America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 187, Section 186: Transformers Invade the World

Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles.

This is the city's Star Street, home to various commercial facilities, a must-see for anyone visiting Los Angeles, with a huge daily flow of people.

As the new week began, Ecker Park, located next to Sunset Boulevard, was bustling with people, who gathered to take photos and exclaim in amazement.

In the center of the crowd stood a silver-white robot over two meters tall, none other than Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons.

This robot was meticulously crafted by MGM's props department and is equipped with various mechanisms, although it cannot move.

However, through remote control, Megatron's hands and feet can already make small movements.

With professional voice actors speaking from the shadows, the effect was definitely far inferior to the Universal Studios version of later generations.

However, in today's world, this is beyond people's imagination.

"Foolish humans, I come from Cybertron, a planet 30 billion light-years away from Earth. You may call me Lord Megatron."

"My AllSpark has been stolen by a despicable thief. Now I'm looking for a pair of glasses with the AllSpark's coordinates engraved on the lenses."

With a mechanical voice, Megatron's eyes suddenly emitted a blue light.

Some people screamed and backed away, whether intentionally or genuinely frightened, it was unclear.

After all, the latter is not entirely impossible, because happy education has indeed produced many idiots.

The blue light was not a weapon, but a holographic projection built into Megatron's head.

The camera projects a pair of glasses into the air through the eyes; these are the glasses Sam wears in the movie.

The lens clearly displayed a website address, which was a Transformers promotional website specially set up by MGM. They went all out to make everyone feel involved.

"You tiny insects, write down this website address. Leave a message on the website after you find any clues."

"Everyone who leaves a comment will be considered a slave to the Decepticons. When I conquer Earth, I will spare your lives!"

Two mechanical arms danced, their powerful voices echoing the imposing and arrogant aura of Wei Zhentian.

A young man stepped forward and asked, "Megatron, I'm a Transformers fan, can I take a picture with you?"

Megatron waved his hand dismissively and said, "No, humans are lowly carbon-based life forms, and there is a natural gap between them and me, a high-level mechanical life form. You are not worthy to take a picture with me."

The young man was a little disappointed and couldn't decide whether he should go closer. After all, he had never seen such a big, moving robot before, and the unknown was mixed with fear.

Seeing this, his girlfriend stepped in to help, saying, "Mr. Megatron, I've written down the website address. I'll definitely help you find your glasses. Can we take a picture now?"

Megatron nodded slightly: "Alright, since you're so sensible, I'll allow you to come within one meter of me."

After the young people finished taking photos, a little boy with snot bubbles running down his nose jumped out and shouted, "Mr. Megatron, I also want to take a photo with you, is that okay?"

"Okay, come here, but don't smear your snot on my skin, it'll rust."

Hahahaha

The onlookers burst into laughter.

"You also need to take your medicine and get your injections properly for your cold to get better, understand?"

"Yes, sir!"

After a few questions and answers, everyone realized that this was a publicity stunt for the movie, and such a unique promotional method was indeed very eye-catching.

Before long, reporters who had received the news arrived and captured the lively scene on camera.

"Megatron, I hate the Decepticons, I'm a fan of Optimus Prime."

"Hmph! You should go to Boston then; that damn red truck landed in that city."

"Megatron, just how many times has Starscream betrayed you?"

"Countless times."

"Then why didn't you kill him? Why did you let him rejoin the Decepticons time and time again?"

"Because the manufacturers need to sell their toys, there's nothing I can do!"

Hahahaha

Two more young men approached and bowed to Megatron.

"Lord Megatron, we are willing to be your loyal servants."

"Hmph! Very well, then do you know the Decepticons' slogan?"

"Of course I know."

"Shout it out loud, let these ignorant humans open their eyes."

One of the young men raised his arm and shouted, "Decepticons!"

The person next to him shouted loudly, "Retreat!"

After shouting, the two immediately took off running, and the crowd burst into laughter.

Megatron shook his head speechlessly, and after a while, he managed to say, "Very good, loud and clear voice, very energetic!"

