hollywood draw

A short break passed by, and Wayne had to end the leisurely days of accompanying his daughter every day, packed up his things and returned to Los Angeles.

Accompanied by a squeaking sound, the Rolls-Royce Phantom stopped outside the main building of Greenberg Manor. Wayne sat in the passenger seat with an exaggerated expression. For him, who was used to sitting in the Sergey's stable car, he felt that Bella Grant's driving skills were really bad in his eyes.

"Pa", "Pa", "Pa"

Sparse applause sounded, and Wayne clapped his hands with an exaggerated expression while staring at the beautiful editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times, teasing in a tone of gratitude: "Do you know? Bella, I heard that passengers riding a plane in the air who had a malfunctioning plane will always sincerely send applause to the captain after the plane landed smoothly."

Facing the woman's angry eyes, he continued without hesitation with a look of surviving the disaster, "Damn it, don't you usually drive to and from get off work by yourself? Bella, to be honest, did you bribe the examiner with a lot of money when you took the driving test?"

Hearing his unceremonious mockery, Bella Grant slapped the steering wheel hard and made a muffled sound. "Shut up, Wayne, who knew that this kind of extended business car is so difficult to drive. If I had time to adapt, my performance would definitely be much better than it is now."

"You shouldn't try this kind of car."

Shrugging, Wayne murmured softly as he added the seat belt. He now regretted it very much and promised to let this woman drive the extended car. That is, there were no cars on the way from Ventura County to Los Angeles. If it were placed in the imperial capital where he lived in his previous life, this kind of driving skill would definitely lead to a series of car accidents.

Several people got out of the car, Sergei and Nina were sitting behind, and they looked at the beautiful editor-in-chief with lingering fear and glory.

If the car hadn't been safe enough, the Russian-American Bear would have proposed to replace the driver halfway through the road. The road from Ventura County to Beverly in Los Angeles made him recall the feeling of racing on the battlefield. This feeling is really not good.

"Which young man did you see driving such a car? Wayne."

Bella Grant was carrying his handbag and saw that the three people looked at him in a right way. He forced himself to complain: "This kind of car is designed to sell to the old man. In the whole of Hollywood, only you, a young man under the age of 30, likes this.

Look at Tom Cruise, look at Julia Roberts, even Stephen Somos and George Lucas drive either a sports car or a muscle car. Only you, a guy like an old man, will like such a car..."

It felt like I had finally saved some face and found enough excuses for my thrilling driving journey. Bella Grant didn't wait for the other two to react. After saying that, he turned around happily and walked towards his red Chevrolet.

"I'll call you on vacation. This time I'll finish my two-month vacation. I have to rush back to work, thank you~"

Seeing that the beautiful editor had already gotten into the car, Wayne smiled and shook his head, and greeted: "Do you want to stay for lunch?"

"No." The Chevrolet window rolled down, and Bella Grant stretched out his hand and waved it. "I'll just rush back to the newspaper office, next time."

After saying that, it seemed like he deliberately refuting Wayne's joke just now. The red Chevrolet turned his head lively, and under the confusion of the three of them and the butler Hela, he drove out of the manor at a very fast speed.

After leaving Los Angeles for a whole week, Wayne returned was the last day of August. "The Matrix" had just spent its second weekend trip in the North American theater market.

After three days of the first weekend, the box office of $79.38 million was hit in the North American theater market. After the arrival of the working day, the box office of "The Matrix" inevitably ushered in a sharp decline due to the objective attributes of its R-level films.

$5.58 million on Monday, $6.2 million on Tuesday, $4.9 million on Wednesday, $4.65 million on Thursday, and $4.65 million on Thursday. Four working days passed, and the Matrix accumulated a box office of $21.33 million.

The total box office in North America just broke through the 100 million yuan mark after a full week of release, with a total box office of US$107.1 million.

