Heads Up Hollywood

Entering the new year, the chaotic Hollywood has finally returned to calm.

New Universal started to interact and do business with several other major media giants like friends, as if the five-big alliance incident in the past few months had never happened.

The difference is that Hollywood has truly changed from the era of the Big Six to the era of the Big Seven!

Following Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., Columbia Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Disney, and Paramount, Legendary Pictures has successfully entered the MPAA and has become a giant with the decision-making power to formulate Hollywood rules!

Of course, people in the industry with more information know that Legendary Pictures is backed by New Universal.

In many cases, New Universal can represent the will of Legendary Pictures!

For example, the first MPAA meeting of the new year.

The topic discussed at the meeting was the adjustment of the proportion of film companies and movie theaters.

Before the 1990s, film companies had an absolute dominant position, very strong! The box office revenue in the first week can often exceed 90%!

90% of the box office is given to film companies, how can cinemas make money?

The consequences can be imagined. At that time, a large number of movie theaters went bankrupt and closed down, and they couldn't play anymore.

Later, it got bigger and bigger, and the MPAA and Hollywood film companies also realized the necessity of the existence of movie theaters. If the squeeze is too hard, the movie theaters will be closed, and it will be a disaster for Hollywood.

Under such circumstances, the MPAA conducted multiple rounds of internal discussions, as well as investigations and adjustments by various parties. In the following decades, the share was adjusted many times.

By the 21st century, the sharing model has basically been fixed.

Divide in a decreasing manner.

In the first week of release, the film company can get 55% of the box office share.

Then, gradually decrease, the second week is 54%, the third week is 53%, the fourth week is 52%... until the lowest 40%.

Because movies tend to have the highest box office in the weeks before their release, on average, the average share that film companies get is 53%.

This figure is not high in the world.

Countries and regions such as Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Hong Kong, and Switzerland attach great importance to intellectual property rights, and film companies can get a higher share.

Like Japan, movies can even get 60%, and movie theaters only get 40%. Movie theaters rely more on popcorn and peripheral services to make money.

Moreover, these countries must strictly abide by the film trade agreement in the WTO, and there cannot be rigid slaughter of box office accounts for Hollywood films, and there is no difference in account sharing between domestic films and foreign films. This has also led to the fact that the share ratio of some overseas accounts for Hollywood movies is even higher than that of North America.

Therefore, the giants of Hollywood can't sit still.

On the one hand, they continue to put pressure on the federal government, asking the country to step up and increase the share of movies in China, Russia and other countries. On the one hand, it is to put pressure on the local court forces and demand a higher share!

In the past 20 years, it was hard to lower the share ratio, and now you want to increase it?

Isn't this back to the old way!

The current movie theater is like an entertainment center and has become an important entertainment consumption point in the United States, creating a large number of job opportunities and GDP output value.

According to the current policy and the general environment, the interests of movie theaters must be protected.

No communication, no stalemate.

Finally, Universal Pictures put forward a constructive proposal!

The share ratio does not need to be changed!

However, cinemas must cooperate with Hollywood's industrial development and conceptual transformation to maintain the vitality of the film industry and give audiences a better viewing experience.

To put it bluntly, it is to upgrade the supporting facilities in cinemas, such as promoting the construction of imax giant screens, such as using the newly developed Dolby visual effects system, such as... updating more 3D screens!

Tang En even personally sent a fax during the meeting, expressing his stance clearly: "3D movies will be the general trend of the future. Within 5 years, after all, they will become the mainstream release method for commercial blockbusters! As the birthplace of movies, the United States, We must take the lead in keeping up with the pace of the times, so as to lead the reform of the film industry around the world. This is an economic account, but also a political account! Please consider carefully the theater alliance and parliamentarians, and launch more 3D screens in the next three years !"

Why within three years?

Because the release date of "Avatar" is set in 2009!

Legendary Pictures expressed support for the first time.

Then Disney and Columbia Pictures echoed that sentiment, followed by 20th Century Fox and Paramount.

The minority obeys the majority, and Warner Bros. has a dark face and can only accept it with gritted teeth.

Barry Meyer was really pissed off when he heard the news.

Well, this kid Tang En really did it!

It is so ridiculous to use the authority of MPAA for his personal gain, and to act selflessly and worry about the country and the people!

