elm Street" being spoofed yet, you two, please go your own way, I have other guests to greet."

When Xie said this, the two brothers did not lose their sense of humor. They toasted to Xie, nodded to the little maids, and turned to walk away.

When the two brothers walked a little further away, Robert Shea had already changed his smile again, and shook hands with Jenny Leisenberg to say hello.

Then he helped introduce the little maid.

After listening to Leisenberg's introduction, Robert Shea greeted Leisenberg with the same kind and polite attitude, and then said another thing: "Miss Fan, I have already watched the videotape of your audition for "Edge of Crisis". You don't have any other questions here, this role can be settled directly, how about it?"

"Oh, really?" The little maid skillfully imitated Westerners and showed surprise expressions. After Xie Yi confirmed again, she nodded quickly: "Thank you so much, Mr. Xie."

"You're welcome, Miss Fan has achieved such dazzling achievements in China at such a young age, and I am also looking forward to your cooperation with New Line."

Jenny Leisenberg, who was standing beside him, and the two parties exchanged polite words, and instead of walking away immediately, they asked casually, "Bob, what idea were those two trying to sell you just now?"

"A spoof comedy similar to "Saturday Night Live", called "I'm Mad About Mary," Shay withdrew his attention from the little maid, turned to Leisenberg, and said, "The two brothers participated in "Seinfeld" The screenwriter of "Biography" has a good foundation. If I can go to the big screen, I am still very excited. The problem is, you know, I am only responsible for the two channels of DHO and Blockbuster, although the headquarters also gave me some It’s a pity that there are seats in theaters, but they still have to be used for key films.”

Leisenberg nodded in agreement, and laughed jokingly: "However, I think it's a good idea to spoof "A Nightmare on Elm Street."

"Oh, don't make fun of me." Shay didn't frown this time, but said with a smile: "I can't bear it, and the situation of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Scream" is different. , "Scream" is over, "A Nightmare on Elm Street" rebooted at the box office at the beginning of the year was very good, and we are already preparing for another sequel."

The little servant girl patiently listened to the conversation of the two big brothers, occasionally interjected, but kept up with the topic of the two.

The core focus of everyone's discussion was the "Scream", which was released on December 11, a spoof of a teenage horror comedy that belonged to Daenerys' blockbuster series "Scream".

The first "Scream" of the year was released on Halloween in 1988, and this year is exactly the 10th anniversary.

Daenerys also used the 10th anniversary gimmick for the main pre-publicity. After all, after ten years, it has accumulated a certain amount of feelings.

However, before the film was released, both inside Daenerys and the media in the industry held a pessimistic attitude towards "Scream", thinking that such a film, let alone achieve the results of "Scream" back then, even if Trying to match Thanksgiving's Adam Sandler's "Tea Boys" is a luxury.

The same environment is surrounded by blockbuster movies. "Tea Boy" was released on November 20. After the first week of 23.78 million US dollars, according to the follow-up trend, the industry generally predicts that the movie is expected to hit the 80 million mark in the local market. The total cost of production and publicity was 40 million and there was a small profit.

A pretty good score.

Therefore, before the release of "Scary Movie", everyone basically thought that this good-sounding spoof comedy is a spoof comedy that sells feelings and hard to hear. It is definitely not as good as "Tea Boy" in a similar market environment.

The result exceeded all expectations.

After the filming started on December 11, "Scary Scream" has been popular all the way. It was released for seven days. Under the pressure of the other two competitors in the same period and the old films in the Thanksgiving file that still has spare capacity, it even won a whopping 5567 in the first week. At the box office of 10,000 US dollars, it shattered my glasses.

Even Simon, who was far away in Australia, couldn't help but confirm the authenticity of the data when he heard the news.

However, it is true.

After the New World Pictures team frantically followed up and investigated, they roughly confirmed two reasons.

First of all, the plot of the film itself is really good, even if it is a spoof popcorn, which can make people laugh until their stomach hurts, it is obviously a very good popcorn.

Secondly, feelings are really easy to sell.

Back then, "Scream" was the first blockbuster series released by Daenerys after gradually accumulating a certain strength and getting rid of other studios. While it was a great success, the whole trilogy almost became the classic of a generation. memory.

Ten years later, the project was revived with a spoof that, even if it offended a few fans, it captured the attention of most. After all, for ordinary people, whether it is scary or funny,

After all, they all belong to the popcorn type, so I don’t feel that Daenerys can’t bear to spoof her own classic horror series, but I’m more curious and expecting more.

The combination of the two factors resulted in the grand occasion of "Scary Movie" raking in a box office of 55.67 million US dollars in the first week of its release.

It is no exaggeration to say that it is a miracle.

You know, this is still the box office results under the pressure of rivals in the same period and a bunch of old movies in the Thanksgiving file. It is conceivable that if there is a schedule with more relaxed competition, the box office of "Scary Movie" will reach 60 million in the first week. Neither is impossible.

In any case, the first week of 55.67 million US dollars is already a box office result that most blockbusters can't match, and according to the box office ladder sharing rules signed with the theater, only the first week, Daenerys basically recovered The production of 20 million US dollars plus the same 20 million US dollars of publicity and distribution costs will enter the profit cycle from the next week.

In addition, during the three-day weekend from December 18th to December 20th, the year-on-year decline of "Scream" remained at 39% under the strong pressure of "Suicide Squad 2", and it is expected that the decline will be controlled in the next week. It is about 40%, which means that the total box office of the film in North America can not only easily enter the 100 million box office club, but also hope to sprint towards a higher goal of 150 million US dollars.

Not only that, but in the ebb and flow of the North American film market, the outstanding performance of "Scary Movie" inevitably formed a sniper attack on other films in the same period.

Such as "Tea Boy".

If there is no "Scary Movie" with a similar genre or even a mediocre box office performance, "Tea Boy" will definitely reap another wave in the Christmas file, and finally achieve the local 80 million target.

Because of the appearance of "Scary Movie", "Tea Boy" was supposed to drop slightly even if it did not rebound, but the box office fell by as much as 41% in the week of December 11. Such a deep downward trend directly shattered the After the 80 million road of "Tea Boy", it is expected that the total domestic box office will shrink to about 70 million.

All in all, the dark horse performance of "Scary Scream" has sparked a hot topic that is not much worse than that of "Suicide Squad 2", which opened last Friday. After all, "Suicide Squad 2" is a hit. After the three-day box office data is released, it is expected to exceed 100 million in the first week, which is also a matter of course. Failure will become big news.