Chapter 798： Opportunity to take advantage, buy again

On December 17th, a new week begins.

Since "I Am a Hero" won 89.51 million at the weekend of last week, the film has dropped slightly. After all, the more viewers who have watched it, the fewer potential viewers, right? It's normal. As long as there is no thunder, a sudden cut in half will do.

However, Firefly is very comfortable, but the new line is terrifyingly depressing.

The failure of "Golden Compass" (estimated to lose 60 million to 70 million), Warner's board of directors finally has a disposal of New Line, that is the most unwilling to see the new line's top management merged into the Warner label, and no longer has autonomy. .

In the president's office of New Line, the distribution manager and Shay sat opposite each other, not speaking, not even moving.

Come to think of it, he has also been in charge of the new line for 7 years. In addition to being responsible for shareholders, he is basically a grasp. Even if he carefully prepared and invested a lot of masterpieces and failed, he never thought of giving up this power and status, let alone transforming into a low-cost business. , forgoing high-budget project production.

"Why so no room?" Shay finally spoke, his voice terribly hoarse.

The release manager remained silent.

Now it seems that the top is determined to integrate the new line, but they don't know where they are going.

After all, they have united all the management of the new line, to no avail, they have tried all methods, and the feelings of venting and dissatisfaction have also lost their hearts under the established facts.

Capital is inherently ruthless, and they have known it for a long time. Blame only blame, ability is not enough, vision is not good.

On December 20, 2007, "Golden Compass" became the heaviest straw in the downfall of New Line.

......

In the circle, no one pays special attention to the broken affair between New Line and Warner, but one person is concerned.

On that day, after Lehman told Joseph about the role of the Marvel adaptation project in the future company territory, Joseph thought about what their company still lacks and how to quickly accumulate the foundation.

Joseph is a master at the management level and always pays attention to market developments.

After this incident, he thought for a while and thought of something that could expand the overall structure and business capabilities at the moment.

"Huh? You said it would help us that the new line was integrated?"

in the office.

Lyman raised his head, a little surprised.

He knew that the new lane would end, but he didn't think he could get anything out of it.

Lehman thought about it carefully... The most valuable copyright library of New Line flashed in his mind, which was the accumulation of more than ten years!

But the problem is that Warner is not stupid enough to sell it. No studio will easily transfer copyright, otherwise Marvel's hero repurchase work will not be so difficult, not to mention those film and television copyrights of New Line can really create profits. , is it not a product to be developed without potential, the whole small gold mine with a long stream of water, okay?

So...if not this, what else is worth paying special attention to?

Management familiar with the work in the circle?

Forget it, a good card is badly played, and a director like Peter Jackson, who was born to make a masterpiece, can be evil. I don’t know what kind of thoughts and positions make decisions—all in the 21st century Now, if you don't win over talents, let's go.

Joseph didn't know that Lehman had passed so much in a flash, and thought that his boss didn't pay much attention to New Line, and slowly expressed his thoughts, "New Line and Warner's business overlap, we can try to contact Warner and buy it with cash. Resources that Lower Warner doesn’t need but we need. New Line has a lot of value.”

Ryman met Joseph's gaze and grasped some points a little.

Business overlap, Warner does not need?

Yes, in essence, this matter stems from the fact that the existence of New Line does not add any strength to Warner. In order to avoid wasting resources, New Line was merged into Warner Pictures to facilitate deployment.

What New Line can do, Warner can do, and what New Line lacks, Warner can do as well. New Line's position in Warner's territory is very embarrassing.

The contradictions that have always existed are the main reason for the downfall of New Line. The failure of "Golden Compass" only made those hesitant board shareholders lose their confidence in the management of New Line.

So what does New Line have that Warner doesn't need but Firefly needs?

Photo studio, some valuable shooting equipment!

When the new line was prosperous, it took three years to build a comprehensive filming site in the eastern suburbs of Burbank, with the basic conditions for film and television shooting, covering an area of ​​more than 22,600 square meters.

