Chapter 206 200 Prepare for a Rainy Day

Chapter 202 200. Prepare for a rainy day

On December 17, Transformers was released for a month, and the fourth week box office was released.

After earning $52.5 million in the third week, the North American box office closed at $27 million this week, a normal decline, and the total North American box office reached $364 million.

Although this number is not high, it still won the box office championship this week, and won the fourth week in a row.

"Magic Cat", "The Last Samurai", "Dancing Honey", "Kill Bill" and other films are not opponents.

Even Sony Columbia's newly released movie, the romantic comedy "Something Goes to Give", which brings together veteran actors Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton, and Keanu Reeves, was defeated.

Jack Nicholson's acting skills are indeed superb, especially the Shining and the Joker left a deep impression on people, but he is indeed old and lacks appeal to young people.

If he played a supporting role and let Keanu Reeves play the leading role, the box office would definitely be a level higher.

In the end, "Something Goes to Give" only got more than 16 million US dollars in box office and ranked third.

"Dancing Honey" was squeezed to the fourth place, and "Magic Cat" has dropped to the fifth place due to its poor reputation.

On the contrary, "The Last Samurai" is still strong and still sits in the runner-up position. It received a box office of 26.5 million US dollars this week, which is just a little bit away from the championship throne.

However, this is its last chance. Failure this week means that it will not get a weekly championship, because "The Lord of the Rings 3: The Return of the King" is about to be released.

It can be predicted that "Transformers" will also step down from the throne decently and hand the crown to the Middle-earth Knight.

The result of winning the championship for four consecutive weeks is dazzling enough, and Eric and MGM are very satisfied.

In terms of overseas box office, the last twenty countries landed and released this week, and the box office fell slightly.

After getting 95 million US dollars in the third week, it cut 77 million US dollars this week, and it was unsurprisingly the weekly champion in these countries.

At present, the overseas box office of "Transformers" has earned 805 million US dollars, officially breaking the 800 million box office mark.

Last week, The Matrix 2 was defeated, and Transformers left the savior behind with a huge gap of more than 60 million US dollars.

Now the only thing standing in the way is Finding Nemo, and Disney is still trembling, because the difference between the two is less than 70 million US dollars.

Even though the boom period of Transformers has ended, it may not get 70 million US dollars in a week with the last energy, but it is stable in two weeks.

The clownfish Nemo and his son are likely to be unable to withstand the impact of the Autobots and have to give up the throne of the global box office champion in 2003.

But the Autobots should not be too happy too early, the Knights of Middle-earth have already booked the annual championship, and no one can change this.

The clownfish has at least sat on the championship throne for half a year, and Transformers should have abdicated in a month.

But the good thing is that the Lord of the Rings trilogy has ended, and the market must recover for a few years before the next filming. Transformers has just started, and sequels will be released next year or the year after.

At the premiere of "Lord of the Rings 3", Eric and Gadot attended to help support the stage, which immediately attracted cheers from fans. Many people like both movies.

Peter Jackson put his arm around his shoulders: "Look at you, you are much more popular than me. People who don't know would think this is your home court."

Eric pushed his beard away: "You should lose weight, Peter, and this big beard makes you look ten years older."

"Do you know why I am more popular than you? Because I am young and handsome!"

Next to them, Cate Blanchett, who plays the elf queen, and Liv Tyler, who plays the elf princess, happened to pass by and laughed when they heard it.

Female stars in Europe and the United States have always been more unrestrained. There is no such thing as smiling without showing teeth, maintaining appearance, and not messing up makeup.

Especially at the evening party ceremony that is not serious, they are often caught with emoticons and make all kinds of jokes. The jokes here are not derogatory.

This kind of performance will not actually reduce their status in the hearts of fans, but instead appear to be down-to-earth and attract more fans.

Peter Jackson pointed at Gadot's back and said, "See? If you want to become really popular, you can't rely on me, but on this young man."

"Come on, beautiful ladies, I'm giving you the chance now, maybe you can get the leading role in his next movie."

He pushed Eric into the arms of Cate Blanchett and Liv Tyler behind him, and left with his suit almost stretched out by his big belly. The two women stood on Eric's left and right and posed.

