Chapter 669： 23 things that don't go well in the beginning of the year

Just when Lehmann was worried about the production of the Firefly project, Warner was also not calm.

Burbank, inside the chief office of Warners Century City headquarters.

Barry Mayer sat opposite the production manager without speaking.

Sitting next to him was the manager of the distribution department, his head bowed as if he was pondering the floor decoration of the room.

"Tell me, what should I do?" Barry Mayer frowned.

The distribution manager raised his eyes to look at the production manager, and quickly turned his eyes away—this is obviously not our responsibility.

After all, what Mr. Executive means is that the box office of "Superman Returns" did not achieve the expected results, and the next week's decline was too fast. Why?

In other words, "Superman Returns" was released on June 28 (Wednesday), and the first weekend of the Independence Day schedule earned 52 million US dollars. It premiered for 5 days and accumulated 84 million in North America. This kind of market performance has been since the beginning of 2006. One of Warner's best movies.

But the problem is that the cost of "Superman Returns" is 350 million, not to mention that it can be higher than the 700 million global market of "X-Men 3: The Last Stronghold", at least it can't be too far.

But judging from the current market performance, it seems that it is far worse than...

The production manager murmured and was in a very bad mood.

As early as the moment the results of the first week came out, he felt bad. This type of blockbuster did not break 100 million in the first week, and it was still a 5-day screening cycle. In fact, many problems have already been revealed.

It was a bit of a fluke at first, maybe the audience is still waiting and looking forward to the follow-up trend, but the box office fell by more than 40% in the next week, which also shattered similar expectations.

However, the bad thing is that they like to come to the door one by one.

Warner Bros. has a bit of bad luck this year. Apart from the unfavorable screening of the superman series reboot, which has high expectations, it just lost a "Poseidon" some time ago. Looking forward, the relationship between Chuchun and Firefly is tense, and HBO is also quite good. opinion......

The three people with the most say in Warner Pictures sat together, and the production department naturally became a vent. After all, the distribution department invested the highest level of resources in publicity, and the results were not achieved. Obviously, the distribution cannot be blamed.

"Perhaps, the director was chosen..." The production manager suddenly choked out a sentence.

The director he was referring to was, of course, Brian Singer, who directed "Superman Returns."

However, this person is the one who started the trend of superhero. In 2000, the adaptation of "X-Men" achieved an unexpected and huge success, which made Columbia, Warner, Universal and other studios start again. The idea of ​​​​approving a project to shoot a superhero movie.

If he can't do it, doesn't that imply that the Superman theme itself is a pit?

Thinking of this, even Barry Mayer was nervous.

Because in the past 18 years, "Superman Returns" has stumbled, and it is really like a curse that there will be accidents - Christopher Reeve was paralyzed because of the equestrian competition, and the most classic Superman actor died of depression.

You know, before there was a reboot of "Batman", Superman was the most important thing for Warners. There are proposals every year, but they are always a little bit worse. If Brian Singer doesn't take over, this film also refers to Not sure when it will actually be completed.

The manager of the distribution department was about to agree when he saw Barry Mayer get up and said, "Forget it, no matter who is responsible, the production department will always bear the responsibility. I will explain it to the board of directors later. Also, help me get in touch. Look at Christopher Nolan."

The last sentence was a bit lonely.

However, Barry Mayer's meaning is also very clear, if there is anything to reduce the impact of the failure of "Superman Returns", it will undoubtedly put the shooting of "Batman 2" on the agenda.

The production manager nodded, indicating that he was clear.

And this is undoubtedly an opportunity for him to make up for it. Working in a big company, if you don't have results, you will definitely be in an unstable position, not to mention the film industry that leaves the most frequently.

......

Jonathan Campbell was the director of the film production department of Warner Bros. Pictures in 2003. His predecessor left because of his poor performance during his tenure in office. It is unexpected that he will be afraid for this reason now.

He came out of his boss's office a little lonely. Instead of contacting Nolan immediately, he returned to his office.

As soon as he entered the door, he cheered up a little, and gathered all the team members and familiar subordinates he had promoted on weekdays.

These people can also be regarded as the personnel foundation he has laid in the company over the years. Looking at the small group of 5 or 6 people in a circle, Qiao Sen suddenly felt less worried.

- After all, we are not alone.

Jonson Campbell pretended to be relaxed and asked: "Everyone knows that the "Superman Returns" project did not meet expectations, do you have any ideas to talk about?"

"Guide public opinion and let the main creator of the crew stand up."

"Reduce the theater chain and guarantee the box office of a single hall?"

Everyone chatted with each other, exchanged opinions from time to time, and put forward many plans that were beneficial to Qiao Sen.

As for him, he didn't stop him, because he needed to prove that his position was still guaranteed, so that this small group would not disperse all of a sudden - if Qiao Sen loses power, this will definitely happen.

"Cough cough." Seeing everyone expressing their thoughts, Jonathan Campbell coughed dryly before saying what the executive had just said, "The company's next important movie project has been set as a sequel to "Batman". Your What do you mean?"

"This project is still good. The last "Mystery of Xia Ying" has a good reputation among fans, and the production cost will not be too large."

"Well, "Superman Returns" wouldn't be as uncomfortable as it is now if it hadn't been repeated several times and raised production costs."

"Yes Yes."

"..."

"Filming the sequel to "Batman" ... it should be more than that." Someone in the crowd said.

"What can I say?" Johnson asked cooperatively.

"If it's just because the project failed, and a low-risk work is launched to restore the decline, such a decision must be correct, and it can block the mouths of many people, but on the Firefly side..." The man frowned and guessed. Said: "Could it be that the company wants to ease the relationship? Also, the DC adaptation is the general trend of the company in the next few years. The failure of "Superman" is undoubtedly a lack of a trump card. Is it possible that the image of Superman has not changed substantially? So , this is not just a simple project.”

Jonson Campbell nodded slightly. He actually had similar thoughts in his heart, because Barry Mayer has revealed regrets more than once in the past few months, especially when they met just now.

After all, the purpose of suppressing Firefly at the beginning was not to slap the Firefly to dust, but just to make this studio understand its status and provide excellent film sources. Don't be delusional.

It's a pity that Firefly's strength has grown too fast. Years of production reputation has also made some theaters very supportive, and it can no longer be easily suppressed, not to mention that many studios such as Lionsgate and Mubao are also eyeing for breakthrough . This is not a family business.

Moreover, Warner did not expect Lehmann to be so courageous, and would rather lack theater resources to reduce an overall profit in the future.

Furthermore, because the original three Batman film contracts were signed in exchange for Firefly’s sufficient funding, it was impossible for the sequel to be filmed without Firefly.

As for why to find Nolan first, it may be that Barry Mayer wants to test the firefly's reaction first...

Well, it should be.

Thinking of this, Jonson Campbell said: "The review of the project will start tomorrow at the latest As for Superman...that is not something we can decide. We still think about how to make a good "" A sequel to Batman."

Having said that, Jonsen basically gave his group of interest groups the details of his conversation with Barry Mayer and how to start and how to do it.

The only thing left unspoken was a little emotional warning from Barry Mayer about his dissatisfaction with his job.

Well, of course not.

A group of people listened carefully, each had a goal, and quickly moved forward.

Setting up a project is not an easy thing, especially for a big studio like Warner, where it's not easy to decide within a few weeks just by going through the process.

Because there are so many things involved.

For example, production investment, cinema investment, tentative schedule, market prospects, and research reports must be kept accordingly for reference in future film screenings.

This prudence can also be regarded as common to major studios...