Hollywood Hunter

The day after Simon and Jack Valenti met, Daenerys Entertainment was barely the first self-released film "Avilla Cry" was released in North America, with a screen size of 553 yuan.

Although it is a project left over by New World Entertainment, the media has paid considerable attention.

On the second day of the film’s release, many major North American newspapers published reviews of the film. However, the reputation of the film is mostly negative, and it has not even reached the passing level. The Hollywood Reporter unceremoniously criticized the movie as'a horror film that tried to imitate various horror genres but appeared nondescript'.

Now that he decided to send the movie to theaters, Simon did not make do with it, and specifically approved a $2 million publicity budget for the film's copy printing and advertising. In the 1980s, such publicity expenditures were already considerable.

However, in the first three days of the first weekend, "Avilla Cry" still only won $2.21 million in the box office, and the total box office in the first week is expected to be only about $3 million.

At the beginning of the first week of 3 million US dollars, according to the general box office trend of this era, the total North American box office of the film is roughly between 8 million and 10 million US dollars.

The production cost of "Evira Cry" is 7.5 million US dollars, and the total investment is 9.5 million US dollars, including the 2 million US dollars publicity budget.

The box office alone obviously cannot recover the cost of this film. Even after the later overseas channels, video tape and TV platform distribution can pay back or even make a little profit, it is a failed project after the time cost is included.

Daenerys Entertainment executives had already expected this result and were not surprised. However, after the box office data of "Avilla Fright" was released, many media began to advocate Simon Westero's argument of "falling down from the altar", saying that "Avilla Fright" was probably Daenerys Entertainment begins to mediocrity.

The New York Times also wrote an article to analyze that Simon's huge investment in the acquisition of New World Entertainment is a silly move. Too eager expansion will only make Daenerys Entertainment quickly collapse and decline.

Simon has not been affected by these media comments. He can clearly feel the benefits of acquiring New World Entertainment for his foothold in Hollywood during this period.

By purchasing this company, Daenerys Entertainment acquired an experienced film and television production and distribution team at one time, and owned a number of valuable film and television project copyrights, and consolidated its position in the field of television program suppliers. The most important Yes, I also got Marvel, all of which are totally worth 250 million dollars.

Although Simon didn't mind the loss of "Avera Fright", a senior executive from New World Entertainment didn't think so.

"Avilla Cry" failed at the box office, and Robert Rem and others were obviously a little guilty when they faced Simon in the following days. However, Simon did not say anything to appease these people. Only when there is pressure, there is motivation. The defeat of "Aviera" is also a spur to them.

When "Avilla Fright" caused media discussion, Daenerys Entertainment sent "Scream and Scream" to the MPAA for rating for the third time on a new Monday. In addition, the later stages of the three films "Rain Man", "Death Poetry Society" and "Steel Magnolia" have all been completed. Simon is still waiting for the attitude of the traditional Hollywood forces and did not eagerly submit these three films for review.

Daenerys Entertainment Burbank Division.

The time is Wednesday, October 5th.

Unlike "Scream", due to the themes of the three films "Rain Man", "Death Poetry Society" and "Steel Magnolia", the MPAA cannot give a rating of more than R even if it makes trouble. Therefore, although it has not yet been graded, Daenerys Entertainment has begun to arrange for representatives of major theaters in North America to participate in the trial film in order to sign the screening agreement.

In the screening hall, the ending subtitles of "Steel Magnolia" rose. Robert Rem, who personally hosted the trial film, got up and invited Richard Hill, the vice president of the United American Cinemas in charge of film source procurement, to come to the next door. Reception room.

This is the second screening today, and the two have already watched a sample of "Death Poetry Society" in the morning.

In the 1980s, the large-scale integration of North American theaters had not yet begun. The United American Theater, which was spun off from United American after Paramount’s judgment, is still the largest theater chain company of this era, with a total of more than 2,200 across North America. Block screen, the market share is close to 10%.

In order to make up for the bad impression that the box office failure of "Aviera" may have in Simon's mind, in recent days, Robert Rem has been tirelessly pushing forward the release of several films at the end of the year. For three consecutive days, he personally accompanied some of the cinema executives to watch samples and negotiate cooperation agreements.