What the bearded man said is right. If you ask who is the hottest female star in Hollywood now, fans and the media will definitely tell you it is Gal Gadot.

With just two movies, MGM has made her a global idol, with countless interviews and invitations, fashion magazines, and brand endorsements.

In the past, Eric could walk into Gadot's apartment openly and do whatever he wanted.

Not anymore. Since "Happy Death Day", there have been more paparazzi, and now there are paparazzi squatting on a daily basis.

The two could only go out secretly for a date, and Eric thought it was time to give the last house to Gadot.

"For Frodo!"

"For Frodo!"

Amid the roars for Frodo, the Middle-earth coalition forces charged towards Mordor.

As the One Ring was dropped into the lava of Mount Doom by Gollum, Sauron's big eyes collapsed instantly, the orc army fled, and the coalition won.

In the White City, at the coronation ceremony of Aragorn, the emperor of men, everyone knelt down to thank the four hobbits.

Even though he had seen this scene many times, Eric still felt the heat rising. The classics are indeed timeless and can move people at any time.

There are many viewers who hold the same idea as him, which can be seen from the enthusiastic applause after the movie ended.

"Oh no! I have a bad feeling, dear." Gadot whispered.

"What's wrong?" Eric looked at her strangely.

"This movie, The Lord of the Rings, is unexpectedly good. My God, I don't like this kind of epic fantasy theme, but I was still attracted to it."

"Look at these fanatical fans, their shouting is almost going to overturn the ceiling, it's terrible."

"What's wrong? Isn't this normal? I like it too."

"Why did you suddenly become stupid, Eric? I mean the box office, the box office of "Transformers", we may lose."

Eric slapped his forehead and thought to himself, you are daydreaming, you actually want to win.

Quietly pinched Gadot's palm: "It's okay to lose, don't care about this kind of thing. It's not shameful to lose to a masterpiece like "The Lord of the Rings" that is destined to go down in film history."

"You can think of it this way. We are qualified to compete with "The Lord of the Rings" for the first place, but do other movies have it?"

"So we have succeeded. Isn't it more comfortable to think this way?"

Gadot chuckled: "You know how to comfort people."

"Hehe. Go talk to those people. I have something to do with Peter Jackson."

"Yeah."

After the premiere, Eric and Peter Jackson left together and sat down in a quiet literary bar.

Coming here to help stand in the field today is just a superficial thing. The real purpose is to make plans for the future.

Some time ago, John Adams had already written to me, and the network problem has been prepared.

Five days ago, Facebook carried out a maintenance upgrade, which was actually a trial to connect the network to it first.

The result was great. It took two or three seconds for users to open a homepage before, but after the upgrade, it can be opened in almost seconds.

An online questionnaire survey, user feedback was excellent.

If Facebook is fine, then YouTube and Lionheart will definitely be fine too.

Howard Hughes and Robert Mirren, with a team of more than 300 people, have worked on the algorithm for more than half a year and it has come out.

After testing, it has initially reached the standards required by Eric, and the follow-up is continuous update and development.

The backend databases of the three softwares have been synchronized to the same format, and one account can log in at the same time as long as they are online.

It can be said that all preparations have been completed.

In less than a month, MGM will be re-listed, and YouTube will be launched immediately after listing.

After YouTube stabilizes, Lionheart is expected to be launched in half a month.

YouTube will definitely not arouse the vigilance of other film and television companies, and may even be regarded as a joke.

Lionheart is different, and it will inevitably be besieged.

According to Eric's memory of Netflix, many people in the industry knew about the open and secret struggles between the two sides at that time.

After Netflix came out of nowhere and started to engage in streaming media, it soon ushered in the hostility of several major companies and TV stations.

Several companies have joined forces to target Netflix and prohibit their own works from appearing on the Netflix platform.

In private, they have used more shady tactics, including threatening special effects producers to choose between two options. If they want to continue to take our orders, they are not allowed to take Netflix's orders.

The harsh environment forced Netflix to seek help from institutions in Europe, Asia and other places.

