Meiyu: I don’t care about the cost when making movies

Chapter 204 Two new goals

At this time, after telling the general plot, Spielberg had already made an offer that could not be found in Hollywood.

"3000 million US dollars, plus 8% priority box office share!"

Such an offer made Wayne raise his eyebrows and couldn't help showing a surprised expression.

Even if the box office is not as high as Spielberg predicted, it is still the same as the 3.52 million in the previous life, which is still 4400 million.

He couldn't even give himself such a high price, right?
In this day and age, no matter whether it is Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Cruise, or Will Smith, it is impossible for him to get such a high condition if he is not involved in the production and is just an actor.

In terms of salary, the highest was Schwarzenegger's 3 million when he starred in "Terminator 3000".

If we want to get 8% of the box office share, the salary of Leo and Tom Cruise will be estimated to be reduced to 800 to [-] million.

After all, when Tom Cruise was filming "Top Gun 20" 2 years later, with the bonus of the sequel's salary, in order to get 10% of the box office share, the salary was reduced to 1300 million.

3000 million US dollars plus 8% of the box office share is definitely unique in this era.

"Of course, the Internet copyright will also belong to you after the film is completed."

Wayne couldn't help but take a deep breath.

This is another gift that may only cost about US$80 million now, but will be worth at least 10 times in ten years.

To be honest, he didn't want to accept it at first, but at such a high price, he was really tempted.

If this is a person who pursues the identity of an actor, he will most likely agree. After all, offering himself a salary of 4400 million is different from someone else offering him a salary of 4400 million.

By doing this, Spielberg is undoubtedly helping him gain popularity.

It's a pity that Wayne only does movies to make money, enjoy more beauties and enjoy life at the same time.

Although Spielberg gave him a lot, it was not as much as he could earn by starring in a movie. He was not as comfortable as being the boss of his own crew when working on someone else's crew.

So he declined politely: "Sorry, Steven, I have "Assassin's League" and "The Bourne Supremacy" to shoot in the second half of this year, and there may not be a schedule, so I can't agree to it for the time being."

In fact, in addition to these two movies, he is also preparing to star in "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" with Charlize Theron.

So let alone the second half of the year, it will be difficult to find time even in the first half of next year.

"That's such a shame." Spielberg said regretfully.

Although he gave a lot, he believed that with Wayne's current popularity, it would only bring him more benefits.

At the same time, he is indeed very optimistic about Wayne's acting skills.

Coupled with the fact that he could still befriend Wayne, he thought he could kill three birds with one stone by doing this.

Unfortunately, he misjudged Wayne's attitude towards acting.

To be honest, if Wayne was still in college in his previous life, he might have pursued film art, starred in more classic movies, and won more awards.

Unfortunately, his experience of struggling at the bottom of the industry in the years after graduation had long since awakened him.

If it wasn't for making money in this stinking entertainment industry, who would come here?

Even if it is the so-called 0 remuneration and 0 share for starring, it is still for fame or connections, and it is also for the sake of profit.

The world is all for profit.

There is nothing wrong with this sentence.

"By the way, how did Eva perform in Men in Black 2?" Wayne took the initiative to change the topic.

"Men in Black 2" officially started filming in the middle of last month.

Although he did not invest in the film in the end, Sony Columbia still gave him the heroine.

Because his vision in selecting heroines is now recognized by all Hollywood as being great, this heroine is not even a favor, it can only be said to be a deepening of cooperation.

The heroine in "Men in Black 2" is actually the villain female alien.

So Wayne naturally chose Eva Green, who had just returned from filming "Heidi and Grandpa".

There is no way, who makes Eva Green not only bad, but also bad and very aura.

The director of this film is Spielberg.

Yes, even if he has his own production company, Spielberg will still take on other movies.

One is unable to withstand the pressure of the Big Seven, and the other is also trying to make money.

