Chapter 792: Active jump
Unless Spielberg and others can support a large studio in Hollywood with the support of Microsoft, improve the distribution channels. Otherwise, the chances of the brand new Ann Berlin filming to gain a foothold in Hollywood are very low. At least in recent years, Eric has never taken this studio to heart.
After a deep discussion with Harvey Weinstein, after several consultations, the other party finally decided to take over the FFM TV station, and Eric subsequently succeeded in winning the script of the Shudao Family.
Harvey Weinstein signed the contract and began to integrate the three paid cable stations. At this time, the FFM TV station actually exists only in the planning plan, and several TV stations should be taken from the staff team. It will take at least a few months to fully integrate the broadcast channels. The best estimate is that FFM can be officially launched under the name in the fall of September.
After the FFM is launched, it will definitely take a period of adaptation to form a stable user base. In this turbulent period, it is certainly not wise to rush to launch the "Sisters of the Shu Road". Eric plans to launch this series again next fall, which will also allow the creator David Chess to have more time. Polish the episodes more refined.
Eric has been working on projects such as FFM TV, Titanic, Rush Hour, and Jedi 2, until late May, when Hollywood studios began to release new films, indicating the summer of 1996. The file officially arrived.
The release date of "The Matrix" was on May 31. Prior to this, only Time Warner's "Killing Moment" box office was not bad.
"Killing Moments" is a crime film starring black movie star Samuel Jackson, who tells the story of American ethnic conflict. To be honest, this film is not too popular with film critics because it involves ethnic issues and to ensure that no taboos are violated. The critics have become shackled and it is difficult to give a fair evaluation of this type of film.
The average score of "Killing Moment" in the media is only about 7 points, and it is not up. If it is not the film type, the film critics will consciously pay attention to it, and the estimated score will be directly drawn to the 6-point pass. With the addition of several movie stars such as Samuel Jackson, the film won more than $23 million in the first week of the box office.
Because race-type films are difficult to achieve too good box office results overseas, with a cost of $40 million in production, Warner wants to recover the cost at the box office unless Killer Moment is able to get out of a box office long line. Some are low.
Eric saw the relevant information, just felt that Warner seemed to choose the wrong period, habitually fill a cannon fodder before the summer file, and then the "Matrix" and other large-scale release, "The Killing Moment" and The box office space will be greatly squeezed, and it is impossible to get out of the long line.
Such a film, if it can be placed at the end of the summer file, may also achieve unexpected box office results. After all, the serious topic involving ethnic conflict may be interested in adult audiences, and the most popular among summer movie viewers. The student body is certainly not too interested.
Of course, Eric did not have any thoughts about Warner, because the situation of fireflies this year does not seem to be very good.
From March, the firefly officially announced that the "Matrix" rating began at the R level, the media has never stopped talking about the film.
The "Matrix" novels that Eric wrote at the beginning did not involve too much philosophical thinking. It was more like a pure science fiction novel with a wide open mind. This type of subject matter, with a little attention, is impossible to shoot. Become an R-rated film. The viewing requirements for R-rated films are for young people under the age of 17 and need to be accompanied by parents or adults. This rating almost completely blocks a large group of middle school students in the summer.
Because of the natural audience restrictions, before the "Matrix," the North American R-rated film has the highest box office score of about 200 million US dollars, just like the last two years Cameron and Catherine in the summer file against the Terminator 2 And "Saving Private Ryan", although the two films are very hot, but because of the R-rated rating, North American local box office has remained at more than 200 million US dollars.
Two hundred million dollars, almost the same as the R-class box office ceiling in the circle.
Even though the "Matrix" got a $200 million box office, coupled with overseas issuance, Fireflies can still make a profit, but this is far from the industry's expectations.
In the eyes of many people, "The Matrix" is no less creative than Jurassic Park. The top two box office in Jurassic Park has broken through $300 million. Correspondingly, "The Matrix." Should have the same box office potential.
Therefore, after the release of the R-rated rating of the film, the media generally felt that it was very likely that Eric’s selection of the Wachowski, the newcomer, had screwed up the project. Even the fireflies are not lacking in this view. Kasenberger couldn't help but suggest that Eric personally intervened in the "Matrix" film clip and changed it to PG-13 level.
However, these requirements were rejected by Eric.
In addition to "The Matrix", the "Titanic", which is still in the late stage, has also become the focus of media attention. 'Titanic's production costs more than 200 million US dollars. Fireflies are afraid to repeat Warner's "Future Water World" The news headlines of the class appear very frequently in major media formats.
Perhaps the fireflies have been too strong in the past few years, and too many people have been overwhelmed. Therefore, this year showed a slight decline, and a group of people began to fantasize about the beautiful vision of turning serfs to sing.
Eric’s comments on these arguments are just a smile, and I don’t say that everything has not settled. Even if this year’s fireflies have really failed in the film business, it’s impossible to cause too much damage to the firefly group that has laid a solid foundation. The whole group still shows a vigorous upward trend as a whole.
Although Eric is not too concerned about the outside world, it does not mean that others.
Cameron clearly understands that if a movie box office with a production cost of 200 million US dollars fails, the blow to his personal career is almost devastating. Therefore, although the harshness of the pursuit of perfection has not changed, Cameron recently The temper of the workplace has started to violently, and the number of deaf people and the decibels have soared.
Eric received a call from Stan Winston and voluntarily took the initiative to show Cameron that a film failed the fireflies.