The silly reaction reignited the laughter that had subsided.

Megatron is just one of many Transformers, and similar situations are playing out in major cities around the world.

Times Square in New York, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, Big Ben in London, Tokyo Tower, Red Square in Moscow, the Kingdom Building in Riyadh, and the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai.

Anyone passing by will be drawn to the tall and imposing Transformers.

This kind of on-site interaction is part of viral marketing.

Viral marketing, simply put, is a method of rapidly replicating and spreading information by utilizing all available resources and fully mobilizing consumers' enthusiasm and social networks.

All resources here are literally what they seem, both online and in real life, whatever catches the consumer's eye is marketing information.

Whether you accept it willingly or unwillingly, you have to accept it.

So MGM really went all out for this promotion, giving it the treatment expected of a blockbuster. Eric directly approved a budget of $7000 million, with more to be added if needed.

Including production costs, the total cost of a Transformers movie from filming to release has exceeded $2.2 million.

Even if we put it in 2023, let alone 2003, it would still be an A-list production.

However, this money is not actually spent, because you can request a tax refund from the government, and the preferential terms vary from region to region.

After receiving the refunded money, the actual total cost was less than $1.5 million.

However, when promoting it externally, they naturally need to use the slogan of a cost of 2.2 million to make it sound impressive and attract the audience's interest.

So don't believe any claims about how high the official costs of movie promotions are; only a fool would believe that.

The advertised figures are all inflated; after squeezing them dry, cut them by 30% first, and those with more connections can save 50%.

For example, Marvel movies often have budgets exceeding $2 million in their later years, but that's all fake; they're not that high at all.

With reduced costs, the pressure to break even is much less.

Unlike in China, where a film needs to reach three times its production cost to break even, Hollywood films only need to reach two times or slightly more than two times their production cost to break even.

In addition, there is Hollywood's well-established copyright protection and development system, as well as its exceptional ability to develop related merchandise.

Even if a film loses over $100 million at the box office, it can usually break even during the five-year golden period of copyright ownership, and some can even make a profit.

Big-budget productions like The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, and Titanic, which have received widespread acclaim, can generate over $100 million in royalties each year.

So even though a large company might seem to lose a lot of money by releasing several blockbuster films a year, it's difficult for it to go bankrupt under the protection of a series of systems.

After the viral marketing campaign was launched, it was found in cinemas, train stations, subways, shopping malls, supermarkets, restrooms, roadside GG signs, and electronic screens.

In reality, you can always inadvertently notice Autobots and Decepticons wherever you look.

Some were large posters that read, "November 16th, the Decepticons attack Earth."

Some are simply logos of Transformers heads.

Hasbro also got to work, launching pre-sales of movie-themed toys and collaborating with KFC, McDonald's, and Coca-Cola.

As long as you buy it, you have a chance to win movie tickets. Whether you win or not depends on your luck.

Transformers cosplayers have also appeared at various anime conventions and cosplay events.

Cosplay in Europe and America has always been known for its props, and it has had a significant influence in the community.

The second trailer for Transformers began playing on a loop in Times Square and on the Nasdaq screens in New York.

Besides including many adrenaline-pumping robot brawl scenes, there were also battles between human armies and Decepticons.

Various main combat aircraft, tanks, and ships appeared, and the extreme explosions turned the entire city into a sea of ​​fire and ruins.

At the end of the trailer, Megatron, transformed into a giant silver-white alien fighter, crashes violently into two closely spaced skyscrapers.

Without a doubt, this shot alludes to the 9/11 attacks, a scene that the world will never forget.

Online, major portal websites, forums, and chat rooms have gradually been dominated by related topics.

Besides buying advertising space and resources, MGM's main promotional strategy remains hiring a large number of online trolls.

They even prepared the scripts for the online trolls in advance. As long as a few people flood into a social media group, they can quickly steer the topic off course.

Facebook has become an important platform for promotion, and the goals of the secondary school promotion plan have already been achieved.