It was not until it broke through the siege with "House of Cards" and a series of high-quality film and television dramas that it broke through the blockade and completed the survival of the Jedi.

But the siege did not end here. The film source could not be blocked, and major companies put pressure on film festivals and award ceremonies such as Cannes, Berlin, and Oscars.

It is claimed that online synchronized movies cannot be called movies and are not worthy of competing for awards with other normal theater movies.

Even the three major film festivals had to succumb to this force and could only refuse Netflix's participation.

If you can't block your development, then block your honor.

Until Eric crossed over, this blockade was not broken.

Netflix has experienced so many disgusting things, and Lionheart Network is bound to be unable to escape.

What Eric can do is to plan ahead and make some arrangements in advance.

Peter Jackson is just one of the people he wants to find. Eric will also contact second-rate independent film and television companies such as DreamWorks, Lionsgate, and New Line.

It's a good idea to have an ally. What if they are willing to cooperate?

Each of them opened a bottle of beer.

"Eric, congratulations on Transformers for being the runner-up. It's just around the corner to beat Finding Nemo!"

"Haha. Are you making fun of me? The quality of The Lord of the Rings 3 is very high. I admit defeat in advance, okay?"

The two laughed and blew a bottle first. This bearded man has a generous and arrogant personality, not like Spielberg who drinks red wine from a glass.

Burp!

"Tell me, what do you want to do with me?"

"Can't I have a drink with you if I have nothing to do?"

"If I were a beautiful woman, this reason would be a little credible. Eric, what do you want to do?"

"I want to give you money, a lot of money."

Hearing this, the other Jackson frowned, with doubts in his eyes.

"We had a great time cooperating on "Transformers". I am very satisfied with Weta Digital's technical level and efficiency, so I plan to continue to cooperate with you."

"How about you do all the special effects for MGM's movies in the next two years? Is that a good thing?"

Peter Jackson did not show a happy look, there must be something evil when something goes wrong.

"I don't understand, why do you do this? You should know that Weta Digital's level is at the top in the industry, but its charging standards are also the highest in the industry."

"A lot of special effects in movies don't actually require our help at all. Ordinary small companies can do them."

"You're wasting your own money, it's going to cost you tens of millions of dollars more every year, and it's completely unreasonable Eric Cooper."

"I'm not a fool. I don't believe that someone would take the initiative to give money to others."

Eric didn't intend to hide it from him. Peter Jackson was not the owner of a film and television company, and he had no competitive relationship with him.

After listening to what he said, the bearded man opened his mouth wide in surprise.

"OMG! Do you know what you're doing?"

Eric nodded slightly.

After being stunned for a moment, Peter Jackson stared straight at him and suddenly laughed.

"Eric, a feeling suddenly arose in my heart just now, a very complicated feeling."

"This feeling is mixed with surprise, admiration, arrogance, contempt, respect and other indescribable things. That's how I feel about you."

"You want to challenge the entire Hollywood on your own. Your courage is admirable."

"I am 42 years old this year, and I suddenly have the urge to make a big fuss with you. It feels like I am back when I was young."

Eric raised the corner of his mouth: "Peter, as long as the contract is signed, if someone comes to trouble you, you can completely shirk the fact that I was deceived."

"After all, there is money to be made, who would dislike it? Right?"

"Hahaha, it seems you have even thought of a way out for me."

"Of course, I have always been open-minded with my friends. If you don't want to, I won't force you."

boom!

The bearded man slapped his hand on the table: "I'm joining. It can make money and disgust some people, so I'm determined to join."

"Anyway, the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy is over, and I also want to take a break. I won't touch any big productions again for at least a year."

"Tell me, how many dramas do you plan to open next year?"

Eric thought about it. Marvel alone will have at least two movies next year, as well as "The Hunger Games", "Inception", "Transformers", etc.

He spread his fingers and said: "At least five major productions, plus others, I'm a little worried about whether Weta Digital can complete it."

Peter Jackson patted his chest: "I can do as much as you have, it's nothing more than adding more machines and manpower."

"Well, we can sign a contract first and agree on 30 movies for the time being."

"30 movies in two years?"

"Just a little more!"