Three Hundred and Nineteen-7 Crimes
Producer Clete Singer's words were agreed by almost everyone. When he mentioned the young director, everyone nodded subconsciously.
In the past, praise for Wayne Greenberg only came from Twentieth Century Fox's Townsend Rothman, saying that he and Jerry Bruckheimer were rare producers. genius.
However, in Hollywood, where commercial hype is ubiquitous, few people take such propaganda seriously.
To say that Wayne Greenberg is a director genius, perhaps no one can refute it. He has proven his ability as a director with his unparalleled results.
The sudden release of "Blair Witch", which grossed more than 100 million US dollars in the theater market within a few weeks, surprised all the production companies in the industry. They suddenly realized that marketing can still be done like this!
When Universal Pictures approached the original film director and wanted to buy all the rights to the film, they discovered that the representative negotiating with them was actually Wayne's agent Jimmy.
Only then did they realize that in addition to Harvey Weinstein, the manipulator behind the scenes also hid a stronger hungry wolf deeper.
"The sales performance of the first video tape of "Blair Witch" was very poor, and its performance in the rental market was average. If we want to recover the money invested in buying the copyright, the second film must be successful."
Ron Meyer's face was cold, and when he mentioned the video tape and surrounding copyrights, he felt heartbroken.
The offline results of this film are completely unworthy of the size it should have been, nor the box office results it created.
It stands to reason that this type of high-grossing horror film should be an absolute hit in the video market, but contrary to market rules, it has always been neither salty nor cool.
If we only rely on offline copyright operations, it may take more than ten or twenty years to recover the investment costs.
"I suggest that we don't change anything and just follow this marketing plan again." Justin, an executive in the distribution department, looked at the CEO and said.
"I have carefully analyzed this thing. Not only did "The Blair Witch Project" achieve success through it, but the benchmark horror film "The Clown" also used this technique. From this point of view, Wayne Greenberg I have tested this plan twice and achieved the desired results."
Seeing that no one around him objected, Ron Meyer also nodded. "Then let's promote it as planned. The company has spent tens of millions of dollars on marketing expenses for this project. You have to spend all of it on me within two weeks to create social discussion as quickly as possible."
In order to replicate the success of the first film, Universal Pictures only gave the young director $400,000, hoping that he would achieve an effect close to that of the first film.
This is also true. The effect of the final film is no different from that of the first film. Long, shaky shots fill the entire film. Even the rough editing effects are deliberately imitating the first film.
It can be said that Universal Pictures chose the safest production method in order to avoid accidents.
After the meeting, Clete Singer followed the CEO. After entering the elevator, he observed the other person's expression for a while and said:
"The offline results of the first part of "Blair Witch" were completely below our expectations. I suspect this was also designed by Wayne Greenberg, otherwise how could he be willing to sell the copyright with a box office of over 100 million!"
"Whether he had expected it or not, it doesn't make sense to say this now." Ron Meyer sighed, looking at the floor numbers that kept jumping in front of him. "You have to keep an eye on the young director and several actors. Don't let any news that shouldn't appear before the film is released!"
"I will."
Nodding, Clay Singer paused, lowered his voice and said: "What I mean is, should we reveal the news that Wayne Greenberg is the mastermind of "Blair Witch" through our media? Go out and cause him some trouble!"
As long as the other party's movie is released, it will definitely become a box office bomb. This has almost become an industry rule. This is very bad. No one wants to see this continue.
As long as this kind of success continues, when faced with Wayne's works, production companies will subconsciously choose to avoid it, and they will still choose to avoid it during the summer season when land is at a premium. After all, no one is willing to use their own large investment and large production to compete with That dark madman collision.
The miserable Sony Columbia has conducted two experiments for all production companies in this regard, and each time they were ruthlessly crushed.
The experience of this year's "Braveheart" is still unfolding before our eyes. Many people feel that this film was squeezed out of the mainstream market by "Batman Begins" before its potential was realized. It cannot be said that this is not a different kind of sadness. .
Regardless of whether it is because Warner Bros. has adopted other off-site means, the fundamental reason is Wayne Greenberg's high-quality works and the fans' blind trust in the "Greenberg Productions" brand.
"Forget it." Faced with this suggestion of ruining the other party's reputation, Ron Meyer thought about it for a while, until the elevator door opened with a "ding", he frowned and said while walking out.
"The screenings of "Batman Begins" have entered a stable period. Even if we present evidence and release the news now, it will not affect the film's sales of over 300 million, and it will offend that young man in vain. Warner Bros. may , will pounce on us and bite us because of him, it’s not worth it.”
