Hollywood Tycoon [US Entertainment + Business War]

Not surprisingly, "Apollo 13" continued to lead the box office on Saturday.On Saturday, the average revenue per theater in 2197 theaters increased to US$4300, and the total box office score also came to US$944 million.Seeing such box office results, "Variety Show" and "New York Times" decisively and wisely shut up with one day left in the opening weekend.Although they don't like Jed Sherman very much, they still can't do things like talking nonsense.

Especially if you really talk nonsense, it will be uncomfortable to be resisted by readers and then slapped in the face by Jed with actual results.The "Washington Post", "USA Today" and "Wall Street Journal", which were originally neutral, wrote a lot about the achievements of "Apollo 13".They originally neither supported Jed nor opposed Jed, but now that Jed is a popular figure, it is natural to write a special book to attract readers.

Monday, June 6.According to statistics, "Apollo 3" had a box office of 13 million U.S. dollars in its first weekend, successfully picking out the classic animated film "Pocahontas" and becoming the box office champion of the weekend.Although many people expected that Jed would turn around with this movie, no one guessed that his turnaround would be so beautiful.You must know that this weekend is not an unpopular week. There are "Pocahontas" and "Batman Forever" before, and there will be new films "Dino Rangers" and "SWAT Judge".Except for "Pocahontas", the other three movies are all the most popular action movies in the summer, but "Apollo 2500" beats action movies with the most unpopular sci-fi theme in Hollywood, even young and old. All the good cartoons were defeated, so no one doubted the money-absorbing ability of "Apollo 13".

On the weekend of the second week, MGM's thriller "Alien" and Sony's action film "The First Samurai" joined forces, but "Apollo 13" still grabbed the box office champion, and also won the first and second place at the box office. Pulled to $250 million.On the following weekend of the third week, Warner Bros. released the classic sequel "Devil Warrior 2", while Fox Corporation released the tender "September of Pregnancy". Unfortunately, these two films still failed to challenge successfully.The success of three consecutive weeks has forced other film companies to temporarily put aside their masterpieces and face to face with "Apollo 13". Therefore, on the fourth weekend, although the weekend box office of "Apollo 13" has only reached 120. $[-], but still won the weekend box office champion, knocking down Paramount's new film "Leadership".

It was only in the fifth week that the appeal of American audiences was taken away by the two films "Waterworld" and "Network Panic".However, Galaxy Films is very satisfied with consecutively occupying the top spot on the July weekend box office list. After all, although the cost of this movie is not low, fortunately, the funding from NASA has saved Galaxy Movies a lot of money. , so Galaxy Movies ended up making a lot of money.And NASA is also happy to see the results of the long-term popularity of the movie. With such a popular effect, next year's budget will definitely be larger, so NASA has no interest in sharing the copyright and box office of "Apollo 13". , what people care about is the national budget.

When Jade's "Apollo 13" beat Paramount's new film "Leading the Way" in its fourth week of release, Redstone made a point of calling to tease Jed for being unkind.At this time, Jed suddenly remembered something, and asked Lei Shidong if he was free, and he wanted to visit him at a convenient time.Lei Shidong naturally said that he was waiting anytime, so the two discussed the time.

After hanging up Redstone's call, Jed told Meribo and Susan Decker to meet him in the office.According to the setup of general film companies, Jade established Galaxy Film Distribution Company and Galaxy Home Entertainment Company in parallel on the basis of Galaxy Film Production Company, in order to avoid the "Hollywood Antitrust Case" that "produce companies are not allowed to own distribution companies".Although both companies are distribution companies, they target different channels.

Galaxy Film Distribution Company is naturally the main company. In addition to being in charge of theater releases in North America, he is also responsible for selling film copyrights to other countries.While Galaxy Home Entertainment is mainly engaged in TV channels (such as movie channels) and video tape markets.Perhaps it was Murdoch's words that woke up Jed, who is now looking for his own allies for the company.Jade chose to cooperate with Murdoch's News Corporation for the TV business, while the film business chose to cooperate with Redstone, who also admired himself.After all, I am still in a disadvantaged position. If I want to be friends with tigers, then I'd better make friends with lions as well.

More importantly, the Viacom Group owns Paramount, and the film distribution channel is not a problem at all; and Redstone itself also owns the top ten theater companies in the United States-American Entertainment Corporation and the largest video rental chain in North America. - Blockbuster chain stores.Therefore, Jed can't find any reason not to cooperate with Redstone, but this plan must be explained to the people in charge of the two companies in the future.

