Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 333 Power and beauty will not disappear, they will only transfer (4K)

"The Butterfly Effect" earned $1437 million in its fifth week of release, and its North American box office cumulatively reached $1.14 million, making it the third movie this year to break $3 million at the North American box office.

This week, Guess Films' seventh film of the year, "The Shawshank Redemption," entered the promotion period.

Originally, by tacit agreement, North American theaters would only schedule one blockbuster to be released each week in order to avoid competition with each other, but this tacit agreement only existed between the seven major film studios and did not include films from Guess What? Pictures.

While Guess What Films was promoting "The Shawshank Redemption", Universal Pictures also began promoting "Waterworld".

"Waterworld" stars Kevin Costner, Jeanne Tripplehorn and others. It cost $1.75 million to produce and took three years to complete.

It is also predicted by the media as the film with the greatest chance of winning the annual box office championship this year.

Being released at the same time as such a blockbuster, "The Shawshank Redemption" was under a lot of pressure.

Link asked Jon Gordon and Joe Fillemey to promote the film according to the standards of a B-level movie. The price did not need to be too high. On the one hand, the company had promised not to over-hype the film. On the other hand, the film was more literary and artistic, and investing too much in publicity would risk losses.

Jon Gordon accepted his advice and scaled down the film's promotion.

However, surprisingly, after Guess What Pictures lowered its publicity standards, Universal Pictures also made concessions and became low-key in the promotion of "Waterworld".

"Lang, what are you doing?"

When Michael Ovitz saw this, he immediately called Universal Pictures President Ron Meyer and asked unhappily, "Why is Waterworld less promoted than The Shawshank Redemption? Waterworld is the blockbuster movie of the year. You should have taken advantage of Guess What? to step up your promotion of the movie and crush The Shawshank. Why did you give in?"

Ron Meyer was not happy to hear Michael Ovitz speaking in the tone of a superior.

"Mike, how to promote is our company's internal affairs, don't ask too much."

"Lang, we are allies. I have the obligation to advise you on this matter."

"Thank you for your advice, but it's not necessary. How to promote a movie is a decision made by the publicity and distribution department after careful consideration and will not be changed casually. If you want to promote Waterworld, you can mobilize CAA artists to help promote it after the movie is released. You can also mobilize CAA's media resources to help promote it. I will thank you for doing this."

Langmeyer said calmly.

When Michael Ovitz heard his words, the muscles at the corners of his eyes twitched and some anger appeared on his face.

In order to trick Link, he racked his brains and took great pains, but when it was done, Longmeyer not only did not appreciate it, he also spoke in this tone.

If Longmeyer were still at CAA, he would definitely slap him.

Michael Ovitz was concerned about the overall situation and didn't want to have a falling out on the spot. He suppressed his anger and said, "Ron, The Shawshank Redemption is coming on strong. If you don't promote it hard, the North American box office market will be monopolized by Guess What Movies in the next few weeks."

“No, ‘Shawshank’ is an art film, the box office won’t be too high, and it can’t affect the box office of ‘Waterworld’. Even if ‘Shawshank’ does well at the box office, it doesn’t matter.

Universal Pictures has produced a number of hit films this year, including Apollo 13, Casper the Kids, and the upcoming Waterworld. Our performance is better than Guess What, and we don’t need to waste resources on this kind of thing.”

Langmeyer said.

Michael Ovitz understood that the seven major film studios' suppression of Guess What in the past few weeks had achieved initial results, and Universal Pictures was ready to withdraw after gaining the benefits.

He gritted his teeth in anger and said, "Lang, don't you forget that our alliance's goal is to suppress Guess What Movies until it goes bankrupt and restore the dominance of the Big Seven in Hollywood? How can you give up halfway?"

"Mike, don't you understand? I'm just the president of Universal Pictures, not the boss. My job is to find ways to increase the company's profits and strive to get a top position in the annual box office rankings to satisfy the shareholders.

If the company makes money, I can get more benefits and keep my job.

I believe the other six presidents think the same way I do.

And apart from you, few people would do such a thing as to go to such great lengths to bring down Guess the Movies.

Mike, I have a meeting, let’s talk later.”

