Chapter 246 241 Is There Any Future for the Killer Universe?

Chapter 242 241. Is there something going on in the Killer Universe?

Canada, Alberta, Calgary.

"Eric, this is as far as New Line can go, let's each take a step back."

Eric read the contract carefully and finally nodded.

"Okay, then let's do it. You missed a good opportunity. Don't blame me for not letting the new line roll out in the future."

Bob Meyer smiled and shook his head: "Of course not. In fact, New Line does not have such big ambitions. We just want to do what we can."

"Eric, MGM's territory is too big and New Line can't keep up with you, but I am willing to compensate in other ways."

"It's a pity, but I wish us a happy cooperation."

“A pleasure to work with.”

By signing his name on the contract, the partnership between MGM and New Line was officially established.

MGM sold the film adaptation rights to "The Hobbit" to New Line, agreeing to make up to a trilogy for a period of six years.

Within six years, whether New Line makes one, two or three films, MGM will take back the rights.

New Line will grant the exclusive online rights to all its film copyrights to MGM, but the latest films will have to be delayed for at least one month after theaters are canceled.

The specific delay time is negotiated individually for each movie, mainly to leave time for DVD sales.

A junk movie that has no video market at a glance may be released in more than half a month. Classic epic blockbusters like "The Lord of the Rings" may be delayed by two to three months or even longer.

In addition, because they did not take sides, New Line decided to make further concessions, that is, 20% of the profits from each "The Hobbit" will be given to MGM.

Note that what is mentioned here is profit, not the box office mentioned by Eric last time.

The so-called profit includes not only the box office, but also the extended income generated by the film copyright.

If the high point of US$1 billion is still used as the calculation standard, the final share MGM can get will exceed US$200 million, which is tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of US dollars more than simply dividing the box office.

In fact, Eric also considered whether Lionheart should imitate the video website and develop popular videos that members can pay for on-demand videos again, as well as 12-second advertisements that members cannot avoid.

However, after thinking about it, I still feel that it is too disgusting. This is too unpopular and will inevitably be disgusted by the audience.

Eric remembers that one viewer was offended and sued for advance on-demand broadcasting.

After a lot of effort, hiring a lawyer and going to court, in the end, although I won, I was only compensated 1,500 yuan and half a month of gold membership.

What kind of food is enough for 1,500 yuan? Funny.

And only violated one audience member? It violated countless viewers and violated contract law.

It is a pity that the people do not take action against the officials, and ordinary people have no time to litigate. So after winning the lawsuit, it took another one or two years to finally cancel the advance on-demand broadcast.

If something similar happened in the United States, the final result would most likely be the same, it would just be more compensation and fines.

After all, they are all big taxpayers. As long as you can pay a huge amount of taxes, you can enjoy detached treatment in other countries except for weird countries like Asan.

However, the lost audience popularity cannot be made up. Doing so in the early stages of starting a business is equivalent to committing suicide.

At that time, this incident also attracted extensive discussion in the circle. Everyone also compared overseas and domestic video websites and wanted to know who was cutting the leeks?

After data calculation and comparison, it was found that tmd is domestic.

Taking 2021 data as an example, the median disposable income of U.S. residents is $3,885 per month.

The basic subscription fee for mainstream video platforms is about US$7, which accounts for 0.2% of the monthly salary of a middle-income American. The premium subscription fee is about US$20, which accounts for 0.5% of the monthly salary.

In the same year, the median disposable income of residents was 2,497 yuan per month.

The average membership fee for mainstream video websites is about 25 yuan per month, which accounts for 1% of a middle-income citizen’s monthly salary and is five times that of the United States. The premium membership fee is about 45 yuan, accounting for 1.8% of the monthly salary, which is 3.6 times that of the United States.

Not only is the cost lower, but the service level is pretty good, and it can project to a TV screen with high-definition picture quality. Do you think it’s annoying?

Bob Meyer stood up and handed the contract to his assistant, who carefully put it into his bag. This stack of paper was worth hundreds of millions.

"Let's go have a meal together. You left in a hurry last time. I found a nice place in Calgary."

