Chapter 339： Barry Mayer's plan

, the fastest update to the latest chapter of the legendary Hollywood director!

A coffee shop in Los Angeles.

Lyman and Barry Mayer sat across the table, and Barry Mayer's assistant sat at the table next to him.

This cafe specializes in hand-grinding. It seems that Barry Mayer is still a regular here, and the owner greeted him with a smile when he came.

Lyman sat opposite him, not in a hurry.

He still didn't know what the meaning of inviting him was.

After ordering the coffee, Barry Mayer said with a smile: "Congratulations, Lyman. "Million Dollar Baby" won the Palme d'Or, and the word of mouth is out, and it must be able to win at the Oscars."

"Thanks to Warner's PR." Ryman politely.

Purely in terms of the status of the film industry, Barry Mayer naturally dumped Lyman several grades.

However, in terms of production alone, Lehman's Firefly Pictures is not bad. It has money to run projects and has a good relationship with Paramount. After leaving Warner, there is no need to worry about distribution, and Warner can't affect him.

So, in this respect, it is Barry Mayer who is demanding more from him.

"Million Dollar Baby" is the first collaboration between them, but it is only a literary and artistic work, and the explosive momentum is not small, even better than Barry Mayer's expectations at the beginning.

In this way, the plan in his heart inevitably heats up.

He also found that Lehmann is indeed a strong director, very thoughtful, and has a great business and artistry.

The two chatted for a while before Barry Mayer finally spoke his mind.

"I'm working on a project recently, and I'd like you to continue to be the director."

"What project?"

"Batman."

Barry Mayer spoke softly.

Lehman, who was beside him, was taken aback.

He had thought about cooperation, but never thought it would be Batman.

......

Since the beginning of the new millennium, Hollywood's film industry has become more and more blockbuster.

The maturity and perfection of the business system has not only caused the market to rise and break through in different ways, but has also appeared in the top ten of the year-end list, each of which can break through 100 million.

Before this, it was not that there were no movies that could have a high box office, but most of them could have a high-quality product a year, which was completely inferior to the current blooming of a hundred flowers.

For Warner, under the background of this era, holding all the adaptation rights of dc comics, it naturally wants to develop into a huge profit chain.

They do the same, Superman, Batman, the two big trump cards that once brought Warner a lot of money, from animation to movies, from toys to peripherals. dc hides a gold mine.

But then, they played themselves off, and Superman and Batman all came to a deadlock, something went wrong, and they had to be refrigerated to preserve their value.

Then in 2002, Spider-Man broke out.

It is not only the first work in North American film history to break 100 million in three days, but also has a total box office of 400 million in North America, which has brought enough dividends to Columbia.

Subsequently, the success of X-Men and "Blade Runner" also announced the strong return of another giant of comics-Marvel Comics.

Seeing that the comic book movie has become a subject that cannot be underestimated in the market, Warner has also been successfully stimulated.

You must know that in the 1980s and 1990s, it was completely the era of DC's dominance. No matter what Marvel, one hand was not enough for DC to fight.

But the fiasco of "Batman and Robin" is also constantly reminding Warners, making them extremely hesitant.

Barry Mayer is not, he has a lot of skill.

If not, he would not be able to sit where he is now.

He was also the one who persuaded the board of directors to restart the dc comic reform project.

This time, to be on the safe side, they chose Batman.

Because only Batman has enough charm to compete with the increasingly powerful little spider and regain the banner of the manga change.

their ambitions.

It also made Lehman excited.

Of course, he is not excited to direct such a project, in fact, Firefly Pictures has no shortage of projects.

As a director, he has achieved this, and he is still satisfied.

However, what he was thinking at this time was what he could get from such a cooperation. If you also let your own Firefly Pictures get involved.

Yes, such a large project will be a good bridge. In addition to further deepening the cooperative relationship between the two, it can also become the cornerstone for the further development of our own company.

Besides, who said he must have agreed to be a director?

Lyman listened, smiled and said, "What do you mean?"

Barry Mayer obviously planned for a long time, but he had a good idea. "You will direct. The budget is about 200 million. If the actors are determined to meet the requirements, you can mention it. We will give you 15 million. How about the base salary, plus 3% of the North American box office, and 5% of the offline revenue?"

Sounds great, but Lyman wants more.

"Let's change the way of cooperation."

"what?"

"Warner wants the project to be successful. I think you can entrust the production part to Firefly Pictures, we will shoot, you will distribute and follow-up copyright secondary development, and we will not take any part in copyright."

