Birth of an actor

As early as the North American premiere of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" hit the box office with a box office of more than 9000 million US dollars, some media boldly made predictions: Will the box office of this movie surpass that of "Titanic"?

For a long time, there are still many people who are optimistic. After all, the premiere box office of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" is three times that of "Titanic". After breaking through 18 million US dollars at a rocket-like speed, the growth rate gradually slowed down. At this time, people suddenly remembered that "Titanic" has great stamina, and it has been released in many countries for more than half a year or even a year. Fifteen Oscar nominations and the blessing of eleven final trophies have resulted in the combined box office of the film a few months after its release is higher than that in the two or three months just after its release, and finally reached a terrifying $4000 billion.

However, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", as a purely commercial film, only received nominations for best costume design, best soundtrack and best art direction at major award ceremonies, which is a slightly tasteless award It didn't help at all to improve the box office, so "Sorcerer's Stone" could not achieve the long-term screening like "Titanic" after all, and surpassed each other at the box office.

However, two months after the release of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", the box office has reached very close to [-] million US dollars, and Japan, which has the largest box office in Asia and the second largest box office in the world, has not yet released it, although it cannot surpass "Titanic" ", but the movie is still very hopeful that it can surpass "Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace".

Japan releases [-]-[-] local films and [-] overseas films every year, so many Hollywood imported blockbusters are scheduled to be released a few months later. Sometimes a film has already been released in North America, and Japan has just released it. .However, due to Japan’s strong awareness of copyright, there is almost no market for piracy, and Japanese audiences like to choose movies based on their overseas reputation. Under this kind of “hunger marketing”, although some Hollywood blockbusters have the latest release dates in the world in Japan, But on the contrary, it often explodes at the box office.

——In the end, after "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" was released in Japan, it grossed a total of US$1.6 million at the box office, which was more than US$6000 million higher than the box office in the UK, second only to the North American market.As of mid-2001, the North American box office was 3.48 million US dollars, and the overseas box office was 7.09 million US dollars. The box office runner-up of Titanic.

It is worth mentioning that mainland China, which was screened two months later than North America, finally contributed 8440 million yuan to the box office. According to the current RMB-to-US dollar exchange rate of around 8.2, it is equivalent to about 1000 million US dollars.

In the eyes of Hollywood, especially Warner, Willlot's co-distributor, the box office is not high, not even making it into the top [-] overseas box office in the world, but in William's opinion, it is already very good--Warner is Comparing the Chinese market with the markets of other countries, he did not pay much attention to the Chinese market with a low box office, but what William saw was the ranking of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" itself in the Chinese film market.

In 2000, "Life and Death" topped the box office rankings in Mainland China. Produced by the Shanghai Film Studio, this anti-corruption-themed Chinese-themed film used the state's official propaganda machine and earned 1.2 million yuan. The second and third places are "Endless" and "A Sigh" directed by Feng Xiaogang, with box office results of 3300 million and 3000 million yuan respectively. Only 2000 million yuan.

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" was able to obtain one-tenth of the box office of the movie in the Chinese movie market with a volume of only about 2001 million US dollars. No. 3000 is No. [-]. The works that are not big hits have not had such good results--I haven't seen that even the two Hollywood blockbusters "The Matrix" and "Gladiator" that are also popular in Europe and the United States, are in China. Does the box office add up to more than [-] million yuan?

In fact, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" can have such a box office, one is due to the popularity of the original novel in China, and the other is due to Willot's proactive promotional strategy for the Chinese film market.

As early as the end of 1999, Willlott set up a representative office in Beijing in China, which was mainly responsible for the company's film and television promotion, production and distribution in China and even the entire Asian region. There were only two or three employees at the beginning, and later published with Waddington The company cooperated with the publishing and publicity of the "Harry Potter" series in China, and it was officially on the track, and because of this set of magical fairy tales that are popular all over the world, it has gained a certain popularity in the Chinese entertainment industry .