Of course, if you really don't want to go, then after the "Titanic", let the fireflies shoot a movie.
Cameron was so touched by nature that he readily agreed with Eric’s suggestion and accepted Eric’s first big movie, Spiderman, in the Marvel series.
Why do you say ‘again’?
Because Cameron had planned to shoot "Spider-Man" as early as 1991, then Carlos bought the copyright from Marvel. However, the "Spider-Man" script that Cameron conceived was too large, and even Peter Parker and Mary Jane made a love scene on the Brooklyn Bridge, which was properly rated as R. In the end, Cameron gave up the project because of various reasons such as cost and risk. The copyright of Spider-Man was also taken back by Eric in previous years.
Of course, this time since Cameron has actively jumped into this pit, Eric will certainly not come from his temper. As the opening masterpiece of the Marvel movie universe series, the new version of "Spider-Man" in the future is almost equivalent to the overall tone of the Marvel series of movies. Therefore, the R level is not acceptable anyway.
Almost busy with the work that needs to be handled personally, the time has come to the end of May.
On May 27th, the premiere of "The Matrix" was held at the Los Angeles Music Center. After attending the premiere tonight, Eric will fly to the Bahamas tomorrow. The Royal Casino of 007 has been assembled locally. .
Although both inside and outside the company are very worried about the box office prospects of "The Matrix", the size of the premiere is no less than the premiere of the previous year.
In addition to the Wachowski brothers, actor Keanu Reeves and other creative teams, there are also a large number of Hollywood superstars coming to join.
Eric and Drew arrived at the premiere with the car at 6:30 in the afternoon. The two sides of the red carpet just boiled, and I was able to see the three-person group of "Jiao Jiaowa" walking in front.
Although "Royal Casino of 007" will cross the story of "Jiao Jiaowa", the three Charlie's angels are carefully controlled within ten minutes. This is actually a hunger marketing method, a ten-minute cross story. It will not only allow the audience to generate enough excitement, but will not let them completely satisfy, so it will look forward to more crosses in the future.
The three people of Charlize were mainly concentrated in Europe, and the shooting time had to wait a few months, so they did not go to the Bahamas.
Eric and Drew walked through the red carpet, ignoring the excitement of the reporters on both sides, and taking some photos with a smile, they walked into the premiere scene.
In the background, I greeted the guests who came to the party one by one. The time was almost seven o'clock, and everyone went to the auditorium.
Eric and Kasenberg are sitting together, and on the other side is Andy Wachowski, because I know that Eric will definitely talk to them about some things, and Shantou took the initiative to choose the star guest seats in the back row.
When the auditorium is full of people, after the simple speech, the film officially begins to play.
Looking at the animated scene where the familiar fireflies flew to the sky, Eric noticed that Andy Wachowski’s fist clenched and reached for the beat. He smiled and said: “Andy, confident, I am right. This movie is very confident."
Andy Wachowski smiled at Eric. He certainly didn't lack self-confidence. It was just that the success or failure of the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars was more about his future director career. If he was confident, it would be inevitable at this time. Feeling awkward.
Eric has a lot of power over this project. After he first identified a script that was not much different from his previous life, he rarely paid attention to specific shooting matters. Of course, the finishing touch on 'bullet time' is After confirming that the crew had been omitted, he immediately raised it.
In addition to some changes in the role, the first version of the "Matrix" first story and the original version has not changed much, not that Eric does not want to make some modifications to the previous shackles, except that he spares a lot of energy to fully control this The project, otherwise willingly intervene, will only disrupt the shooting rhythm of the Wachowski brothers, and the result will definitely not be worth the candle.
The story still begins with the pursuit of Trinity by Smith Smith. Due to the hint of the virtual world, the whole lens has a faint green color. Together with the overall darkness of the film, many film critics at the scene are pre-emptive. I feel that this is a manifestation of the lack of skills of the Wachowski brothers.
It wasn't until the creators of the 360-degree lens rotation effect that Trinity flew in the air, which made many film critics realize that this film may not be as bad as imagined, with cool motion design, only a few tens of seconds. The fighting scene has already made many ordinary fans who were invited to watch the scene exclaimed.
After the suspenseful opening, Keanu Reeves played the leading role of Nio, who is a top hacker on the verge of awakening. When he was found by Clinetti, he experienced a series of changes and the leader of the Rebels. Fez met and eventually chose to return to the real world.
The real world two hundred years later.
When Neo woke up, the giant human culture medium that provided bio-energy for robots appeared in front of the audience. The realistic special effects of the digital field once again caused the excitement inside the audience. Some viewers even subconsciously touched their own brains.
As the story continues, the instinctive film critics of the venue also discovered the clever use of the film's color. When the protagonist is in the virtual world, there is a faint green color around, but when the protagonist returns to the real world, the green light disappears completely. People can only see the flowing green data stream on the display of the spacecraft.
At the same time, the various real and illusory discussions between Neo and the various members of the Rebels and the Prophet also made the film more philosophical under the appearance of science fiction.
Of course, these are just the opinions of professional film critics. The average audience has been attracted by the contrast between reality and illusion in the film, especially the final battle. When the 'bullet time' appears, it is like the original 360 degrees. The lens rotation effect is general, and once again, many viewers are hooked.
When the film ended in Neo's suspenseful self-report, the lights lit up, and after a short silence, the audience quickly sang a warm applause. Some excited fans even shouted the names of several filmmakers.