hunt hollywood

Putting down the box office report in his hand, Terry Semel sighed and sat down on the sofa in the living room, and began to read today's newspaper.

"Los Angeles Times", "Variety Show", "Hollywood Reporter" and so on, although not all positive reviews, but every newspaper has a large piece of film review articles about "Scream", and it is the turn of "Scream" Oolong Secret Detective, even only two professional magazines, "Variety Show" and "Hollywood Reporter", barely mentioned it.

After working in Hollywood for so many years, Terry Semel knows very well that the only thing worse than one-sided bad reviews is that no one reviews them at all.

"Oolong Secret Detective" encountered this worst situation.

The $35 on the first day is less than one-tenth of the box office data of "Scream", which obviously means an extremely low attendance rate.

According to the contract, after two weeks of screenings, the theater will definitely withdraw the film quickly. It is estimated that the total box office may only be 300 million US dollars, which is still not as good as the box office of "Scream" on the first day.

In comparison, it earned $450 million at the box office on the first day of its opening, and "Scream" will obviously have a very beautiful long-term success.

Terry Semel hit upon a point of view that popped up in the media during the release of "Basic Instinct."

Starting from "When Harry Met Sally", followed by "Pulp Fiction" and "Instinct", the films produced by Daenerys Entertainment have been carrying out a [-] million box office relay, and the first three films have been successfully completed own goals.

Now, "Scream" is likely to continue the relay road of Daenerys Entertainment.

The fourth film with a box office exceeding [-] million yuan.

Prior to this, Hollywood did not necessarily have four movies with a box office of over [-] million in a whole year. Now, a small company that has just emerged for less than two years has achieved this goal, which is simply unbelievable.

Putting down the newspaper in his hand, Terry Semel hesitated for a moment, then picked up the phone and dialed the number of Simon's residence.

Warner is currently cooperating with Daenerys Entertainment on two films. At least on the surface, it is still appropriate to call to congratulate. After all, there will be no loss in this kind of human relationship.

malibu.

Although it was Saturday, Simon still got up early, and received the box office data report from the company as soon as possible.

The first day was 450 million US dollars, which exceeded expectations, and it was completely relaxed.

Janet had already returned from Europe and was used to staying in bed, so she began to prepare breakfast for the two of them.Although he occasionally complains half-jokingly, in fact, this is probably the only thing Simon needs to do at home.

After seven o'clock, when breakfast was ready, Simon came to the bedroom.

The woman was still sleeping soundly. Simon took a few glances and decided to wake her up later. He picked up a folder beside the bed and walked out of the bedroom again.

October is the month when the new quarterly financial reports of listed companies are released. In the folder are several quarterly financial reports of listed companies held by Westeros Corporation and the financial report of Westeros Corporation itself for the previous quarter.

Simon didn't have much energy to pay attention to the operation of the companies holding shares of Westeros, so he could only focus more on the financial reports of those companies.

Listed companies in North America generally pay dividends on a quarterly basis.

According to preliminary statistics, in the third quarter that just passed, Westeros received a total of cash or equity dividends equivalent to about 2630 million US dollars.

According to this figure, it is expected to receive various types of dividends of about 1 million US dollars throughout the year.Compared with the total value of the stocks held by Westeros, this figure is not high, which is only equivalent to 5% annual interest, which is not as good as the return of some long-term bonds.

However, affected by the generally better-than-expected quarterly financial report, the stock prices of technology stocks held by Westeros have risen one after another. The total value of the latest week’s statistics has reached 19 billion US dollars, compared with the Forbes rich list released in August. The $3000 billion went on to add $8 million in value.

Obviously, stock price appreciation is the most important point for most investors.

For half a month after returning from Europe, Janet has been helping Simon read these financial reports. Although he always looks careless, Simon knows that women are definitely more dedicated than anyone else around him, and he has not forgotten brother Janet. The curriculum vitae of top students from big business schools.

With Janet helping to keep an eye on it, Simon can act as a hands-off shopkeeper to the greatest extent.

Last night, Janet personally explained Westeros' quarterly financial report to Simon until midnight.

At eight o'clock, Simon received some congratulatory calls from Amy Pascal, Terry Semel and others. After some entertainment, he called Janet to get up.

Still working on weekends.

With the release of the box office data on the first day, many other information related to the film were quickly summarized.

Overall, the film critics of "Scream" are not very good, barely exceeding 7 points.However, the public popularity of this film far exceeds all other films of the same period.

