Dominating Hollywood: Starting with Scarlett

Chapter 161 Gambling Agreement
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre certainly doesn’t throw in the towel that easily.

Although it doesn't have as amazing operations as "Saw", if you invest a lot of US dollars, you can always get a lot of buzz.

Shea said that since it can’t be known to everyone, it can be targeted with publicity.

Therefore, they bought advertising space on various TV stations and specially selected to play their own movie promotions after horror movies and thrillers to maximize the effect.

The promotion of "Scream 3" also entered into an overwhelming campaign in October.

Their funds are better and their promotion is more straightforward. Putting the funny and thriller clips together with the title and the big number 3 is enough to surprise passers-by.

So October has just begun, but the promotion of the three movies has already entered a fever pitch.

There are endless discussions, and even schools are filled with discussions about watching new movies.

"What movie are you going to watch on Halloween? Mirren?" Classmate Keith asked Mirren after the class. There were several classmates standing next to him, all of whom were playing ball with Keith.

"I plan to watch "Saw"." Mirren said his thoughts truthfully.

Mirren knew that he was a guy with a head full of muscles, so he didn't refute.

"But don't you think that's cool?" Pucci shrugged.

"What's wrong, are you scared? I want to play a game with you!"

"But don't you think this is too corny? I prefer Scream. It's funny and scary. I can take my girl to watch it."

"But with a girl, shouldn't you choose the scarier one? "Texas" or "Chainsaw", don't you want the girl to scream with joy and then eat popcorn with her?"

"Look, this is it!" Pucci raised the puppet Billy and manipulated the toy to reveal a charming smile: "This expression is so great, it always makes me feel like it will come alive the next moment."

""Saw"... hmm, I think it may be a bad movie. I still prefer "Scream 3"." Keith is not interested in the series of events of Jigsaw, nor does he think this movie is a good one. How scary it would be.

"Hahaha." Everyone laughed, only Mirren blushed slightly.

Several people looked at each other: "You are right, Mirren, no wonder you can handle Judy."

Duval glared at him: "I just feel that I was fooled. The crew made such a publicity, which caused the business in my store to be bad."

At the same time, Madden and Pucci were also in Duval's store, and they were telling Duval about their encounter with Puppet Billy some time ago.

"Hey, what do you mean it's done!" Mirren retorted: "She and I haven't..."

Madden immediately covered Pucci's mouth: "Shut up."

"To be honest, Pucci, I would rather watch "Texas"." Madden hesitated for a moment and expressed his thoughts.

"Okay." Duval waved his hand: "No matter what you say, I will only watch "Scream"."

"I'll definitely choose "Texas". The actress in it is so sexy. I can't wait to watch her get chased!"

But other companions said: "I think "Saw" should be good, but to be honest, "Texas" is also a chainsaw, so I don't know how to choose."

"Yeah...you're right bro, I should find a fucking horror movie, so which one is scarier?"

"Why? Are you a coward?" Pucci always spoke unabashedly.

"Okay, brother." Case pushed back his words with a slap: "Just take Judy to see "Chainsaw", and remember to push up the middle armrest of the chair! Let her go faster. Get into my arms!"

Mirren replied decisively: "'Chainsaw', there is no doubt that its scenes scared the robbers to tears."

"What do you mean? Don't you want to see Don's first movie?" It was only after the promotional advertisement appeared that everyone knew that the director of "Saw" was Opaska's best cinematographer Don De.

"I think...but I don't like scary movies. I prefer "Texas" because I grew up listening to it and I'm not that scared anymore." Madden expressed his opinion.

Duval was more direct: "If it were a MV shot by Tang, I would definitely collect it, but for a movie like this, a low-budget R-rated horror film, I don't think it would be that good."

"Okay, okay, a bunch of traitors and cowards!" Pucci held the puppet in his left hand and pretended to ask: "Billy, what do you think?"

Billy's mouth opened and closed: "I think they all should face Jigsaw's trial."

"Stop dubbing, Pucci, it's so scary." Madden spread his hands.

"No, Billy, let these guys be taken away by Jigsaw!" Pucci snorted and left the store.

Duval and Madden looked at each other and shrugged.

Soon, the time came to October 10, the eve of the movie’s release.

On this day, some Hollywood media reports released polling data. The data showed that among the three movies in the Halloween period, "Scary 3" leads the expectation rate by a cliff, %.

