America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 232 231. Where are the copyrights for "The Hobbit" located? And who was the box office champion in 2004?

Sunlight streamed through the window onto the bed. The weather outside was still cold, but the United States has always been one of the world's most energy-wasting countries, so the air conditioning was running non-stop, especially in a wealthy neighborhood like Beverly Hills.

Eric leaned against the headboard, with Theron half-lying on his shoulder, the red hickeys on his neck and chest clearly visible.

Last night's celebration was so intense! The excitement of winning Best Actress, combined with the surprise Eric had prepared, made both of them very excited.

Not to mention that Theron bore heavy marks of battle, so did his.

A laptop sat on Eric's lap. He opened Yahoo News, and sure enough, the entertainment section was almost entirely filled with news about the Oscars, with other sections also having some.

The only thing that can rival this grand event is the upcoming Super Bowl.

"Seriously? This year's Oscars are boring? The New York Times' commentary is really baffling," Theron remarked, pointing to a headline.

Eric clicked the mouse to open it, and found that it was criticizing Oscar for becoming increasingly timid.

He used to be bold enough to make political statements and engage in sharp satire, fearless even when criticizing the hottest topics, but in recent years he has become increasingly timid and hesitant.

Especially after the outbreak of war last year, the academy explicitly forbade and warned every participating celebrity not to talk about politics and to be careful with their words and actions, so everyone has become much more restrained.

Bigwigs like Eric don't care about the Academy's ban, but they are even less likely to express their political opinions easily.

Ordinary celebrities wouldn't dare disobey the academy's orders; only high-ranking troublemakers would dare to be the first to speak out.

For example, at yesterday's Oscars, only Sean Penn said "there are no weapons of mass destruction," but he didn't dare to say more.

Christo's jokes became even more subtle and rare, so it's normal for them to be criticized as boring.

"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King swept the 76th Academy Awards, winning all 11 nominations—a feat unprecedented and unlikely to be repeated!"

Sean Penn won Best Actor for Mystic River after four nominations; Charlize Theron won Best Actress for Monster, breaking through her previous record.

"As film technology continues to mature, the competition for the Oscars will become increasingly fierce, and surpassing 'The Lord of the Rings' may become a pipe dream."

"The battle for Best Actress has come to an end, with Charlize Theron emerging victorious, while the Olsen twins suffered a disappointing defeat."

"Blue Is the Warmest Color" failed to win the Best Original Screenplay award, but the Olsen twins congratulated Charlize Theron on winning the Best Actress award.

"In the world of fame and fortune, where everyone is vying for attention, here's a collection of outfits from various female celebrities. Who is the most beautiful one?"

"Eric Cooper once again beat out strong competitors to win the Best Original Screenplay award. In just one year in the industry, he's a true cinematic genius!"

Sofia Coppola admitted she wasn't disappointed and applauded "The Lord of the Rings".

"The Oscar favorite 'Blue Is the Warmest Color' failed to win, the LGBTQ+ community expressed its disapproval, and the Academy's impartiality was questioned."

Theron looked at the news articles with great interest: "Honey, it seems New Line is really on the rise. Look at this news, the Lord of the Rings trilogy has brought New Line at least $8 million in direct revenue."

"This is just the direct revenue. If we include various extended revenues such as copyrights, and assume a golden five-year period, it is estimated that it could bring in more than $10 billion."

"In addition to the revenue from extended copyrights, there are also the prequels and sequels of 'The Lord of the Rings.' Tolkien's worldview is incredibly vast."

"New Line really has a chance to shed its independent company status and make a run for a place among the Big Seven Hollywood studios."

Eric scoffed at the report, laughing incessantly.

"What's wrong? What are you laughing at, darling?"

Eric pointed to his cheek, and Theron obediently gave him a kiss.

After a pleasant French kiss, Eric finally answered her question.

"My dear actress, you can only believe 30% of this bullshit report at most; it's full of conjecture and unrealistic inferences."

"The Lord of the Rings did make a fortune, but to claim $18 billion is ridiculous. New Line Cinema will probably get around $10 billion at most."