Entrusted shooting is a common way of cooperation in the industry.

However, this kind of cooperation is mostly between the parent company and the subsidiary company, or the two film companies have their own difficulties, which is why they are linked together.

For example, the former Disney and Miramax. Disney did not involve in the production of live-action images at all before, but this aspect was indispensable, so it acquired Miramax. As long as there was a related live-action business, it would be handed over to Miramax for production, and then distributed through Disney’s channels.

But later, Harvey broke up with Disney.

And then there's Twentieth Century Fox, a partnership with Searchlight Pictures.

Searchlight, also a subsidiary of Fox, specializes in comedies and low-budget genre films. And Fox, specializing in medium or first-tier big productions. It is a clear division of labor.

But Warner's relationship with Firefly Pictures doesn't seem to be that good.

Barry Mayer frowned, thinking it was Lyman who was begging him for Warner, and the lion opened his mouth.

Displeased: "But why do we do this?"

Lehman smiled, "You hand over the project to us, and you don't have to worry about the rest. When it's over, this work will be distributed by Warner Bros. What do you think?"

"You don't want funds?" Barry Mayer asked in surprise. He originally thought that Lehman wanted to go from a simple employment relationship to an investor and producer, so as to get more benefits, but he did not expect that he was taking the initiative to take risks. Great guy.

Why do you say that?

Although Warners agreed with Batman's project, the management and the board still have many doubts, for fear that if they are not careful, they will fail again.

If they fail, they will not only lose money, cause the company's financial report data to be unsightly, and will not give investors confidence, but also related to the image of Batman - they can't keep Bruce Wayne on the shelf again, and wait for more than ten years before releasing it again. Bar.

At that time, the comics market will be eaten up by Marvel.

Then again, it was Barry Mayer's work under pressure to promote Warner's project.

The funds themselves are also limited, and they also intend to introduce a batch of external shooting funds.

In the previous life, it was also like this that Legendary Pictures intervened in Warner's production department and signed a five-year cooperation contract in one fell swoop. They provided the funds, Warner was responsible for the production and distribution, and then in accordance with the terms of the signed partnership, the profits were given to Legendary Pictures.

Otherwise, it is impossible for a pure investment bank like Legendary Pictures, which does not even have a production department, to get on the big ship of Warner.

However, in this life, it is Lehman who wants to do this "Legendary Pictures".

He has money and strength to produce, why can't he take this opportunity?

Barry Mayer is still considering that if he doesn't have to take production risks and the copyright is still in the hands of Warner, he will basically make a fortune.

So he said, "You provide funds, but how are project cooperation divided?"

"I promised that the shooting budget should not be less than 150 million. The announcement and distribution will be borne by your company. We will notify Warner in advance of the detailed shooting plan. In terms of production, Warner can directly participate in the project, accounting for 30%. There is no need to pay, and accordingly, Warner can’t ask for more for the remaining investment share.”

What does that mean.

That is to say, Warner directly intervened in the production side by virtue of the ownership of the Batman project, accounting for 30 shares, that is, they did nothing, even if they invested no less than 45 million in the filming, At that time, in addition to the distribution share, Warner can also participate in the division of production interests in the interests of the film after its release.

In order to get this project, it can be considered that Lehmann took the initiative to give up profits - there is no way to do it. Legendary Pictures in the previous life cooperated with them, and it was also such a harsh condition, otherwise the senior management of Warner would not allow outsiders to enter the venue.

Fortunately, Firefly Pictures still has production capabilities, which is not as ruthless as Legendary Pictures.

Barry Mayer nodded, appreciating Lehmann's sense of wit.

With such preconditions, he is also willing to talk to the board of directors.

"anything else?"

"We don't want a cent of offline revenue But Warner has only 30% of the money spent on advertising sponsorship and film sales."

Still making a profit.

It stands to reason that the producer has the right to intervene in the copyright operation.

But if you want to come to a trump card like Batman, Warner will never let it go. Lyman also took the initiative to throw this part to Warner, and took the opportunity to get the extra project bonus.

You know, once a signboard like Batman is released, there will definitely be no shortage of advertising sponsorships, and this part of the money can also ease the pressure on production costs.

"Ad sponsorship must be approved by Warner," Barry Mayer added.

"no problem."

"Okay, I want to ask, are you fighting for so much initiative for better shooting?"

It's not that Barry Mayer has never dealt with Lehmann. He roughly knows that this guy is a director who likes shooting on set and has enough freedom. Unfortunately, he guessed wrong again.