v2 Chapter 460： Prove it to me

A new month has begun. For the time being, two changes a day, one at nine in the morning and one at night!

For Duke, the main task at this stage is to complete the final end of "The Return of the King" first, and then to pay attention to the progress of several negotiations. The most important one is undoubtedly the Harry Potter studio and Joanna Rowling’s copyright negotiations on the next few parts of the series.

As Duke predicted, this is a long and difficult negotiation full of wrangling and differences of interest.

Especially with regard to the division of Joanna Rowling, the two sides are basically competing on the basis of one ten thousandths. In addition, companies such as Walt Disney have been fighting from it. The negotiation began with the release of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". It lasted until now, which took more than half a year. After all compromises were made, a new agreement was finally reached.

From the beginning of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban", Joanna Rowling will enjoy a 9.5 out of 100 revenue share of all peripheral revenues, including the movie box office, and Harry Potter Studios Pay a base fee of $60 million for the right to adapt the last four novels.

There is no way to do this. Hollywood has never had benefits that can be gained without paying. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" has achieved great success. Joanna Rowling and her management team are also 5≈, not a fool. , How can you give up the benefits you deserve.

At the same time, the crew has signed new contracts with all actors. The remuneration of most resident actors has been increased to a certain extent, especially for the main actors. Not only has the new contract remuneration increased to one million, but also Received partial compensation after the sale of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".

Without touching on the profit sharing, substitution is only the last choice, and the crew will use the original crew as much as possible.

However, the progress of the entire series will be temporarily suspended. There are two main reasons. One is that Chris Columbus does not want to continue and Duke intends to change the director; the other is that the voice change period and rapid development period of the young actors have come, and the project will be suspended for one year.

And these little actors have to take acting classes in accordance with Duke's requirements. In the same way, the crew pays them high salaries, and they have to show corresponding performance. The performances of the previous ones were really bad, especially the Gryffindor Golden Triangle. If it were not for the fixed image of the series, their acting skills would not be much better than the extras who were mixed with Hollywood at the bottom.

In fact, Duke and Warner know very well that compared to Joanna Rowling, these little actors are the real trouble. Two more movies will be shown at most. Their agents and parents will inevitably come again to negotiate and even demand a share of profits.

But after so many years in Hollywood, with Warner Bros. assisting him, Duke has prepared the means to deal with it. By then, he will sign a box office profit share with the young actors.

The Harry Potter Studio is a separately registered company, and it is entirely possible to raise funds from the Duke Studio and Warner Bros. by way of loans...

With the passage of time, the popularity of "The Two Towers" has been declining. In August, North America only got 23.5 million US dollars in box office. Although the original soundtrack and DVD set are not yet on the market, the promotion of "The Return of the King". But it has been officially put on the agenda.

Because it’s still far from being released, especially the hot screenings of the first two parts, the market is full of expectations for the final chapter. Warner Bros. still revolves around "The Two Towers" in terms of publicity. After "The Return of the King" has completed its post-production work For the time being, Duke is only revealing some news more or less.

"Director Rosenberg. Is it convenient to reveal the news of "The Return of the King"?"

At the door of the Lord of the Rings studio, Duke was stopped by several entertainment reporters. Hearing their questions, he rarely responded with a few words, "I will use my instant sharing account to publish the latest posters, Films and news of the release. You can follow them at any time, and you are welcome to reprint them."

"Share account instantly?"

One reporter was stunned, and another reporter reminded him, "This is the social network site where "The Return of the King" first published a poster."

Duke smiled, walked into the studio under the support of two bodyguards, first greeted the propaganda department, and used his instant sharing account to post some latest news about the film every few days.

Although the energy invested on this website is extremely limited, Duke will also help to promote it within its ability. Especially after the first few times, the website has attracted more than 500,000 registered people due to the popularity of the Lord of the Rings.

For a website that is still in its infancy, this is an amazing number.

"Hi, Duke."

As soon as he entered the office, Wallace Lee knocked on the door and walked in, as if there was something he wanted to talk about.

"Lee, something?" Duke sat down and pointed to the chair opposite the desk.

Wallace Lee sat down. He knew Duke's work style and asked directly, "What do you think of my recent performance, boss?"

After struggling in the independent film industry for many years, he knows that opportunities must be won by himself, and he will also promote himself in a timely manner.

