Chapter 82 80 Setting up the Game and Daniel Wu

Chapter 82 Making Game and Daniel Wu

It's early March, and "Whale Rider" has been released for half a month.

Facts have proved that even under the banner of environmental protection and animal protection, literary and artistic films are still literary and artistic films, and it is impossible to achieve high box office.

The group of animal rights and environmental activists usually shout quite loudly, but when it comes to contributing to the box office of the movie, they become silent.

It fully demonstrates what it means to push but not to do it, which is a bit similar to the keyboard warrior.

In half a month, the North American box office of "Whale Rider" has just reached 16 million U.S. dollars. Looking at this situation, it will be more than 20 million U.S. dollars in North America in the end.

However, this film should still make a fortune in Europe and Australia, especially New Zealand, where the film directly depicts the local ethnic groups.

It is expected that the global box office will collect more than 40 million U.S. dollars. Compared with the purchase cost of 7 million U.S. dollars and the publicity and distribution expenses, there will naturally be no loss, but it will not make much money.

The good news is that the rating on IMDB is pretty good, currently reaching 8 points, and it should be able to maintain above 5 points if it drops some in the future.

Wait until the Cannes Film Festival in May and submit your film. If you are lucky enough to win an award, it will be very beneficial for subsequent sales of copyrights.

As for the filming of "Transformers", the scenes in Los Angeles have been completed. This was the most difficult scene to shoot. Under Eric's control, no major problems finally occurred.

After filming this part of the scene, Eric left the crew again. After all, in addition to filming, he was also busy with company affairs.

Patty Jenkins continued to lead the team to shoot family and other small scenes, and Neill Blomkamp led the team to Utah after filming at the Hoover Dam.

The terrain here is complex, with mountains, deep valleys, gravel, and rivers. The open and beautiful environment has always been Hollywood's favorite filming location.

After a month of shooting experience, the crew got along well and Eric also got the hang of it.

For him, as the chief director, as long as he makes the script solid enough and finds one or two assistant directors who are strong enough, he can actually leave most of the scenes to them.

You only need to take time to shoot, check the progress of the shooting, find out the bad parts in time and correct them, and then a commercial movie will be ready.

When it is released, the director's position will naturally belong to my own name. Although I did not shoot some of the scenes, the people filming them were my puppets. Is that any different from the ones I shot myself?

There is no difference at all!

Of course, the premise is that commercial films that don’t pay much attention to details will be much more troublesome for artistic films that focus on details.

After getting in touch with him during this period, Eric discovered that Patty Jenkins has very good abilities and is fully qualified as an executor.

However, she also has shortcomings. She always likes to compete with details. This kind of person is more suitable for literary films.

Neill Blomkamp is also talented, but needs at least two or three movies to grow into.

When it comes to the next movie, I don’t know who to find as an assistant director.

In addition, Eric has been writing several scripts since he was filming at the Nevada military base. Now the outline has been completed, which are three thrillers and horror films: "Happy Death Day", "A Quiet Place" and "Hold Your Breath".

Arrangements have been made for the production department to find a screenwriter to fill in the script, and it is expected to be completed and started shooting in more than a month.

He originally wanted to make "The Return of the Clown", but when he started writing, he suddenly realized that the copyright was in the hands of Warner, so he had no choice but to give up.

At the MGM building, Eric and his father were talking about something in the office.

Dad's original secretary, Susan, officially accepted the new position and had already set off to the other side of the ocean, which was considered an outpost.

There was a new secretary, who turned out to be blond and wavy, and younger than Susan. Eric couldn't help but doubt the relationship between the two.

"Eric, regarding Double Star Entertainment, I have already asked someone to investigate."

"What's the result?" Eric sat up straight.

"In general, Double Star Entertainment's performance has declined in recent years. The company's valuation is about US$600 million, maybe slightly lower."

"The one with the largest shareholding is Robert Solny, who holds 45% of the company. The parents of the Olson sisters each hold 5%, and the two sisters each hold 5%."

"And Robert Solny's recent luck doesn't seem to be very good. He left the market sadly during the stock market crash last year. He must have lost a lot of money, but the specific amount cannot be found."

"After he suffered a big fall in the stock market, several companies actually wanted to acquire his shares in Double Star Entertainment."

"But Solny never sold it. The reason I found out was that the price he asked was too high."

"Based on the shares in his hand, the maximum value is US$700 million, but this guy has a big appetite. He seems to think that the Olsen sisters are still a hot commodity, and he offers a price of US$500 million."