Bob Meyer waved his hand and refused: "Let's do it next time. I know your shooting schedule is very tight, so I won't waste time. When you return to China, I will invite you to a party."

"So anxious! You can't be in a hurry to go back and prepare to start filming."

"Hahahaha... I have to be responsible to the shareholders, they are still waiting for news."

"Well, in that case, I won't leave you alone. With the copyright of "The Hobbit", New Line can gallop on the road of magical epic blockbusters."

Hearing this, Bob Meyer suddenly dropped his raised steps and asked with interest: "Eric, from your perspective, what is the prospect of epic movies?"

Eric answered without hesitation: "It's very promising. If it were before "Lord of the Rings", I would be skeptical about it, but the birth of "Lord of the Rings" shattered all doubts."

"It turns out that as long as the story is told well enough, the audience is very willing to buy it, and you can also get a lot of Oscars by the way. It is a perfect genre movie that can be compatible with commercial art."

This answer made Bob Mayer very happy: "This is also my opinion. Only a big background, a big story, and a big production can reap a big box office!"

"Bob, so in addition to preparing "The Hobbit", does New Line plan to shoot other epic movies?"

"I have this plan, but I need to keep it confidential."

Eric shook his head slightly: "Don't get me wrong, I am not interested in New Line's secrets, but since your company focuses on epic movies, it is better to sell some minor IPs to MGM for development. It is a waste of resources to leave them alone."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Bob Mayer was stunned.

Eric held up three fingers: "New Line owns the copyrights of Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th. I heard that you also got the copyright of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

"Then the copyright of Halloween is the only one left for the four major killers. If you don't have the energy to take care of it for the time being, why not let me do it?"

In just a few words, Bob Mayer suddenly recalled that MGM has changed its style in the past year or so and has indeed produced some horror and thriller films.

And these movies have all been successful, with almost no box office less than $100 million.

Especially the Saw series, which is a super cash cow, and people are envious of it.

Although the number is not large, the quality is really high, which shows that the other party understands the horror film market very well and understands what horror film lovers want.

Since the millennium, several classic killer IPs have actually been a bit weak. After all, they have been arrogant for decades and have not been able to shoot new ideas. The audience is indeed a bit tired of it.

On the contrary, horror images such as "The Hills Have Eyes", "Wrong Turn" and "Chucky" have begun to challenge the position of Big Brother.

That is, last year's "Freddy vs. Jason" received widespread praise from movie fans and eventually won a box office of 110 million US dollars.

However, the corresponding investment cost has also soared to 30 million US dollars, and generally this type of horror movie can be completed with an investment of less than 10 million US dollars, so it is not as profitable as imagined.

This high investment is the biggest restriction on the filming of horror movies. Therefore, 20 years have passed, and fans have not waited for the second part of "Freddy vs. Jason".

The idea flashed in his mind, and Bob Mayer couldn't help thinking that if the IP was handed over to MGM, with the help of the other party's power, it would not be impossible to consider letting several major killers regain their vitality on the screen.

His eyes sparkled: "Eric, if New Line gives the copyright to MGM, what are you going to do?"

"Linkage, of course, the linkage mode."

"You know, Bob, I like these guys very much. They look so handsome when they chop people on the big screen."

"Especially last year's "Freddy vs. Jason", I went to the cinema to support it. This linkage between killers is so attractive."

"But only Freddy and Jason are not enough. I want to see more. I think the audience also wants to see more killers fighting."

"If New Line gives the IP to MGM, I will try my best to get more copyrights, and then make a killer linkage movie, which should be very interesting . "

Bob Meyer shook his head: "Eric, I don't think much of your idea. If you combine too many characters, how will the roles be distributed? Have you considered it?"

"In fact, when we were filming "Freddy vs. Jason", we also thought about whether Leatherface could be put in, but we finally rejected it because we couldn't find a suitable position for him in the movie."

"If we force him in, the effect will be very poor, and it will offend the fans."

Pushing the chair away, Eric stood up: "Bob, this is what I should consider. As the youngest best screenwriter in history, you should have confidence in me."