"Because it also involves the distribution of profits to various parties, including Peter Jackson, Miramax, and the Tolkien Copyright Society."

"Let me tell you something: Peter Jackson alone took home at least $3 million from The Lord of the Rings, especially after the first film was a huge success, his share of the profits increased accordingly."

"How did you know such a secret?" Theron asked, somewhat surprised.

It's understandable that she was surprised; the figure of $3 million is simply outrageous. Even if we put it in 2024, let alone 2004, it would still be jaw-dropping.

Before winning the Best Actress award, Charlize Theron wasn't a top Hollywood actress, but she was definitely a leading lady.

However, her salary is only around $600 million. If it were more, no one would hire her. Producers would consider that she is not worth that price.

Even if she wins the Best Actress award now, her market value will not exceed ten million, no more, and she will not receive any box office revenue sharing.

$1000 million is still the salary for a blockbuster film, and if the film is a flop, the price will be reduced immediately.

$3 million is enough for her to make 30 movies. She probably can't make that many in her lifetime, so it's understandable that she's surprised.

"Don't believe me? I have a pretty good relationship with Big Beard. He told me this once when he was drunk, and he was very proud of it to me."

"My God! 3 million US dollars, I can't believe it. Do directors make that much money? Honey, I suddenly want to change careers too." Charlize Theron was still in a daze.

Eric pinched her cheek: "Being a director is not easy. If an actor is a cog in a machine, then a director is an artist. The two have completely different positions and perspectives."

"Let me ask you a very simple question: do you know how many components a well-established film crew should consist of?"

"Let me list them for you, including the producer, director, screenwriter, executive producer, co-producer, production manager, executive director, casting director, chief cinematographer, assistant cinematographer, sound crew, lighting crew, props crew, makeup crew, costume crew, production crew, and actors crew."

"There's also a post-production editing team, a post-production dubbing team, a post-production production team, a publicity team, a distribution team, and a ground support team."

"Okay, okay, that's enough, that's enough. I don't want to be a director anymore, it's too much trouble, it's giving me a headache." Theron quickly stopped her.

Eric chuckled: "You find the name troublesome? The reality is you have to coordinate them well; no link can go wrong."

"The ability of a top director is to make hundreds or thousands of people work efficiently under your direction and ultimately achieve the effect you want and express the ideas you want to convey."

"There are very few directors in Hollywood with this ability, and Peter Jackson is one of them."

What Eric is saying now is still very basic. Making a real movie is much more complicated and involves many more problems.

Take last summer's blockbuster "Pirates of the Caribbean" for example. Although director Gore Verbinski wasn't a household name, he definitely had the ability to become a top-tier director.

The most well-known example in the industry is that this guy saw that the first movie was a hit, so he immediately and happily worked with the screenwriter to write the script for the second movie in advance, just waiting for Disney to give the order to start filming.

He did get what he was looking for, but it wasn't good news about Mickey Mouse, because the Disney executives thought making only a second movie was too slow.

If we're going to make a movie, let's learn from "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Matrix" and make the second and third parts together. Let's strike while the iron is hot and make a lot of money. The release dates have already been set.

The problem is that they write the entire script in advance before filming begins, so that they can film simultaneously.

Pirates of the Caribbean has not even considered making a third installment; the script hasn't even been written yet.

These kinds of blockbuster films can't be made for several years like Wong Kar-wai did. Disney demands both high quality and fast production. They're like your clients, you beasts!

But director Verbinski had no choice but to obey orders.

To make matters worse, Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed in many locations, including a large number of islands, and the filming schedule was very tight, which meant that he could only visit each island once.

In other words, they had to film the second and third installments simultaneously on a single trip.

But what about the script? What the hell is the script?

How am I supposed to know what to film if I don't have a script?

So Verbinski had to urgently consult with the screenwriter, and after going to an island, they hurriedly put together a scene, regardless of which part of the movie it should be in, and just filmed it first.

As a result, the film was shot along two parallel timelines, and the timelines of the two stories were completely out of sync.

