Chapter 867

After the opening of the Thanksgiving schedule, from November 17 to November 23 in a full week, the first seven days of the first week of "beauty and the beast" made $68.73 million, easily winning the box office title of the week.

The score ranked third among Pixar's four animated films, lower than $87.31 million in the first week of "Toy Story 2" and $70.31 million in "Lion King's", but higher than $46.73 million in the same period of "Toy Story" in 1991. Of course, even in the third place, the box office of "beauty and the beast" in its first week was $68.73 million, which is still beyond the reach of many Hollywood films.

"White House romance", which ranked second in the list, grossed $13.49 million in the first seven days of the week.

Even if we can get out of a slightly better curve, the local box office of the film is only about $50 million. With a huge production budget of $62 million, it can only be said that Sony has paid a high tuition fee.

It's also Denise Entertainment's "evocation 2" that takes third place on the list.

In the fourth week of its release, even though the themes were not in conflict, evocation 2 was still impacted by beauty and the beast. The box office of the film dropped 38% in a single week and continued to earn US $10.39 million. The cumulative domestic box office of the film successfully reached the threshold of us $100 million, reaching US $105.12 million.

In the fourth place is an old film released on October 20, called "dwarf in power", which is a black comedy adapted from a novel, produced by MGM, directed by Barry sonanfeld, starring John Travolta and Renee Russell, with a production cost of $30 million.

With an excellent media score of 8.7, the first week of "short man in power" started with only $16.78 million, but it successfully walked out of a very beautiful long line.

From November 17 to November 23, in the fifth week of its release, "dwarfs in power" fell 36% in a single week, earning $6.09 million and accumulating $59.61 million at the box office.

Simon actually knew about the project, and he also personally selected Renee Russell, the heroine in the original version, who was quite amazing in appearance. However, after the film was finished, MGM was not very confident in the business prospects of the project, so it was put on the cold schedule at the end of October, and Simon did not interfere any more. In fact, the cold schedule in October was just suitable for the non mainstream class relying on word-of-mouth The type of film survives.

Simon also expected the success of the project.

What's more, Simon is more concerned about Barry sonanfeld, the director of short man in power.

This is the director of the man in black series in the original time and space.

As it happens, the copyright of "man in black" has long been in the pocket of danielis entertainment.

Simon didn't plan to launch the "man in black" series in the near future. After all, until 1997, danilisi Entertainment's list was basically full.

"Cut throat island", which costs 100 million US dollars, has finally won the fifth place in the box office list.

In the first seven days of the week, the cumulative box office of "cut throat island" was 4.96 million, even failed to break the $5 million threshold.

By calculation, the opening scale of 2505 screens is only $1980 in the first week.

Hollywood studios and North American Theaters usually sign a two-week minimum screening contract, some of which will be four weeks, and then adjust according to the specific box office situation.

Now, the average price of "cut throat island" is less than 2000 US dollars in the first week, which has already hit the threshold of the next file. You know, beauty and the beast, which topped the box office this week, has an average of $25600, which is more than ten times that of cut throat island. The attendance rate is low, but the operating cost of the cinema will not be reduced. Even if it only needs to continue showing for a week, it will face losses. Many cinemas either negotiate with paramount to reach a compromise agreement, or simply tear up the contract to pay liquidated damages. Anyway, they insist on withdrawing Most of the canvases of "cut throat island" were painted.

When the new box office week begins, the number of screens of "cut throat island" has plummeted from 2505 to 1196.

On November 24, the Thanksgiving schedule entered its second week, and the number of films produced by North American Theaters increased to seven.

Four of them are commercial films with a scale of more than 1000 yuan. They are respectively Warner Bros.'s new film "Las Vegas" created by Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, MGM's family comedy "good things in pairs", Paramount's Johnny Depp thriller "at a critical moment" and Sony Pictures' black action Star Wesley Snapes Silver line.

Two of the three small-scale new movies are from gaomen film industry. They are Sean Pan's 72 hour life and death line, another French drama love under the stars, and finally Paramount's Orion film's 25 cents starring Al Pacino.