Wayne and Warner Bros. both expected the box office trend of "The Matrix", after all, the box office trend of the first two movies is the same. The objective situation is here. No matter how popular the film is, it cannot change the essence of this eighteen banned movie.

During this special period, the family audience who chose to go to the cinema entertainment on the weekend naturally excluded "The Matrix" from the selection range. Even if Wayne personally directed it, there was no way to change it.

Fortunately, there were no decent competitors in the same period, especially the second weekend of "The Matrix", and its main competitor was the "X-Men", which had basically consumed its popularity in North America.

Under this circumstance, the Matrix entered a break and again rebounded to a certain extent, earning $7.43 million on Friday. The box office trend in North America further rose on Saturday, with another $11.64 million on the same day, and a decline on Sunday, with the box office closing of $9.73 million on the North American box office closing at $9.73 million.

The film closed at $28.8 million in the next weekend, and won the second weekend box office championship in the North American newspaper. By this time, the Matrix was released in North America for a full ten days, and the cumulative box office had reached $129 million.

The second day after Wayne returned to Los Angeles, that is, after officially entering September, the North American summer season began to end. Whether it was "The Matrix" or "The X-Men", box office performance was steadily improving. Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros., both companies, are also spared no effort to invest more publicity resources and seize the last bit of summer season popularity.

Since its release, the North American box office of "X-Men" has successfully exceeded US$200 million. There is no doubt that as the beginning of a series of films, the North American box office of US$208.5 million is completely qualified.

Although the film's overseas box office is not as popular as North America due to factors such as popularity, it still achieved good results. For two weeks of overseas screening, "X-Men" also earned 140 million US dollars in nearly 70 countries and regions around the world. The total global box office of the film has reached 345 million US dollars, and is moving steadily towards 400 million US dollars.

Compared with the box office, the movie revenue that 20th Century Fox and even the entire circle are staring at. In terms of movie derivatives, "X-Men" shows everyone's attention.

Even though the film-related peripheral products cannot be compared with the DC series from the beginning of "X-Men", it is also because of the gap in popularity. Most of the fans who go to the theater to watch superheroes have been because they have read comics and the emotional attribute bonus still affects the sales around the movie.

Twentieth Century Fox has never released relevant sales data in this regard, but most film companies in the circle can analyze a rough number through their own experience and ensure that the sales figures they analyze will not be too different from the actual situation.

Since its release in early August, "X-Men" has only been in North America, and its sales around various types of movies will be conservatively estimated to not be less than 50 million US dollars, which has almost become a consensus among many film companies.

Superhero movies have once again proved that their profitability is completely beyond ordinary live-action movies. Putting aside Warner Bros.’s DC movies in hand, in addition to making big profits in recent years, Wayne has once again proved that even animated feature films that do not have to invest in large, long cycles and high risks can still obtain offline revenue similar to terrifying animations.

Faced with such a situation, basically all Hollywood film companies have more or less begun to play superhero attention. They have proved many things through their performances in "X-Men". The two most important points are that superhero movies outside the DC series can also succeed, and superhero movies outside the DC can also burst out with offline revenue like animated feature films.

And it is precisely such a special situation in the circle. Among the six major Hollywood giants, the person who is most criticized and feels the most pressure is Michael Eisner, chairman of Walt Disney.

Everyone knows that although Walt Disney has a very obvious gap with media giants like Time Warner, Conscart, Viacom and News Group, they are the most capable film companies in offline movie derivatives only in Hollywood.

In recent years, Michael Eisner's main energy has almost all been devoted to internal wars. The reason why Walt Disney still maintains good revenue every year is the huge animation copyright library and the extremely high success rate of producer Jerry Brookheimer.

Especially this year, the pressure Michael Eisner faced suddenly increased, and the surge in shareholders on the board of directors who distrust him in the skyrocketed, and there are two main reasons. The first is Disney's strongest field, the decline of animated feature films. Since the Lion King, Disney has achieved good results in no hand-drawn animation.