"It's very good. Her acting skills are definitely very good among actresses of the same age. The most important thing is her aura. She is really suitable for playing this kind of voluptuous queen-type villain and bad woman. I have to say, it's ridiculous. The vision is really great”

Spielberg expressed heartfelt praise.

Later, I borrowed Po Xia Donkey to chat with Wayne about making movies, and his words contained a hint of the melancholy of a hero in his twilight years.

To be honest, Spielberg hasn't been having a great time lately.

Although in April this year, DreamWorks' "Shrek" released with a production cost of 6000 million, took in a North American box office of 2.68 million US dollars.

And overseas copyrights were sold for a total of US$5300 million.

Including the revenue from subsequent discs, it can earn almost [-] million US dollars, but it is the work of former Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, who is in charge of animation at DreamWorks, and has nothing to do with him.

As for the science fiction movie "Artificial Intelligence" that he wrote and directed and was released last month, although it has a good reputation in terms of reputation, it was far from ideal at the box office.

The same goes for this movie in its previous life.

Although it helped Spielberg win many awards and nominations, the North American box office was only US$7861 million.

And its production cost is as high as 1 million!
The poor box office performance in North America has made it difficult to sell overseas copyrights at high prices.

Although it relied on later disc sales, this movie was not a huge loss, just a small loss of 3000 to [-] million.

But this is also one of the biggest Waterloos in his career as a great director.

In addition, his next few films also failed at the box office.

"Jurassic Park 18", which will be released on the 3th of this month, has a global box office of only US$9300 million despite such a large IP and a production cost of US$3.68 million.

Although it was profitable, it was far from what was expected.

Moreover, the imdb score of this movie is only 5.9, which is pitifully low, and its reputation is sparse.

This is why Universal Pictures shelved this big IP for 15 years, and it was not until 2015 that it restarted and launched "Jurassic World".

After the reboot, the global box office of "Jurassic World" reached an astonishing 16.7 billion.

In addition, "Minority Report" directed by him and the previously mentioned "Cat and Mouse Game" will be released next year, as well as "Men in Black 2" for which he is the producer, although in the end it is profitable , but the box office was far below expectations.

Although the poor box office performance of "Men in Black 2" should not be blamed on one producer.But why is Hollywood sometimes more metaphysical than Hong Kong?

One film suffered a small loss, and four films failed to meet expectations at the box office.

The failure of five consecutive films made Spielberg quiet for more than a year to adjust his mentality, and it was not until 2004 that he filmed his next film.

You know, if a top director like him doesn't work for more than a year, he will lose hundreds of millions of dollars.

One thing to say is that Spielberg during this period was indeed a bit unable to grasp the market and could not keep up with the audience's preferences.

Fortunately, Wayne sold him "Dog Hotel", which somewhat restored his life.

In the long run, DreamWorks should be able to persist longer and attract more attention under the pressure of the Big Seven.

"But taking advantage of the poor box office and poor reputation of "Jurassic Park 3", we may be able to buy the rights from Universal."

Wayne looked at Spielberg in front of him and suddenly thought.

Of course, just one "American version of The Ring" or "Heidi and Grandpa" is definitely not enough.

At least it has to be "The Wedding Crashers" starring him.

Although this will reduce the income on Wedding Crashers, it is still very cost-effective in the long run.

Apart from anything else, without the big IP of "Jurassic Park", when Vivendi sold Universal in 04, the price would definitely be lower.

His move now is equivalent to an early acquisition.

"Speaking of which, the Vivendi of this world will probably sell Universal, right?"

After the party, Wayne, who returned to the manor, specifically asked Meda to investigate Vivendi's debt situation.

He was relieved by the results.

Just like in his previous life, Vivendi relied on high debt to quickly acquire Universal Music, PolyGram Music, 10% of the shares of Echostar, the world's second largest satellite TV operator in the United States, and Universal Pictures, and many other companies. It seems that it has become the second largest media company in the world after Time Warner in one fell swoop.

Comcast and Viacom had to step aside, and the Hearst Group was also suppressed.