Of the seven new films, only Martin Scorsese's Las Vegas is a blockbuster, with a production cost of $52 million.

The initial negotiation partner of the project is danelis entertainment, Simon = pushed to Warner Bros.

This is not because Simon is not optimistic about this project. Although the box office of the film in his memory is really unsatisfactory, Simon's main reason for doing so is that the film list of danielis is full and there is no suitable schedule.In recent years, Martin Scorsese's project has gradually become less popular in Hollywood. This is a director whom Simon admires and appreciates very much. Simon insists that Hollywood should not be left with commercial films such as super British films or animated films just for the sake of profit.

The lack of film types will ultimately damage the interests of Hollywood. Today's danielis entertainment is basically half of Hollywood, so it damages the interests of danielis entertainment.

If Warner Bros didn't take over the project at the beginning, Simon also planned to take over the project by Denise entertainment, but the schedule would inevitably be delayed.

MGM's "good things in pairs" still follows the development strategy of a few blockbusters and focusing on medium and low-cost films determined by Simon himself for the studio. The production cost of the film is only 10 million US dollars. It is starred by Olsen twins, the twin sister of Elizabeth Olsen, who was once the role of Marvel Scarlet Witch. The opening screen scale of the film is 1545 pieces .

Johnny Depp's "a close call" and Wesley Snapes's "silver line" are both low and medium-sized films with a cost of less than $30 million.

Simon has no impression of the last three award-winning films in his memory, and the quality of the films he saw in advance is also unsatisfactory, which is basically cannon fodder.

With the release of the first week's box office data of "cut throat island" and the failure of this year's summer season production cost of $50 million, the main investor of the two projects, karok pictures, which has been in Hollywood for many years, has come to an end.

Simon has been thinking about it in recent days.

In the 1990s, due to the continuous opening of the overseas film market and the rapid recovery of the global economy, the overall upward trend of the Hollywood film industry did not slow down due to the continuous collapse of a film company.

If we don't take some measures, there will certainly be more capital entering the market.

In fact, this is another manifestation of warm thoughts.

If you have money, you always want to gain some fame. Hollywood is undoubtedly the best shortcut to fame. Even if you don't play in person, hold a large amount of money in your hand, invest in some projects, and hang up the title of executive producer, you can smoothly enter this bright circle and get compliments from the big stars who can only be seen on the film and television screen. Indirectly, you can also enhance the global popularity of the enterprises behind the scenes of the investors and achieve more with one stone.

Therefore, the influx of foreign capital into Hollywood is inevitable.

If it can't be blocked, it can only be dredged.

Take the initiative to open up some places for foreign capital.

Or, even if you want to play alone, you have to be within the control of the westero system.

If possible, it is better to dredge to other industries.

For example, in the field of new technology.

Therefore, during the week before and after Thanksgiving, Simon has been frequently discussing with the core backbone of the westero system on coping strategies.

When Thanksgiving is over, a lot of ideas are basically taking shape.

It is the first thing to be sure that the three brands of danielis entertainment headquarters will not be open to the public.

In the past, big Hollywood studios relied heavily on external funds, mainly because the restrictive policies of the media industry restrained the diversified expansion of Hollywood giants. The lack of income channels made the big studios unable to form their own sustainable cash flow. Therefore, they could only continue to borrow and borrow money. The project made money, most of the funds had to be returned to the investors, and the project lost money This often creates a long-term liability for the studio.

MGM, which was almost unable to slow down in the 1980s, declined in this vicious circle of constant failure.

Danielis entertainment has grown from small to large, and a series of its projects are very profitable. It can be said that it is the only big studio in Hollywood that has successfully completed the self-sufficiency of funds. Even Warner Bros., which is backed by Time Warner, can't do this.

In Simon's memory, Disney is the only one that really does this.

To form a sustainable self owned cash flow, we will no longer rely on external funds, and we will be responsible for our own profits and losses. If we are a simple large studio, the risk is still very high, and we may not be able to survive for many years before we return to the status quo. While realizing self-sufficiency in funds, danielis entertainment has also met a good opportunity for the United States to continue to open its media industry policy. Through continuous mergers and acquisitions, it has successfully realized the diversification of its enterprises, so its ability to resist risks has increased significantly.