Moreover, Robert Rem also faintly anticipated that his boss might have a showdown with the MPAA chairman Jack Valenti last Friday. Several major film companies directly affiliated to the film companies that were interested in cooperating have refused in recent days. With his trial film invitation, Robert Rem can now only obtain screen resources from the cinema chains outside the seven major systems.

However, Robert Rem is not too worried about the current situation.

Because of the previous Hollywood strike, the major theaters in North America were generally in a state of shortage of film sources during this period, and the quality of the films shown could not be compared with the same period in previous years. In the previous three consecutive weeks, the total box office in North America in a single week was in a state of severe shrinkage below US$30 million. Coupled with the box office miracle created by Daenerys Entertainment in the past two years, Robert Rem has the full confidence to secure enough screens for the company's films without relying on the resources of the seven major theaters.

"Charlie, counting the "Screaming and Screaming" we have seen before, the three movies were personally selected by Simon and supervising the production of the whole process. "Screaming and Screaming" is actually Simon's creativity. Therefore, the three films, Daenerys Entertainment needs to guarantee a combined 55% box office share."

"I have heard about the rating problems encountered by "Scream and Scream"," Richard Hill held a cup of coffee with a confident expression, and said, "Bob, you probably don’t know about "Scream". Can "Call" be released on time. "Death Poetry Society" and "Steel Magnolia" may not have such a problem, but companies such as Cineplex Cinemas under Universal Control and Loews Cinemas under Columbia should not open screens for you Resources. So, 40%, we can only give so much. In addition, if "Screaming" can pass the rating, we can sign the contract for these three films at one time, but in New York, Chicago, etc. In core cities, Lianmei Cinemas needs to have exclusive screening rights."

Because of attendance, the box office sharing contracts signed by film companies and theaters are usually declining in a stepwise manner. A few weeks before the opening of the picture, the film company can get at least 60% of the box office share. As the attendance rate decreases, the film company's share of the share is gradually reduced.

But in general, the final box office share that mainstream film companies can get for commercial films is about 40% to 55%. The North American film industry has experienced more than half a century of development, and the industry also has very mature calculation formulas for this. Therefore, Robert Rem and Richard Hill did not entangle the details, but directly discussed the final share ratio.

Robert Rem heard Richard Hill’s request and shook his head: "Charlie, our company’s situation may not be too good, but your situation is actually worse. Now all theaters lack film sources. And, if The Big Seven were able to achieve the box office results of Daenerys Entertainment in the previous two years, and the percentage of the box office they asked for will be even higher. You may have to pay a huge deposit for the film source as you did in the past. So, 55%, you agree with this. Only at one point can we continue talking."

Richard Hill retorted: "The previous results do not represent the future. "Scream" may be good. After all, it was an idea conceived by Westeros himself, but he did not sign it. As for " "Dead Poetry Society" and "Steel Magnolia", if it weren't for the big stars such as Robert De Niro and Jessica Lange, they would actually be more literary and artistic films, and they would not have much selling points at all."

"The original "When Harry Met Sally", the major Hollywood studios also felt that it lacked a selling point, but this movie got a North American box office of 110 million US dollars," Robert Rem did not give in at all, continuing Said: "Charlie, if you want to make this business, it's better not to consider the seven external factors. The suppression of Daenerys Entertainment by the seven major film companies cannot help you make more money. But working with us is okay. You have to understand that it is not just these three movies now, Daenerys Entertainment will produce more movies in the future. If we have a happy cooperation this time, Daenerys Entertainment will definitely choose first in the future Lianmei Cinema acts as an exhibitor."

Richard Hill heard Robert Rem's last words and looked at the other's expression, and immediately understood the subtext.

If this cooperation is not happy, the United American Cinema will definitely be rejected by Daenerys Entertainment.

In recent days, Richard Hill has successively received calls from executives of some major Hollywood studios, asking the United American Cinemas not to cooperate with Daenerys Entertainment.

Obviously, because of some undisclosed reasons, the relationship between Daenerys Entertainment and the Seventh University has begun to froze.

