Eight Hundred and Eighth Chapter Is Not to Sell
At noon, North American film reviews about "Titanic" came to Venice one after another.
Compared with Europe, Eric and Firefly executives are more interested in the North American media's evaluation of the film. After all, "Titanic" is often released first in the North American market than in the overseas market, and its box office performance in the North American market, It also affects overseas markets to a large extent.
However, the media comments on "Titanic" in North America are also not optimistic.
Although many newspapers such as USA Today, The New York Times, and The Hollywood Reporter praised the film, the New York Times even praised the film as a "Gone with the Wind" masterpiece. But equally, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and other newspapers also unabashedly criticized the film as a bad movie with a mediocre and long story, and the Los Angeles Times even openly questioned whether the film was really worth it. $215 million.
Eric only remembers the infinite scenery after the release of "Titanic" in his previous life. As for the experience of this film before its release, he only stayed in Cameron's rough production stage. That was the result of media reports. As for "Titanic" Eric didn't know much about the reputation before the release of Nick.
Therefore, at this time, seeing the polarized word of mouth of the film in Europe and North America at the same time, he couldn't help but feel uneasy.
In Eric’s memory, there are many movies with polarized word-of-mouth. This type of movie often has a common feature, that is, fan movies adapted from original works such as novels and comics, and the box office of similar movies is basically Under the strong publicity of the film company, the box office was high in the early stage but the stamina was seriously insufficient.
"Titanic" is definitely not a fan movie by any means, so with the current polarized word of mouth, the prospects are even more difficult to predict.
After all, fan-type movies can also rely on the popularity accumulated by the original work to gain a large box office in the weeks before the start of the film, and even if the stamina is insufficient, the total box office is often not too bad. But "Titanic" does not have this advantage. It is impossible to get a high box office like a fan-type movie in the first few weeks of its release. Once the word of mouth in the later stage is still polarized, then in the case of insufficient stamina, the cumulative box office will definitely be Much more bleak than fan movies.
The next day, Peter Ritchie sent Eric the questionnaires from dozens of ordinary moviegoers at the film screenings. Most of the audiences gave positive comments to "Titanic" in these questionnaires. , but there are also a small number of viewers complaining that the film is too long and the pre-bedding is slightly bloated.
July 29, afternoon.
Eric is about to take the seven o'clock flight to London for the last meeting of the crew of "Titanic".
The film is determined to be released on December 20, the Christmas season. The publicity has already announced this date, and there is no possibility of changing it again. At this time, Eric, Katzenberg, James Cameron, and several other middle-level managers accompanying the Firefly Group were sitting together in the living room of Eric's suite at the Lido Hotel.
"The current situation is indeed not very good, but I hope that you will focus on the promotion for young audiences according to the established publicity strategy." Having said this, Eric looked at Katzenberg and several others. The executive, remembering some details of the original time and space, added: "One more point, no matter how the outside world evaluates "Titanic", I don't want the sound of firefly dismantling its own platform. If I find out who is there If the executive expresses something to the media indiscriminately, then he should just wait to pack up and leave. After my words are finished, what is your opinion?"
"Mr. Williams, it's like this," said a senior executive in the distribution department: "Yesterday I received a call from an executive at Toho International in Japan,
They hope to buy out the Japanese distribution rights of "Titanic" in advance, including theatrical distribution and peripherals such as videotapes and DVDs. "
Eric raised his eyebrows slightly. The executive thought that Eric didn't know Toho International, and added, "Toho International is one of the major publishers in Japan."
"I know this," Eric nodded. Even though he was a little nervous now, he definitely didn't mean to sell the distribution rights in advance like Fox in his previous life. However, Eric asked curiously: "How much are they asking for? ?"
"Three billion yen," the executive said, looking down at the memo, "about $25 million."
