Six Hundred and Eight - Universal Has Done It, Why Can’t We Do It?

The scandal caused by James Franco was quite influential. He was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department twice in a row, and then twice in a row, he was released on bail by Warner Bros.'s legal department together with his agent. It can be said that in In the eyes of many insiders, "The Flash" has already become a joke before filming has even started.

"I heard that Wayne Greenberg is already on the plane back."

It’s not just Warner Bros. who is paying attention to this matter. In the CEO office of Sony’s Columbia Pictures headquarters building at 10202 West Washington Avenue in Los Angeles, the Japanese CEO Da Hexiong casually said to the distribution director in front of several executives before the meeting started. Jokingly:

"Paul, tell me, after Wayne Greenberg comes back, the first thing he will do is replace the troublesome leading actor."

His ridicule aroused laughter from several executives. However, Paul Knight did not laugh. Instead, he thought seriously for a while before replying: "Probably not. In the past few years, Wayne has gradually put his interests first." , they should be concerned about the shooting schedule and time cost, I don’t think they will change the leading actor before shooting starts.”

Paul certainly knew what was going to be discussed in today's small-scale meeting. He glanced at Roland Emmerich, who was sitting silently in the corner, and frowned involuntarily.

"Well, I have to say, this is good news for us."

Before Dahexiong could speak, a middle-aged white man sitting next to Roland Emmerich gently clapped his hands a few times, with no trace of gloating on his face. Dean Devlin is also one of the protagonists of today's meeting.

As he spoke, he seemed to suddenly think of something. He turned to look at the CEO of Sony Columbia and whispered in a hoarse voice: "I suggest that we keep an eye on this James Franco. Maybe there will be some surprises. Even if He will join the crew for filming next, so he doesn’t have time to cause trouble, but when the necessary time comes, he can still be properly guided.”

"Not a bad idea, Colombia will be keeping an eye on him."

One executive was equally pleased with the idea, nodding and laughing.

"Wayne Greenberg's trip to the other side of the Pacific caused a greater sensation than anyone imagined."

Not wanting to continue this topic, Paul simply talked about the news that had reached Hollywood during this period. Some news reports, videos, photos, etc., have been sent back to North America a few days ago. Maybe ordinary people have only seen Yile, but certain things can be seen more clearly in the eyes of executives like them. Many questions.

"Boss, should we also consider going there next year to test the market?"

Dahexiong nodded slightly. Not only him, but also several Sony Columbia executives looked thoughtful.

The popularity of "The Dark Knight" not only allowed Warner Bros. to test out the potential of that market, but also allowed major Hollywood film companies to see the signs. The first thing film capital pursues is Profits, no one cares about an emerging ticket position.

“It’s hard and it doesn’t mean much.”

While everyone was thinking, an executive sitting in the corner spoke first. After attracting everyone's attention, he began to express his own opinions. “Warner Bros. has a good relationship with them that we don’t have, and the sensation that Wayne Greenberg caused there is not something that anyone can replicate.

The most important thing is, I wonder if you have ever considered it! According to the World Trade Agreement signed by countries on both sides of the Pacific, there are strict limits on the number of movies that the other side can import each year. Unless the two sides renegotiate a new agreement in the future, even Warner Bros.'s films will have to be selected to import a very small number. . "

This is an objective factor, and it is also one of the reasons why Jeff Robinov refuses to hype. Even Warner Bros. can only export a very few films to its rivals in a year. Of course, it hopes to use its own fist movie series, DC movies, as the theme of the imported films.

In this era, there are very few imported films, which is also the reason why Hollywood does not pay attention to them. They have to go through a lot of hard work to review and edit with big scissors, and may need to be remade several times before they can be released. However, the box office share is extremely low, and the market system The volume was not large, and these conditions dissuaded most film companies.

After all, as the saying goes, film capital is driven by profit. When the benefits obtained after a lot of effort are worse than not doing anything, most companies will naturally give up.

"But with the terrifying population base there and the incredible economic development speed, the future potential is visible to the naked eye..." Paul shook his head slightly and looked at the executive who was speaking. "I think we should try it as a way to cultivate the market. We can't let Warner Bros. lead everywhere."

"Let's talk about "Godzilla" today."

CEO Da Hexiong frowned slightly, waved his hand and said, "Let's talk about this matter in a while."