Robert Rem originally thought that Daenerys Entertainment's attitude would be weak this time, but he did not expect that Robert Rem, who was mild-tempered during the New World Entertainment period, would suddenly be so strong.

Richard Hill thought of Simon inexplicably.

That's really a sharp-edged young man.

Probably what kind of boss will produce what kind of employees.

After continuing to fight for it, Robert Rem refused to give up on the ratio, but Richard Hill found that he really did not have the confidence to entertain Daenerys.

After all, Lianmei Cinemas only owns less than 10% of the screens in North America, even if it is the seventh largest, after the government released the restrictions on movie companies operating theaters a few years ago, they only obtained about 15% of the total screens. These are the highest quality screen resources, but in North America, 75% of the movie screens are in the hands of other large and small theater operators.

The long-standing interest relationship has made the Big Seven have a very strong influence on the entire North American theater market. If it is other second- and third-tier film companies, the Big Seven will make efforts at the same time. Out of fear, the major theaters may really adopt Means of blocking.

However, Daenerys Entertainment is not in this list, because the film company is so dazzling.

Six films have been produced in two years, all of which have been in the top ten of the annual list. Five of them have achieved local breakthroughs of over 100 million. If such an amazing box office performance can continue, who will have the confidence to reject the huge benefits contained in it?

Although he was perfunctory in those calls from the Seventh Congress, Richard Hill never considered cooperating with the Seventh Congress to block Daenerys Entertainment. He believes that many other theater operators in the industry will not do the same. do. Perhaps, only the part of the theaters directly affiliated to the seven major theaters cannot cooperate with Daenerys Entertainment due to the overall interests of the parent company, but Richard Hill feels that those in charge of theaters must be scolding their mothers.

As a professional manager, everyone has performance indicators.

With this in mind, Richard Hill glanced at the reception room and suddenly understood something.

In the past, film companies usually invited the directors of multiple theaters to participate in the trial film, but this time, Robert Rem only invited him. Obviously, this is not just because Lianmei Cinemas is the largest theater chain company in North America. Daenerys Entertainment does not want to give the major theaters the opportunity to connect.

Without the confidence to be stiff with Daenerys Entertainment, the terms of cooperation proposed by Daenerys Entertainment are not harsh. In the ensuing negotiations, Richard Hill's attitude softened unconsciously.

By the end of get off work, the two parties have basically finalized the screening agreement.

To reach a cooperation, Richard Hill refused Robert Rem's dinner invitation to leave. Robert Rem originally planned to go home from get off work, and temporarily received a call from Simon. The headquarter just got the new label titles of three companies, Daenerys Films, New World Films, and Gaomen Films. Simon I want him to come and have a look.

Since the boss was still working at the end of the day, Robert Rem had nothing to complain, and drove from Burbank to Santa Monica.

Upon arriving at the Santa Monica Daenerys Entertainment Headquarters, Robert Rem quickly came to a meeting room upstairs.

Simon and Amy were all here and greeted them. Everyone sat down at the conference table and saw that Simon’s female assistant was adjusting the projector. Robert Rem took the initiative to talk about the outcome of the afternoon’s negotiations.

"The United American Cinemas agreed to sign all three films, with a combined box office share of 55% and a guaranteed four-week screening time. Richard Hill originally wanted exclusive screening rights in some core cities, but I refused. But I refused. , Lianmei Cinemas is not optimistic about "Steel Magnolia", they are only willing to give 200 screens, if "Screaming and Screaming" can pass the rating review, this movie and the subsequent "Death Poetry Society", they can all Provides 500 screens. In addition, the internal screenings of Simon, "Steel Magnolia" and "Death Poetry Society" last week were very good. I wonder if we can adopt the strategy of opening small-scale paintings in advance to accumulate reputation. , Just like Disney's "Good Morning Vietnam" last year?"

In theory, "Death Poetry Club" and "Steel Magnolia" should participate in some film festivals for pre-publicity before the release. However, the schedules of these films are very tight, and there is no time to arrange similar marketing links.

Simon heard Robert Rem's suggestion and nodded after thinking about it: "Yes, you can discuss a plan first."