Six Hundred and Three - Is the Hollywood King of Darkness Really so Worthless?

What is the biggest factor that can affect a movie’s box office? A hundred filmmakers will give you a hundred opinions on this question. But here in Wayne, there is always only one explanation, and that is publicity and marketing.

It doesn’t matter how well your movie is in line with market tastes, how accurate your target audience is, or how artistic and entertaining your movie is. From a Hollywood perspective, you want your movie to sell as much as possible. Money, then publicity and marketing always come first.

Since he entered Hollywood in the 1990s, every film he has made has always been called a textbook of dark art by film critics, film reviewers, and even senior filmmakers in the industry, and a model for exploring human nature and social issues. Each one is full of strong humanistic care and artistic atmosphere.

But some of the people closest to him basically know one thing. This man has never admitted that the works he photographed are artistic. In his eyes, his works are always a commodity first, and he wants to turn them into products. If a product is sold at a good price, publicity and marketing are naturally indispensable.

Perhaps no media has made a summary of this aspect, but many well-established filmmakers in the industry know that every step of Wayne's promotion and marketing methods after the film is released are textbook.

Whether it was the special promotion aimed at people of color when "Get Out" was released, or the scary incident and film withdrawal crisis during "The Return of the Clown", they were all stirring up the emotions of movie fans. Let more people walk into the theater with the mentality that they will regret it if they don't watch it, and willingly buy tickets to watch the movie.

More recently, before the release of "The Dark Knight", there was the Little Batman Dream Realization event that Wayne and his friend George Lucas created. This promotional and marketing method is still used by major movies to this day. It is constantly being taken out for study on the desks of film company executives.

A very simple documentary about Batman's dream come true, coupled with the amateur singing by two professional directors, instantly made family movie fans an audience group that Wayne's previous films had never had, and instantly became the main box office contributor of "The Dark Knight".

Otherwise, why could this movie hold down Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park 2" and win the box office championship for four consecutive weeks during the best summer season? Because of this film, it became the top choice for family weekend entertainment during those weeks.

Therefore, throughout all these years, Wayne has never left publicity and marketing.

This trip to the East was even more straightforward. He turned around and treated himself as a commodity, packaged it, and promoted it on a large scale across the land.

In Wayne's mind, he knew very well what the people of this land wanted to hear and want. Coupled with his current status and reputation as a master director resounding all over the world, this is also the main reason why his coming here can cause a huge sensation.

What he didn't expect was that the sensational effect he caused this time would be noticed even in distant North America, which shows how important the first time is.

"Recognition from the world is indeed a powerful tool in this era to please this side."

Smiling and shaking his head, Wayne smoked leisurely and contentedly under Jimmy's admiring gaze. "But Jimmy, in essence, you can still regard my trip to the East as a movie promotion and marketing, but the main body of the marketing is not "The Dark Knight", but the recognition effect brought about by my identity and other information, but... ....."

Having said this, the corners of his mouth slowly turned up, and a deep sarcastic smile appeared on his face. "However, not everyone can learn this. Without this first time, trying to achieve the same sensational effect in the future is just wishful thinking. Besides, it doesn't take much, as long as we push forward six or seven years, no matter who It will never have the same effect again.”

Jimmy and Nina may not understand this, but he knows better than anyone else that he has reaped the dividends of the development of the times.

Now the economy here is taking off in great strides, and it can be said that it changes every year. This has also resulted in most ordinary people here eager to gain recognition from the outside world. However, after a few years, these people will begin to correctly view their own strength and gain enough self-confidence. By then, any marketing methods will no longer work.

"I don't understand. Does this have anything to do with Mr. Rupert Murdoch's request?"

As a senior agent, Jimmy certainly understands what his client means. What makes him a little confused is how all this has to do with the favor of the chairman of News Corporation.

"No, no, no."

Nina on the side interrupted Jimmy's doubts, habitually stretched out his hand to push up the glasses on his face, and also put on a smile like a little fox on the corner of his mouth. "Of course it does matter. It seems you still don't understand what the boss means."

"What?"

Looking at the smile on the assistant's face, the agent now began to seriously doubt his own IQ, and even more confused whether he had missed any key information.

"e on~" Nina stretched out her hand and slapped her forehead hard, with helplessness on her face, looking at Jimmy as if she was looking at a fool.

