Hollywood Hunter

Universal Studios in Burbank.

Tomorrow is Halloween, and next week will be a Halloween event in the studio.Therefore, although it is Monday and daytime, this 200 hectare comprehensive film and television entertainment base still seems very lively.

In an office building in the northern administrative district of the Studio City, Lu Wasalman, chairman of MCA, the parent company of Universal, and Sid Zinberg, the company's CEO, sat in the window-front position of the fifth floor office.

Lu Wasalman is 75 years old this year, with a thin face and a pair of brown reading glasses with large frames. This old man who was ridiculed by the media as an alien ET prototype in previous years has been in charge of MCA for thirty years. Time, and will gradually develop the original talent agency company to the current comprehensive media group.Sid Simberg was only in his early fifties, and it was he who discovered Spielberg, and was also part of the Hollywood Evergreen that MCA had been in power for more than a decade.

Occasionally looking at the crowds in the tourist area, the two Hollywood gangsters talk about the topic of "Screaming" that Daenerys Entertainment is releasing.

Sid Zinberg handed Lu Wasalman a document he had read carefully several times and said, "This is the report that the marketing department just made in the morning. The operation of "Scream" can be used as a textbook-style distribution case. The accurate market positioning for the youth group, the precise advertising of public television network youth TV programs, MTV cable TV stations and youth magazines, the two groups are full of people. The most advanced carpet marketing in the first- and second-tier cities in the country. The most important thing is the efficient execution of the Daenerys entertainment distribution team, which has contributed to the box office success of "Scream"."

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

"Extreme Space" is a science fiction thriller that will be released by Universal this Friday. It is directed by the horror film master John Carpenter who created the "Moonlight Panic" series.

Sid Zinberg shook his head regretfully, saying: "The quality of Carpenter's new film is mediocre, and the production cost is only 4 million US dollars, which is not worthy of large-scale promotion."

Lu Wasalman glanced at Sid Zinberg and said, "Don't the production cost of "Scream" sound too high?"

Sid Simberg had to laugh.

According to Vassarman's report, Daenerys Entertainment's release budget for "Scream" is only $1,300,000 for the copy cost of 1,755 screens. In addition, there are a large number of advertisements and creatives on various platforms. The team's roadshow investment, etc., is conservatively estimated to be more than $7 million.

With the success of the film at the box office, Daenerys Entertainment will definitely continue to increase the budget for the announcement, and may even exceed the production cost of the film by 10 million US dollars.

Does Universal dare to do this?

Maybe dare.

But first, there must be a movie of the same quality as "Scream".

Take the roadshow, for example, a group of handsome men and women starring in "Scream" can naturally be combined with a young audience. John Carpenter's "Extreme Space" is a brother movie with black and white protagonists. Both protagonists are three. More than ten years old, and not well-known, look on the big screen is okay, interacting face to face, simply can not attract much interest from the audience.

Seeing Vasalman still, Sid Zinberg was silent for a moment,

Lu Wasalman's movement to turn the page paused, or simply talked about what the MPAA Chairman Jack Valenti told himself that day, and finally shook his head and added: "It's a crazy bone Young man, he is willing to obey the rules, but disdains the rules, knows restraint, but has no shortage of wrists. More importantly, he is only 20 years old this year, which is an advantage that none of us have. West Germany, if next Being able to sell the MCA in a few years, I will probably retire, and I don’t want to provoke such a trouble that I can’t spend my old age."

Sid Zinberg was somewhat reluctant and said, "Lou, are we going to let Daenerys entertain and continue to grow and develop?"

Lu Vasalman looked at West Germany Zimberg sternly. "If you want to do something, you can give it a try."

Sid Zinberg’s expression was hesitant and said, “Jean in the distribution department said something to me this morning, the producer of “Scream”, Ron McMillan, he and the film’s An actress had some troubles, and Macmillan promised her a very important role, but failed to deliver on her promise."

The fact that the trousers are not recognized is not a problem in Hollywood at all.

Lu Wasalman frowned slightly and said, "West Germany, how old is that girl?"

Sid Zinberg was not sure: "Should I be in my twenties?"

"Young people in their twenties, if you can't give you enough chips, do you think she would be willing to ruin her career and fight Daenerys Entertainment?" Lu Wasalman looked at West Germany. Simberg continued to ask, "Or, once Daenerys Entertainment discovered that you were instigating, do you think they couldn't find the same reason to attack Universal?"

The previous "Scream" rating incident was just a whim of a few old men who wanted to give the latecomers a chance to disembark, but the result was almost a storm.

Lu Vasalman now thinks of the words that the young man told Jack Valenti to convey. He still feels a little afraid that when he is old, he will tend to be conservative and stable. He does not want to cause a new and old Hollywood force. Fight strongly.

As for Sid Zinberg’s suggestion at this time, it is simply a bad idea that cannot be overwhelmed.

Not many people in Hollywood dare to say that they are really clean in the matter of men and women. It is almost inevitable that you will attack each other with a sex scandal and get a counterattack.Most importantly, Universal will not get any benefits by doing this.

In the final analysis, interest is the fundamental factor driving competition and confrontation.

The aftermath of the Hollywood screenwriter strike caused this Halloween schedule to be almost blank. "Scream" took advantage of the situation. Although the red box office was eye-catching, it did not form a strong competition with the Seventh.

Without enough interests to drive, these little tricks that do not flow into the stream are simply not worth the loss.

Sid Simberg has been paying attention to the look of Lu Wasalman, and soon dismissed the idea in his heart.

