Chapter 788: Kill
After two years ago, the auction took $2.5 billion to win Paramount in Disney's hand-painted animation department and moved the team to a new work park in Culver City, Los Angeles.
At this time, Paramount Pictures ceo Shirley Lansing came out of the office building of Paramount Animation Studios, and said goodbye to the person in charge, Roger Ailes, and got into his own car.
When the car started, Shirley Lansing, leaning against the leather seat, gently licked the forehead and recalled the issue of "The Legend of the Wind" that had just been discussed with Roger Ailes.
"The Legend of the Wind" tells the story of an Indian princess who rescued the British explorer and resolved the story of a race war. This was the project that was prepared during the Disney animation period. The detailed script, storyboard and sub-shots were confirmed during the Disney animation period. After Paramount bought the hand-painted animation team, the production of "The Winds" was immediately launched.
After the change of the club, the salary of the entire animation team has increased significantly. But the resentment that was abandoned by the fireflies was not so easy to dissipate. Over the past year, the entire hand-painted animation team has been clamoring for the creation of a masterpiece like "The Lion King", so that the fireflies are the original The decision to abandon the hand-drawn animation department was regrettable.
Therefore, although the usual two-year animation cycle has been shortened to one and a half years, the quality of "The Legend of the Wind" is still very good. Even during the screening, even Lei Shidong himself is full of praise for this animation.
In order to realize Viacom's diversified ambitions in the entire industry chain, Lei Shidong's support for the Paramount animation department can be said to spare no effort.
However, Shirley Lansing is far less optimistic than Lei Shidong and the animation team.
Despite strict cost control, due to the skyrocketing salary of animators, the production cost of "Spirit of the Wind" still reached 80 million US dollars. With the subsequent announcement, the total investment is likely to exceed 120 million US dollars, equivalent to "Lion Wang made twice the cost of making a declaration.
The sequel to "Lion King" being produced and the two animations of "Mulan" are definitely high and low, and I want to use Paramount animation as the locomotive. I am connected with Viacom's Blockbuster and Nick Children. Taiwan and other channel resources have created a diversified industrial chain that can fully exploit the commercial potential of animated films. It is conservatively estimated that it will take five years.
Prior to this, I wanted to take back the investment in these high-production animation projects, mainly relying on the movie box office.
It is conceivable that in the long process of opening up the industrial chain, these hugely-injected animated films will seriously damage the capital chain of Paramount Pictures as long as they have a box office failure. They even have to go to Warner Bros. The parent company provides profits and also receives financial support from headquarters.
Moreover, Shirley Lansing has always had doubts about why fireflies suddenly sold Disney's hand-drawn animation department.
After all, it was at the peak of the $1 billion global box office of Lion King, and it was impossible for a slightly sane corporate executive to make such a counter-intuitive decision.
But if the young man is arrogant, this reason is even more untenable. The firefly has risen miraculously in less than ten years and has become the largest media group in North America and the world, creating such a media empire. How can I be willing to use my mind? However, if the sale of the hand-drawn animation department is the result of deliberate consideration, then Paramount is likely to have taken on some very hidden risks.
The decision to acquire the Disney hand-painted animation department was decided by Lei Shidong personally. Shirley Lansing knew that even if there was a problem in the animation department, she would not bear too much responsibility, but as a ceo of Paramount Pictures, once this kind of thing When it happens, her days will definitely not be better.
Everything was a foregone conclusion. Shirley Lansing struggled for a while and quickly let go of it. She decided to put more energy into the live-action movie. Although there is no such rich neighborhood as an animated film, the reality movie is always Hollywood. Mainstream.
"Is there any news from Steven?" Sit up and sit up straight, and Shirley Lansing asks the assistant in the front row.
With the support of Microsoft, Spielberg will join David Geffen and George Lucas to set up a new large-scale studio, which is already well known in the industry.
Although everyone knows that the studio will gradually build its own distribution network, unless it is the same as the original fireflies, the new line, Disney's distribution channels, but at least in recent years, Spielberg and others certainly need The film will be distributed to the seven major studios.
Because the main investors behind Bill Gates and the fireflies are not harmonious, the three companies in the firefly system will certainly not be considered by Spielberg. Sony Pictures has not yet struggled from the mess, Warner There are already a number of affiliated production companies. Spielberg can choose only Paramount and Universal, and both are trying their best to win this cooperation project.
The assistant replied: "Mr. Spielberg's assistant recently called and said that at 8 o'clock this evening, Mr. Spielberg can draw time. I have already booked a seat at the Morton Restaurant in Beverly Hills."
Shirley Lansing was satisfied and nodded, looked at the watch, and was only less than an hour away from the time of work. He was about to tell the driver to drive home, so he could prepare for the evening meal in advance, and the car fax in the front row of the car. Suddenly screamed.
After five or six pages of information were printed, the sound of the fax machine stopped.
The assistant swept the information roughly and handed it to Shirley Lansing in the back row: "It was the "Fear of First Level". In the past two days, the media suddenly appeared... Well, Ms. Lansing, you personally have a look."
"First-Level Fear" is a crime thriller directed by Gregory Hobrit, who has served as a director and producer of famous TV dramas such as "Luocheng Legal Network" and "New York Crime Squad".
The film cost $30 million and is considered a medium-cost production.
Perhaps because of the TV director, Gregory Hobrit could not control the rhythm of the film well, resulting in the film's initial filming of more than 160 minutes. After many revisions, it was compressed to 130 minutes, although It still looks verbose, but it can't be modified, otherwise it will affect the integrity of the whole story.