Naturally, Meribo quickly understood what Jade meant. The cooperation with Jade was actually the result of manufacturers compromising with the channel. Procter & Gamble also compromised with Wal-Mart for this reason. Meribo very much agrees with this plan.Instead, Susan Decker suggested: "It's not enough to just own Viacom's TV channels and Blockbuster. Why don't we also invite News Corporation to take a stake? Our profits are quite thin. If we can't If the quantity reaches a certain level, it will be very difficult for us to make a profit.”

Jed thought for a while and agreed with Susan, "But let's discuss with Mr. Redstone first and then talk about other things."

After sending away Susan and Mai Ruibo, Jed began to classify Hollywood companies according to their relationship with him.News Corporation (20th Century Fox) and Viacom (Paramount, DreamWorks) are naturally their allies; MGM, United Artists, and Disney are relatively neutral companies; Vivendi (Universal Films) It can be regarded as a company that has some complaints about itself, but they will not take the initiative to find their own troubles, but they must be willing to participate in things that get worse; and their biggest enemies in Hollywood are naturally Sony (Columbia Films and Samsung Films).The unexplained car accident at the beginning had already determined that Jed and Sony would never die. In addition, after Jed entered Hollywood, he had repeatedly targeted Columbia Pictures. It's full.

That's why Geffen's reminder and Murdoch's warning came about. After all, this circle is not big, and these two old foxes have been wandering around for many years. How can they hide anything from them?The entertainment industry has had an ambiguous relationship with the underworld from the very beginning. Isn't it rumored that MGM has an ambiguous relationship with the mafia family?And if the Jews who ruled Hollywood said their hands were clean, even Jed would not believe it.Coupled with the Japanese Sony, the whole of Hollywood is actually a pool of muddy water, which looks clear and harmless on the surface.Only when you arrive at this pool, you will know how dangerous it is.Fortunately, after the boss of the mafia was shut down by the IRS, the grievances between the Italians and the Jews in Hollywood have come to an end, and the new Japanese are naturally not able to challenge the two old masters of the past, so this is chaos It's a quiet time in the era, so it's also a space for Jed to develop himself.

Jed flew from Los Angeles to Boston according to the agreed time.Although Viacom's headquarters is in New York, the American entertainment company that actually controls all of Viacom's headquarters is in Boston, so Redstone stays in Boston more often.Boston is one of the few cities in the United States with a historical atmosphere. At the same time, due to the presence of universities here, Boston has become the city with the most elitism in the United States. Even New York City, which has always regarded itself highly, is embarrassed to say anything to Boston in this regard.Lei Shidong specially entertained Jade at his home, and specially invited his daughter to attend.Redstone's female guard, Sally, actually didn't have a good impression of Jed. After all, as Redstone's legal heir, she was repeatedly told that her father's ideal heir was another strange man. Who did this happen to? Not happy.However, he was a visitor, so Sally put away her disgust and showed a welcoming expression.The servants at home have delivered aperitifs and pre-dinner desserts for the host and guest to drink while chatting.

"The precious champagne of Pol Roger Winery-Sir Churchill." Redstone enthusiastically introduced the origin of the aperitif, and Jed also smiled and showed a very enjoyable expression.Like most of the rich Americans, Redstone laughed at the conservativeness of the British while at the same time taking the British lifestyle as a model. "And this Stilton cheese, the only one produced in Nottingham, England is the most authentic in the world."

Pol Roger is the top champagne house in France and has a very close relationship with the British royal family.As far as Jed knows, the wine used for the weddings of the British royal family was provided by this winery.And Sir Churchill is the top treasure champagne of Pol Roger Winery since modern times, and it is a treasure that is priceless for wine lovers.So Jed liked the champagne, but the Stilton cheese was a little incompetent.Not only does this cheese not have the faint milky aroma of dairy products, but it has a very strong hot and sour taste, which makes Jed a little uncomfortable.

Lei Shidong knew that Jed must have something to ask for when he came to the door, so after introducing the food and showing the friendship of the landlord, Lei Shidong smiled and said: "Mr. Sherman, I think you should be very important. You want to find me for something?"

"I know that nothing can be hidden from Mr. Redstone." Jed said with a smile, "Galaxy Films is about to set up a distribution company, so I want to invite Viacom Group to take a stake. I wonder if Mr. Redstone is interested?"

"It's too troublesome to set up a distribution company. It's better to refer to the model of DreamWorks." Lei Shidong gave his suggestion.

"Isn't it extravagant for an entertainment group to have three production companies?" Jed said. "Paramount, DreamWorks, and if you add Galaxy Movies, even Viacom's board of directors has no objection, but what about the Fair Trade Commission? Paramount was seriously injured because of the 'antitrust lawsuit' back then. Isn't Mr. Lei Shidong afraid?"