When Katzenberg heard the other party's offer, he began to make a quick calculation in his heart. Because of the "Terminator" series, Cameron has a very high popularity in Japan. It is estimated that this is the reason why Toho International took a fancy to "Titanic" in advance. One, in addition, the ultra-high budget of "Titanic" and the current situation of polarized reviews are also the main reasons for the Japanese to take action. about'.
25 million US dollars is definitely only a preliminary offer, the Japanese psychological price should be around 30 million US dollars. Because it is to buy out the full distribution rights in Japan, then, according to the expected price of 30 million, the Japanese expectations for the local box office should be around 60 million US dollars. Only in this way can we ensure that the cost can be fully recovered in the later stage and become profitable.
Although the Japanese box office of 60 million US dollars cannot reach the original "Jurassic Park" of 120 million US dollars, it definitely exceeds the average box office value of Hollywood movies in Japan.
Moreover, for Hollywood distribution companies, according to the 35% overseas share, if they want to recover the 30 million US dollars at the box office in Japan, they need about 100 million US dollars at the Japanese box office. Of course, this does not count the Japanese video tapes, etc. Profits, but the peripheral copyright operation cycle in this overseas market is even longer than that in the United States. If you calculate the time cost, it is still very cost-effective to sell all the Japanese distribution rights at one time.
Quickly clarifying his thoughts, Katzenberg said: "Eric, I think, maybe we can think about it, we should be able to talk about $30 million in the end."
"No," after a brief silence, Eric shook his head and said, "No, everyone, if you have other contacts and want to buy out the publishing rights of "Titanic", you will all refuse."
Seeing everyone's puzzled eyes, Eric spread out his hands and said in a bachelor's manner: "That's it, maybe you want to explain, but I don't know how to explain it, so I just don't sell it. Now that it has come to this point, Win or lose, let's all have a blast."
The other executives were a little stunned. Cameron, who had been silent, was slightly excited, while Katzenberg smiled wryly and shook his head. It was rare to see such a childish and willful side of Eric. After all, he was still a young man. what.
However, it is true that since it has reached the current stage, it is impossible to recover the cost by selling the distribution rights in advance. Instead, it will only attract some guys who take advantage of the situation, and the media will further look down on this behavior.
So, no matter what the ending is, let's have a blast.
Anyway, Firefly Group is enough to bear this kind of failure. This failure can also reform the company's slightly radical production strategy according to the plan. At that time, Eric will no longer object to it.
After the afternoon meeting, Eric flew to London, Katzenberg to Paris, and Cameron will return to Los Angeles tomorrow with the crew of "Titanic" and Firefly's distribution department to start preparations for "Titanic". Formal publicity work.
It took off from Venice at 7 o'clock in the evening. Two hours later, the private business jet landed at London Heathrow Airport. Eric took the last group of entourage off the plane. The first feeling was cold.
Venice is still as warm as spring at this time, but in London at the end of August and early September, the night temperature has dropped to about 10 degrees. The producers of the 007 series, Barbara Bullockley, and the brothers and sisters of Michael Wilson came to pick up the plane together, and everyone greeted each other. After a few words, they drove together to Pinewood Studios not far from Heathrow Airport.
Speaking of the 007 series, in addition to the Brockley family who created this legendary agent film series, we have to mention the Pinewood Studios located in the northwest suburbs of London, England.
Beginning with the first "Dr. No" in 1963, most of the interior scenes of 007's sequels were filmed at Pinewood Studios. The 007 series also once became the main income support of Pinewood Studios, so that it can still survive under the impact of factors such as the rise of the TV industry and the decline of European films. Because of the great significance of the 007 series to the studio, in addition to the iconic 007 special studio, there are many buildings named after 007 elements in the Pine Forest Studio. Several main roads in the park are basically contracted by the 007 series. , respectively called 'Brockley Avenue', '007 Avenue' and 'Goldfinger Avenue'.
That night, I settled in a small town adjacent to the eastern part of Pinewood Studios. The next morning, the Brockley brothers and sisters took Eric into the studio campus. There is no shooting plan today. Eric is mainly familiar with it first. Take a look at the filming locations for the next two months.
