Feeling Kelly's slightly cool fingertips, Eric put down his hands and leaned comfortably on the sofa.
"Have a headache, are you too tired recently?" Kelly's voice sounded from behind, less shrewd and capable as a female assistant, and more gentle.
"The doctor said it was the result of the upside-down day and night some time ago, and it will be fine after a while," Eric leaned back, answered, and asked again: "Sony, the first weekend box office of "Men in Black 2" Should it be released?"
Kelly replied: "52.16 million U.S. dollars, and it can reach about 75 million U.S. dollars in the first week."
Eric hummed, and there was not much emotional change in his heart, including "Game of the Brave 2", which will be released next week. In these two films, Firefly still occupies 60% of the investment share, but since the last dispute After that, according to the established strategy, Firefly has completely let go of these two projects.
The box office of about US$75 million in the first week seems to be good, and the total box office in North America may even hit the US$200 million mark. However, due to Sony's lax control of costs and the sharp increase in the starring salary, the production cost of this sequel is as high as 1.4. 100 million, including publicity, the total cost is close to 200 million US dollars.
Even if the global box office can reach 600 million U.S. dollars, this project can barely recover the investment at the box office. Although the follow-up DVD, video tapes and broadcasting rights are still rich, if the time cost of long-term operation is included, such a project is actually still worthless. Very bad value for money.
After a while, Eric asked again: "What about "James of the Brave 2", I heard that the effect of the trial screening was not very good?"
"Well," Kelly didn't want Eric to bother, but since he asked, she said: "During the screening, many film critics said that this sequel is like a farce. It lost the comedy style of the first film, but most of these comments were suppressed by Sony, and now we will see how the market reacts next week, after all, the special effects of the film are still very delicate."
Eric did not participate in any production of the sequel. "Game of the Brave 2" still follows the chessboard style, but the production team has been completely changed, and even the director has been replaced by other people. In addition, the first part did not gather much popularity. , it is not surprising that such an outcome now appears. Of course, it is not without benefits to replace the entire production team. At least, the production cost of this sequel is maintained at an acceptable 86 million US dollars. Even if it does lose money, Firefly will not lose too much.
It is estimated that after this summer, of the few films that Firefly cooperated with Sony at the beginning, only "Men in Black" has the possibility of continuing to develop a sequel. In addition to the "James of the Brave" series, although Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been talking about sequels, everyone knows that it is difficult for Pierce Brosnan, who played 007, to return. Nicole's salary in recent years is even higher. Beyond Pierce Brosnan, and busy with too many film contracts, the possibility of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" making a sequel is almost zero.
Thinking of the "Godzilla" that Sony Pictures is developing, Eric couldn't help but smile. Maybe for a long time in the future, Sony will embark on a long road of "rushing the streets".
Seeing that Eric didn't answer, Kelly leaned over slightly, happened to notice the smile on his face, and asked, "What are you laughing at?"
Eric shook his head and patted beside him: "Come, sit here."
Kelly knew that this little man would not think of anything good, so she sat down obediently, but she still reminded softly: "It's daytime now, Peter may come over later."
"Then you can call him and tell him not to come over," Eric smiled, lying down on the woman's plump thigh, sniffing the seductive body fragrance, hugging the woman's waist, and said: "I'll sleep for a while, don't let anyone disturb me even if the sky falls."
Kelly had no choice but to reach for the mobile phone on the coffee table, call Peter Rich, gave some vague instructions in a low voice, hung up the phone, and looked down, Eric, who was pillowed on her lap, was already comfortably Closing his eyes, his breathing began to slow down.
After waking up again, the entire living room had been plunged into darkness, a pale yellow wall lamp was lit on the wall, and the woman's thigh had also turned into a pillow.
Eric pulled off the blanket on his body, sat up, raised his wrist habitually, and found that the watch had been taken off by someone at some point and placed on the coffee table.
It was almost eight o'clock in the evening, and Eric was about to pick up his mobile phone to call Kelly when the door was pushed open, and Kelly walked in with a tray.
"Eric, are you awake?" Putting down the tray, Kelly came over and touched his forehead.
Eric grabbed the woman's little hand and kissed it, saying, "Why did you leave me here alone?"
"I'm going to help you prepare dinner." Kelly smiled and pulled her hand back, and said again: "The meeting room is ready, you can eat something first, everyone is waiting for you."
"Then let's go straight there," Eric said as he was about to get up, but was held down by Kelly.
"It's okay, everyone knows that you are tired recently."
After a quick dinner, Eric arrived at a conference room at the nearby Ocean Club Center at 8:30.
Peter Rich was already waiting here, but there was still no video conferencing equipment, and a conference phone was placed on the long table.
Eric sat down on the chair, Kelly spread out several documents in front of him, sat down next to him, and said to the conference phone: "Everyone, Eric is here."
"Good evening," Eric also greeted.
Katzenberg, Frank Wells and other Firefly executives greeted them from the opposite side.
After a few pleasantries, Eric said: "Then, let's talk about the situation now. Are there any fans outside the headquarters now?"
Katzenberg replied with a wry smile: "Yeah, there are quite a lot of people recently. There are more than 100 people in Burbank and Playa Vista, and the number of signatures on the original website is more than 12." Don’t worry, I don’t know if it’s because there are too many people joining in the fun, or it’s on the Internet.”
Not to mention the real-name system, even the registration system is not perfect in the current Internet. Of course, Eric knows that the 120,000 people are very wet. Except for the deliberate disruption of competitors, most of them may also click repeatedly. Therefore, he didn't care much about the data, and said, "Then, in this situation, let's talk about your thoughts first."
