The Best Entertainment Era

? DreamWorks headquarters in Glendale, Los Angeles.

There was silence in the conference room. Everyone was looking at the old man wearing round glasses. The old man always gave people a very gentle image, but now his expressionless face was as cold as a layer of ice.

Susan, tell me. Spielberg's tone was very flat: How much was the box office in the first week?

Glancing at her boss, Susan Arnold bit the bullet and said, The Blair Witch 2 has 3,383 theaters, and the first week's box office is 4.68 million US dollars.

There was an instant discussion in the meeting room.

Spielberg said, Quiet.

The discussion stopped abruptly.

Spielberg said: How much has the project invested so far?

Susan Arnold didn't dare to delay, and quickly replied: The purchase of the copyright of the sequel was 12 million US dollars, the shooting and production cost was 6 million US dollars, and the publicity and distribution expenses were 16 million US dollars. The current actual expenditure is 34 million US dollars.

Spielberg looked at her without speaking.

Susan Arnold understood what he meant, and continued: Cinema theater audience scores an average of D, and the North American box office is predicted to not exceed $10 million.

There was a faint gasp-like sound in the meeting room.

All the people sitting here are professionals. It is not difficult for anyone to imagine that most of the 34 million US dollars invested will be difficult to recover. Maybe it will be possible after 30 years of operation in the offline market?

After all, Spielberg is a big man who is used to wind and rain. He himself has not failed, and his mood is very stable. He said: All follow-up plans for The Blair Witch are stopped! Stop losses as soon as possible.

Yes. Susan Arnold was a little reconciled, but unable to fight for it. This film was a complete failure.

But there is one thing I still can't figure out, the same model, the same operation, why The Blair Witch succeeded, but the sequel failed?

Scolding? Most of the successful sequels are sold out on the basis of criticism.

Spielberg said again: Go back and sum it up.

Also, what are the names of those two directors?

Daniel Malik and Eideardo Sanziz, Susan Arnold replied.

Spielberg made a decisive decision: DreamWorks will no longer cooperate with these two people!

This is not only for Susan Arnold, but also for everyone present.

All the executives and producers of DreamWorks Studios kept these two names in their hearts.

What kind of director is most likely to be remembered by Hollywood studios? The most successful ones and the most unsuccessful ones.

At the end of the meeting, Spielberg returned to the office, his brows were frowned, his face was full of sorrow, and even his straight back was a little bent, as if there was a mountain of pressure on his body.

Since the establishment of DreamWorks, it has not been smooth.

People on the outside only see the success of films like Saving Private Ryan, American Beauty and Gladiator, but not the problems inside DreamWorks.

The split at the top... Spielberg has a headache when he thinks of this problem. DreamWorks' business has been divided into three independent parts. David Geffen plans to quit DreamWorks, and Jeff Katzenberg also wants to Let animation studios be independent.

Fortunately, it is still a group at present. As long as it can get out of the predicament and fight its way out of the encirclement and suppression of the six major companies, these crises are nothing.

If things go well, all problems are actually small problems.

But thinking of this, Spielberg's head hurts even more. The live-action film department has not been going well since last year.

First, the distribution department of Polygram Pictures failed to poach, then the Mountain Foundation, which kept in touch, refused to cooperate with DreamWorks again, and then a sequel film that should have been very safe failed miserably.

The failure to tap the distribution department resulted in the failure of DreamWorks' overseas distribution channels to be established in a short period of time, and it may even take six to seven years or more.

The Mountain Foundation gave up on cooperating with DreamWorks, and the funds for the two TV drama projects were short of funds, so it was too late to start the project.

A sequel film that should have been an easy success failed, further straining an already tight cash flow.

Spielberg felt that his head was about to explode. DreamWorks, which seemed to be developing well, did not have a solid foundation at all!

Why do some things that are sure to happen have accidents? Especially these three things.

People grow old, Spielberg analyzed a little bit, and suddenly found that these three things have one thing in common!

Where did Polygram's distribution department go? Embassy Pictures!

Who is the Mountain Foundation working with in Hollywood? Sand Sea Entertainment!

Who bought the sequel rights to the failed 'The Blair Witch 2'? Relativity Entertainment!

These are three companies, but those who are well-informed in Hollywood today don't know that this is a small group company!

The owner of the company is called Ronan Anderson...

Spielberg suddenly took off his round glasses, his face full of dignity.