The production cost of the movie "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" is 1.3 million US dollars, and the advertising cost is 0.5 million US dollars. The cumulative cost is 1.8 million US dollars. The Chinese market also spent a large part of the publicity costs, because in China, Film promotion and novel promotion are carried out at the same time.

The version of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" translated into simplified Chinese characters was launched in China in September 2000. At this time, it was very close to the film's global release, so Willot adopted the combination of the novel and the film. Strategies for bundling promotions.As for the effect, maybe a Hollywood giant like Warner will definitely be dissatisfied, but both Willlot and Waddington Press have achieved their expectations-the Chinese People's Literature Publishing House has decided to follow the European and American book markets to publish a complete set of books. "Harry Potter", the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has also decided to introduce films after the series.

Willlott is also very active in promoting "The Lord of the Rings" to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television of China, but Tolkien's popularity in China is not as high as in the West, and "Lord of the Rings" has not published a simplified Chinese version of the novel. His attitude was a little shaken, and there was no clear answer on whether to import this film. After all, China currently only has a quota of [-] imported films a year, ten of which are split-account films, and the remaining ten are buyout films. The "Lord of the Rings" series invested nearly [-] million U.S. dollars, and it is absolutely impossible to buy out. One-tenth of the quota for splitting accounts is not so easy to win.

The two films "Blood Together" and "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" were huge successes, with the combined global box office approaching 20 billion US dollars. Willot has two hens that lay golden eggs. The status is not what it used to be. It has gradually lost the halo brought by William's fame. It is more and more concerned by the industry as a very promising independent production company. Naturally, people are watching the company's every move. Will Lott attaches so much importance to the Chinese market that he even chose China instead of Japan, which is generally preferred by Hollywood companies, for the establishment of the first representative office in Asia, which confuses many people.

"Although China has a large population, the film industry is underdeveloped and the market is not large. It has only been a few years since their annual box office totaled more than [-] million US dollars, three years? I really don't understand what William Bradley is thinking. Well, Japan contributed nearly [-] million US dollars to Willot's two films at the box office, but he still puts the focus of Asia's development on China. Is he expecting that each film can earn tens of millions of dollars from China? "

This is a ridicule that has been widely circulated in Hollywood recently. It is said to come from a certain high-level executive of Paramount, and it generally reflects the current thinking of Hollywood, which regards Willot's China development strategy as a wrong decision.

No wonder Hollywood has such a pessimistic view. In the eyes of European and American filmmakers, the current Chinese film market is not only small but also implements a quota system. It really cannot be compared with Japan, which has a vast market and is completely open. And the decision that a company with an ambitious goal of globalization will make... I have to say that Willot's obviously "off-track" globalization strategy may seem "stupid", but after shaking his head and sighing falsely , The Big Seven in Hollywood, including Paramount and Fox, are indeed relieved a lot.

Of course, William explained the importance of the Chinese market to his confidants—although he is the brain, they are the real executors of Willot, and the decisions made by the brain can only be achieved if they are implemented Good results - he said that this country is no longer the sleeping lion that Napoleon said. Although people have different opinions on how far it has awakened, no one can deny that China's economy has been developing rapidly in recent years. The biggest beneficiary under the background of economic integration.

The Chinese film market is a market that needs to be developed urgently. As long as it no longer closes itself, it will sooner or later grow to the point where Hollywood can no longer ignore it. If Willot can establish a good relationship with this future supermarket as soon as possible, and even establish a foundation before the Hollywood Seven, then Willot will have more confidence to continue his expansion in Hollywood , even if they face the situation of being attacked by the seven major fears and jointly attacking them after they become bigger, they will not be annexed and acquired without much decent counterattack like the former New Line and Miramax.

——Of course, it is also William's goal to make the seven majors feel "reassuring" now, not to unite so quickly to squeeze out Willlott, so that Willott will face the fate of being run and acquired by giants just after entering the golden development period one.