Moreover, Daenerys Entertainment relies on a highly targeted publicity strategy, and has always locked its marketing targets on young people. These people happen to not care too much about media reputation, but are more inclined to the word-of-mouth of classmates and friends around them. According to legend.

As the topic of the film further spread, "Scream" unknowingly formed a movie-watching craze among young people.

Monday, October 10.

The three days of the weekend passed by in a hurry, and the relevant box office data was released smoothly.

Just like the impressive first-day box office, the box office of "Scream" in the first weekend undoubtedly led all other films in the same period, and the final box office figure reached 1379 million US dollars.

"Moonlight Panic 2", which ranked No.4, had a box office of only US$451 million in the three days of the weekend, which is only equivalent to the first day of "Scream".

Just in the box office results of the first weekend, "Scream" has surpassed the total North American box office of most other films released in October.Moreover, with such a start, as long as the box office decline is not too severe in the next few weeks, this will obviously be another movie with a box office of over 10 million in North America.

Seeing this data, both Hollywood and the North American media couldn't help feeling a little numb.

Can we continue?

Do you want to continue?

Chapter 213 Undercurrent (Revised)

Universal Studios Burbank.

Tomorrow is Halloween, and there will be a week of Halloween activities in the studio.Therefore, even though it was Monday daytime, this comprehensive film and television entertainment base covering an area of ​​200 hectares was still very lively.

In an office building in the northern administrative area of ​​the film city, Lou Vasalman, chairman of MCA, the parent company of Universal, and Sid Schinberg, CEO of the company, sat together by the window of an office on the fifth floor.

Lou Wassalman is 75 years old this year. He has a thin face and wears a pair of brown presbyopic glasses with large frames. This old man who was ridiculed by the media as the prototype of alien ET has been in charge of MCA for 30 years. , and gradually developed the original talent agency company into the current comprehensive media group.

Sid Schinberg was only in his early fifties. It was he who discovered Spielberg back then, and he also belonged to the Hollywood evergreen tree that MCA has been in power for more than ten years.

Occasionally looking at the shadowy crowd in the tourist area, the topic of discussion between the two Hollywood bigwigs is Daenerys Entertainment's "Scream".

Sid Simberg handed Lou Wassalman a document that he had carefully read several times, and said: "This is the report just made by the marketing department this morning. The operation of "Scream" can be regarded as a textbook-style distribution case. Accurate market positioning for young people, precise advertising placement on platforms such as public television network youth TV programs, MTV cable TV stations, and youth magazines. Carpet-style marketing in first- and second-tier cities across the country. The most important thing is the efficient execution of Daenerys Entertainment’s distribution team, all of which contributed to the box office success of "Scream."

Lou Wassalman picked up the file and opened it, asking, "Can John Carpenter's "Extreme Space" do this?"

"Extreme Space" is a sci-fi thriller that Universal will release this Friday, directed by John Carpenter, the horror film master who created the "Moonlight Panic" series.

Sid Schinberg shook his head regretfully, and said: "Carpenter's new film is of mediocre quality, and the production cost is only 400 million US dollars. It is not worthy of large-scale promotion."

Lou Wassalman glanced at Sid Simberg and said, "The production cost of "Scream" doesn't seem too high?"

Sid Schinberger had to laugh dryly.

According to the report in Vassarman's hand, the distribution budget invested by Daenerys Entertainment for "Scream" is only 1755 million US dollars for the copy cost of 130 screens. The team's roadshow investment, etc., is conservatively estimated to be more than 700 million US dollars.

With the success of the film at the box office, Daenerys Entertainment will definitely continue to increase its publicity budget in the future, and may even exceed the film's $1000 million production cost.

Would Universal dare to do this?

Maybe dare.

But first there has to be a movie of the same quality as Scream.

Take the road show as an example. A group of handsome men and beautiful women in "Scream" can naturally mingle with young audiences. John Carpenter's "Extreme Space" is a brother movie with black and white protagonists. Both protagonists are He is in his 30s and not well-known, so he can watch it on the big screen, but if he interacts with him face-to-face, he won't be able to attract much interest from the audience at all.

Seeing that Vassarman remained calm, Sid Schinberg was silent for a moment, and then asked, "Lu, why didn't there be any results from the MP last time?"