After speaking, he looked around at everyone, especially Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. These two people are today's protagonists and the actual producers of the "Godzilla" project.

"Director Emmerich, Dev." Seeing that everyone was ready for the meeting, Ohgao said directly: "The preparations for the "Godzilla" project are about to end, and the second production of 45 million US dollars The funds will be transferred into the account of the third-party insurance company this afternoon. You can rest assured about the funds. If the budget of 130 million US dollars is not enough, Sony Colombia can also increase the budget as appropriate!"

Roland Emmerich first glanced at the producer next to him, then looked at Sony Columbia CEO, nodded silently, and said nothing.

"Sony Columbia will provide the crew with sufficient funds, but I have only one request." Seeing his nod, Ohgaxiong continued: "The film must be fully produced before early April to mid-April next year. You should Understanding the company’s arrangements, we will make this monster land in North America in early or mid-May!”

small book booth

This year's summer season has made one thing clear to all companies, and that is how terrible a film's ability to attract money is if there is not a lot of competition at the beginning of the summer season. Fans of the summer movie season simply cannot use common sense to view or analyze it.

Sony Columbia has great ambitions, or Ohgao has great ambitions for "Godzilla". What's even more rare is that he still maintains considerable sobriety. He never thought that his "Godzilla" could sweep across North America like this year's "The Dark Knight", or even crush the world in the theater market.

In his heart, the benchmark will never be "The Dark Knight". He is not that stupid. Using this monster to compare with the top box office in film history, everyone knows that if a similar film is unlucky, it will not be the best. There won’t be one for ten years.

Ohga's target is "Jurassic Park 2", it has always been. Even the original idea of ​​bringing this "Godzilla" to North America came from "Jurassic Park 2."

Everyone saw that the movie was a loser, but he didn't see it that way. Being able to compete with an unprecedented great movie like "The Dark Knight" and still earn more than 200 million U.S. dollars at the box office and more than 600 million U.S. dollars at the global box office. Even if all the glory has been overshadowed by Batman, this big dinosaur is still the same Making a lot of money for Universal Pictures.

"Are you sure it has to be released in May?"

As a film director, Roland Emmerich is very reluctant to rush a big production like this, and as we all know, releasing it in May means challenging the King of Darkness, which has been a summer movie in Hollywood since the 1990s. ! "Are you sure you don't want to think about it anymore?"

"The plans won't change."

At this time, Dahexiong can be said to be ambitious, and his short stature reveals extremely strong confidence. "I bet that other companies' top films will be far away from that damn "The Flash". So, Universal Pictures did this, why can't we do it again!"

It is obvious that for the same monster movie, in his eyes, his own "Godzilla" can completely replicate the process of "Jurassic Park 2".

Just thinking about that for at least a full month, there will be almost no competition for summer movies except "The Flash", and he can't help but feel excited. And one thing he didn't say was that Ohgao judged that "The Flash" would never be as unprecedented as "The Dark Knight".

In comparison, he is definitely much easier to deal with, and coupled with some other means of competition, it is really not certain who will lose here. Others were afraid of Wayne Greenberg and Warner Brothers, but he was never afraid.

"Okay, I'll speed up the production of the film."

Roland Emmerich shrugged. After all, the other party was the film investor and the boss. He had thought of this and made relevant preparations since he took on the project.

The rest of the meeting was all about accelerating the production of "Godzilla". After Sony Columbia had been silent for a few years, it was going all out as soon as it launched. Basically, everything related to this film was Big green light.

At the end of the meeting, Dahexiong looked at an executive and asked again. "Doug, keep an eye on that James Franco. Sony-owned media should not get involved in reporting on those nonsense. First, do your best to collect information. Maybe it will come in handy at some point."

"No problem, leave it to me."

After walking out of Sony's Columbia headquarters, Roland Emmerich ended his silent image, sat in the car and looked at producer Dean Devlin. "Dean, do you think that guy's plan will work?"

"The probability of success is very high." The producer nodded. He was obviously very interested in this plan. "What Universal Pictures did this year was not perfect. As long as Sony Columbia takes action, it will not give Warner Bros. the chance to find another little Batman to make a comeback."

There were some things he wanted to say, but seeing the producer's attitude, Roland Emmerich chose to remain silent. "hope so......"