To pay back the economic and political debts, you can just say that you conspired with the theater alliance and reached a cooperation!

The transformation of the imax theater, and the next new concept Dolby Cinema, these are the tangible benefits of New Universal!

...

This year's awards season, the films of the new Universal series have been relatively calm.

The main reason is that it has been too hot in the past few years.

This year, Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Pride and Prejudice, The Immortal Gardener, Match Point and King Kong have the opportunity to represent the new Universal Shock awards season.

Of course, the main impact of "King Kong" is the technical award.

Although the film's box office is not satisfactory, it is very competitive in professional items such as visual effects, art direction, sound effects, and sound editing.

At least it is much more powerful than this year's most popular movie "Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith".

Even "Iron Man" and "Ant-Man 2", the two big-selling Marvel superhero blockbusters, are not enough.

It's clear, though, that the heart of the year is Brokeback Mountain!

The filming of the film has already been finished, but because there were too many high-quality literary films in last year's awards season, Focus Pictures retreated against the difficulties and chose to hit this year's awards season.

But the new year has just begun, and the awards season has just kicked off, so the atmosphere is not very friendly.

There have been a lot of slanderous comments on the film in the media and on the Internet, mainly because the film has "radical" values, and it actually talks about the love between men.

Isn't this against the essence of the Bible?

Even in some southern states, many banners have appeared, demanding that the federal government order to ban this film!

This smell is so familiar.

Very Harvey Weinstein style.

Back then, in order to promote "Shakespeare in Love", Harvey recruited a large number of World War II veterans to criticize "Saving Private Ryan", and "Shakespeare in Love" really won the first place. .

In order to push "Chocolate" to the top, Harvey recruited a group of pens to criticize "A Beautiful Mind" and promote the fact that John Nash's homosexuality was ignored in the film, so as to raise the voice of opposition. It's a pity that the gap between the two films is too large, and "A Beautiful Mind" won the best picture.

Such means abound.

For example, during the awards season of "The Social Network", negative reviews were flooding, and even Mark Zuckerberg was involved in it, directly pushing "The King's Speech" as the best film.

Another example is to slander "Avatar" for "The Hurt Locker", such as concocting negative news about "Birdman" for "The Imitation Game".

"How do I feel that it was Weinstein's handwriting?"

Dunn communicated with James Summers in a surprised tone.

He is the head of Focus Features, producer of "Brokeback Mountain," and a close collaborator of Ann Lee.

"It would be great if it was." James Summers smiled wryly, "This time there was a lot of commotion, there were even cowboys parading in Texas, and even many Republican congressmen publicly criticized it, which has risen to a big discussion of values. height."

Tang En said: "I don't care about them, just be yourself. The word-of-mouth of "Brokeback Mountain" is the biggest motivation."

Then he sighed.

In this general environment, it is really too difficult for "Brokeback Mountain" to hit the best picture.

James Summers whispered again: "I heard that Lionsgate is working hard."

"oh?"

"It's only been a few days, and they have given away at least 100,000 DVDs! It is said that they are still in the process of distribution, and Lionsgate has prepared a total of 200,000 DVDs!"

There are less than 6,000 Oscar judges.

200,000 sets of DVDs are prepared, what is this for?

This is a typical loophole in the system to bribe!

The Oscars have strict rules that prohibit judges from accepting gifts from film companies. However, due to work needs, the judges need to watch each of the participating films, and can receive free DVDs from the film company.

There is a loophole here.

A regular set of DVDs costs at least $20!

The Oscar judges are not all big stars like Tom Hanks, but there are also many old guys who have no financial benefits. Their annual income may not be as good as that of an ordinary Los Angeles citizen.

If you can collect several sets of DVD discs and give them as gifts to relatives and friends...it is also a good choice.

Although Oscar has introduced various policies to restrict this kind of behavior, the effect has not been very good. The film side always has a reason.

What if a DVD is sent out and it happens to break?

Send more copies, more insurance!

In the past few years, Hollywood film companies have sent 30,000 to 50,000 sets of DVDs to Oscar judges every year, which is very normal.

But this year is different, Lionsgate is going to do something big!

He even prepared 200,000 DVDs!

Is this trying to smash the judges to death with a DVD?

Usually, the PR cost of each award-winning film is around $2 million.

