Chapter Seven Hundred and Eighty Eighth
After a fierce auction two years ago, Paramount won Disney's hand-drawn animation division for $2.5 billion and moved the entire team to a new work campus in Culver City, Los Angeles. ??? ???
At this time, Shirley Lansing, CEO of Paramount Pictures, walked out of the office building of Paramount Animation Studios, said goodbye to Roger Ehlers, the person in charge, and got into her car.
The car started, and Shirley Lansing, who was leaning on the leather seat, rubbed her forehead lightly, recalling what she had just discussed with Roger Ehlers about Pocahontas.
Pocahontas tells the story of an Indian princess who rescues a British explorer and resolves a race war. This is a project that was prepared during the Disney animation period. The detailed script, storyboard and sub-shots were determined during the Disney animation period. After Paramount bought the hand-painted animation team, the production of "Pocahontas" also started immediately.
Although after changing the owner, the salary of the entire animation team has increased significantly. But the resentment of being abandoned by Firefly was not so easily dissipated. For more than a year, the entire hand-painted animation team has been working hard to create a masterpiece like "The Lion King" again, so that Firefly can be the original The decision to ditch the hand-drawn animation department is beyond regret.
Therefore, although the usual two-year animation production cycle has been shortened to one and a half years, the quality of "Pocahontas" is still very good, and even Redstone himself was full of praise for this animation during the test screening.
In order to realize Viacom's diversification ambitions in the entire industry chain, Redstone's support for Paramount's animation department can be said to spare no effort.
But Shirley Lansing was far less optimistic than Redstone and the animation team.
Although after strict cost control, the production cost of "Pocahontas" still reached 800,000 US dollars due to the skyrocketing salary of animators. With the follow-up announcement, the total investment is likely to exceed 120 million US dollars, which is equivalent to "The Lion King" "Twice the production cost.
The sequel to "The Lion King" and the two animations "Mulan" are being produced, and the cost is definitely not low, but I want to use Paramount animation as the content locomotive, and cooperate with Viacom's Blockbuster chain store and Nick Children's. Taiwan and other channel resources to create a diversified industrial chain that can fully tap the commercial potential of animation films. It is conservatively estimated that it will take five years.
Before that, the main reliance on the movie box office was to recover the investment in these expensive animation projects.
It is conceivable that in the process of opening up this long industrial chain, as long as one of these hugely invested animation films fails at the box office, it will seriously damage the capital chain of Paramount Pictures, and even have to do the same as Warner Bros. The parent company provides profits and also receives financial support from the headquarters.
and,
Shirley Lansing has also been skeptical about why Firefly suddenly sold Disney's hand-drawn animation division.
After all, that was at the peak of The Lion King's global box office of nearly a billion dollars, and it's impossible for a more rational business executive to make such a counterintuitive decision.
But if the young man is acting out of his temper, this reason is even more untenable. Firefly has miraculously risen in less than ten years and has become the largest media group in North America and even the world, and the person who built such a media empire. , how can it be possible to act one's own way. But if the sale of the hand-drawn animation division is a deliberate result, then it's likely that Paramount is already taking some very big, hidden risks.
The decision to acquire Disney's hand-drawn animation department was made by Redstone himself. Shirley Lansing knew that even if there was a problem with the animation department, she would not take much responsibility, but as the CEO of Paramount Pictures, once this kind of thing happened Life, her life will definitely not be easy.
Everything is a foregone conclusion, Shirley Lansing tangled for a while, and quickly put it down, or decided to focus more on live-action movies, although not as rich as animated movies, but live-action movies will always be Hollywood mainstream.
"Is there any news from Steven?" Sitting up straight, Shirley Lansing asked the assistant in the front row.
With the support of Microsoft, Spielberg will set up a new big studio with David Geffen and George Lucas, which is already well known in the industry.
Although everyone knows that this studio will gradually build its own network, unless it continuously swallows up New Line and Disney's channels like Firefly did, at least in recent years, Spielberg and others will definitely need to Hand over the film line to the seven major studios.
Because Bill Gates, the main investor behind the scenes, does not have a harmonious relationship with Firefly, the three companies in the Firefly system will definitely not be considered by Spielberg. Sony Pictures has not yet struggled from the mess. Warner's There are already a number of affiliated production companies, and Spielberg can only choose from Paramount and Universal, both of which are also trying their best to win this cooperation project.
The assistant replied: "Mr. Spielberg's assistant called not long ago and said that at eight o'clock tonight, Mr. Spielberg can spare time. I have reserved a table at Morton's restaurant in Beverly Hills."
Shirley Lansing nodded in satisfaction, looked at her watch, there was less than an hour left before get off work, and was about to tell the driver to drive home so that she could prepare for the evening meal in advance. The on-board fax in the front row of the car Suddenly it rang out.
Five or six pages of information in a row were printed, and the fax machine stopped beeping.
The assistant scanned the information and handed it to Shirley Lansing in the back row: "It's about 'First Degree Fear'. In the past two days, some media have suddenly appeared... Well, Ms. Lansing, you personally have a look."
"First Degree Fear" is a crime thriller directed by Gregory Hoblit, who has served as the director and producer of well-known TV series such as "L.A. Legal Open" and "New York Crime Squad".
The film cost $30 million, which is a medium-budget production.
Perhaps because of his background as a TV drama director, Gregory Hoblit was unable to control the rhythm of the film well, which resulted in the film's initial length of more than 16o minutes. After many editing and editing, it was compressed to 13o minutes. It still seems lengthy, but it cannot be modified, otherwise it will affect the integrity of the entire story.
After the initial internal audition, except for the amazing performance of the newcomer named Edward Norton, other aspects were not favored by the management.
Therefore, the company did not focus too much on publicity.
