In the summer, especially every weekend in May and June, almost all major commercial films are released. Some competition is inevitable. After Memorial Day, the May killings are temporarily over, but the enthusiasm is constantly being pushed up. The market will not stop competing for this, and there are a lot of big productions every weekend in June.
Before the first weekend of June arrived, Duke put aside his screenwriting and other work, once again embarked on the premiere red carpet, "Mission Impossible", which he and Tom Cruise occupied the main investment share, was officially released.
"Congratulations, Duke."
As soon as he walked into the VIP lounge of the theater, Tom Cruise took the initiative to greet him, his face was full of enthusiasm, "Once again the summer box office list won three consecutive times! I now regret it, I regret not appearing in Neo."
In the face of Cruise's smiling face, Duke will not be stingy with a smile, "I think Ian Hante will also become a classic on the screen."
"Thank you."
Tom Cruise let go of Nicole Kidman's hand and walked over and gave him a strong hug, "Thank you for supporting me."
With Tom Cruise's character, it's impossible not to conflict with Paramount Pictures during the filming. Duke has always let his agent in the crew stand ¢, Tom Cruise. On the side.
Again, Tom Cruise wanted "Mission Impossible" more successful than anyone else, and this guy had a good vision of movies at the turn of the century, let alone Pat King. Silly kept mentioning him by her side.
"Hello, Mary."
"Hello, Duke."
After embracing Tom Cruise, Duke shook hands with Nicole Kidman again. The couple seemed to have finished socializing, and always stood by and chatted with him.
"I think we can work together again."
Stand opposite Duke. Tom Cruise's eyes are full of complexities, "I have never had a single film with a North American box office of 200 million dollars, and you..."
He sighed softly, "It hasn't been a month since "The Matrix" was released, and the North American box office went for 300 million US dollars."
"Hey, Tom. You are too exaggerated."
Such enthusiastic Tom Cruise made Duke a little uncomfortable, so he could only say with a smile, "Yesterday's statistics were only more than 230 million US dollars, which is still quite a distance from 300 million US dollars.
"The Matrix" can't go against the normal commercial film laws like "Titanic". With the increase of the show time, the popularity has begun to drop significantly. It is still quite difficult for the North American box office to exceed 300 million US dollars.
This is a summer vacation with fierce competition. As long as the popularity of the film drops, the scale of the theater will inevitably shrink. In the few weekends in June, with the release of once strong films in memory such as "Mission Impossible", "Mulan" and "Weird Doctor Dudley", the box office of "The Matrix" will inevitably suffer a huge impact in June.
"I have confidence in you!" Tom Cruise seemed to be more confident than Duke, and turned to look at Nicole Kidman, "I have discussed with Mary many times, and this year's box office champion is not sure. You will be in your bag again."
Nicole Kidman smiled cooperatively, "I do think so."
Looked at Tom Cruise, then at Nicole Kidman. Suddenly, Duke felt that the two men were much more harmonious than when they met last time.
However, this has nothing to do with him. Duke then threw this idea aside, and continued the movie with the Cruises, but before saying a few words, Shelly Lansing, the ceo of Paramount Pictures, walked over.
"Congratulations on another movie that is on sale." She proactively stretched out her hand, and Duke shook it gently, "Thank you."
Although "The Matrix" ratings and shooting hype. Paramount Pictures did not do much, and Duke also touched the interests of Paramount Pictures in "Brave Heart" and "Titanic", but on this occasion, he and Shelly? Lansing smiled brightly. As if the competition in the past never existed.
In fact, this is also the norm in Hollywood. This year's partners, maybe next year will become competitors due to the collision of movie schedules. If you glared at every competitor, then you don't need to mix in this circle.
"It can be seen that "The Matrix" is a series."
While joking, Shelly Lansing suddenly tentatively asked, "Duke, are you interested in handing over the sequel to Paramount Pictures? Our terms..."
Yes, she really wants to get the copyright of the sequel to the "The Matrix" series, and there are definitely not a few people in Hollywood who have the same idea.
Box-office movies appear every year, but the surrounding movies are quite rare.
In recent years, as the cost of publicity has been increasing, even if commercial films are successful at the box office, the profits that can be obtained from the box office continue to shrink, and the sales of peripheral copyrights and various peripheral products account for more and more revenue. weight.