Lou Wassalman paused when he wanted to turn the page, but he briefly recounted what MP Chairman Jack Valenti told him that day, and finally shook his head and said: "That is a young man who is very crazy in his bones. , he is willing to abide by the rules, but disdains the rules, knows restraint, but has no shortage of skills. More importantly, he is only 20 years old this year, which is an advantage that none of us have. West Germany, if the next few years can Selling MCA, I'm probably going to retire, and I don't want to get into the trouble of not being able to live out my old age."

Sid Schinberg was somewhat unwilling, and said, "Lu, shall we just let Daenerys Entertainment continue to grow and develop?"

Lou Wassalman looked at Sid Schinberg shrewdly, and said noncommittally: "If you want to do something, you can try it."

Sid Simberg expressed some hesitation, and said: "Gene from the distribution department told me something this morning, the producer of "Scream", Ron McMillan, he and the film's There was an issue with an actress in which McMillan had promised her a big role and wasn't able to deliver on that promise."

It's not a big deal in Hollywood to lift your pants and refuse to admit it.

Lou Wassalman frowned slightly when he heard this, and said, "Sid, how old is that girl?"

Sid Schinberger was not sure: "It should be in his 20s."

"A girl in her 20s, if you don't give her enough chips, do you think she will be willing to ruin her career and fight against Daenerys Entertainment?" Lou Wassalman looked at Sid Simber Grid, without waiting for his answer, asked again: "Or, once Daenerys Entertainment finds out that you are behind the scenes, do you think they can't find the same reason to attack Universal?"

The previous "Scream" rating incident was just a few old men who wanted to give the younger generation a bad start on a whim, but it almost caused a big storm in the end.

Lou Wassalman now thinks of what the young man asked Jack Valenti to tell him, and he still feels a little scared. When people get old, they will always tend to be conservative and stable. Strong confrontation between old and new forces.

As for Sid Simberg's suggestion at this time, it is simply the last bad idea.

Few people in Hollywood dare to say that they are truly clean when it comes to matters between men and women. If you attack the other party with a sex scandal, it is almost inevitable that you will be counterattacked.

The most important point is that if Sid Schinberg does this, Universal will not get much substantial benefit.

In the final analysis, interests are the fundamental factors that drive competition and confrontation.

The aftermath of the Hollywood screenwriters' strike has made this Halloween schedule almost blank. "Scream" took advantage of the trend. Although the box office was so popular, it did not form a strong competition with the top seven.

Not driven by enough interests, playing with these low-level tricks is not worth the loss.

Sid Simberg has been paying attention to Lou Wassalman's expression, and quickly dismissed the idea just now.

Although he has been the second in command of MCA for more than ten years, he is very clear that the power of this company has always been firmly controlled by Vassalman.If you do that by yourself, once a conflict arises, Vassarman, who doesn't want the entire MCA to be involved, will definitely push him out as a scapegoat.

Paramount Studios Hollywood, Paramount Pictures President Sidney Garnis Just Hosted Wes Craven As Lou Wasserman And Sid Simberg Discuss Scream Had lunch.

Sidney Garnis is much more practical than Sid Simberg's secret trickery.

With the box office of two films "Journey to America" ​​and "Crocodile Dundee 2" in the summer, Paramount's film business situation this year is very good, Sidney Garnis is very much looking forward to this state can continue, So there is no idea of ​​​​confronting Daenerys entertainment at all.

The "Nightmare on Elm Street" series written and directed by Wes Craven a few years ago led to the rapid rise of the original New Line Pictures. Called "two blockbuster horror films, although Simon Westero's potential influence factor is very large, but Craven has definitely become one of the big Hollywood directors worth focusing on.

Although a cooperation was not reached during lunch, Sidney Garnis also found out that Wes Craven did not reach an agreement with Daenerys Entertainment on the sequel issue, which means that Paramount still has the opportunity to make The opponent draws over.

After sending Wes Craven away, Sidney Garnis turned around and asked the assistant standing behind him, "The screenwriter of "Scream", Bruce Joy Robin, have you contacted him?"

The assistant nodded and said, "I've arranged for you a meeting at ten o'clock tomorrow morning."

Sidney Garnis nodded, and was about to rush to his office. After thinking about it, he said, "The main creators of Daenerys Entertainment's several films at the end of the year, all of them compiled a file for me."

Similar to Warner and Paramount, a lot of people are talking about Daenerys entertainment in Los Angeles today.