The second film had only been in production for four days when the final scene of the third film's finale was already filmed.

Don't even mention the actors not knowing what they're filming; nobody even knows what they're filming!

Verbinski himself didn't know what kind of plot to film to make the story coherent; most directors would have been finished long ago in this situation.

Surprisingly, the final product turned out quite well.

What makes a top-tier director? This is it!

So they're worth the price!

"Honey, there's one very important thing about this report that hasn't been clarified yet, and that's the copyright issue."

"Although Tolkien has many works, the one most closely connected to The Lord of the Rings is undoubtedly The Hobbit. Other works such as The Children of Húrin and The Silmarillion are also related, but the time difference is too great and the stories are relatively disjointed, so they are not suitable for film adaptation at the moment."

"And the rights to 'The Hobbit' aren't held by Miramax or New Line Cinema. Why don't you guess who got them?"

Upon hearing this question, Theron immediately realized something, her beautiful eyes revealing surprise: "Darling, you hold the copyright?"

Eric nodded: "That's right. This is one of the few quality assets left by MGM. Of course, if we look at it before 'The Lord of the Rings' became a hit, no one would have thought that this thing could be brought to the big screen."

"That was in the 70s. The Tolkien family sold the rights to The Hobbit to United Artists, and then United Artists was acquired by MGM, so the rights naturally went to MGM."

"I should thank Warner for not keeping this gold mine; now it's mine."

"The Lord of the Rings swept the globe, spreading Tolkien's name all over the world and paving the way for The Hobbit. In addition to thanking Warner Bros., I also have to thank the Weinstein brothers and New Line Cinema, who were also the founders."

"Then let's get this project started quickly. We'll also make a trilogy. With the global enthusiasm of movie fans soaring, the project is sure to make a fortune," Theron suggested.

After the movie is released, MGM's stock price will definitely soar, and her own 1% stake will more than double.

Eric waved his hand: "No rush. You see The Hobbit as a high-quality project, but I see it more as a bargaining chip. There are people who are more eager than me."

"You mean Newline and Miramax?"

"Hmph! It's all the Hollywood companies, but these two will definitely be the most anxious. It won't be long before lobbyists come knocking on their door."

"But why collaborate? MGM is perfectly capable of doing it independently, so why share the pie with them?" Theron asked, somewhat puzzled.

Eric gently stroked her blonde hair, which still carried a lingering scent of intoxication.

"I said that copyright is just a bargaining chip. New Line Cinema can join, but they need to show enough sincerity."

"money?"

"No, I don't lack money, what I lack is support."

"What are you talking about, darling? I don't understand your thinking at all."

"I have a groundbreaking innovation that will change the global landscape of film and television development, which will attract a lot of dissatisfaction and attacks. Although I have already won over a few allies, it is not enough. I need to unite more people around me."

"I get it, it's like YouTube and Facebook, right?"

"You understand so quickly! You're such a smart girl!"

"Hehe. I occasionally follow news from other fields. There are so many reports about Facebook and YouTube. Many people say that these two websites are pushing the Internet age to a higher and farther future."

"They all praise you as a genius, not just in film. Film has overshadowed your talent, and some people even suggest that you focus on the internet."

"We must grasp both aspects firmly!"

"What do you mean?"

"What I learned in China means doing two things together, so that they complement each other."

Charlize Theron nodded: "Now that the Oscars are over, many film crews have started shooting. When are you planning to start filming Inception?"

"I think it will be very soon. The crew has already started setting up, and Nicole Kidman's 'La Vie en Rose' has finished filming. Filming will definitely start in March."

"Are you trying to rush to release it before the end of the year again?"

"I haven't decided yet. I have several big films waiting for release dates, so I need to plan them out carefully. The Christmas season is too crowded, which is not a good thing. I have to talk to Spielberg."

"DreamWorks?"

"Yes, they're making an animated film for me, an A-list animated blockbuster. MGM has already invested over $1 million, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, it will top the box office this year."

"Huh? An animated film? A champion?"

"That's right, it definitely will."

(End of this chapter)