Langmeyer hung up the phone.

Dudu!

Hearing the busy tone on the phone, Michael Ovitz's face turned from red to black, the blood vessels on his forehead bulged, and his vision became dim.

In a daze, he heard what Link had said a few days ago. In the film industry, film companies are always the mainstream, and brokerage companies only serve the film industry.

When the big film companies are competing with each other, the agencies have no right to intervene at all.

Langmeyer's experience also proves this point.

When he was at CAA, Longmeyer was just a dog under him and did not have much power.

But after he went to Universal Pictures, Longmeyer dared to hang up on him.

This is really unreasonable.

Michael Ovitz took a few deep breaths, picked up the phone and wanted to call Michael Eisner, ready to accept his invitation to serve as co-president of Disney.

But when he picked up the phone, he was unwilling to give up.

The battle for the summer box office was a battle in which he joined forces with the seven major film studios to suppress Guess What Film.

Judging from the current situation, the probability of the seven major film studios winning is very high.

He was going to wait a little longer.

When the seven major film studios win, he will join Disney as a winner, and then continue to play a huge role as the president of Disney and become the true king of Hollywood.

By then, he will make all those who underestimated him regret it.

"Everyone!!"

Michael Ovitz's eyes were red and he slammed his fists on the desk.

Bang! ——
"Long, Michael must be angry at this time."

In the office of the president of Universal Pictures, DreamWorks boss David Geffen laughed.

David Geffen is in his fifties, wearing a gray suit, thin, pale, and with a gentle expression and temperament that is unique to a masculine man. He is an entertainment industry tycoon, worth more than $0 billion, and ranks 186th on the Forbes Global Rich List.

In the 1960s, he worked as an agent at WMA Agency, where he worked with Michael Ovitz, Ron Meyer and others.

He founded Geffen Records in the 1970s, and its singers include famous British singer Elton John, Guns N' Roses, Nirvana, Aerosmith and others.

In the 1990s, Geffen Records was merged into MCA Universal Music Group, the parent company of Universal Pictures, and is worth billions.

Geffen Films was founded in 1992, and last year's Interview with the Vampire was a production of this film company.

At the beginning of the year, David Geffen, Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg founded DreamWorks Film Studios.

Today he came to Universal Pictures to talk to Langmeyer, seeking cooperation between the two companies.

He couldn't help but laugh out loud when he heard Longmeyer talking on the phone with Michael Ovitz.

In the 1970s, they were all wage earners and had good personal trainers. Later, Ovitz became the president of CAA. His status in the entertainment industry rose rapidly. He gradually distanced himself from everyone else and became arrogant and unapproachable.

In the 1980s, in order to consolidate his position in CAA, Ovitz kicked out many people who disobeyed him, whether they were friends or partners.

David Geffen once publicly criticized Ovitz for being greedy for power and ungrateful.

Longmeyer shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly, "I have to say this. At the beginning of the year, we formed an alliance against Guess Pictures at Michael's suggestion, with Michael as the middleman. Since then, Michael has often interfered with our company's work as a leader, sometimes causing trouble for the company.

I have gently reminded him not to do this, but Michael is used to being the one giving orders and cannot change this behavior. Today he interfered with the company's publicity work again. I can only tell him directly, hoping that he can wake up. "

"I understand that Michael is greedy for power and does not want to give up any opportunity to be in power, and this has not changed in the past few decades.

The rise of Link and Guess What Pictures has seriously threatened his position in the industry, and he is eager to defeat Link and revive his position and reputation in the entertainment industry, but judging from the current situation, your battle is progressing slowly. "

David Geffen laughed as he played with the metal ornaments on his desk.

"That's right. Guess What Pictures has a production and distribution system that is no less powerful than the Big Seven, as well as a large number of experienced executives and producers, and Link, a talented and wealthy founder. Such an opponent has almost no shortcomings and is very difficult to deal with. At least in the short term, we cannot defeat it.

It’s just that Michael couldn’t see this, or didn’t want to believe it, and he kept urging us to deal with the Guess What movie, thinking that this way he could regain power, but things are not that simple.”

Langmeyer shook his head and lit a cigarette.