"A stupid old guy, no wonder he can only work in the TV industry for the rest of his life."

After his father finished speaking, Eric asked: "So this guy definitely won't sell it?"

"It will be sold unless we offer $500 million."

"Ha ha ha ha"

Father and son laughed at the same time, taking the reality as a fool from One Thousand and One Nights.

"After understanding this, I didn't find an intermediary to test him. If I knew it was an acquisition by MGM, I think he would dare to raise the price to 600 million."

Eric shook his head: "That's not necessary. He has suffered heavy losses in the stock market. I don't believe he is not short of money. Since this guy still has illusions, let's give him a game."

"What do you want?"

"The company's development momentum has been very good recently. How about using financing to make a fuss?"

Some things can be understood in just one sentence. Dad smiled slightly and said, "Can't we use AK Video?"

"No, AK Film and Television has only released one hit film, "Sharknado," and the others are copycat films that do not go to theaters. Their appeal is too weak."

"And if you want to eat, then even if you can't eat all of Solney's shares, at least you have to eat most of it. Only MGM has this attraction."

Dad nodded: "Okay, I'll find the specific person. To be honest, I haven't done this kind of thing for a long time. We also gave some timely exposure to the recent media interviews.

After tentatively finalizing the plan for Robert Solny, Dad briefly talked about the income of the recently released movies.

The box office splits for "Red Dragon" and "Barbershop" are already in place, the splits for "Die Another Day" are coming soon, and "Saw" will be even later.

The rights to these movies have also been sold very well, and "Red Dragon" still performs well on DVD. This is the consistent style of the Hannibal series.

Although "Saw" has not yet been released, high-scoring R-rated movies have always been the most popular product in the DVD market.

Up to now, the total revenue of various movies from several movies is almost 7.5 billion US dollars, and this revenue will continue to increase, and it is expected to reach 300 million US dollars by the end of the year.

In addition, there are various incomes from selling copyright peripherals in the fourth quarter of 2002, totaling US$3.3 billion.

Movies are a long-term business. The box office revenue is always a small part, and the big part is always the subsequent copyrights and peripherals.

"Eric, besides the Transformers, there is something else you need to pay attention to."

"What?"

"We don't have much time left if the zombie TV series Darabont is filming wants to win an Emmy."

"Yeah, I'll remember it. Let's take some time to check it out. At least make a pilot episode first."

"Which TV station are you planning to sell to?"

"I haven't thought about it yet, let me think about it."

In the United States, the production of TV series is different from that of movies. The pilot episodes that Eric mentioned are the characteristics of American TV series.

Unlike movies, which are usually produced by major film and television companies, TV series are more often funded and produced by television stations.

This situation is very prominent in this year, but in 20 years, the situation will change drastically.

At that time, major film and television companies also began to get involved in the production of TV series.

After all, a dozen-hour TV series can often attract more ratings and clicks than a two-hour movie. Ratings and clicks are traffic, and traffic is dollars.

Looking at now, the general American drama production process is like this.

First, major TV stations will purchase scripts from the market, usually several hundred, and then review them internally. More than 80% will be screened out in the first round.

This is followed by the second round of screening, where more than 80% are screened out again. At this time, there are usually only a dozen or twenty scripts left.

Then it’s time to recruit a team to produce the pilot episode, which is Season 0 Episode 0 that we sometimes see.

After the pilot episodes are produced, the audience's opinions are listened to through internal test screenings and radio broadcasts. Finally, about 5 episodes are selected to be retained, and the others are screened out again.

The entire process takes about one and a half to two years, and more than 97% of the scripts were rejected during the entire process. The competition is under great pressure and the competition rules are also cruel.

But that is compared to ordinary American dramas. "The Walking Dead" is a completely different model. It is produced directly by the film and television company, without having to look at the TV station's face at all.

If you are not sure, you can also shoot a pilot episode. If you are sure like Eric, you can just shoot a season and sell it.

The model is somewhat similar to that in China, and it is also somewhat similar to the streaming media model in the United States 20 years later.

The bottom line is that the money is in whose hands you can invest whatever you want, but TV stations must listen to others when it comes to investment.

On the set of "The Walking Dead", Eric got out of the car and walked into the studio.

After finishing his work on "Transformers," Bordeaux joined the show as a producer.

Seeing Eric coming, he immediately walked up quickly.

"I'll go get Frank."

"Wait a minute, let him finish filming this scene. How is the progress now?"

