America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 21. The Walking Dead Project Launch

After leaving AK Movies, Eric took a private car directly to MGM. Now that his status is different, driving himself is often a waste of time, as he has to find a parking space and park. For someone in a high position, wasting time is wasting money.

Moreover, hiring a driver can create a job with a decent salary, which is enough to support a family and benefit society. Why not?

Having just humiliated and ousted the former leadership and shut down most of the projects, everyone in the company now knows the new boss. They greet him cautiously, afraid of angering him and losing their jobs.

Eric entered the office, which had been meticulously tidied up. He pressed the doorbell, and a few seconds later, there was a knock on the door.

A young man in his early twenties walked in. His name was Chen Xing, and he was Eric's secretary, of Chinese descent.

Why not find a female secretary who is beautiful, has a sweet voice, and is charming?

Nonsense! Eric needs someone who can get the job done, not just someone who's good at doing things!

Can a female secretary work as much overtime as a male secretary? Secretaries often need to be available at any time, which puts them under a lot of pressure that most people couldn't handle.

Chinese people have always been synonymous with seriousness, and given Eric's own qualities, it was natural to choose him. If he has potential and is willing to work hard, he may be promoted in the future, for example, when expanding into the Chinese market.

"Boss!"

"Bring Billigis to see me."

"OK!"

A moment later, Chen Xing knocked on the door again, leading Billy and the others in.

"How's the investigation going on that matter I mentioned?"

A woman wearing glasses immediately handed him a survey report. Eric vaguely remembered her; he had seen her in a meeting, and she seemed to be a mid-level manager in the marketing department.

Billy began, "Over the past three days, we've visited almost every physical store in Los Angeles and consulted with professional comic book companies and publishers. We've found a total of 27 works related to zombies, including comics and novels."

"However, these works aren't very well-known, and some of them are even self-published by the authors. I bought all of them; would you be interested in taking a look?"

Eric carefully examined the research report and was relieved to find that there was no comic book version of "The Walking Dead." It seemed that the original work had not yet been published, which was good news for him.

"Categorize those 27 works, and send me those that deal with post-apocalyptic survival or the struggle of humanity."

Soon, several novels were delivered, but no comics.

"According to your requirements, only these five books meet the criteria. However, these five books only involve some human struggles, and the main plot is still zombie killing.

Eric opened a novel called "King of the End Times," and just from the title, he knew it had that vibe.

It's 2002 now, and zombie works don't have much depth, let alone use discussions of human nature as a selling point.

"Well done. Next, keep a close eye on George R.R. Martin and acquire the rights to his novels as soon as possible, especially 'A Song of Ice and Fire.' No matter what method you use, you must get the rights to this one."

Upon receiving the praise, the group immediately broke into smiles. MGM had been under a lot of pressure lately, and now they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Eric spent the morning browsing through the five novels and, after confirming that there would be no copyright disputes, he was completely relieved.

After lunch, he called the production manager directly to his office. Although this middle-aged man was also a talent recruited by his father, he knew very well who was in charge. He was just a high-level employee, while the young man opposite him held the power of life and death.

"Julio, take a look at this script outline. I'm preparing to develop this project."

"The first season of The Walking Dead? A sequel has already been ordered before filming even started?" Julio frowned slightly.

Seeing that Eric didn't speak, he could only continue reading. The outline wasn't very long; it simply explained the background, characters, and plot.

After reading it, Julio pursed his lips and organized his thoughts, saying, "In terms of creativity alone, I think it's quite good, and the market prospects should be promising, but there are a few issues."

"explain!"

"How many episodes do you plan to shoot for the first season? Although the synopsis only outlines the story, I can foresee that shooting this kind of TV series will be very expensive. Makeup, props, extras, locations, and many scenes we can't even film in a studio. If we go to real locations, it will involve troublesome things like closing off streets, which will burn through a lot of money."

"Although the prospects for this drama are good, I am worried that the profit margin may not be high, considering the production costs."

