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At noon, the film reviews of "Titanic" from North America came to Venice one after another.
Compared with Europe, Eric and Firefly executives are more interested in the North American media's evaluation of this movie. After all, "Titanic" is often released first in the North American market than in overseas markets. Its box office performance in the North American market, To a large extent, it also affects the box office performance in overseas markets.
However, the media comments on "Titanic" in North America are also not optimistic.
Although there are many newspapers such as "USA Today", "New York Times" and "Hollywood Reporter" praised the film, the "New York Times" even called the film "a masterpiece comparable to "Gone with the Wind". But similarly, newspapers such as the "Los Angeles Times" and "Washington Post" also unabashedly criticized the film as a bad film with a mediocre story and a long plot. The "Los Angeles Times" even publicly questioned whether the film was really worth it $215 million.
Eric only remembers the infinite scenery after the release of "Titanic" in his previous life. Regarding the experience of this film before it was released, he generally only stayed at Cameron's bumpy production stage, which was the result of media reports. As for "Titanic" Eric didn't know much about the word-of-mouth before the release of The Nick.
Therefore, seeing the polarized word-of-mouth of the film in Europe and North America at the same time, he couldn't help but feel uneasy.
In Eric's memory, there are many films with polarizing reputations. These types of films often have a common feature, that is, fan-type films adapted from novels, comics and other original works. Moreover, the box office of similar films basically has a Under the strong publicity of the film company, the box office was high in the early stage but the stamina was seriously insufficient.
"Titanic" is definitely not a fan movie in any case, so under the current polarized reputation, the prospect is even more difficult to predict.
After all, fan-type movies can also rely on the popularity accumulated by the original work to reap a large box office a few weeks before the opening of the film. Even if the stamina is insufficient, the total box office is often not too bad. But "Titanic" does not have this advantage. It is impossible for it to get a high box office similar to fan movies a few weeks before its release. Much more bleak than a fan movie.
On the second day, Peter Rich sent questionnaires to Eric among the dozens of ordinary movie fans in the screenings of the film. In these questionnaires, most of the audience gave positive comments to "Titanic" , but a small number of viewers complained that the film was too long and the foreshadowing was slightly bloated.
July 29, afternoon.
Eric is about to fly to England at 7 o'clock in the evening. This is the last meeting of the "Titanic" crew.
The film has been confirmed to be released on December 20th in the Christmas file. The publicity has already announced this date, and there is no possibility of changing it again. At this time, Eric, Katzenberg, James Cameron, and several other middle-level managers accompanied by the Firefly Group were sitting together in the living room of Eric's suite at the Lido Island Hotel.
"The current situation is indeed not very good, but I hope that you will follow the established publicity strategy and focus on publicity for young audiences." Having said this, Eric looked at Katzenberg and several other people. The executive, remembering some details in the original time and space, added: "One more thing, no matter how the outside world evaluates "Titanic", but I don't want the voice of self-dismantling to appear in Firefly. If I find out who If the executive expresses something indiscriminately to the media, then he can wait to pack up and leave. My words are over, do you have any comments?"
"Mr. Williams, it's like this," a senior executive in the distribution department said, "Yesterday I received a call from a senior executive of Japan's Toho International, and they hoped to buy out the Japanese distribution rights of "Titanic" in advance. Including theatrical release and peripherals such as videotapes and DVDs."
Eric raised his eyebrows slightly. The executive thought that Eric didn't know Dongbao International, and said, "Dongbao International is one of the major publishers in Japan."
"I know this," Eric nodded. Even though he was a little nervous now, he definitely didn't mean to sell the distribution rights in advance like Fox did in his previous life. However, Eric still asked curiously: "How much are they asking for?" ?”
"3 billion yen," the executive said, looking down at the memo, "about 25 million U.S. dollars."
When Katzenberg heard the offer from the other party, he began to make quick calculations in his mind. Because of the "Terminator" series, Cameron has a very high popularity in Japan. It is estimated that this is why Toho International took a fancy to "Titanic" in advance. One, in addition, the super high budget of "Titanic" and the current situation of polarized reviews are also the main reasons for the Japanese to make a move. The other party obviously wants to take a gamble, and it is decided that Firefly is likely to accept this "bet" about'.
The 25 million US dollars is definitely only a preliminary quotation, and the Japanese's psychological price should be around 30 million US dollars. Because it is buying out Japan's full distribution rights, then, according to the expected price of 30 million, the Japanese's expectation for the local box office should be around 60 million US dollars. Only in this way can we guarantee the full cost recovery and profitability in the later stage.
Although the Japanese box office of 60 million US dollars cannot reach the original height of 120 million US dollars of "Jurassic Park", it definitely exceeds the average box office value of Hollywood big-budget movies in Japan.
Moreover, for Hollywood distribution companies, according to the 35% overseas share ratio, if they want to recover the box office of 30 million US dollars in Japan, they need about 100 million US dollars in the Japanese box office. Of course, this does not include Japanese video tapes, etc. Income, but the operating cycle of peripheral copyrights in overseas markets is even longer than that in the United States. If you calculate the time cost, it is still very cost-effective to sell all the Japanese distribution rights at once.
Quickly sorting out his thoughts, Katzenberg said: "Eric, I think, maybe we can think about it, we should be able to talk about about 30 million U.S. dollars in the end."
"No." After a brief silence, Eric shook his head and said, "No, everyone, if you have other contacts and want to buy out the distribution rights of "Titanic", you will all refuse."