But high debt brings high risks.

Once like his previous life, he lost 2002 billion euros in 233.

Then Vivendi has no choice but to sell Universal Pictures.

After all, its best asset is Universal Pictures, which can bring in more than $10 billion in profits every year, and it has to be sold at a reduced price.

“In addition, Vivendi’s Blizzard games are also high-quality assets.”

Wayne couldn't help but have thoughts.

After all, with the advancement of technology, games have become increasingly important and influential in the entertainment industry.

Not to mention anything else, the annual profits brought by a League of Legends and Genshin Impact are much higher than any of the seven giants except Disney.

Before this, the game with the most fame, the most players, and the highest revenue in the world was undoubtedly "World of Warcraft" produced by Blizzard Entertainment and launched in November 04.

How could he miss such a fortune tree and cornucopia if he wanted to build an all-round entertainment empire.

"After all, Blizzard Entertainment's acquisition priority is higher than that of Universal Pictures!" Wayne thought to himself.

Anyway, in more than ten years we will be in the era of streaming media. The revenue generated by streaming media will exceed that of entities. Universal Pictures' most valuable overseas distribution channel will not be so important to him.

Thinking of this, Wayne raised his hand and looked at the time on his watch and found that it was already after ten o'clock in the evening. After a moment of hesitation, he called Li Ying and told her to keep an eye on Blizzard Entertainment.

If you can find a suitable opportunity, you can make a decisive acquisition without waiting until Vivendi's financial crisis in 2002.

Two days later, Wayne attended a party hosted by Universal Pictures president Barry Diller.

As for the theme of the party, it is to celebrate the global box office of "Fast and Furious", which was released last month and is still in theaters, exceeding [-] million US dollars.

"Mr. Wayne, long time no see. I'm glad you can come to the party tonight."

Although Universal Pictures' performance in the past two years has been pretty good, as a qualified president, Barry Diller still behaved very humbly and enthusiastically in front of Wayne.

After all, as a worker, who doesn’t want his performance to be better and his dividends to be higher?

But this guy is also unlucky.

Originally doing well, Universal Pictures has achieved outstanding results under his leadership.

However, something happened to the parent company above and they needed to sell off Universal Pictures to stop the bleeding, so he only served as president of Universal until March 2003, when he was replaced by Jean-Rene Furto, who was sent by the parent company to preside over the sale. location.

If a person is sitting at home, disaster will come from heaven.

One can't help but lament the impermanence of fate.

But at this time, he was still very proud.

"Let me introduce to you, this is Miss Michelle Rodriguez, the heroine in "The Fast and the Furious", and Miss Jordana Brewster, who plays the role of the male protagonist's sister in the movie."

After a brief exchange of greetings, Barry Diller invited Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster.

Maybe in his aesthetic sense, these two people are indeed very attractive.

However, he obviously didn't inquire carefully. He didn't know that Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster had auditioned for "Wedding Crashers".

Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster didn't tell him about it either.

Otherwise he probably wouldn't have done it.

After glancing at the two Michelle, who looked calm on the surface, but with a faint look of anxiety and pleading in their eyes, Wayne smiled slightly, pretending to be meeting them for the first time, and greeted them.

This made both Michelle secretly relieved and filled with gratitude to Wayne.

However, this seems to give Barry Diller hope.

"I have to greet other guests and need to leave for a while. Mr. Wayne, please don't be polite and be casual." After saying that, Barry Diller left Michelle and Jordana to greet Wayne, and walked towards the other guests.

"Sorry, Mr. Wayne, we-"

"It's okay, it's not a big deal."

Wayne smiled and changed the subject, chatting with them about the movie. This gentlemanly behavior made the two of them more fond of her.

However, even if the party was hosted by a big shot like Barry Diller, everything at the party was still not completely under his control.

Soon after he left, all the women at the party, like sharks and hungry wolves asking about the smell of blood, came towards Wayne.

(End of this chapter)