Until then, films produced by Daenerys Entertainment have been attached to the distribution networks of other film companies. The blockbuster success of "Scream" has established Daenerys Entertainment's status as a top second-tier film company after the top seven in one fell swoop.

Therefore, some people are trying to win over, some are trying to stumbling, some are planning to poach the wall, and some can only express envy.

The entire Hollywood has unknowingly formed an undercurrent around Daenerys Entertainment. As for where this undercurrent will eventually turn, no one knows.

After the weekend is Halloween, the box office on weekdays is stimulated by the festive atmosphere, and the data for the same period is much higher than before.

Therefore, after the first week of screenings, the final box office of "Scream" reached 2071 million US dollars.

在《惊声尖叫》的带动下，10月28日到11月3日之间的北美票房大盘一跃从此前一周的3267万美元暴增至4736万美元。其中只是《惊声尖叫》一部电影，就占据了整个大盘份额的43%，本周其他16部院线电影只能分享剩余的57%。

On the single-week box office list, compared to the US$2071 million of "Scream", the No. 2 "Moonlight Panic 4" has a box office figure of only US$523 million.

"The Robbery of the Pear Blossom" starring Jodie Foster has a good reputation and a very strong box office curve, but limited by the subject matter and market capacity, the box office figure in the third week of its release also dropped to 369 million US dollars, ranking third.

Fox Films' "Alien Empire", after two consecutive weeks of sharp drop in the box office, this week's box office is only 292 million US dollars, ranking fourth.

The biopic "The Mist" starring Sigourney Weaver and the romantic comedy "Headline Joke" starring Tom Hanks ranked No.5 and No.6 respectively.

"The Secret Detective" produced by Warner Bros. ranked seventh just like the box office on the first day. The film "Scream", which is quite but not at all able to splash waves, will completely withdraw from the media and audience's vision.

Friday, January 11th.

Compared with the deserted last week, a total of four new films will be released this Friday.

However, apart from Daenerys Entertainment's "Steel Magnolia", which opened a small-scale screening on 22 screens in North America, the other three films cannot be regarded as the key films of major film companies.

Among them, "Spirited" released by Paramount is just a music documentary of U2 band. John Carpenter's "Extreme Space" and Diane Keaton's "Good Mother" are obviously not held by the distributors Universal and Disney. How much to look forward to.

Therefore, none of the four new films pose any threat to Scream.

Simon and Janet traveled to New York for Halloween together and returned on Friday morning.

Santa Monica.

A large conference room at Daenerys Entertainment headquarters on a Friday afternoon.

Simon and Amy Pascal, Robert Iger, Robert Rehm, and several other executives at the company were listening to Nancy Brill, the head of consumer products that Amy had recently hired, explain his plans for the consumer products division.

Nancy Brill comes from Hasbro, a famous American toy company. She looks in her 30s, has a relatively soft and delicate face of a French woman, her blond hair is rolled up, and she wears a black professional suit. She looks very capable.

Daenerys Entertainment currently does not have many projects that can develop movie derivatives. The previous few movies, most of the peripherals of "Run Lola Run" have been packaged and sold, and the relevant copyrights of several movies such as "Pulp Fiction" are in In the hands of companies such as Orion.

Now, Daenerys Entertainment itself can develop peripheral projects mainly including several popular reality shows and the recently popular "Scream".A little farther away, the most valuable should be next year's "Batman".

Daenerys Entertainment has already made huge profits from the box office and broadcasting of the film and television projects themselves. In order to avoid over-exploitation of copyrights, Simon is very cautious about the consumer product department and is not in a hurry to pursue profits. Nancy Brill The main work in the next one or two years is to build a team, train a team and expand channels.

"The last is video games. The Great Depression of the video game industry caused by the Atari incident has passed. In recent years, with the rise of Japanese video game manufacturers, the video game industry is recovering rapidly. Daenerys Entertainment's early "Lola Fast" Run, and more recently Scream, are great for developing video games, and I believe we will have more rights like this in the future. Learning from the Atari debacle, I think Daenerys Entertainment should be outsourced Mainly, the corresponding rights are outsourced like a movie project, and handed over to a professional development team for design. Daenerys Entertainment can invest in game studios, but it should avoid excessive interference with the production of specific projects.”

In front of the projection screen in the conference room, Nancy Brill finished explaining her ideas and introduced several successful cases in the industry through PPT. Then she stopped speaking and looked towards Simon, waiting for the boss to ask questions.