Now, as long as there are no great changes, danilisi entertainment will not return to the state of relying on external funds.

This is not to say, of course, that there is no need for external funding.

It's just that dannilis entertainment can still live a long life without the money.

There is no need to give up most of the revenue. Diversification can also maximize the benefits of various revenue channels more precisely, thus forming the most benign and sustainable cycle.

It's not easy to realize this state. Simon certainly won't turn back and reopen the door in order to channel Hollywood's foreign capital.

In this case, although there is no direct equity connection with danielis entertainment, MGM, which is also controlled by westrow system, has become a good platform because of the Australian capital behind the scenes. In addition, Time Warner and 20th century fox, who have close relationship with danelis entertainment, can also undertake this task.As for the others, Simon's current strategy is to suppress them mercilessly, with the ultimate goal of turning Disney and paramount into second tier film companies.

This is why the last batch of foreign cooperation projects did not have the share of these studios.

With the IPO completed, Denise entertainment has been associated with a large number of American investors, and Simon has less scruples now.

In the final analysis, the method of guiding external funds is also very simple.

Or take out some projects to invest in these external capital.

In order to avoid the failure of the project causing the studio to take on additional debt, this time it will not be debt financing, but direct investment with joint profits and losses.

Simon certainly doesn't take anyone for a fool.

Therefore, the selected projects will certainly be quite attractive.

In recent days, two films have been finalized.

The first is a new film that Robert zemigs is working on, called "contact beyond time and space.".

The success of Forrest Gump is still fresh in my mind. Therefore, it is absolutely attractive. Simon knows that the film is not as successful as he thought. It costs 90 million US dollars, and the box office in the world in memory is only 170 million. Not to mention the follow-up channel revenue, the producer still loses money at the box office.

So Simon gave the project to MGM.

With the introduction of external investment, MGM only earns one issue fee this time, which can also avoid risks to the greatest extent. After all, MGM still bears a large amount of debt and has not paid off.

The other is alien 2.

The first "alien" was a great success because of Natasha henschucci's amazing appearance, and the sequel should have been taken for granted. However, henstretch is not willing to play again. After all, it's Simon's woman. We can't force it, so the project is shelved.

During this period, MGM director Shirley Lansing personally mentioned to Simon, hoping that Simon would come forward and persuade a girl to show up in "alien 2", even if she didn't show up. MGM can give the eye care task to other female stars, and Simon also agreed.

However, the cost of making a sequel is bound to increase significantly, and Natasha henstretch is just a guest star, so the risk will naturally increase.

Therefore, Simon asked MGM to bear only half of the investment at most, and get the remaining half from the outside.

Apart from these two attractive projects, there will certainly be others.

Simon's plan is to package at least five of them and bring in external investment together, which is another "foreign cooperation plan". In order to show our importance, if necessary, Denise entertainment will also invest a sum of money, and Warner and fox can also participate.

Simon, on the other hand, wants to bring hot money into silicon valley that is not too determined to invest in Hollywood.

Therefore, some hot projects incubated by westrow system, such as eBay, ipets, etc., will start a round of financing, of course, there will be no lack of IPO operation.

In order to enable investors to gain the same reputation as investing in Hollywood in the process of investing in these projects, westero system will also use its own media resources to build momentum for them. For example, a Latin American tycoon who is optimistic about eBay will unconditionally drop $100 million just to seek a small amount of shares. As long as this kind of story is spread, all parties will benefit.

These are very detailed operations, but Simon doesn't mind staring at them.

The whole westrow system is now a very large business empire. Simon can't cover everything. It's inevitable to control the general direction.

However, if we only focus on the general direction, we will inevitably ignore the hidden dangers of various details. In the end, it may be that the dike of thousands of miles is destroyed by the ant colony. Therefore, most of the time, Simon has to become a micro manager to intervene in some details.

To some extent, this is more important than controlling the general direction.

Governing a big country is like cooking a small dish.

There are too many cases in my mind. After combing and summarizing these years, I find that this ancient saying is absolutely classic.