For some reason, he felt that the resources and opportunities that should have belonged to DreamWorks were snatched away by others.

It's a bad feeling.

But if you think about it carefully, the opportunities actually slipped away from DreamWorks.

The thing about Polygram Pictures was that he didn't know people well and ignored Albert Hoffman's old problems, which led to accidents.

The Mountain Foundation and DreamWorks have been hesitant, rejecting Indian investment in big projects such as Gladiator several times. Even he himself feels that DreamWorks lacks sincerity.

The sequel copyright of The Blair Witch was bought by Susan Arnold from Relativity Entertainment on her own initiative.

Spielberg is very clear that the power to employ people, do things and make decisions is in his hands.

Is it because I can't do it? Spielberg's rare self-doubt: I'm old? Can't even compare to a young man in his early twenties?

Ronan Anderson, Relativity Entertainment...

These two names kept spinning in Spielberg's mind, especially Relativity Entertainment, which has a complete distribution capability in North America. After winning the distribution department of Polygram Pictures, it is actively developing and building overseas distribution channels. It is said that the channels have already After the shop is finished, it is almost time to release the movie to try the effect.

That is an overseas distribution channel, an overseas distribution channel that even DreamWorks does not have!

Spielberg pressed the intercom and called his assistant in: Go and check, what is the latest movie released by Embassy Pictures?

The assistant was very familiar with the dynamics in the industry, and replied directly: I heard people say a while ago that the embassy film industry has no plans to release films in theaters in the first half of the year, and the most recent film to be released is Human Purge 2, which will be released during Halloween.

Spielberg asked, What about the overseas release of the film?

The assistant thought for a while and said, It should also be distributed by the embassy film industry.

Go and check, confirm the news, and then summarize it to me. Spielberg thought for a while, and then ordered: More people pay attention to the news about Relativity Entertainment, Embassy Pictures and Sand Sea Entertainment.

Yes. The assistant responded immediately, I'll let someone do it.

Spielberg sat in his office, lost in thought again.

Overseas distribution channels are too important to DreamWorks. He made a huge mistake before, and there should be a chance to make up for it.

If Embassy Pictures can successfully distribute films overseas...

The hit of The Blair Witch 2 was even more miserable than Ronan expected. When he saw the box office data of this film, he discovered one thing.

In the past two years, it seems that I have a special relationship with DreamWorks.

It's a pity that Band of Brothers, which has been paying attention for a long time, has never found a chance to get involved, and can only watch this mini-series project that can earn countless benefits in the future.

Ronan, however, had no remorse or anything of the sort.

After all, DreamWorks obtained the copyright very early, and the original author even served as a consultant for Saving Private Ryan. He made good friends with Spielberg and Tom Hanks, and would give priority to cooperating with these two.

Ronan is well aware that not even the reborn can have all the good things.

Greed is good, but in moderation.

He never forgot this sentence.

Greed is like a ecstasy pill, which can overwhelm all people's rationality. When the mind is full of thoughts about making a fortune, it is like engraving Come and lie to me on the forehead, and it is especially easy to be deceived by others. use.

At the end of June, Robert Lee finally returned to Los Angeles from overseas.

Danny Donald stayed in the East for the time being. Robert Lee said to Ronan: With him over there, it will be easier to do a lot of work. The style of the East is very different from ours.

Ronan flipped through the work log brought back by Robert Lee, and asked, Is the work going well there?

Robert Lee said: I encountered a lot of troubles at the beginning, but the original Polygram channel played a very important role. They have established a certain network of contacts there before, which helped a lot.

Ronan asked: Have you submitted the materials for The Bourne Shadow?

Robert Li immediately said: It has been handed over to China Film Group and related departments. China Film Group is interested, but we can only discuss whether to introduce it after watching the finished film.

Okay. Ronan said, Let's wait for the news.

Robert Lee was puzzled: Ronan, I have been there on the ground. The film industry there is very backward. Not only are there few theaters, but a large number of them have closed down, and the box office share is also low. Is it necessary to open up the market?

Ronan simply explained: Do you know that there are 1.3 billion people there? And the economy is developing rapidly, how big will this market be in the future? The film market in North America is also developing step by step. Make preparations in advance. Once this market Rapid development, we can enjoy a huge dividend.

Robert Lee said: Ronan, you see farther than me, I listen to you.

Ronan smiled and said, Take a break first.

I'll just rest for three days. Robert Lee asked: You called me a while ago, didn't you say that you have a very important job for me to do?