Facebook has nearly 4000 million registered users, with about 3500 million active users, resulting in a very high retention rate.

This is mainly because, under Eric's guidance, there is a major update every month, and the version iteration speed is extremely fast.

In particular, the "like" feature was just updated at the end of September, and the Fitz team had expressed doubts and confusion about this feature.

They believe that the "like" function will distract users and turn them into mere tools for liking and commenting, thus weakening Facebook's sharing and social features.

However, under Eric's strong insistence, the feature was still launched.

As it turns out, after the "like" feature was launched, while users began to show a tendency to seek likes, their desire to share also became stronger.

In just one week, users posted an average of two more updates per day, because posting more meant getting more likes.

The next step is a promotional plan targeting the working class. Once young people and children are won over, attracting their parents will be much easier.

Beverly Hills, the Cooper family home.

After dinner, Eric sat on the sofa watching the news.

On NBC, the male host glanced at his script and said, "Betty, on my way to work today, I discovered something very interesting."

"When I passed by Lincoln Avenue, I saw a large crowd, and out of a journalist's instinct, I went over to them."

"Then I saw a scene that I will never forget: Bumblebee was standing in the middle, calling on humanity to fight against the Decepticons' attack."

"OMG! My favorite childhood cartoon has come true! Look, it's like this."

As the television screen switched to a live shot, Bumblebee was interacting with the onlookers, his humorous remarks eliciting bursts of laughter from everyone.

The scene cuts back to the studio, where the female host says cheerfully, "This is so interesting! Is this a new promotional tactic launched by the mall? I'm going to take my son to check it out."

The male host waved his hand and explained to her, "No, it's an Autobot, its name is Bumblebee. Haven't you seen Transformers?"

"No, I'm a girl." The female host shrugged.

"Okay, then you must go and see them, you'll love them."

"My God, it's like my childhood dream has come true. This is such a wonderful day, the best day ever."

After watching for a while, Eric switched to another channel. Not only was NBC reporting on it, but many TV stations couldn't ignore this hot topic.

What he didn't know was that not only American television stations could not be ignored, but also those of countries like Britain, France, Japan, China, and Russia.

The living Transformers, even if they're not actually alive, still brought a huge sense of novelty to society; they're just too damn interesting.

Media coverage is essentially a bane to the movie, and they don't even have to pay a penny.

With MGM investing heavily, the relentless advertising campaign lasted for nearly a month.

Transformers in major cities have become gathering places for crowds, just like popular tourist attractions in later generations. You'd be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't go see them.

The most popular character is undoubtedly Megatron. The contrast between his humorous chatter and his ultimate villainous personality has won him everyone's love.

"Legally Blonde 2" will hit theaters in mid-October. With the success of the first film, the second movie will attract attention even without promotion.

MGM also held a premiere for it, and arranged for Gadot, Chris Evans, the British trio, and others to attend, taking the opportunity to continue promoting Transformers.

The film grossed $6000 million in North America in just half a month, and has just begun its overseas release.

This data is not as impressive as the first film, and its reputation has also declined compared to the first film, but it is certain that it will make money.

However, when the producers offered Reese Witherspoon a contract for a third film, she declined.

The reason is simple: they don't want to continue exploiting this IP and hope to let it settle down for a few years, until everyone is better prepared, before filming again.

With the female lead walking away, the sequel is bound to be shelved without a key character.

However, MGM has too many profitable projects now, so one more won't make a difference, and Eric didn't even take it seriously.

Happy Death Day has been completely removed from theaters, with a final global box office of $1.52 million.

Although Gal Gadot was somewhat disappointed, she couldn't care less and was now fully focused on promoting Transformers.

Amidst the hustle and bustle, November arrived, and major companies began to ramp up their efforts.

The Matrix Revolutions, Elf, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Kill Bill, Transformers.

The fiercest box office battle of 2003 is about to begin.

Thank you Luciferhx for the 100-coin donation.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year and all the best!

(End of this chapter)