Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 298 First Weekend Box Office Multiplier

More than two months passed in a blink of an eye, and Ronald returned to Los Angeles after completing the filming of the film on the set of "Urchin" in the small town of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The filming of "Naughty Boys Outside the World" has ended. I followed Coppola on the set and watched a series of methods he used to guide the actors, which was very beneficial.

It can be said that Coppola has turned directing into an art. From casting, to rehearsals, to the last sentence he said to the actors before directing, every move in the whole process is presented on the film for the final actors. images are prepared.

His bag seems to be full of normal and abnormal tricks, each of which makes the actor's performance better.

Ronald rented a clean motel in Los Angeles again, and began to sort out his insights over the past two months. From now on, when he is directing, he can learn from the master's experience.

However, there is not much time left for him to sort out his notes, and the release time of "fast-paced Richmond High School" is coming soon.

Six weeks in advance, Universal's distribution department began to find producers Lin Sen, Azoff, and director Ronald, as well as several leading actors, and began to discuss the timetable for film marketing.

"That's roughly the case. We don't have much marketing budget. In addition to being interviewed by newspapers in Los Angeles and New York, there is another focus in Dallas, Texas.

There was Barbie Wygant's Star Interview on NBC Five, one of the few movie-related TV shows syndicated across the country.Our three leading actors will accept her exclusive interview. "

A director of the global distribution department is introducing the distribution plan to the two producers and Ronald.

"We've had a few major regional distributors look at copies and they've had mixed reviews about the quality of the film, West Coast buyers liked it better, East Coast and South Central had some complaints about the nudity, but it's still relatively good at the box office. Look good.

They are all willing to release 'Fast Pace' on NO.16 of July, five weeks after Universal's 'ET Alien'.In this way, our marketing work will roughly start in mid-June, with various TV programs, newspaper media interviews, and professional magazine interviews.

I heard that you yourself reached out to The Late Show with David Letterman to have Brooke Shields guest on the show and talk about the 'Fast' movie, which is great news for our movie as well.

In short, this is our marketing arrangement in advance. We wait for the national box office results in the first weekend. The multiplier for youth romantic comedies in the first weekend is about four times. If the audience likes it, it may reach six times. "

"What is the first weekend multiplier?" Ronald sat on the chair and secretly asked the producer Lin Sen when he heard a term he didn't understand.

"Our director is directing a feature film for the first time, and this is his debut. Can you help explain the box office multiplier for the first weekend, and some basic knowledge related to distribution?" Lin Sen raised his hand and asked about the distribution director.

"My question. Didn't expect this to be Ronald Lee's first film, congratulations.

The first weekend multiplier is a means we use to estimate the box office of a movie. It is a number obtained by dividing the total box office of the movie by the weekend box office of the first week of release.

In this way, when we get the box office figures for the first weekend, we can roughly estimate the box office performance of the entire movie.It is convenient to adjust the follow-up screening plan and the release time of other movies.

You know, after the tragedy of "Heaven's Gate" last year, whether it's print media or TV media, they are very keen to compare the box office figures of movies every week.

Audiences are also starting to choose which movies they go to see in theaters based on weekly box office rankings.This makes our opening weekend multiplier even more important. "

"Uh, thank you. Could you please explain in more detail why the first weekend multiplier becomes important? I'm a complete layman on movie distribution." Ronald knew that he didn't understand, and he wasn't afraid to show off, so he simply asked in more detail. .

"Very good question. You know, every time a movie is shown in a movie theater, there is a cost? So what is the cost?"

"I think it should be electricity, copy rental fees, cleaners, admission ticket inspectors, etc."

"It can be seen that Director Ronald is a person who often goes to the movies, but apart from these, what is more important is the box office of other movies.

Let me make an analogy, if there are two movies, compare 'Annie', which is currently being released, with 'Grease 2'.

Grease 2' was released on a large scale last weekend, with a box office of 460 million in the first weekend, and the large-scale release of 'Annie' this week has a strong momentum.How will movie theaters decide which movie should be given more screen time? "

"I guess I'll compare the box office results of the two films to decide?" Ronald replied.

"Bingo! This is the concept of opportunity cost in economics. The average box office of Grease 2 this week is less than [-] US dollars. Since Annie was released, the average box office of a single theater is more than [-] US dollars, so the movie theaters will increase 'Annie' ', and more prime-time slots for 'Annie'.

Our distributors will give a multiplier to estimate the box office performance of the entire movie based on the type of movie, the ratings of film critics, and the evaluation of the audience.