"Well, Jimmy, do you think Hollywood's King of Darkness is that worthless?" The assistant stretched out a finger and put it in front of the agent's eyes and asked:

"Is it really just for the movie "Batman: The Dark Knight" to package yourself and try your best to please the movie audience here? Let me remind you, with the size of the current market, this movie will be postponed several times Screenings are worth tens of millions of dollars at most.”

Her sudden question obviously made Jimmy even more confused. Yes, the sensational effect caused by Wayne's visit this time has indeed gone out of the circle, but if it is just for the box office of tens of millions of dollars, it is obviously not worth the trouble he went through to package himself into a commodity.

For example, the accounting model for Hollywood movie box office here is only 13%. Although this is net profit after tax and miscellaneous expenses are excluded, this amount of money is completely compared to Wayne's current celebrity status. There is no need to waste so much time, energy and thought, because it is obvious that the gain outweighs the loss.

You know, he doesn't even bother to go to some European countries for movie promotions. Those countries have been the main dumping ground for Hollywood movies in the past two years.

"Think about it later, Jimmy." Nina shook her head slightly. Without waiting for Jimmy to think of the answer, she and Wayne looked at each other and began to explain the reason. "As the boss himself said, basically no one will be able to replicate the sensation caused by his coming here this time. The longer time goes by, the less likely it will be. But the boss can. He can cause the same sensation every time he comes here. ."

"But didn't Wayne just say..."

Jimmy pursed his lips and murmured. He had obviously been confused by Nina's inconsistent statements.

"Because I have to attend. It's not enough to market myself at film festivals and schools." Waving to Nina, who hated iron, Wayne pointed his finger at the coffee table and gave a direct explanation. "Rupert Murdoch's favor is indeed nice, but can it be of any great help to me?

Let me tell you, the ratings of this program on this channel can scare people to death. And the meaning of being on the show is different. The credibility of the media here is much stronger than in North America. As long as you show your face on this channel, it is equivalent to the official recognition of your identity! "

"What's your identity??" Jimmy asked subconsciously, but he regretted it after asking, because just now Nina looked at him like a fool with insufficient IQ, and now she looked at him like a fool.

"Old friend, the identity of the closest old friend in the East!"

This is his ultimate goal in choosing to market himself as a world-class director and the first great director to come to this land. If he speaks well-spoken Beijing movies, loves to eat Chinese food, and understands Chinese culture, if these are endorsed and promoted by TV, he will be treated like a close old friend.

Wayne has never been a person with an elite status and a high moral bottom line. If necessary, he would not mind at all adding oriental elements in advance to films invested by Warner Bros. or Greenberg Studio, or is to add oriental faces.

"So, just find any appropriate reason to reject Rupert Murdoch's proposal." He raised his arm, patted Jimmy's shoulder, and whispered: "You don't need to understand Phoenix TV and cc, tv The essential difference between the two is to do as I say.”

"Ok, I see."

The agent shrugged his shoulders. He now seriously doubted the meaning of his coming here. Not only did he think that the important thing was not worth mentioning in front of his clients, but what made him feel helpless was that he was completely regarded as a fool by Nina.

Putting out the cigarette butt in the ashtray, Wayne asked casually: "The two projects of "Lord of the Rings" and "Charlie's Angels", there is nothing else going on these days."

For these two projects, Greenberg Studio has invested US$75 million in preparatory funds for the former, and the latter is an independent investment by the studio. The funds invested in these two projects are all Wayne's own real money. So of course he cares deeply.

Compared with these two projects that he invested money for, "X-Men", which is still being filmed in Montreal, Canada, he is not worried at all. 20th Century Fox takes this project very seriously, and they are more reluctant than anyone else. There was a problem with the shooting.

"Peter Jackson has already gone to New Zealand to start the preparation work for "The Lord of the Rings."" Jimmy's face straightened and he began to report on the work progress of the two crews in the past few days. "This big fat guy from New Zealand rejected Warner Bros. producer John Gray's proposal to cooperate with Industrial Light and Magic, and it seems that he found a special effects studio in New Zealand.

The filming progress of "Charlie's Angels" is very fast. The latest news is that the filming of the crew's footage is expected to be completed about half a month in advance. "

"Okay." Wayne stood up, raised his arm and patted Jimmy's shoulder again. "Now that you're here, let's go out for a walk and try the food here. Let's fly back to North America the day after tomorrow."