In addition to taking an unusual path in terms of globalization development strategy, Willlot, who has two hens laying golden eggs, should also properly distribute some cakes to other studios, such as joint investment, cooperative distribution, etc. In short, Finding a new market, lowering the vigilance of the Hollywood giants, and dividing them as much as possible is the only way for Willot to rise in this Hollywood where it is difficult to tolerate one more large studio.

……

The heavy curtains were drawn tightly to prevent a ray of morning sunlight from slipping into the bedroom. At the same time, it perfectly isolated the sound of the outside world. Only occasionally there were a few crisp birdsong. After being filtered by the floor-to-ceiling windows and curtains, the faint Float into the bedroom.

This is not a bustling city center apartment, but Beverly Hills, where the environment and value are equally extraordinary, so only these few bird calls will not wake up the sleeping master at all, unless they raise one——

"Meow."

The unlocked door was pushed open from the outside, and a fluffy and long-haired Himalayan cat came to the bed after a few jumps, squatting in the middle position, its tail slowly sliding in the air, a lively gray-blue color His eyes stared at the bulging quilt motionlessly, and he let out a cry.

The bulging quilt was motionless in a perfect cocoon shape, with a few strands of night-like black hair at the top.

"Meow meow."

The fluffy tail patted the bed sheet impatiently, making a "pop" sound.

"Go away, Kim Cosey."

There was a whisper from under the quilt, an arm stretched out from there, and waved twice towards the door casually.

"Meow meow meow."

"Okay, okay, I'm up." Under Kim Kexi's constant harassment, William finally stopped sleeping. He yawned and sat up directly from the bed. When stretching, the muscle lines of his back were like The mountains rise and fall like: "Are you hungry or thirsty?"

The Himalayan cat jumped off the bed, and when he got to the door, he turned to look at William and purred again.

William had no choice but to get out of bed and follow Kim Kexi to its royal territory.

Walking through a corridor full of artwork, William came to the "Cat's Land", which was said to be the place of Kim Cosey, but it was actually a huge living room with a window overlooking the garden, a lot of beautiful furniture, and flowing curtains , and a spectacular chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

However, because William spent more time in the bedroom, gym and kitchen when he lived in Beverly Hills, now the living room has been completely reduced to Kim Kexi's playground. When it comes in, it will squat on a high place and stare intently at each other's every move, like the LAPD of the cat world, and whenever Leonardo comes to visit with his Doberman pinscher, a cat-dog battle will happen. To ring in the living room.

The curtains in the living room were drawn, and Kim Kexi's cat house was placed next to the French windows. William took a look, and the food and water basins were full.

Kim Cosey took a few steps to the side, flicking his tail beside the litter box.

Well, the litter box has been used, so that's why I was woken up - Kim Cosey is a clean freak and the litter box has to be cleaned every day, especially after pooping , otherwise it will be very irritable and disturb everyone else's peace.

William discussed with it: "Can't we wait for the cleaners to come?"

With gray-blue round eyes, Jin Kexi stared at William motionlessly for a few seconds. Just when William thought it had compromised, the Himalayan cat turned around suddenly, bent and jumped onto the fireplace. , gradually approaching a portrait placed in the middle of the mantelpiece, glanced at William, and slowly raised his legs.

The sound of "哗啦啦" water sounded.

William expressed his feelings with wide eyes and an open mouth.

"My God, Kim Cosey." He said through gritted teeth, "You little bastard."

He flew to the fireplace, and Kim Cosey jumped away, leaving only a puddle of water in front of the portrait.

Thank goodness, at least it was sensible and didn't actually piss on the portrait - William's portrait, with Lance Roderick's signature in the lower right corner, was a gift from the other party for Christmas.

To be honest, this portrait is ugly, with a strong Picasso style. If the hair and eye color were not captured very accurately, William would not have recognized it was himself. The moment he opened the present on Christmas morning, he would have I wanted to throw it in the storage room, but after a long hesitation, I put the picture frame on the closet. I occasionally passed by and saw it, and I would think about whether the uglier portraits painted by normal people have more artistic value.