In 1993's "Jurassic Park", Spielberg alone took away 200 million US dollars of income from it. Even so, Universal Pictures is still making a lot of money, because its surroundings are so popular!
Her eyes are fixed on "The Matrix", not because of the box office, but the continued hot peripheral products.
At present, there are no specific statistics on overseas sales, but people at the top of Hollywood have already got the North American sales of "The Matrix" peripheral products. The film is released around the week, even if Nokia phones are not counted, only sunglasses, windbreakers, and stationery boxes are included. And so on peripheral products, sales have reached 180 million US dollars!
The Duke's studio can draw 30% from it, and the 60 million US dollars plus the 20 million US dollars in advertising sponsorship from the previous period, even if the North American box office has not been divided, "The Matrix" has recovered the production cost!
Say you don't envy, is that possible?
What's more, Warner Bros. and Duke Studios are still negotiating with various marketers. In the future, the North American TV broadcast rights and the copyright of discs and video tapes of "The Matrix" will inevitably sell for a sky-high price!
This is only North America, and there are overseas markets where revenue has long exceeded North America...
Just thinking about the expected income figures, Shelly Lansing felt a little dizzy. In her eyes, Duke on the opposite side was not a director at all, but a super gold machine!
Although Shelly Lansing gave a lot of tempting conditions, Duke used the excuse of "it takes time to consider" to express her tactful rejection. The other party's promise looks really good, but there are promises in Hollywood. How much can it be achieved?
"Let me introduce you to the crew members."
With the resolution of the contradiction and two consecutive cooperations, the relationship between Duke and Tom Cruise is moving towards normalization. Faced with the invitation of Liangtang, he did not mean to refuse. After entering the theater, he walked to the front row. Shaking hands with the main members of the crew, anyway, he is one of the bosses of the film.
"Hello, let."
Looking at the Frenchman with a big nose, Duke greeted him with a normal face, "Your performance in "Leon" is impressive."
Even a few weeks ago, Duke's studio was one of the most active companies in Black Jean Renault's influence, but both Duke and Jean Renault shook hands calmly.
This kind of competition has become fierce, and there is no abnormal situation on the surface, which is really unusual in Hollywood.
Under the introduction of Tom Cruise, Duke shook hands with many actors, and finally walked in front of an actor whose age was similar to him. His rocky face was sharp and angular, and his tall figure was almost the same height. , And under the fit suit, the faintly visible explosive muscles appear stronger.
"This is Gerald Butler."
Hearing Cruise's introduction, Duke looked at him with interest after shook his hand, turned around and walked to his seat. After sitting down, he told the female assistant who had been following him. Na, look back for the contact information of Gerald Butler's agent."
"Huh!" Tina Fei nodded and asked softly, "New project?"
"I need to be strong enough, have certain acting skills, and have a fierce-looking actor starring in the two robbers. His appearance is in good condition."
Having said that, Duke raised his head and gestured to the big screen, "If the acting skills in the film are not bad, I can send him an audition invitation later."
The leader of the Red Trousers Army, Leonidas, is very suitable to play such a fierce role. Duke's only concern is his acting skills, but after the film began, I watched several scenes where Gerald Butler appeared. Gradually let go, the other party's acting skills are far from excellent, but he can completely meet his low baseline requirements.
Besides, according to his plan, for a considerable amount of time in the film, the two gangsters are wearing hoods, and they don't need great acting skills, and based on the requirements of conforming to mainstream values, he will not highlight this too much. Two gangsters.
After briefly thinking about the actors in the new project, Duke's energy shifted to the big screen. "Mission Impossible" appeared two years late, and the scenes and plots in it had some changes. What remains unchanged is the overall film. The style and Ethan Hunt's various face-selling skills, the appeal of Tom Cruise of this era is amazing. The exclamation of the boys and girls from the back row can also be seen in the film. Popularity.
As an investor, Duke and Tom Cruise want to see the success of this film, and judging from the experience and experience he has accumulated over the past few years in the industry, the reputation of the film may not be very high, and the box office will not be expected. It's a problem. Maybe it won't be a super-sell, but it shouldn't be difficult to reach a level of US$100 million to US$150 million.
The genre of "Mission Impossible" plus the starring Tom Cruise is enough to bring pressure to the films released in the same period or next week, and it also needs to advance in the competition. (To be continued...)