Julio is a very experienced producer, but the more experienced you are, the more you have to consider, and among these considerations, the production cost is the most important.

Based on his experience, this kind of drama is undoubtedly a big production; otherwise, the desolate feeling of the apocalypse cannot be created. The cost of each episode is probably no less than $150 million. If it's too little, it won't have the desired effect and will only end up being a poor imitation.

So what he really thought was not just that the profit margin was small, but that he was worried about losing a lot of money. However, due to his position, he couldn't say it too bluntly.

Eric had anticipated Julio's concerns, having learned before his time travel that the average production cost per episode of The Walking Dead was $275 million.

Even by that era, it was considered a very expensive drama. If it were 2002, even after adjusting for inflation, it would still be terrifyingly expensive. If word got out, it would probably shock everyone in the industry.

But its returns are equally astonishing, averaging $1100 million per episode, more than many movies.

"You don't need to worry about the cost. For the first season, I plan to make 12 episodes, with an estimated investment of $4000 million. I want to create a high-quality production that can win awards."

The original "The Walking Dead" only had 6 episodes in its first season because of the high cost and uncertainty of the future. Even the richest investors wouldn't dare to invest too much money at once. 6 episodes per season is the standard number of episodes for many high-budget American dramas.

However, knowing that it would be a huge hit, making another 6 episodes would be too stingy, so Eric plans to directly combine the content of the original first and second seasons.

However, he will drastically cut the romantic storylines in the second season. Those drawn-out emotional entanglements are really unnecessary, especially the love triangle between Rick, Lori, and Sean. Viewers will only feel disgusted and annoyed. He wanted to kill that old woman Lori when he was watching the show!

One major reason why The Walking Dead has gotten worse with each season is that it tests humanity for the sake of testing humanity. It's not that viewers don't like the struggle of humanity, but often it doesn't even care about logic. At first glance, it's all idiotic, so the effect is only counterproductive.

Therefore, the struggles and trials of human nature are necessary, but they must be profound enough and placed at key moments to play a crucial role in highlighting the essence of the subject.

At the same time, Eric's goal was to increase the proportion of zombie-fighting scenes, constantly stimulating the audience's adrenaline, and making "The Walking Dead" a work that was both exciting and profound.

With a budget of $4000 million for 12 episodes, that's at least $333 million per episode. Adjusted for inflation, that's at least $100 million more per episode than the original. This extra amount is naturally due to the significantly increased zombie scenes and the need to hire more reliable screenwriters. They're willing to spend money to produce a high-quality script.

Across the desk, Julio's heart skipped a beat. He opened his mouth, wanting to say a few words of advice, but seeing Eric's spirited and ambitious appearance, he swallowed back the words that were about to come out.

"I'm just an employee, why should I upset the boss? Besides, it might not be a bad thing to let this young punk stumble."

With that in mind, Julio nodded: "Understood. I will assign the best producer to this project. Are there any requirements for the screenwriter and director?"

"The best director would be Frank Darabont or Neil Marshall. Of course, if you can get John Carpenter, I'll applaud you. You can find the screenwriter, but I'll have to vet the script."

Of the three directors Eric mentioned, John Carpenter needs no introduction; I believe everyone knows his name.

Frank Darabont was the director of the original first season of "The Walking Dead" and also directed masterpieces such as "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Green Miracle". Eric liked his directing style very much, with zombies being more aggressive and creating a stronger sense of oppression and tension.

As for Neil Marshall, many people may not have heard of him. His works include "The Descent," "The Shining," and "The Descent," and he is also the creator of many excellent American TV series such as "Game of Thrones," "Westworld," "Black Sails," and "Hannibal." He is very capable.

bell.

Suddenly, the phone rang. Eric waved his hand, and Julio tactfully left the office.

"Eric, this young lady is a bit difficult to handle. I suggest you come to Israel yourself!"

I just got a notification that there's a meeting tonight, so it looks like I can't slack off.

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(End of this chapter)