Kim Cosey was also deeply mocking of the portrait, God knows if the Himalayan cat could see that the hideous anthropomorphic figure in the painting was its owner, at first Kim Cosey would jump on the fireplace to take The picture frame grinds its teeth and claws, forcing William to change the picture frame three times in a month, and the little villain who understands that the portrait is probably important begins to use it as a tool to threaten William.Like just now.

William cleaned the closet first, then cleaned the cat litter box for Kim Cosey who had been circling around the room, then found a ladder, spikes and a hammer, and directly nailed the portrait to a suitable place on the wall , the only way to prevent Kim Kexi from continuing to harm this painting.After he finished all this, took a shower and washed himself, and was preparing to make something for himself in the kitchen, the sound of a car came from outside, and soon there were footsteps.

"I'll have pancakes, topped with whipped cream and maple syrup, and butter and chocolate chips—"

"There are also bananas and strawberries. Add some fruit to be healthy." William looked at his best friend who strode into the kitchen. Lance Roderick was dressed as if he had just escaped from some concert or dinner.Judging by the tired look on his face, maybe he really was.

William glanced at the clock, and it was only eight o'clock in the morning in Los Angeles: "Don't tell me you flew from New York on an overnight flight."

Lance showed William his tuxedo, which was beginning to wrinkle a bit. It could be seen that they had been put on at least ten hours ago, and had not been taken off in the middle.

William was only about to kill his plan with a bowl of cornflakes. He turned around and found wheat flour, butter, eggs and milk from the cupboard, and began to chase his friend: "Go take a shower and find yourself comfortable. clothes, and then we'll enjoy Bradley's pancakes."

When Lance returned to the kitchen, it was already filled with the aroma of roasted wheat flour. The familiar smell made his saliva start to secrete immediately.

Not being polite to William at all, Lance took three freshly baked pancakes and put them on the plate in one go, and began to add his favorite seasonings.

"You're going to drown the pancakes." William said, looking at Lance who was pouring maple syrup, and added some freshly whipped cream to the other's plate.

"Sweets can make people forget bad memories and keep them in a good mood." Lance cut a piece of fluffy pancake soaked in maple syrup, topped with cream and chocolate chips, and put it in his mouth , showing an unobvious but 100% appreciative expression: "It's definitely worth the six-hour long flight."

"Happy birthday, man, a day late." William put a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice next to Lance's plate.

"Thank you."

"Now, can you tell me how you spent the whole day yesterday?"

Lance bit off half of the strawberry on the fork, chewed it a few times and swallowed it, shrugged: "Same as last year, waking up in the mansion, eating brunch by myself, thanking the servants for their birthday wishes, unwrapping birthday presents—— A share transfer agreement from any company. In the afternoon, I watched a concert with my father in the audience with only the two of us. It is polite to the performers to enjoy the beautiful music quietly, and at the same time avoid too much communication. In the evening, it is a A large party, the guests are almost all of Roderick's top managers and partners. For many years, Roderick's birthday has always been the same way, after sending away the last wave of guests, I was almost desperate Can't wait to rush to the airport."

Lance told about most of his regular birthday, but also concealed part of it, like the same birthday arrangement has become so boring that he can't bear it more and more. There are too many politicians and guests at this year's party The number of their beautiful daughters is also increasing year by year, and more and more families are staying overnight with the excuse that it is too late to return to the city after the party. These are the reasons that forced him to escape from Roderick's mansion overnight.

William raised his upper body and pressed Lance's shoulder with his right hand: "Congratulations, you have gained another 360 days of free time."

Lance wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin, pushed the empty dinner plate aside, leaned back in the chair, folded his fingers in a shape like a church steeple under his chin, and waited calmly.

In the end, William just tapped his shoulder and sat back to eat his share of pancakes.