Universal Pictures is not afraid of Warner Brothers. They are both Hollywood giants and have media groups behind them. It is hard to say who is afraid of whom among the six major companies.
But there is absolutely no need to provoke unnecessary competition between each other for things that are not beneficial.
"Also." The CEO of Universal Pictures gave Clay Singer a deep look. "Don't be fooled by Wayne Greenberg's appearance. Tolerance and generosity, sympathy for minorities, etc. are all just packaged by the media. Those who you think can gain a foothold in this circle will be kind-hearted. Human?!" He didn't know and couldn't be sure whether the other party was being petty, but since he could successfully succeed in this chaotic circle, it was absolutely impossible for him to have a high bottom line.
And in his eyes, this young man is a disaster. How many people have suffered bad luck because of him. If you look closely, you will find out. In the end, this tempting proposal was rejected by Ron Meyer.
Perhaps doing so can indeed influence some fans' trust in Wayne Greenberg and shake their support for his subsequent films. However, what can Universal Pictures gain? Totally not worth it.
Universal Pictures moved very quickly. Starting the next day, just like what Harvey Weinstein had done, various local radio stations, second- and third-rate newspapers and magazines in North America, and Blockbuster video stores were full of people looking for people. notice.
Just like a re-enactment, the edited video about the witch appeared again in the evening science exploration program. In a daze, most people remembered that disgusting deception, and the anger in their hearts returned again.
"Shit, here we go again." In a Blockbuster store, two young men were queuing up to register and pay with the selected video tapes when they saw a missing person notice posted on the wall.
"Frank, it must be that son of a bitch director again. It's not enough that he deceived us once, he actually wants to do it again! fxxk!"
The young man wearing a baseball cap pointed at the missing person notice on the wall and cursed with his companions without any scruples.
"Jason, I want to kill that director when I mention this." The white boy named Frank also gritted his teeth. "I called on many friends to promote it, but who knew it would turn out to be a mockumentary film. My friends called me a liar for a month!"
Almost at the same time, the two of them recalled the stupid things they had done, and at the same time recalled their anger when they found out that they had been cheated.
Looking at the two videotapes in his hand, Jason tried hard to suppress his negative emotions and swore to his friends while paying the bill. "I will definitely remind my friends this time, no one will be fooled by this again. When I think of that liar director's proud look, I feel sick and want to vomit!"
"Yes." Frank nodded. "I'll join you too. Let's go back and publicize it in schools to save more people from being deceived."
The two of them took the videotape and angrily walked out of the store. The good mood that they had planned to watch a movie together on the weekend was ruined by this incident.
When they walked to the parking lot, opened the car door and were about to go back, a white boy wearing a volunteer coat came over holding a large stack of colored printing paper.
"Hey, can I interrupt you for two minutes?" He said, taking out two prepared missing person notices from his arms and handing them to the two of them. "These are three female college students from Princeton who have disappeared because of the pursuit of witches. Please, if you see them, please call the number above. Their families are very worried now, and please help spread the information..."
"fxxkyou!"
"motherfxxker!"
Before he could finish speaking, two swear words came from the other side. Under his stunned expression, the two boys ignored him, opened the door of the pickup truck, and drove out of the parking lot, cursing all the way.
"What did I say wrong?" The boy sat on a bench by the roadside and said to himself while looking at the missing person notice in his hand. "Damn it, I said the same thing last time, why have people's attitudes changed?!"
This was not the first time that this happened. Throughout the morning, almost no one answered his missing person notice. Most people would look at him indifferently and turn away.
There were also a small number of people, just like the two boys just now, swearing.
The last time he did this job, people were obviously very enthusiastic and would spontaneously distribute these things to him.
However, he never expected that this situation was not just happening to him, but was happening all over North America.
Regardless of the effectiveness of the publicity, within two weeks, Universal Pictures completely copied what Harvey Weinstein did, and then the film was eagerly released in 2,098 theaters. .
It is very unfortunate that in October, when the summer season has just passed and the Christmas season has not yet arrived, Warner Bros. released and rescheduled "Seven Deadly Sins", which was also released on the same weekend.
Wayne was invited by Warner Bros. to attend the film's premiere.
The reason why he readily agreed to stand up for "Seven Deadly Sins".
Because the rescheduling of this film was influenced by "Batman Begins" and took the initiative to make way for him. He also wanted to watch this classic film live, get to know David Fincher, and check out Brad Pitt and have a chat with him.