Although he has been the second in charge of MCA for more than ten years, he is well aware that the company's power has always been firmly controlled by Vassarman.Doing it yourself, once the conflict is triggered, Vassarman who does not want the entire MCA to be involved will definitely push him out as a scapegoat.

When Lu Wasalman and Sid Zinberg discussed "Scream", Paramount Pictures Hollywood, Paramount Pictures President Sidney Ganis had just hosted Wes Craven Have had lunch.

Compared with Sid Zinberg's secretly playing with his wrist, Sidney Garnis is much more practical.

With the summer break of "America Journey" and "Crocodile Dundee 2" two hundred million films, Paramount this year's film business form is very good, Sidney Ganis very much hope that this state can continue, Therefore, there is no idea of ​​confrontation with Daenerys.

Wes Craven's "Menggui Street" series, which he wrote and directed a few years ago, allowed the new line of film industry to rise rapidly. In the past two years, he has continuously produced "The Grim Reaper" and "Scream" Two big sales horror movies called "Although Simon Westero's potential influential factors are very large, Craven has definitely become one of the major Hollywood directors worthy of focus."

Although he failed to reach an agreement at lunch, Sidney Garnes also noticed that Wes Craven has not yet reached an agreement with Daenerys Entertainment on the sequel, which means that Paramount has a great deal Opportunity.

Sending away Wes Craven, Sidney Garnes turned and asked the assistant standing behind him: "The writer of "Scream", Bruce Joy Robin, have you got in touch?"

The assistant nodded and said, "I have arranged for you to meet at ten o'clock tomorrow morning."

Sidney Ganis nodded and was about to rush to his office, thinking about it again: "The main creators of several films at the end of Daenerys Entertainment, all put together a piece of information for me."

Similar to Warner and Paramount, many people in Los Angeles today are discussing issues related to Daenerys Entertainment.

Prior to this, the films produced by Daenerys Entertainment have been attached to the distribution networks of other film companies.The blockbuster of "Scream" fully confirmed the status of Daenerys Entertainment after the top seven second-tier film companies.

Therefore, some people try to draw, some people want to make a trip, some people are planning to dig the wall, some people can only express envy.

Throughout Hollywood, an undercurrent has been formed around Daenerys Entertainment. No one knows what result this undercurrent will eventually turn to.

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.

So, after the first week of screenings, the final box office of "Scream" reached 20.71 million US dollars.

Stimulated by "Scream", the North American box office market jumped from $32.67 million in the previous week to $47.36 million from October 28 to November 3.However, the obvious fact is that only one movie of "Scream" occupies 43% of the overall market share, and the other 16 cinema movies this week can only share the remaining 57%.

On the single-week box office list, compared to the $20.71 million in "Scream", the second-ranked "Moonlight Panic 4" has a box office figure of only 5.23 million.

Judy Foster's "The Pear of the Robbery", despite its good reputation and very strong box office curve, is limited to the theme and market capacity. The box office number in the third week of the show also slipped to 3.69 million US dollars, ranking third.

Fox's "Alien Empire", after two consecutive weeks of box office fell sharply, this week's box office is only 2.92 million US dollars, ranking fourth.

Sigourney Weaver starring in the biopic "The Mist Lock" and the romantic comedy "Headlines" starring Tom Hanks ranked fifth and sixth.

"Wool Detective" produced by Warner Bros. ranks seventh as the first-day box office. The box office received only a pitiful $1.63 million in the first week of the painting. With the release of several new films in the new week, this film will completely withdraw from the media and Audience vision.

November 4, another Friday.

Compared with last week's desertion, there are four new films released on Monday.

However, with the exception of Daenerys Entertainment's "Steel Magnolia", which has been screened on a small scale on 22 screens in North America, the other three are not the major films of major film companies.

Among them, Paramount’s “Flying” is just a music documentary for the U2 band. John Carpenter’s “Extreme Space” and “Good Mother” starring Diane Keaton are obviously not released by the publisher. How much expectations Disney has.

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

Santa monica.

In a large conference room at Daenerys Entertainment headquarters, the time is Friday afternoon.

Simon and Amy Pascal, Robert Iger, Robert Rem, and several other company executives are listening to Amy’s recently hired head of the consumer goods sector, Nancy Brill, introducing his plans for the consumer products sector.

Nancy Brill is from Hasbro, a well-known American toy company. She looks like she is in her thirties. She has a relatively soft and delicate face of a French woman. Her blonde hair is raised 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 copyrights of the previous films, "Laura Run" have been sold very roughly, and the copyrights of several films such as "Pulp Fiction" are In the hands of companies like Orion.

Now, Daenerys Entertainment itself can develop the surrounding projects mainly because of its recently popular "Scream" series, which is a little bit farther away, and can also be counted as the most valuable "Batman" next year. ".

Daenerys Entertainment has already made huge profits in the box office and broadcast of the film and television project itself. In order to avoid excessive exploitation of copyright, Simon is very cautious about the consumer goods sector. Nancy Brill’s next one to two years The main job is to build a team, train teams and expand channels.

"Finally, video games. The 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 rapidly recovering. Daenerys Entertainment’s early "Laura Express" "Run" and the recent "Scream" are very suitable for the development of related video games. I believe we will have more similar copyrights in the future. Drawing on the lessons of the Atari crash, I think Daenerys Entertainment should Mainly outsourcing, outsourcing the corresponding copyright as a movie project, and handing it to a professional development team for design. Daenerys Entertainment can invest in the corresponding game studio, but it should avoid too much interference in game development."

Before the projection screen in the conference room, Nancy Brill elaborated on her ideas and introduced several cases through the PPT. She stopped speaking and looked to Simon, waiting for the boss to ask questions.