Lei Shidong was silent for a while, and he also knew that what Jed said was not false.Dreamworks and Galaxy Films are the two film companies with the most potential recognized by Hollywood at present. Even if they don't get involved in "monopoly lawsuits", there will be many internal problems if they own two companies at once.First of all, how do I balance the relationship between these two companies and Paramount?Secondly, how should the relationship between the two companies be balanced?Instead of the three companies fighting internally, it is better to give up.Lei Shidong then smiled and said: "Oh, I'm really afraid of being targeted by those people from the Ministry of Commerce. But I'm not very interested in investing in an issuing company."

Jed responded indifferently: "What is the United International Pictures formed by Viacom and Vivendi?"

At this time, Sally suddenly interjected: "Vivendi can bring us European distribution theaters, what can you give me?"

Seeing Sally's slightly provocative eyes, Jed suddenly felt a sense of humiliation in his heart.Indeed, comparing your own company with Vivendi is like comparing ants to elephants.Jed tried to calm down the anger in his heart, and said: "If this is what Mr. Redstone meant, then just pretend I didn't say these words."

Jed didn't talk to Lei Shidong about anything related to the movie, and Lei Shidong originally wanted to use his daughter's mouth to suppress Jed a little, so that he could get more benefits, but Lei Shidong didn't expect it. Yes, Jed didn't give Lei Shidong another chance at all.Many years later, when Redstone talked about this cooperation conversation, he said with regret that he regretted not being able to participate in the cooperation with Jade Publishing Company, which eventually led to Jade and Viacom Group drifting away.

After a hasty meeting with Redstone, Jed received a call from Spielberg, saying that he hoped to meet once in New York.So Jed had to fly to New York to meet with Spielberg.Spielberg arranged for Jed to meet him at a friend's house, and said, "I heard you went to see Mr. Redstone. Are you planning to join the Viacom group?"

"I just hope that he can take a stake in my future publishing company." Jed expressed his thoughts lightly. "I don't want to be a vassal of those big entertainment groups, but I also have to admit that I need their support."

"What does Mr. Redstone mean?" Spielberg asked, looking into Jed's eyes.

"He refused." Jed shrugged. "To be precise, he made his daughter reject me. I have to find someone else."

Spielberg thought for a while, and finally said: "People from the Disney Group want to contact you, but they don't know how to contact you, so I acted as the middleman. They are currently very interested in your film company and are willing to cooperate. "

Jed thought for a while, and then said: "Disney is indeed a good choice. They have a TV station and a distribution company like Buwei, but they already have Disney, Touchstone and other production companies under their umbrella. Is there still a shortage of me? This one?"

"But their company has never been successful." Spielberg said the truth, "Hollywood movies are aimed at genre films, while Miramax is aimed at art films, and Disney Group's only two brands are Touchstone and Disney. Commercial films, because of the brand image first, Disney is mainly aimed at children and family audiences. But the touchstone has not yet been raised, so the Disney Group is very anxious. They said that as long as Galaxy joins the Disney Group family, everything will be easy to talk about. Jed, I I know that your heart is the same as mine, and you want to go the route of independent production, but this is no longer the golden age of Hollywood. Our dreams are beautiful, but the reality is cruel. If DreamWorks hadn’t been under the shelter of Viacom, it would have Not today."

"I understand." Jed nodded, "I will find time to contact Mr. Igor."

After meeting with Spielberg, Jed only felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, but he returned to his company because Jafei said that there was a very important matter to be interviewed with himself.After Jed returned to the office, Jia Fei brought people over.

"Mr. Sherman, this is Mr. Robert Cosberg. He has a very interesting idea, and I hope we can realize it." Jade introduced the man beside him to Jed, and handed Jed a document and A videotape. "This is a French short film shot in 1962. Mr. Cosberg felt that the film still had a lot to offer, so he bought the copyright of this short film and entrusted a scriptwriter to write the script. He hoped that we could Invest in making this film."

Jed looked at the script, which said "Twelve Monkeys", and his heart shrank suddenly.But he said: "Can you give me a few days to think about it, I always have to read the script and understand what the short film is about."

"No problem." Cosberg was very happy that Jed was willing to learn about the story.You must know that he has approached many film companies, but before he even spoke, he only said that he hoped to adapt a French short film and was invited away.In the eyes of Hollywood filmmakers, French films mean no market and no box office, so who will invest in filming.Now that Jed has agreed to read the script, it means he is at least interested.That's because Jed knew it was a great sci-fi movie, and it did well at the box office.