Lance waited until his fingers were a little sore: "Where is it?"

"Where is what?"

"My birthday present."

"It's really disappointing." William pretended to be sad: "I thought you were here to visit an old friend, but who knew that just an hour later, the real purpose was exposed."

"Come on, Will, I flew all the way from New York to Los Angeles on a six-hour plane, of course for a gift. Or what? It's less than ten hours from my birthday, and you can't escape it. "

"Okay." William deliberately raised his wrist and looked at his watch: "I expect it to arrive within 5 minutes."

"what?"

"When—" William's answer was drowned out by a sudden loud roar.

Kim Cosey jumped to the heights in a panic.

Lance stood up and went to the window, where he saw a helicopter landing on the lawn in the back yard.

William also came over and stood beside Lance: "Let's go to Vegas to get some air."

……

Lance Roderick, one of the youngest and wealthiest billionaires in the world, is wondering if showering and changing into comfortable clothes at the Bradley Mansion earlier was part of William's plot, because if he If he was still wearing his expensive and beautiful tuxedo that was also inconvenient to move around, then he had every reason to be speechless about everything in front of him.

"No." Although there was no valid reason, Roderick's heir still stared at the pile of equipment in front of him with unkind eyes and said, "I refuse to put them on."

William fastened the protective helmet, and after equipping himself, he picked up a landing backpack and unfolded it towards Lance, and even used a coaxing tone: "Come on, my friend, it's not like you haven't skipped."

Lance is skydiving, but that is one of the items in survival training. Low-altitude skydiving is more dangerous than jumping from an airplane, and when he was trained, he was only busy landing himself in a safe place, and He didn't really appreciate the feeling of flying in the sky. Lance has never experienced this kind of high-altitude skydiving that is purely for self-entertainment and excitement.

However, this is William's arrangement, and Lance has never known how to reject his best friend.

"Okay." Lance stretched out his arms and asked William to help him fasten his shoulder straps and belt: "10 minutes ago, I thought you were talking about breathing, but we were sitting on the plane and enjoying the view of the Grand Canyon." That's all."

The helicopter departed from Beverly Hills and flew in the direction of Las Vegas. Except for the blue sky and the winding Colorado River, the enthusiastic sunshine dyed everything golden. Lake Michigan on the horizon seemed to be inlaid in golden yellow. A blue sapphire on the curtain, the peculiar landform of the Grand Canyon of Colorado looks more magnificent from the sky, even the uncanny Hoover Dam cannot be compared with the miracle of nature.

The wonders of nature seen along the way have already made Lance forget the unhappiness of yesterday. He thought that the helicopter would land in Las Vegas, and then he and William would temporarily forget everything and enjoy a two-day holiday. When hovering over the desert, William would suddenly take out two sets of skydiving equipment from a large box in the cabin, and propose to jump from here with Lance.

If Lance once thought that William was joking for a moment, the fact that the other party is now tying the two together also proves that there is no joke. William is really going to take him to jump from a height of 4000 meters.

"No coach? Just the two of us?" Lance asked as William helped him fasten his helmet.

"I'm the coach! I just got the tandem paragliding instructor qualification certificate two months ago!" The cabin door has been opened, the strong wind keeps pouring in, and William has to speak loudly: "Actually, you are the instructor after I got the instructor certificate." The first student with a jump!"

William's first interest in skydiving originated from a filming he participated in about seven or eight years ago. It was a typical Hollywood movie in which the American individual hero saves the world. He was very fascinated by seeing a stuntman jump off the plane on the spot, and he tried it himself after he was an adult.

Las Vegas is located in the desert, there are many excellent skydiving locations, and Hollywood is not far from Las Vegas, there are quite a few Hollywood stars who regularly take time to come to Las Vegas to play skydiving—— Celebrities have various hobbies, and extreme sports are definitely one of the healthier ones. Perhaps in the eyes of many people, those who like extreme sports are a group of lunatics, but for fans, extreme sports are not only It means stimulation and challenge, and also represents their pursuit of free spirit.