"It's not bad. At least it's progressing according to the shooting schedule. It just requires a little more overtime pay."

"So the crew often has to rush to schedule?"

Bordeaux smiled bitterly and said: "There is no way, time is still a bit tight, and you also know Frank, he is not a person who gives up quality for speed, so the only way is to work overtime."

Eric nodded: "This is the right thing to do. The quality of the show must be the first priority. By the way, how much of the budget has been spent?"

Knowing in advance that Eric was coming, Bordeaux prepared all the accounts and walked to the box next to him to take them out.

"I summarized it. This is a simple account. So far, 68% of the budget has been used, totaling $28.96 million."

Eric took the ledger and looked through it, but even an insider would still be confused by the various bills in it.

He also knows that there must be something fishy inside, and this kind of thing is unavoidable. If you don't let the people below get some benefits, how can they work hard?

So as long as the results are good enough, just be greedy.

After browsing through the film, Eric said, "Overtime pay will be paid, but you have to stick to a bottom line. The budget is up to $45 million, and it must not exceed this number."

"Don't worry, I will keep an eye on the crew and do my best to keep the budget within $40 million." Bordeaux patted his chest and promised.

Eric turned his attention to the filming site again. He had never been involved in the casting.

He looked around and thought that except for Bar Lefali, there should be no one he knew, but he still found many acquaintances.

The actor Rick is still played by Andrew Lincoln. After all, the filming of this drama was six years in advance. Eric thought that he would be replaced because the age did not match.

Rick is set as a sheriff, and the young actor's face is not convincing as soon as he appears.

But after reading the resume, I found that Andrew Lincoln is actually 31 years old. His face is not much different from the original time and space. He is not old, but he is not young either.

Norman Reedus is still the actor who plays Darabont. He is 34 years old this year, and the age is right. This charming role still falls on his head.

Melissa McBride is still the actor who plays Cam. She is 38 years old this year and is an old member of Darabont's team. Naturally, Baldhead contacted her first. Melissa also appeared in the movie "The Mist".

In addition to these familiar faces, Eric also found an actor who surprised him.

The actor who played Green was originally Steven Yeun, a Korean, but this time it was replaced by Daniel Wu, a young actor from Hong Kong.

In fact, it's not young. The resume shows that Daniel Wu is 29 years old this year, but Asians look younger.

After a scene was shot, Frank Darabont came over.

"Eric, this is your first time to the crew. I thought you forgot about this show."

Eric laughed: "How is that possible! This is a carefully crafted show by MGM, and I am the main force to start it. I just trust you, Frank."

Darabont felt comfortable.

He took the cup of water handed over by the assistant and took a big sip: "I know your purpose. You want to know the progress of the shooting, right? Don't worry, I will never miss the Emmy Awards."

"In one and a half months at most, I can at least produce the first 6 episodes. As for the last 6 episodes, we can shoot and broadcast them at the same time."

"By the way, I always forgot to ask, you always say that you can't miss the Emmy Awards, which specific day do you plan to broadcast?"

Eric spread his hands: "This is the purpose of my coming, Frank, I need you to cut the first episode as soon as possible so that I can sell the film."

Frank Darabont touched his ears, thinking he had heard it wrong.

"Eric, MGM hasn't reached an agreement with the TV station yet?"

"No, but I am very confident in "The Walking Dead". It will definitely start a craze for zombie themes. Whoever buys it will make a profit."

It took a while to react. Darabont thought that rich people still know how to play, and they don't follow the rules at all.

But thinking back to his filming during this period, he knew that MGM was indeed sure of this.

When these zombies run and bite on the TV screen, many people will be crazy about them.

"Well, you're lucky. I've almost finished editing the first episode. It will be out in two days. Is that okay?"

"Of course. I've always trusted your ability."

Eric said, looking at Daniel Wu: "This Chinese actor is good, he looks great, and his face is suitable for the big screen."

Darabont nodded in agreement: "Daniel Wu knows kung fu and is agile. He can do many action scenes in one take. He's a great young man. Maybe he will be the next Jack Chen or Jet Lee."

"Well, remember to change your nationality to Chinese. People from several countries on the other side of the strait are clearly distinguished. Don't make a fool of yourself."

"Really? I feel that people from China, South Korea, RB and other countries look similar."

"Then can you tell Germans, Norwegians and Swedes apart?"

Darabont shook his head: "I can only tell Canadians, Americans and Mexicans apart."

"Yes, it seems you understand this."

Nicole Kidman will appear after 5 chapters, so stay tuned.