After the initial internal test, the newcomer named Edward Norton was a stunning performance, and other aspects were not optimistic about management.
Therefore, the company has not been too focused on the issue.
Until recently, Gary Lucchesi, the producer of "First Fear", thought of a hype that linked the film to the "Seven Deadly Sins", which is the newest line of fireflies, to raise the popularity of "First Fear". In turn, it promotes the marketing plan of the box office.
Today is Wednesday, "First Fear" and "Seven Deadly Sins" will be released on this Friday. Through all aspects of feedback, Shirley Lansing is also very satisfied with the effect of Gary Lucchesi's marketing plan. .
Seeing that the assistant had seen the fax after the words, Shirley Lansing took the faxes curiously. The assistant just forgot to arrange the fax pages. Shirley Lansing first saw some media. A commentary on First Level Fear.
"...If the "Seven Deadly Sins" only use some religious-style killing techniques to give people a simple sensory stimulation, the shocking reversal of the "First-Level Fear" ending brings us pure spiritual shock. Countless theories and facts Have once proved a point of view, psychological fear is the real fear, in this respect, as the same type of crime thriller, "First-level fear" will undoubtedly achieve this extreme, and "Seven sins" is more like It is a routine flooding plasma film."
"..."Front Level Fear" is undoubtedly a highly accomplished crime thriller. There is no such thing as a mystery in the plot, nor an old-fashioned picture that is misleading to the audience. Some people just think that everything is dusty. When it’s timed, it’s a reversal of shock and fear in the blink of an eye. If you can score 7 points with the Seven Deadly Sins that show off the killing method, you can get at least 8.5 points for Level 1 Fear. I have been looking forward to seeing this truly exciting film again in the cinema when the film is officially released."
"..."
Just a few sweeps in a hurry, Shirley Lansing’s brow wrinkled, and the established propaganda technique provoked the contrast between Edward Norton and Kevin Spacey’s villains. Now what is the situation? The reputation of "Seven Deadly Sins" in the circle has already been confirmed, otherwise it is impossible to get the Sundance Film Festival Jury Prize.
Now the quality of the film that promotes "First-Level Fear" is better than the "Seven Deadly Sins". Isn't this waiting for the film to be hit after it is released?
Looking up to the assistant, "Give me a call from Gary."
While picking up the car phone and dialing, the assistant turned back and said, "Ms. Lansing, this is what Mr. Lucchesi sent."
Shirley Lansing nodded and flipped through a few pages of faxes to find the note 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. Apart from Paramount, who will pay attention to the two films is naturally self-evident.
The phone dialed, the assistant handed over the microphone, and Shirley Lansing discussed with Gary Lucchesi, who was in charge of the "First Fear", for a while, but she couldn't help but put down the phone and read the faxes in her hand several times. There were several thoughts flashing in my mind, but I found that it was not suitable.
These media comments came from the Firefly Group and are almost certain.
Shirley Lansing knows that even if she is, she will often make some counterattacks if she encounters such a thing, but it is unlikely that there will be firecrackers that are so helpless.
After all, these comments are to boast the "first-level fear" to the benefits, Paramount can not publicly say that our film is not good enough, but also need to improve.
But if you don't do this, you can only let the "first-level fear" quality spread better than the "seven sins". Then, when the two films are released on a large scale, the media and the audience find themselves cheated. By then, the result will be even more unpredictable.
Obviously, this is killing, holding you high, then falling, broken bones.
The quality of the "First-Level Fear" did not meet Paramount's expectations, so the film's announcement was not too strong. But that doesn't mean Shirley Lansing doesn't care about the movie. The entire Paramount, with a production cost of more than $30 million a year, will never exceed ten.
Thinking about it, Shirley Lansing said: "Go back to the headquarters, call Garry and discuss the countermeasures."
"What about the meeting with Mr. Spielberg?"
"As long as you are not late, you should pay attention to the time and remind me at that time."
......
The propaganda work of a movie is often started from the film project.
However, the real word-of-mouth of the film is established in a few weeks before and after the official release. Before that, you can only find ways to let the audience know that there is such a film until the film begins a small-scale preview, and the official On the large-scale release, word of mouth will spread.
After winning the Sundance Film Festival jury award in January, the existence of Seven Deadly Sins in the media and fan community was very strong.
Because of Paramount's clever joint propaganda, close to Easter, many people suddenly noticed a movie of the same type called "First Fear."
Ordinary people will seriously study movie reviews. They will not feel too much. They will only feel the impact of the whole trend of the Lunlun. They gradually feel that perhaps this "level one fear" is really like the newspaper said. That's better than the Seven Deadly Sins.
In just a few days, Easter is not a statutory holiday in North America, but this time is the spring break time for American college students. Most American college students will get at least one week of spring break during this period, although some of them are in good condition. Young people will choose to travel, but most people will not have this economic strength after all.
However, watching a few movies with family and friends during the holidays is also very popular for Americans.
"Seven Deadly Sins" and "First-Class Fear" are undoubtedly the first choice for most people watching this Easter.
On Friday, April 5, the day before Easter, Seven Deadly Sins and First Fear were released simultaneously on 2,500 and 1900 screens.
Because of the tepid love of Alien 3, David Finch’s popularity is not too high, but Matthew McConaughey and Morgan Freeman of the Seven Deadly Sins are in recent years. The well-known Hollywood star, coupled with the singer of the Virgin Angel surname goddess Diane Kruger, attracted a large number of spectators 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 have chosen "First-Level Fear." (To be continued.)