Until recently, the producer of "First Degree Fear" Gary Lucchesi thought of a joint hype by linking the film with the "Seven Deadly Sins" of Firefly's new line, in order to increase the popularity of "First Degree Fear", This in turn promotes the box office marketing plan.
Today is Wednesday, "First Degree Fear" and "Seven Deadly Sins" will be released this Friday. Through feedback from various aspects, Shirley Lansing is also very satisfied with the effect achieved by Gary Lucchesi's marketing plan. .
Seeing that the assistant's words were a little hesitant after reading the fax, Shirley Lansing took the pages of faxes curiously. The assistant just forgot to sort the faxes into pages. Shirley Lansing first saw some media's comments on " Commentary excerpt from First Degree Fear.
"...If "The Seven Deadly Sins" only used some religious torture methods to give people pure sensory stimulation, the shocking reversal of the ending of "First Degree Fear" brought us pure spiritual shock. Countless theories and facts They have all proved the point that psychological fear is the real fear. In this regard, as a crime thriller of the same type, "First Degree Fear" has undoubtedly achieved this to the extreme, while "Seven Deadly Sins" is more like It's a routine flooded plasma tablet."
"..."First Degree Fear" is undoubtedly a crime thriller with a high degree of completion. There is no mystery in the plot, and there is no stereotyped picture that deliberately misleads the audience. When it was settled, the shocking and terrifying stimulation reversed in the blink of an eye. If "Seven Deadly Sins", which uses blood to show off the killer's method, can score 7 points, "First Degree Fear" can score at least 8.5 points. I am at this time. I can't wait to walk into the cinema again to enjoy this truly wonderful film when the film is officially released."
"..."
After just swiping a few paragraphs, Shirley Lansing's brows furrowed. The established propaganda method was to provoke a comparison of the acting skills of the two villains, Edward Norton and Kevin Spacey. What is the situation now? , The reputation of "Seven Deadly Sins" in the circle has long been established, otherwise it would not have won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
Now the quality of the film that promotes "First Degree Fear" is better than "Seven Deadly Sins". Isn't this waiting for the film to be slapped in the face?
He looked up to his assistant and said, "Give me a call from Gary."
As the assistant picked up the car phone and dialed, he turned around and said, "Ms. Lansing, this is where Mr. Lucchesi came from."
Shirley Lansing nodded, flipped through the pages of faxes in her hand, and found the remarks on the first page of Gary Lucchesi. It turns out that these comments are not the result of the operation of Paramount's marketing department. It is self-evident who will pay attention to the two films except Paramount.
The phone was connected, and the assistant handed over the microphone. Shirley Lansing discussed with Gary Lucchesi, who was in charge of the "First Degree Fear" propaganda, for a while, but had no choice but to put down the phone and read the fax pages in his hand several times. Several thoughts flashed through in a row, but none of them seemed appropriate.
These media comments came from the Firefly Group, almost certainly.
Shirley Lansing knew that even herself, if faced with such a thing, she would often make some counterattacks, but it was unlikely that Firefly would be so helpless.
After all, these comments are to praise "First Degree Fear" again. Paramount can't publicly say that our film is not good enough, and we still need to improve.
But if you don't, you'll just have to allow the idea that "First Degree Fear" is better than "The Seven Deadly Sins" to spread, and then, by the time both films are released on a massive scale, the media and audiences will find themselves deceived , the results are even more unpredictable.
Clearly, this is a slap-and-kill, holding you high, then falling and shattering your bones.
The film quality of "First Degree Fear" did not meet Paramount's expectations, so the publicity of the film was not too strong. But that doesn't mean Shirley Lansing doesn't care about the movie. In the entire Paramount, the annual production cost of more than 3000000 US dollars of movies will never exceed ten.
After thinking about it, Shirley Lansing said, "Go back to the headquarters, and call Gary and the others to discuss the countermeasures."
"What about the meeting with Mr. Spielberg?"
"As long as you're not late, pay attention to the time and remind me when the time comes."
...
The publicity work of a movie often starts from the movie project.
However, the real word of mouth of a movie is established in the weeks before and after its official release. Before that, you can only try to let the audience know that there is such a movie, until the movie starts small-scale test screenings, and the official release. When it is released on a large scale, word of mouth will spread.
After winning the Sundance Film Festival Jury Prize in January, "Seven Deadly Sins" has a very strong presence in the media and movie fans.
Because of Paramount's ingenious syndication, as Easter approaches, many people suddenly notice a movie of the same type called "First Degree Fear".
Ordinary people will not seriously study movie reviews after all, they will only faintly feel the influence of the general trend of public opinion, and gradually feel that perhaps, this "First Degree Fear" is really like what the newspaper said. That would be even better than The Seven Deadly Sins.
Just a few days passed quickly. Easter is not a legal holiday in North America, but this period is the spring break time for American college students. Young people will choose to travel, but most people cannot have this kind of economic strength after all.
However, watching a few movies with family and friends during the holidays is also a common form of entertainment for Americans.
"The Seven Deadly Sins" and "First Degree Fear" are undoubtedly the choices for most people to watch this Easter.
On Friday, April 5, the day before Easter, The Seven Deadly Sins and First Degree Fears will be released simultaneously on 25oo and 19oo screens respectively.
Because of the tepid popularity of "Alien 3", David Fincher's popularity is not too high, but the two leading actors of "Seven Deadly Sins" Matthew McConaughey and Morgan Freeman are the most popular in recent years. The well-known Hollywood stars, coupled with the gimmick of the Diane Kruger screen show, attracted a large number of audiences to buy tickets.
At the same time, influenced by the media's comments on the two films in recent weeks, a large number of people also chose "First Degree Fear". (To be continued.)