However, this kind of small studio is not needed for Warner at all. They have a larger and more comprehensive one at home, not to mention that Warner also has a studio built for the shooting of "Harry Potter" in the UK, and the resources are highly overlapping.

Then there are the production staff at the grassroots level. Because Warner has a very complete production system, it is estimated that some of them will be laid off. With the separation of Marvel Studios and Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Studios needs experience and skill. The production staff added.

If you think about it carefully, you can't get the complete copyright library. Can you get the copyright of one or two characters that have not yet been developed?

Lehman, who was open-minded, thought a lot.

And Joseph really wants to strengthen the company's heritage in this way.

Acquisition is indeed the best means of expansion.

Lyman opened and closed his mouth a few times, and suddenly he had the urge to buy, buy, buy.

"How much money can be drawn without affecting the company's operations?"

"Probably can come up with 220 million. The company's profits from many projects in the second half of the year will take time to share with each other, and several projects in preparation will occupy a large amount of funds, but we can take a loan from the bank first, anyway, it will be very soon. It can be paid back, and there is no problem with funding.”

Lehman pondered for a while, "So, it's up to you to negotiate with Warner to see if they are willing to sell this work."

Hearing this, Joseph nodded in response.

"This needs to be done quickly, and I'm worried there are other buyers looking."

Before leaving, Lehman ordered another sentence.

......

In the afternoon, Li Press called Laiman to talk about the actor joining the group, so he didn't have time to argue with Warner. He just hoped that Joseph, an experienced man, would contact Warner for a while to talk about his intentions...

With the growth of Firefly, there are more and more things that require him to work hard, and the more and more he feels lack of energy.

It is not that the number of senior managers is small, but that employees in the middle-level departments cannot keep up with the business expansion.

in the conference room.

Keira Knightley actually agreed to play.

The budget of the main project is a huge plus point, and it can strive for a higher salary.

Of course, when signing the contract, I first mentioned some trifles on the set, such as a separate makeup car, a separate pick-up and drop-off, and a single hotel room, the hotel you live in should not be too bad, and so on.

Famous actors are very knowledgeable about the standards of these crews. I don't know, their agents will also seriously propose them. In a way, this is actually a symbol of coffee status.

When acting, the young actors don't have to inquire about who is who and who, just look at the standard treatment of others to know the status of the crew.

When it comes to the most critical issues of salary and image, Kayla's agent team is even more detailed in every aspect. For example, if it is determined that there is only kiss scene, then there can be no **** scene, and it does not explain in advance, and reserves the right to refuse all unreasonable scenes;

For example, do not accept the bad side of the character, swear words, and the role of the white lotus, and do not act - it is impossible to play a vase, and it will damage the public image that has been established with great difficulty;

In terms of remuneration, Kayla's agent opened his mouth to 9 million.

After a few rounds of pulling, it dropped to 6.5 million, and Lehman agreed to it Speaking of which, although Keira Knightley was in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series due to film contract and scene issues, the salary increase was not high. , but also mentioned 4 million all the way from hundreds of thousands.

After the release of "Caribbean 3: At the End of the World", the global box office received 960 million, and it has to rise no matter what.

Of course, the cost of the third installment in the Pirate series also reached an astonishing $300 million, surpassing the cost of Tobey Maguire's "Spider-Man 3" and the billion of "Titanic" in the same year. Money-burning movies, although this title is only because the directors and creators have taken too much, it is not that the money-burning index of special effects has taken a big step.

Moreover, because of the competitors in the summer vacation, the pirates finally plundered only 100 million US dollars in North America, which did not reach the 400 million box office expected by Disney at the beginning, and the results were not so bright, but the huge IP The value has made other outlets such as Disney's sprawling surrounding market and the theme park's eponymous project lucrative.

After Keira Knightley joined the group, Liv Tyler, the elf princess of the original time and space, naturally failed.

Of course, whether it's play, image, or popularity, the latter is no match for Kayla. For "The Incredible Hulk" to hit the market, it's worth spending a little more money, and the latter's development prospects are not high.