Bob Meyer shrugged: "Okay, I'll think about it."

After sending the other party away, Neeko walked out of the next room.

"Have you finished the discussion?"

"Yeah"

"Another cooperation has been reached?"

Eric held her in his arms. After filming every day these days, he took turns to comfort the two girls, and his body became thinner and thinner.

Alas!

This kind of life is so painful, who in the family understands!

"It can only be said that half of the cooperation has been reached. New Line doesn't want to buy the cake I drew. Of course, other companies don't want to buy it either. Their choices are consistent."

Nico stretched out her tongue to explore Eric's body: "Well, that's because they have no vision. I will always stand by you, dear."

Eric sneered: "Bob Mayer's vision cannot be said to be bad, but under his leadership, I think New Line will not be prosperous for a few years."

"Why?" Nicole was a little surprised.

"Because he has entered a misunderstanding and made the same mistake as MGM back then, that is, he was obsessed with big investments and big productions."

"In the 1950s, MGM relied on the huge investment of "Ben-Hur" to come back to life. From then on, it determined this model and plunged into the abyss of big studios."

"The Lord of the Rings is to New Line just as "Ben-Hur" is to MGM. Now Bob Mayer has been blinded and also believes in this outdated model."

"MGM was much stronger than New Line at the beginning, but in the end they were forced to sell themselves to Kerkorian, let alone New Line. We'll see how many years it can keep its fortune."

"But didn't you give him the copyright to "The Hobbit"?"

"Yes, but one "The Hobbit" cannot drive a company of New Line's level. It will only make Bob Meyer struggle for another year or two at most."

"When he destroys the company one day, I won't mind joining the acquisition army. There are still many good things in New Line's film library."

According to the development of the original time and space, New Line finally fell under this model.

After "The Lord of the Rings", it continued to decline. Almost all the movies it invested in within a few years suffered a setback, and the money it earned was not enough to pay for it.

Finally, after experiencing the fiasco of "His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass" in 2007, New Line Cinema officially came to an end and was pocketed by Warner Bros.

It has only been three years since "Lord of the Rings" swept the Oscars. In just three years, Bob Meyer brought a company with great potential to ruin. I don't know whether to praise him or scold him.

Eric has watched "His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass" because Nicole is the starring role, but her acting skills were criticized for being too poor and not at the level of an Oscar-winning actress.

Coupled with other reasons, the final North American box office of the film was only 70 million U.S. dollars. Compared with the production cost of 180 million U.S. dollars and the publicity cost of nearly 100 million U.S. dollars, it was a huge loss.

The overseas box office was quite strong, taking in US$300 million, but New Line's overseas distribution had not yet gotten rid of the constraints of large companies, so Warner was responsible, and most of the money earned overseas went into Warner's pockets.

As a result, New Line did not recover for a moment.

died!

When that day comes, Eric will definitely add fuel to the fire. Even if New Line has shares in Warner, he can try to buy out Bob Meyer's shares.

This old guy has always been able to maintain the independent management rights of New Line just by relying on the 21% of his shares, which is more than Warner's shares.

"Substitute! Substitute quickly!"

In the snowy peaks of the Rocky Mountains, Eric directs the set operations.

Several leading actors left, stuntmen were replaced, and the next thing to be filmed was the avalanche scene.

With the consent of the local government and calculations by relevant experts, the crew has buried a considerable amount of explosives on the top of the mountain in advance. With just one order, a small avalanche can be created.

This scene has been rehearsed many times, but it is still a very dangerous scene, and Bell did not dare to ask to perform in person.

All non-essential crew members have evacuated down the mountain, and the stuntmen are ready to give signs.

Eric walked into a temporarily rented helicopter with a camera set up inside.

There are two other helicopters with the same configuration. After all, this scene will most likely only be filmed once, so this scene must be filmed from multiple camera positions and angles.

After checking everything carefully, after repeated confirmation, the order was issued.

""Inception" Chapter

boom!

After a loud noise, the forest seemed to shake.

The rolling white snow on the top of the mountain turned into crazy huge waves and rushed down!