Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 54 Box Office Situation
"Boss! Are you looking for me?"

Michael Rison came in and stood in front of the desk.

"Michael, this is the box office information sent by 3885th Century Fox. The current overseas box office of Buried is million U.S. dollars. I have some doubts about the authenticity of this data.

You hire a few people to check the local box office situation in Japan, the UK, Hong Kong, etc. If it is correct, that's great. But if it is wrong, we must know how much we have lost."

Link handed him the file.

“Boss, this kind of thing is hard to investigate. In fact, in Hollywood, it is very common for big movie companies to falsify box office figures. Compared with the seven major studios, independent production companies are in a weak position.

Even if this matter is investigated, it will be useless. They have all the data on movie releases and have a hundred ways to prove the authenticity of the box office data. "

Michael Leeson has worked in the Hollywood film industry for more than ten years. He is a veteran in this industry and knows more and more deeply than ordinary people.

Hollywood film companies are important clients of large accounting firms such as PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG Huazhen.

The accounts of film companies are also managed by several major accounting firms.

Questioning the box office data of the seven major film studios is equivalent to questioning the integrity of several major accounting firms on Wall Street.

If anyone questions the box office data, it will not pass muster with the major accounting firms.

So even though many people know that there are certain problems with the box office of movies released by the seven major film studios, there is no way to expose it.

“Michael, I know what you mean.

20th Century Fox is powerful, and Guess What Pictures is weak, but just weak, not stupid.

In the matter of releasing Buried Alive, we should at least know whether we have suffered any loss and how much we have suffered. If we suffer a loss but are ignorant of it and take it for granted, we will only suffer greater losses in the future. "

He also wanted to use this incident to find out whether the system's box office subsidy was double the box office of the original movie, or quadruple the box office data of the current version of "Buried".

After understanding it clearly, we can make better use of this system.

"Okay, boss. I'll arrange for someone to investigate right away."

"You only need to investigate four or five major box office markets to get some relatively reliable data. There is no need to investigate too deeply."

"I see!"

Michael Leeson exits with the documents.

Link continued to look through the documents, looking at the box office data summary of thriller movies in the North American film market in the first half of the year.

A total of 105 films were released in major theaters in the United States in the first half of the year.

Among them, there are 16 thriller and suspense films, accounting for about one-sixth.

Currently, this type of film is generally performing well, with many dark horses emerging. "Buried" ranks first with an extremely high box office revenue ratio.

In second place is the erotic thriller "Basic Instinct," which cost $4900 million to produce and grossed $3.52 million worldwide.

Among all the movies released in the first half of the year, North America ranked fourth.

In third place is the family thriller "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle," which cost $2200 million and grossed $1.64 million worldwide.

Ranked 8th in North American box office in the first half of the year.

Ranked fourth is the science fiction thriller "Alien 3", which was directed by David Lynch and released in early May. The film cost 5000 million US dollars to produce and its current global box office has reached 1.3 million US dollars.

The data is not bad either.

In the first half of the year, a number of horror movies were box office hits, including record-breaking movies such as "Buried".

Many media believe that this year will be a big year for horror movies, and all horror movies released this year have achieved good box office results.

Guided by this trend, there may be more horror films in the North American film market next year.

What is the use of knowing this data?
Very useful.

"Paranormal Activity" is a horror thriller movie.

Currently in the film market, movies with similar themes are gaining popularity and movie fans like this type of movies.

The distributor will also be more confident when promoting and distributing the film, and if a film company is willing to distribute the film, Guess Pictures will also be in a favorable position during negotiations.

-

"Link, how's the new movie?"

“So far, so good.”

"Be careful. There is a lot of news about your new movie in the circle right now. Many media outlets, as usual, predict that your second movie will most likely end in failure."

Jerome Preston said as he stirred his coffee cup at Starbucks in The Grove Shopping Center.

“They will probably be disappointed.”

"Haha, you are still the confident Link. I like guys like you."

Jerome pointed at him and continued,
"I asked you to come here today because I have good news for you."

The good news for Jerome is that after being reviewed by AMC Entertainment Group, two of the plans written by Link to increase cinema attendance were adopted by AMC Entertainment Group.

AMC Theaters plans to implement this over the next three years.

Jerome was also valued by AMC Entertainment Group and was promoted from manager of the Grove Shopping Center Theater to head of AMC Cinemas in the Greater Los Angeles area, responsible for the distribution of nine theaters.

Los Angeles is the entertainment capital, and AMC is the second largest cinema chain in the United States. Becoming the person in charge of AMC here is equivalent to becoming a middle or senior management of the AMC Entertainment Group, which not only has financial prospects, but also a bright future.

"That's great news indeed, Jerome, congratulations!"

"Link, I have you to thank for all this."

Jerome Preston sat up and said seriously.

"You're welcome. It's your help that Buried Alive was successfully released."

“It’s different. The successful release of Buried was an opportunity you fought for through hard work. The big sales of Buried were also because the movie was exciting enough and the fans were willing to support it. I’m sorry that I couldn’t help you in any way.

If you need help arranging your next movie release, these nine Los Angeles theaters can help you."

“Is this appropriate?”

“Haha, this is the power of the theater manager. For example, when the theater chain cooperates with the film company, it will give priority to the films under the seven major film studios.

When arranging movie posters, give better positions to movies from the seven major studios, and when recommending movies to customers, give priority to their movies.

On the one hand, it is because the films released by the seven major film studios have better box office performance and greater distribution profits.

On the other hand, theaters need to strengthen cooperation with the seven major film studios, obtain more film distribution rights from them, and make profits from them.

If it’s your movie, and it’s showing in AMC theaters in the Los Angeles area, I can exercise some power.”

Jerome Preston smiled and used his hand to indicate the distance in centimeters.

"That sounds good." Link nodded. "I heard that when the Big Seven Studios cooperated with theaters, they often falsified the box office figures. Do you know anything about this?"

"Link, the water here is too deep. It's useless for you to know too much. In fact, when the Big Seven Studios release movies, they prefer to exaggerate the figures of the publicity and promotion expenses, exaggerating 100 million to 200 million or more. This operation is relatively more convenient.

They collaborate with theater chains to do accounting and falsify box office figures. Regardless of exaggeration or reduction, there will be anomalies in the data. When the IRS investigates it later, there will be big problems.

In addition, there is more than one Hollywood film company and cinema chain, and there is competition among the film companies and cinema chains. It is not easy to cook the books quietly.

You are a director, you just need to focus on making movies, make some good movies, and make film companies and theaters compete to become your partners.

When you become the party with the resources, you become the big shot at the Hollywood party, rather than a prey to be slaughtered.”

Jerome Preston raised his thick eyebrows and his expression became serious.

"Been taught a lesson."

Link clinked his coffee cup with Jerome's.

(End of this chapter)