"Michael's idea of seeking external help to regain power is wrong in itself."

David Geffen pointed at the newspaper on the table with his carrot-shaped ornament. "But Michael is right about one thing. The momentum of your new movie promotion has indeed been a little weak recently. It doesn't seem like you are promoting a blockbuster movie with a cost of hundreds of millions."

Langmeyer blew out a smoke ring and said slowly, "Waterworld cost 1.75 million to produce, and it needs to get more than 2 million US dollars in the global box office to make back the cost. During the internal preview, everyone's evaluation of this movie was relatively negative, and the North American box office is predicted to be around million US dollars. Although there is a chance to get a higher box office by increasing publicity, the risk of loss will also increase.

In addition, the movies released at the same time include "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Bridges of Madison County". If we increase our publicity investment, Guess Pictures will also increase it. Guess Pictures has more funds than us. If the two sides continue to compete, the risk of losses for this movie will be greater. We have to be conservative. "

"So that's it."

David Geffen nodded knowingly and agreed with Universal Pictures' approach.

At the same time, he also took out the information and stated the purpose of his coming here. One was to cooperate with Universal Pictures to produce movies. When DreamWorks produced movies, Universal Pictures would provide technical and financial support. The second was to borrow Universal Pictures' publicity and distribution channels and establish a long-term partnership between the two parties.

Next, DreamWorks is also preparing to launch its own movies.

Langmeyer flipped through the information and said, "It's not a good idea for you to join the competition in the film market at this time. Due to the continuous success of Guess What Pictures' films, the competition in the film market has become fierce in recent years, and the survival of film companies has become difficult. If you join the competition at this time, the risk is very high and the profit margin is not much."

"Long, don't be so negative. People on Wall Street often say that the more intense the competition, the easier it is to make money. You should have full confidence in Steven, Jeffrey, and my abilities."

David Geffen smiled confidently.

Langmeyer smiled and did not refute. The three giants of DreamWorks are indeed very strong.

David Geffen is an entertainment industry tycoon with capital and connections, and is good at business management and film distribution;
Needless to say, Spielberg is one of the top directors and producers in the entertainment industry;

Jeffrey Katzenberg is the former chairman of Walt Disney Studios and specializes in animated film production.

These three people are all at the level of presidents of the seven major film studios. If they join forces to enter the film industry, the probability of success is extremely high.

But the establishment of DreamWorks will also lead to more intense competition in the film industry and have an impact on Universal Pictures.

This is what he is worried about.

But he would not refuse to cooperate with DreamWorks.

On the one hand, David Geffen himself is a shareholder of MCA, the parent company of Universal Pictures. Spielberg has a close relationship with Universal Pictures. Since the 1970s, they have jointly launched many films, including "Jaws", "ET the Extraterrestrial", "Jurassic Park", "Schindler's List", etc.

The two sides have a solid foundation for cooperation.

On the other hand, the three giants of DreamWorks are very powerful, and the films produced jointly are of guaranteed quality. Universal Pictures can also gain many benefits by cooperating with DreamWorks Pictures.

Boom boom boom!
While they were chatting, Longmeyer's assistant knocked on the door and handed him a data sheet with the first-day box office results of "Waterworld" and "The Shawshank Redemption".

"Waterworld" earned $813 million on its first day, followed by "The Shawshank Redemption" with $455 million.

Longmeyer smiled with satisfaction and handed the information to David Geffen.

"Congratulations! Waterworld is a big hit. Universal Pictures has a great chance to replace Guess What and become the box office champion this year."

"Haha, there are still a few months until the end of the year, it's too early to say that now."

Langmeyer waved his hand modestly.

But I agree with his words in my heart. Currently, Universal Pictures has a movie with a box office of over 13 million yuan, "Apollo ", and another movie with a box office of over million yuan, "Casper".

According to current data, the box office of "Waterworld" will 2% exceed million yuan, or even exceed million yuan.

In the first half of the year alone, Universal Pictures has had three movies that have grossed over 100 million dollars in North American box office, which is better than Guess What Pictures and has a great chance of becoming the industry leader.

With this achievement, he, as the president, will not be questioned too much at the board meeting at the end of the year.

(End of this chapter)