Second, it is naturally because Michael Eisner's childhood friend Michael Orwitz. Michael Eisner personally invited a friend to serve as a Disney CEO. However, in less than a year, he personally drove away his friend, and because of the CEO dismissal, Disney paid a very expensive liquidated damages.

Now, in addition to DC superheroes, other series that can match the revenue capabilities of animated feature films have appeared again, and the pressure suddenly all hit Michael Eisner together. It’s very simple, because such a movie revenue project was once exclusive to Disney!

The most important problem facing the Disney Emperor is that the board of directors and the company's senior management has begun to question his ability on a large scale. More and more people have begun to doubt whether he, the meritorious chairman of Disney as a media group, can continue to lead this fairy tale giant forward.

"The era of hand-drawn animation is over, Michael."

In the headquarter of the media capital Burbank Disney, in the chairman's office, Jerry Brookheimer, the most famous producer in Hollywood, took his eyes off the box office news in the newspaper, raised his head and said directly to Michael Eisner:

"I have a premonition that Wayne Greenberg will bring Hollywood into the superhero era in a few years! He has proved the revenue ability of this kind of movie in DC and Marvel respectively. I have to say that this guy is a genius."

Michael Eisner, who was sitting behind the desk, also looked at the newspaper this morning without looking up. Of course, he understood what the other party said, that the revenue capabilities of Disney animated feature films have appeared more and more, and have become unique to other companies.

Compared to animated feature films whose production cycle is often several years, the shooting speed of live-action movies is undoubtedly faster. Even with the expensive special effects, the advantages of live-action movies are obvious enough. The characteristics of short production cycle and low risk are completely incomparable to animated feature films.

"Jerry." Putting down the newspaper in his hand, Michael Eisner raised his hand, rubbed his forehead on both sides, and said casually: "You are right, the era of hand-drawn animation has indeed passed, but Disney and Pixar have it."

Speaking of this, his voice inevitably brought unquestionable pride. The great success of the first part of "Toy Story" allowed him to see the profit prospects of computer animation, and also allowed the whole of Hollywood to see that electric animation is the future trend.

You should know that with the popularity of the first part of "Toy Story", Disney's perfect peripheral revenue channels have enabled the super high profits created by this computer animation feature to completely replace traditional hand-painted animation.

It was precisely under the strong request of Michael Eisner that Pixar Animation Studio has almost produced the second part of "Toy Story". This is Disney's key project next year, but it is not enough.

The most direct way to end Disney's internal chaos as soon as possible and to dispel more and more doubts about his ability is undoubtedly to create more successful projects so that more people can benefit from the success of the project. The shareholders' demands have always been so simple. Whoever can make money for them will stand on whoever they stand.

And this is also the reason why he asked Jerry Brookheimer. This gold medal producer has a very important role in the success rate of production projects that is so high and he is extremely energetic.

"Okay, let's talk about the serious matter."

Turning his eyes to Disney's gold medal producer, Michael Eisner crossed his hands on the table and said without hesitation: "I will promote the review of the "Supernatural Sixth Sense" you submitted as soon as possible. Jerry, do you have any other ideas besides this project."

In recent years, Disney has still maintained a good revenue thigh, and it is undoubtedly Jerry Brookheimer's project. For Disney today, his importance is comparable to Wayne to Warner Bros.

Not to mention the distant future, this year's "The Peerless Heavenly Tribulation" has a box office of US$201 million in North America, and the global box office is as high as US$550 million. The media gave all the flashes to the film director Michael Bay, but if Wayne was asked to evaluate it from the perspective of God, he would tell everyone that all the success of the explosion Bei is inseparable from this gold medal producer.

Michael Bay who left Jerry Brookheimer was like Peter Jackson who left the Lord of the Rings series, which shows the benefits of a reliable producer checking the direction of the film. If he hadn't left him, the explosion would not have created a Waterloo like "Escape from the Clones".