"I think, no matter what, we should give the fans an accurate answer as soon as possible to eliminate this controversy," said Frank Wells, "so, I suggest to follow the original script of the Wachowski Brothers. Of course, we can only shoot the second part. I believe that with the popularity accumulated in the first part, the profit brought to us by this sequel is only a matter of more or less. Even if the quality of the film is not satisfactory, it is impossible to appear again That's the situation now."
"This is a good way to deal with it," Eric nodded, and asked again: "Jeffrey, what's your opinion?"
Katzenberg and the others seem to have basically reached a consensus, and said to each other: "Eric, we have all read the script of the Wachowski Brothers, and everyone knows that shooting it like this is a disaster for this series." , but we don’t have any other good ways to deal with it now, what Frank said is almost the best solution.”
Eric smiled wryly, and said: "So, this series is almost tasteless to us."
"Foolish?" A doubtful voice came from the conference call.
Eric realized that it was impossible for everyone to know this stalk, and explained: "It's tasteless to eat, but it's a pity to discard it."
"It's quite vivid," Frank Wells said, "However, it can't be said to be tasteless. No matter what, with the current popularity of the film, the sequel will definitely be profitable."
Eric couldn't help rubbing his forehead again. In fact, even without this storm, Eric didn't have 100% confidence in the revised script of the Wachowski Brothers.
It is difficult for a director to change his style of directing. Even if the two brothers write a new script, unless the Firefly shooter keeps a close eye on any shot during filming, it will definitely be impossible for the brothers to move towards their own style. What's more, Firefly's strategy of sending people to stare at the set cannot be realized at all, because this kind of excessive interference with the director often only leads to a project with disastrous consequences. As far as Eric knows, the characters of the Wachowski brothers can definitely be regarded as hot. During the filming of the first film, as newcomers, the two brothers could still maintain humility and restraint. It is impossible for them to continue to be obedient.
After thinking about it for a while, Eric raised his head and asked, "Now, how much is the box office in all aspects of the film?"
The other side did not answer for a while, and Kelly, who was sitting next to Eric, said: "North America is 223.5 million US dollars, overseas is 136 million US dollars, and France, Japan, and Italy are not released in major ticket warehouse countries. Wait until the film lands." For these countries, the overseas box office is expected to be between US$350 million and US$400 million, and the total global box office should be around US$600 million."
With the issuance of trade agreements such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in recent years, the film market in most overseas countries has been further opened up, and the corresponding overseas box office share has also begun to increase, which can be maintained at around 35%.
According to the average domestic and overseas share ratio, Firefly can recover roughly 230 million U.S. dollars from the total box office of 600 million U.S. dollars. In the future, the long-term operating profit of the surrounding area will be about twice this figure. Throwing out the cost, Firefly can at least make money on this project. Drilled to around $400 million.
Not to mention the real-name system, even the registration system is not perfect in the current Internet. Of course, Eric knows that the 120,000 people are very wet. Except for the deliberate disruption of competitors, most of them may also click repeatedly. Therefore, he didn't care much about the data, and said, "Then, in this situation, let's talk about your thoughts first."
"I think, no matter what, we should give the fans an accurate answer as soon as possible to eliminate this controversy," said Frank Wells, "so, I suggest to follow the original script of the Wachowski Brothers. Of course, we can only shoot the second part. I believe that with the popularity accumulated in the first part, the profit brought to us by this sequel is only a matter of more or less. Even if the quality of the film is not satisfactory, it is impossible to appear again That's the situation now."
"This is a good way to deal with it," Eric nodded, and asked again: "Jeffrey, what's your opinion?"
Katzenberg and the others seem to have basically reached a consensus, and said to each other: "Eric, we have all read the script of the Wachowski Brothers, and everyone knows that shooting it like this is a disaster for this series." , but we don’t have any other good ways to deal with it now, what Frank said is almost the best solution.”
Eric smiled wryly, and said: "So, this series is almost tasteless to us."
"Foolish?" A doubtful voice came from the conference call.
Eric realized that it was impossible for everyone to know this stalk, and explained: "It's tasteless to eat, but it's a pity to discard it."
"It's quite vivid," Frank Wells said, "However, it can't be said to be tasteless. No matter what, with the current popularity of the film, the sequel will definitely be profitable."
Eric couldn't help rubbing his forehead again. In fact, even without this storm, Eric didn't have 100% confidence in the revised script of the Wachowski Brothers.
It is difficult for a director to change his style of directing. Even if the two brothers write a new script, unless the Firefly shooter keeps a close eye on any shot during filming, it will definitely be impossible for the brothers to move towards their own style. What's more, Firefly's strategy of sending people to stare at the set cannot be realized at all, because this kind of excessive interference with the director often only leads to a project with disastrous consequences. As far as Eric knows, the characters of the Wachowski brothers can definitely be regarded as hot. During the filming of the first film, as newcomers, the two brothers could still maintain humility and restraint. It is impossible for them to continue to be obedient.
After thinking about it for a while, Eric raised his head and asked, "Now, how much is the box office in all aspects of the film?"
The other side did not answer for a while, and Kelly, who was sitting next to Eric, said: "North America is 223.5 million US dollars, overseas is 136 million US dollars, and France, Japan, and Italy are not released in major ticket warehouse countries. Wait until the film lands." For these countries, the overseas box office is expected to be between US$350 million and US$400 million, and the total global box office should be around US$600 million."
With the issuance of trade agreements such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in recent years, the film market in most overseas countries has been further opened up, and the corresponding overseas box office share has also begun to increase, which can be maintained at around 35%.
According to the average domestic and overseas share ratio, Firefly can recover roughly 230 million U.S. dollars from the total box office of 600 million U.S. dollars. In the future, the long-term operating profit of the surrounding area will be about twice this figure. Throwing out the cost, Firefly can at least make money on this project. Drilled to around $400 million. (To be continued.)