The second place "Chainsaw" and the third place "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" are evenly matched, both at about 25%. And many citizens said they would only choose one to watch, "Texas" or "Chainsaw."

This also caused the Hollywood media to start speculating on the premiere box office of the two movies.

The "Hollywood Reporter" newspaper published its own speculation: "According to theater data, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" opened on 3128 screens, and "Saw" opened on 2156 screens.

"Although the gap in the number of screens is relatively large, because "Saw" has been more widely publicized and discussed more, it can be reasonably predicted that the first-day box office of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" will exceed 1500 million. It’s probably around 1800 million to 900 million. The first-day box office of ‘Saw’ will be around 1300 million to million.”

In fact, the current opening screen count of "Saw" was also increased proactively by theaters after seeing the film's promotion.

But even so, the media still generally do not believe that "Saw" can surpass "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" in its first week box office.

Because the story of "Texas" is well-known to everyone and has a broader base than "Chainsaw", plus it is released one day earlier, the box office on the first weekend will inevitably be higher than that of "Chainsaw".

As for after the first week, it depends on the quality of the two movies.

But in the eyes of the media and film critics, this kind of low-cost R-rated horror film really doesn't have much quality. It just needs to tell a story well and not let the blood spill out like it's free and affect the viewing experience.

It was under this speculation that "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" arrived on the day it was released.

Donde is sitting in the Lionsgate office, with Carl on his left and Jimmy on his right.

But compared to Tang De's very calm expression, the expressions of several other people were a little anxious.

"Don, how much box office do you think "Texas" can get?" Carl couldn't stand such a silent atmosphere and spoke first.

"I don't know." Tang De raised his eyebrows: "Actually, you don't need to pay too much attention to your opponent's box office, because "Chainsaw" will prove itself by its quality."

"You are so confident." Karl smiled bitterly, but he didn't have that much confidence.

"Don De will always be like this." Jimmy smiled and looked at Don De again: "So why did Lions Gate invite us over?"

Tang De crossed his legs and tapped his knees with his fingers: "They said they wanted to talk to me about a new contract."

"What do you mean? Do they still want to release our new film?" What Jimmy was talking about was "Little Miss Sunshine". This film was given to Greta to direct by Tang De, but it was shelved because she could not find the right actor. For a long time.

"Maybe." As soon as Tang De finished speaking, the door of the office was opened, and Moria, the senior executive in charge of their movie, walked in.

"Good morning, Tang." He took his assistant and secretary, sat down on the sofa, and greeted everyone with a smile.

After saying a few words, they got down to business.

"The truth is, we want to talk to you about investing in Norton Eyes."

"Investment?" Tang De narrowed his eyes.

"That's right..." Moria spread his hands and said, "The board of directors is very optimistic about the development of Norton Eyes, so it hopes to inject capital into your company."

Donde did not hide his identity as the founder of Norton Eyes, so it was easy for Lionsgate to investigate.

"But we don't need an injection of capital."

"Don't be so hasty, let's take a look at the treaty we have drawn up first." Moria confidently took out a few pages and handed them to Tang De.

And after watching, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows: "Betting agreement?"

"Yes, a gambling agreement." Lionsgate did not choose to invest directly, but chose to take a roundabout way.

"It seems that you are really optimistic about the Norton Eye."

Tang De said something meaningful, and then handed the document to Jimmy for viewing.

The scope of the betting agreement is for the next three Norton Eyes films.

First of all, these three movies will be promoted and distributed by Lionsgate Pictures, and they promise to open on no less than 2,000 screens.

At the same time, they will also provide a budget no less than the production cost of the film for promotion.

But in contrast, the agreement requires that the actual box office profit of each movie must exceed US$50 million. If it is less than US$50 million, then Lionsgate will obtain 20% of Norton Eyes for US$500,000. shares.

In other words, if the profits of the three movies do not exceed US$50 million, then 60% of Norton Eyes' shares will be sold to Lions Gate for US$1.5 million.

But if the profit exceeds 50 million, then Lionsgate Pictures will distribute the profits at a 10% share, which is equivalent to Lionsgate Pictures spending a lot of money but getting little.

So Moglia doesn't think Tang De will resist the temptation of this gambling agreement.

And Tang De really had no choice but to accept this agreement.

After all, the next Norton Eyes movies are typical examples of taking a small risk to win a big one, so why not take a gamble?
(End of this chapter)