"Not bad." Duke nodded his head in approval. "It did better than I expected."

Duke knows some of the habits of people from the independent film industry. Perhaps his old classmate has run into too many independent circles, and his literary atmosphere is not strong. In "The Two Towers" And in the post-production of "The Return of the King", the performance can indeed be described as excellent.

Duke understood what he wanted to say, and raised his hand to stop Wallace? When Lee wanted to speak, he thought about it a little bit and said, "But these are not enough. Lee, I have the right to adapt. You have to In the next time, prove to me that you have enough ability and that you have the value for me to invest."

If only the post-production work of the two films can make him invest tens of millions of dollars, it would be too trivial.

Like all companies in Hollywood, investing in movies is never a simple matter, nor is it a decision that can be made at the forefront. Any investment, any project establishment, is relatively prudent.

"Lee, I need a one-and-a-half minute trailer." Duke still gave the other party a chance to prove himself. "You are responsible for cutting out the first trailer for "The Return of the King", if I am satisfied..."

Wallace Lee’s eyes lit up immediately, but Duke’s voice changed, "Next year I will have a new project. As long as the trailer can meet my basic requirements, next year you can help me prepare this film with Anna. It’s your chance to prove yourself up close."

"Is it the new script that is going to go to Paris to shoot?" Wallace Lee asked.

Duke nodded, "This is the script I gave Anna last week. You two can talk first."

After completing the script outline and character setting, Duke gave the script to the editorial department of the Duke’s studio, filled and perfected by other screenwriters. There is nothing surprising in the plot of this script, from creativity to story development. It's all things that Hollywood is used to, even the most touching father-daughter affection in it has nothing to do with novelty and innovation.

Just like what he said, those popular popular movies are basically half the Pacific Ocean away from new ideas.

Regardless of other things, let’s take this project that has been named "Hurricane Rescue". If this script is delivered to a film company by a newcomer, the probability of 99.99% is that it will be sent after being reviewed for a while. Enter the script library, slowly accumulate dust in the corner, don't know when it will come out.

But in the hands of directors and producers with successful experience, its treatment will be completely different.

Although the script of "Hurricane Rescue" is completed, Duke is not ready to start production immediately. There is still a lot of work to be done on "The Return of the King". This is just a small investment and short time-consuming project, so there is no need to worry.

Since September, Duke’s instant sharing account has successively released some related information such as posters and character modeling of "The Return of the King", and as a major shareholder, he especially communicated with Google, as long as someone uses Google search " "Return of the King" or social networking sites, instant sharing sites will inevitably appear in the forefront of search.

Moreover, under his suggestion, the instant sharing company’s new website and social software have simplified the functions to make it easier for users to get started. These are not much Duke’s help for his girlfriend.

After all, he is not a professional, so he can only use the influence of himself and his works to help Ivanka promote the website.

What's more, Duke has always held 45 percent of the shares in his hands. If the website can really grow, it would be a good thing for him.

By the end of October, thanks to the vigorous promotion of all aspects, the number of registrations on the instant sharing website finally exceeded the 1 million mark, and the average daily visit volume was close to 300,000, although it was far less than that of blogs and other websites or software , But it is also a very good development momentum in the same type.

At the same time, after a long and long screening, the North American box office of "Two Towers" finally broke through the $500 million mark on October 25. This is the second North American box office to exceed $500 million in history. The film is also Duke's first North American box office to exceed 500 million yuan, and the global box office also completed the surpassing of "The Fellowship of the Ring", surpassing the 1.2 billion dollar mark in one fell swoop, reaching 1.215577 million US dollars!

But unlike the time when "The Fellowship of the Ring Expedition" passed one billion dollars, the media and fans in the United States were very calm. This result was seen by everyone two months ago. After waiting for a long time, I saw Duke. The number of successes increases, and neither the media nor the public feel novel.

"If "The Two Towers" can't exceed US$500 million in North America, and the global box office can't match "The Fellowship of the Ring", that's news!"

"Los Angeles Times" reviews undoubtedly represent the views of most people.

However, this is indeed a gratifying achievement. Since mid-October, the Duke’s Manor has been busy decorating the banquet hall and preparing a grand party. This is not only for the success of "The Two Towers", but it is more to celebrate. Ivanka's 21st birthday. (To be continued...)

ps: Ask for monthly and recommended tickets!