There are also many extreme sports that William will not try, such as racing on winding mountain roads or surfing in shark-infested seas, but when people are very stressed and irritable, a skydiving will definitely release their energy. Most negative emotions.

This is how William slowly fell in love with skydiving. The feeling of flying at the moment of falling from the sky is so fascinating. Once you try it once, it is hard to forget it again.

Over the past few years, when the pressure is very high or the mood is very depressed, and sweating can no longer solve the problem, William will look for the surrounding skydiving spots. Among them, he jumped the most when he was filming "Lord of the Rings" in New Zealand. Not because of the high pressure of filming, but because of the beautiful natural scenery of New Zealand and the lack of recreational activities outside filming, especially in Auckland and the South Island, where there are many world-class skydiving spots. When William is free and bored, he just Will make an appointment with the local skydiving club, sometimes with Orlando Bloom, Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler and others, Sir Ian McKellen also tried the sky once Skydiving, after yelling and irritating, I refused to go again.

After returning from New Zealand, William checked and found that his accumulated solo skydiving experience could be applied to become a tandem skydiving instructor. It is required that every tandem skydiving instructor must have at least three years of skydiving experience and at least [-] times of solo skydiving experience, pass the pilot's physical examination and various examinations, and go to a specialized institution for training and assessment before being qualified as a coach Employment status——In short, after rigorous assessment and training, William finally has another skill that can support himself well even if he is not an actor.

Amidst the noise of the high-speed rotation of the propeller, William glanced at Lance. The other party took a deep breath and nodded to him. William pulled down his glasses and put them on, facing the cabin door and threw himself and Lance into the blue sky. .

……

Perhaps this is one of the disadvantages of tandem skydiving. Before Lance was ready, what he was stepping on had changed from hard metal to air.

No, no, because for a moment, Lance's entire upper body was down and his feet were up.

—Flying almost parallel to the ground like Superman.

After being dull for about two or three seconds, Lance realized the fact that he was flying.

He's plummeting at about 120 mph right now, and the wind is pouring into his mouth, deforming his entire face, but apart from that, the feeling of flying is amazing!

At this moment, his brain was completely emptied, and all the problems that troubled him disappeared, as if there was no problem with the immediate destruction of the world tomorrow. The only thing he cared about was this moment, the free sky and the endless horizon.

It was different, nothing like any BASE jump Lance had ever had.

Most low-altitude skydivers choose fixed-point skydiving from buildings or hillsides hundreds of meters high. The free landing time is shorter, only a dozen or 20 seconds, and the landing process is more focused on avoiding danger and survival. In the past training, Lan Si only felt the excitement, and hardly knew what it was like to fly.

Unlike now, with William looking after his back, Lance doesn't have to worry about anything at all, he just needs to enjoy the moment.

With a bang, Lance felt a pulling force coming from behind, the parachute bag was opened, and the speed of the fall slowed down a lot, the gust of wind suddenly disappeared, and everything was quiet, as if the whole world was pressed down the mute key.

Lance found that after the parachute opened, the posture of him and William also changed, and William's chest was pressed against his back. The two of them were suspended between the blue sky and the golden desert like walking in the air. The height is enough for Lance to see the general situation of the buildings on the ground, but they look so small like toy models.

It's all just... wonderful.

"So I guess, it doesn't feel bad?" William said aloud above his head.

Lance realized that he was either laughing stupidly, or he had accidentally said his thoughts.Or both.

"This is my birthday present?" Lance looked up and looked back, only to see William's jawline and cheekbones that were carefully carved by God, and the most beautiful green eyes he had ever seen in his life. Beneath mercury-colored goggles.

William pulled the steering belt to make the two of them spin and fly, and even floated up for a while with the help of the wind: "Yes, do you like it?"

"Not bad." Lance said reservedly.

However, the upward arc of the corner of the mouth is too obvious, which has already leaked his true mood.