Taking Eric around the 30-hectare park and checking several sets arranged in advance for "Casino Royale", Barbara Brockley said: "In the next two months, the London side The temperature will be getting colder and colder, so we arranged the water scene of Bond and Vesper for three days, Eric, let's go to the water tank first."
Pinewood Studios has the largest underwater photography facility in Europe, with an overall capacity of 1,200 tons of water, which was also purpose-built for the 007 series.
Eric retained the underwater parting scene of Bond and Vesper after the building collapsed in Venice in the original version. However, this scene must not have been filmed in Venice, but moved to the water in Pinewood Studios. Under the photography base.
Eric nodded, and followed the Brockley brothers and sisters to a studio.
At first glance, the studio looks like a giant indoor swimming pool, but it's not. If you simply build an indoor pool, any studio around the world can do it. The biggest advantage of the underwater photography base of Pinewood Studios is that it has a complete set of underwater photography equipment and solutions.
Anyone who has made movies knows that whether it is shooting on water or underwater, as long as it gets wet, the difficulty of shooting will be greatly increased, just like Cameron's "Abyss" and Kevin Costner's "Future Water" The World", and the just-finished "Titanic", one of the reasons why these films cost a lot of money is because they involve water-related shooting.
Although the crew is still resting today, there are still several "Casino Royale" staff working in the underwater studio. Eric also saw his royal photographer, Nickel Frank, drenched in a wetsuit. Standing by the pool and discussing something with another person who also wears a wetsuit.
Seeing the appearance of the brothers and sisters of Eric and Brockley, everyone said hello, and Nikkor walked over with another person. After saying hello, he introduced: "Eric, this is David Reese, Pine Forest. The studio's underwater photographer."
"Hello, Mr. Reese, I may have to trouble you in the next few days." Eric smiled and reached out and shook hands with him. After years of experience, Nickel is already one of the top photographers in Hollywood. However, he has never been involved in underwater shooting, so this shooting largely relies on the assistance of professional underwater photographers in Pinewood Studios.
David Reiss shook hands with Eric, and said with a smile: "Mr. Williams, it's my honor to work with you."
Eric walked to the pool, reached out to test the water temperature, and said, "The temperature is relatively low now, what is the water temperature here?"
"It's about 20 degrees, which is equivalent to room temperature," David Reese explained actively. "However, during the shooting, we can turn on the warm water circulation system to control the water temperature at a more suitable temperature."
Squinting his eyes and looking at the bottom of the water, Eric did not see the bottom of the water tank, and asked again, "What is the depth of the water?"
"This is a deep water area with a depth of six meters," said David Reiss: "Because the iron cage is more than two meters, in order to avoid piercing, the underwater scenery of "Casino Royale" is mainly in this part of the area. ” △≧miào.*bi(.*)gé△≧,
After a few chats between the two, Nikkor said, "Eric, we have finished the underwater set, do you want to go down and have a look?"
Eric nodded, and David Reiss took the initiative to take Eric to the changing room. After changing into the wetsuit, Nikkor and David Reiss explained to him again, and the three slowly slowed down. into the water.
The surroundings were cold, and Eric's physical fitness was good, so he slowly got used to it after a while.
Although looking down on the water is very deep, but diving into the water and adding some lights, you can roughly see the surrounding scenes.
The surrounding scenery is set according to the wreckage of the collapsed building in Venice. When I came to the scenery area, there were very realistic broken walls scattered around, as if a building had just sunk to the bottom of the water.
Nickel and David Reese took Eric around for a few minutes, then dived out and discussed some details together. Eric was about to ask David Swiss to bring the underwater camera to test the water. Under the shooting effect, his assistant Peter Ritchie came from not far away and gestured to Eric with his mobile phone.
"Everyone wait a minute, I may have to answer a call," Eric said, following the ladder by the pool to remove the pool, took a large towel handed over by a staff member and wiped the water stains on his body, then asked Peter Richie goes.