Like 'Grease 2', Roger Ebert only gave it a two-star review, the audience rating was B-, and it's a sequel, so we can only estimate a 3.5 multiplier.

As for the musical 'Annie', which is also a Broadway adaptation, the scores of film critics and audiences are much higher than 'Grease 2', and we can safely give a multiplier of more than 6. "

Ronald nodded, indicating that he understood.The box office multiplier for the first weekend is actually an empirical formula for the distribution department to estimate the final box office. It is roughly judged by film critics, audience ratings, movie types, and experience.

The higher the multiplier, the longer the film will be in theaters and theaters will be willing to show it, and the greater the final gross.

Of course, after ten weeks, after switching to long-term screenings, the movie theater's share will be much higher than in the first few weeks. Except for the fact that the total box office figures are good, it is actually of little significance to the studio's income.

“油脂2”的票房成绩这么糟糕的吗？罗纳德知道派拉蒙给“油脂2”投资了600万美元，加上唱片公司老板罗伯特·斯特伍德自掏腰包的600万美元。总共1000两百万美元的制作成本，再加上营销费用。

If the box office of the first weekend is 460 million multiplied by a multiplier of 3.5, the box office may not be able to even the total cost.In this case, Michelle Pfeiffer's big screen debut may have failed.

Ronald picked up the Chicago Sun on the table, in which Albert sneered at the plot of "Grease 2" and the leading actor in a column, but said a few good things about Michelle Pfeiffer.Maybe her agent Limato handled it.

Ronald put aside worrying about others for a while, and now it's time to worry about his debut "fast-paced Richmond High School".

"Then how much is our film's first weekend multiplier?" Producer Lin Sen asked Ronald the most concerned question.

"Our movie is released in mid-July, when the momentum of 'Annie' and 'ET Alien' should be slightly reduced, and the fast-paced audience test score is B+, so we give it a conservative 4.5-6 multiplier between."

"If you can get a box office of more than 2 million in the first weekend like Grease 450, multiply it by the lowest 4.5, and you can break through 2000 million box office. Considering that the production cost of the movie is only less than 350 million, such a result, no matter what It can make a good impression on Hollywood."

Ronald let out a sigh of relief. In this case, he will definitely be able to get the second movie contract from the studio.

The director of the distribution department saw his nervousness and raised his hand to signal him, "Judging from experience, this movie will be a big success."

"How is the premiere arranged?"

"Fast pace is not a big production. We will not hold premieres in large theaters. But we will hold small premieres in Los Angeles and New York. At that time, some newspaper media will also be invited to interview. The two leading actresses Jennifer Jason Lee, and Phoebe Cates all agreed to attend.

Sean Penn is very popular with theater buyers, and he will come.Then it is to see if you can invite Brooke Shields as a guest star and David Letterman to attend. If possible, it will create news topics for the media, which will be of great benefit to our box office in the first weekend. "

"Give me the time and place of the event, and I will invite it. Also leave me some tickets in New York, and I will invite my family and friends to see it. The same is true for Los Angeles." Ronald thought of his family and friends in New York. Friends, this is a memorable moment.

"Okay, no problem. I'll save you at least ten premiere tickets."

Ronald went back to prepare to go to several big cities to run marketing campaigns, and he slightly relaxed his nervous mood.He paid attention to the situation of competitors. The box office of "Grease 2" really dropped sharply in the second week, and it is about to be released in four weeks.

Next week is also the day when Universal's "ET Alien" will be released.I heard from the distribution director that this Spielberg film was well received by the audience of the test screenings, and got a very rare A+ test screening evaluation that only comes out once a year or two.

This gives enough time for the release of "ET Alien" for five weeks, and "Fast Pace" just happened to be released on NO.16 in July, which is in a good position for the summer vacation.

And Disney's "Texas," starring Matt Dillon and Meg Tilly, with Kinneman and Disney, will be released two weeks later than its own "Fast Pace," at the end of July.My own movie has a two-week advantage, even if the quality of the other party is comparable to my own, it is still a better time for me to occupy the summer vacation.

The follow-up work of the two Israelis, "The Last American Virgin", will also be released at the end of July, which will further dilute the box office of "Texas", which is also a teenage theme.

No matter how you look at it, you are in a very favorable position.

Universal Pictures is worthy of being a major studio, and it is still very strong in grabbing schedules, leaving Disney, which makes animations, far behind.

Just as Ronald was waiting for the reunion with several leading actors and flew to various places to promote the film, an accident happened suddenly.

(End of this chapter)