This year, Lionsgate has prepared $4 million for DVDs alone!

Tang En's expression was not very good, "Is it "Crash"?"

"Indeed." James Summers nodded, "The word-of-mouth of this film... is no worse than "Brokeback Mountain". The key is that it is more in line with the values ​​of conservatives."

"I see." Tang En nodded, "Let me think about it, you go back first."

After dismissing James Summers, Dunn thought to himself.

The current Lionsgate Films can be called the leading overlord among Hollywood independent filmmakers. Moreover, the company has great ambitions and is actively planning a bigger attempt.

Now, even Legendary Pictures has entered the MPAA, so Lionsgate has no chance?

Lionsgate will spare no effort to push "Crash" to the Oscar throne this time, and I am afraid that such factors are indispensable.

Tang En knew that "Crash" in his previous life did beat "Brokeback Mountain" and won the best picture.

However, these two films are really not at the same level.

In another five, ten, or twenty years, "Brokeback Mountain" will still be a classic masterpiece that will be mentioned from time to time, even appearing in the official promotion of Oscars many times, and it is a representative of an era.

What about "Crash"?

Long forgotten.

Time can best tell everything.

Just like "Shakespeare in Love" and "Saving Private Ryan" back then.

Another example is this year's Golden Globe Awards!

The nominees for the 63rd Golden Globe Awards have been announced.

Nominees for Best Picture, Drama include The Immortal Gardener, Brokeback Mountain, Good Night, Good Luck, Match Point and A History of Violence.

"Crash" didn't even get a nomination!

The director of "Crash" is Paul Haggis, a well-known screenwriter in the industry, and the script of "Million Dollar Baby" came from him.

Including the upcoming "007" series that Tang En Pictures intends to restart, and also intends to find him as the screenwriter.

However, Tang En didn't care about such trivial things as one or two movies.

It doesn't matter even if it is a blockbuster with an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars.

What he cares about is the big environment and big pattern of Hollywood!

The success of Legendary Pictures has made many medium-sized film companies dream about it.

One of the most typical is Lionsgate!

Although Lionsgate's performance in the past year is not as good as Legendary Pictures, it is on par with Paramount.

More importantly, Lionsgate Pictures is backed by a big chaebol, and its upward momentum is very fierce.

Within the MPAA, due to the existence of the hardcore alliance of New Universal and Legendary Pictures, Twain's voice in the industry soared.

He's the perfect choice to be the most powerful man in Hollywood!

In this case, it is inevitable that people will be moved.

Disney, 20th Century Fox, and Columbia Pictures are fine. After all, they are working on the Hulu project with New Universal. It's not easy for them to make trouble if they have short hands.

But Warner is not necessarily.

The industry leader ten years ago will be tricked by a rising star ten years later. Can Warner's psychology be balanced?

At this time, we must not give them a chance!

A Lionsgate movie...can't win an Oscar!

To kill fantasy in the cradle.

Maybe Tang En was worrying too much.

But it's always good to be cautious.

Besides, if "Crash" is really won, wouldn't the film that would benefit the most be "Brokeback Mountain"?

With this in mind, Tang En immediately picked up the phone and called Tom Rothman of Twentieth Century Fox.

In this awards season, New Universal and Twentieth Century Fox have cooperated.

The musical "Walk with the Songs" jointly produced by 20th Century Fox and Rose Films is the most popular film in the awards season.

The leading actress, Reese Witherspoon, may even win an Oscar!

For this film, 20th Century Fox is the dominant, accounting for 80% of the copyright share. As for Rose Pictures, just because the producer and heroine is Reese Witherspoon, they got 20% of the copyright.

According to the tradition of the past few years, among the leading actresses in the Oscars... almost every hit!

There are four hot candidates for actress this year.

Judi Dench in "A Dedication to Mrs. Henderson" is an old lady who has nothing to do with Dunn, so she should be ruled out first.

Charlize Theron of "Northern Wind and Cloud" just won the award last year, and the possibility of re-election is almost impossible.

Keira Knightley in "Pride and Prejudice" has a close relationship with Dunn, but she is too young.

In comparison, only Reese Witherspoon has credentials and connections!

Twentieth Century Fox hadn't won an important Oscar award for many years, and this time with Twain's relationship, it was very possible to make a breakthrough.