This year, Jerry Brookheimer launched the project, including "Daidai Forward" with a box office of 160 million US dollars in North America, "Public Enemy" with a box office of 111 million US dollars in North America, and "Public Enemy" with a box office of 200 million US dollars in global box office. It is not exaggerated to say that he is the only thigh in Disney's live-action movies.

"I have an idea..."

After thinking for a while, Jerry Brookheimer said carefully: "Michael, I don't know if you noticed that the global box office of "Save Private Ryan" has reached 450 million US dollars! This is a complete R-level film!"

"What do you want to say?" asked Michael Eisner.

"War movies! Realistic epic war movies!" Rearing his upper body on the chair, Jerry Brookheimer said with a smile: "The emergence of "Save Private Ryan" undoubtedly opened up the market potential of epic war movies. Coincidentally, Michael Bay mentioned his idea about World War II to me a few days ago."

"Make a plan as soon as possible and submit it to the film and television production department."

The producer sitting in front of him has the market insight that is the top Hollywood. Michael Eisner said without any hesitation: "I will promote "The Sixth Sense" and this epic war project together to pass the relevant review as soon as possible."

"Okay, I'll ask Michael Bay to talk to you when I go back. At most one week, the project plan will be placed on your desk."

A highly feasible and detailed market research project plan is the stepping stone for all Hollywood producers. Of course, many things can be omitted to the producer's status as Jerry Brookheimer.

The film company will not follow the script he wants to improve, nor will it strictly investigate the market prospects of card projects. His extremely brilliant successes in the past are the greatest guarantee for a commercial project.

Not to mention the script, producers like Jerry Brookheimer can still get a lot of investment in Disney even if they hold a simple film idea. For example, this year's popular movie "The Peerless Heavenly Tribulation", the original idea he handed to Disney was an oil worker's meteorite drilling, and the name of director Michael Bay...

Hollywood gold medal producers are far more important to a film company than a star or a director. They are the initiators of the continuous creation of successful projects.

When the conversation ended, Jerry Brookheimer left the chairman's office. Michael Eisner picked up the newspaper on the table again, glanced sharply, got up and walked to the window, looking at the Warner Bros. Building not far from Burbank.

"Superhero, DC Comics, Wayne Greenberg..."

With the murmur, he shook his head softly, his face with the usual confidence and strength. Everyone knows that the current Warner Bros. has more than one year of film production. Not only is the traditional sequel film with a very high success rate continuing, but the DC series of movies are also slowly occupying more positions.

Moreover, as Greenberg Studio and the cooperation with Warner Bros. is becoming increasingly mature, more and more Greenberg production projects have begun to appear.

There is no doubt that no matter which company wants to make a difference in the summer season, it will inevitably encounter projects intensively released by Warner Bros. Disney is the same. With Michael Eisner's personality, it will never be able to avoid Warner Bros. movies like other companies.

"The era of superheroes? Wayne Greenberg, as long as you fail once, there will be no more than a shit-like superheroes! e on..."

At this time, the Disney Emperor muttered and looked at the Warner Bros. Building, the seven-story CEO office, Jeff Robinoff and others happened to be talking about Wayne.

"Just noon this day, he had already returned to the manor from the farm." Putting down the coffee cup in his hand, Bruce Rosenblum looked at his old boss and said, "The large-scale audition work for "The Lord of the Rings" is about to begin, so we'd better talk to him as soon as possible."

Although Warner Bros. also accounts for half of the investment in the project "The Lord of the Rings", compared to all senior executives of Warner Bros. attach more importance to the DC project, which is what everyone defaults on.

For projects like "The Lord of the Rings", which were prepared for the trilogy from the beginning, the audition work of actors must be cumbersome and huge. Fortunately, Wayne cannot do so in the early stage and does not have the energy to participate in the first few rounds of auditions. However, after a large-scale screening, he must dive into the audition work of the final candidate.

"Well, it's been a day or two. Let's have an appointment with Zach Schneider and have a conversation as soon as possible..."