Seeing the puzzled looks on everyone's faces, Eric spread his hands and said in a very bachelor way: "That's it, maybe you want to explain, but I don't know how to explain it, I just don't sell it. Now that we have reached this point, Whether you win or lose, let's all have a great game."
The other senior executives were a little dazed. Cameron, who had been silent for a long time, looked slightly excited, while Katzenberg shook his head with a wry smile. It was rare to see Eric's childish and self-willed side. After all, he was still a young man. ah.
However, indeed, since it has reached the current stage, it is simply impossible to recover the cost by selling the distribution rights in advance. Instead, it will only attract some people who take advantage of the fire, and the media will further look down on it under this behavior.
So, whatever the outcome, let's have a blast.
Anyway, Firefly Group can afford this kind of failure. This failure can also reform the company's slightly aggressive production strategy according to the plan. At that time, Eric will no longer object to it.
…
…
Eric only remembers the infinite scenery after the release of "Titanic" in his previous life. Regarding the experience of this film before it was released, he generally only stayed at Cameron's bumpy production stage, which was the result of media reports. As for "Titanic" Eric didn't know much about the word-of-mouth before the release of The Nick.
Therefore, seeing the polarized word-of-mouth of the film in Europe and North America at the same time, he couldn't help but feel uneasy.
In Eric's memory, there are many films with polarizing reputations. These types of films often have a common feature, that is, fan-type films adapted from novels, comics and other original works. Moreover, the box office of similar films basically has a Under the strong publicity of the film company, the box office was high in the early stage but the stamina was seriously insufficient.
"Titanic" is definitely not a fan movie in any case, so under the current polarized reputation, the prospect is even more difficult to predict.
After all, fan-type movies can also rely on the popularity accumulated by the original work to reap a large box office a few weeks before the opening of the film. Even if the stamina is insufficient, the total box office is often not too bad. But "Titanic" does not have this advantage. It is impossible for it to get a high box office similar to fan movies a few weeks before its release. Much more bleak than a fan movie.
On the second day, Peter Rich sent questionnaires to Eric among the dozens of ordinary movie fans in the screenings of the film. In these questionnaires, most of the audience gave positive comments to "Titanic" , but a small number of viewers complained that the film was too long and the foreshadowing was slightly bloated.
July 29, afternoon.
Eric is about to fly to England at 7 o'clock in the evening. This is the last meeting of the "Titanic" crew.
The film has been confirmed to be released on December 20th in the Christmas file. The publicity has already announced this date, and there is no possibility of changing it again. At this time, Eric, Katzenberg, James Cameron, and several other middle-level managers accompanied by the Firefly Group were sitting together in the living room of Eric's suite at the Lido Island Hotel.
"The current situation is indeed not very good, but I hope that you will follow the established publicity strategy and focus on publicity for young audiences." Having said this, Eric looked at Katzenberg and several other people. The executive, remembering some details in the original time and space, added: "One more thing, no matter how the outside world evaluates "Titanic", but I don't want the voice of self-dismantling to appear in Firefly. If I find out who If the executive expresses something indiscriminately to the media, then he can wait to pack up and leave. My words are over, do you have any comments?"
"Mr. Williams, it's like this," a senior executive in the distribution department said, "Yesterday I received a call from a senior executive of Japan's Toho International, and they hoped to buy out the Japanese distribution rights of "Titanic" in advance. Including theatrical release and peripherals such as videotapes and DVDs."
Eric raised his eyebrows slightly. The executive thought that Eric didn't know Dongbao International, and said, "Dongbao International is one of the major publishers in Japan."
"I know this," Eric nodded. Even though he was a little nervous now, he definitely didn't mean to sell the distribution rights in advance like Fox did in his previous life. However, Eric still asked curiously: "How much are they asking for?" ?”
"3 billion yen," the executive said, looking down at the memo, "about 25 million U.S. dollars."
When Katzenberg heard the offer from the other party, he began to make quick calculations in his mind. Because of the "Terminator" series, Cameron has a very high popularity in Japan. It is estimated that this is why Toho International took a fancy to "Titanic" in advance. One, in addition, the super high budget of "Titanic" and the current situation of polarized reviews are also the main reasons for the Japanese to make a move. The other party obviously wants to take a gamble, and it is decided that Firefly is likely to accept this "bet" about'.
The 25 million US dollars is definitely only a preliminary quotation, and the Japanese's psychological price should be around 30 million US dollars. Because it is buying out Japan's full distribution rights, then, according to the expected price of 30 million, the Japanese's expectation for the local box office should be around 60 million US dollars. Only in this way can we guarantee the full cost recovery and profitability in the later stage.
Although the Japanese box office of 60 million US dollars cannot reach the original height of 120 million US dollars of "Jurassic Park", it definitely exceeds the average box office value of Hollywood big-budget movies in Japan.
Moreover, for Hollywood distribution companies, according to the 35% overseas share ratio, if they want to recover the box office of 30 million US dollars in Japan, they need about 100 million US dollars in the Japanese box office. Of course, this does not include Japanese video tapes, etc. Income, but the operating cycle of peripheral copyrights in overseas markets is even longer than that in the United States. If you calculate the time cost, it is still very cost-effective to sell all the Japanese distribution rights at once.
Quickly sorting out his thoughts, Katzenberg said: "Eric, I think, maybe we can think about it, we should be able to talk about about 30 million U.S. dollars in the end."
"No." After a brief silence, Eric shook his head and said, "No, everyone, if you have other contacts and want to buy out the distribution rights of "Titanic", you will all refuse."
Seeing the puzzled looks on everyone's faces, Eric spread his hands and said in a very bachelor way: "That's it, maybe you want to explain, but I don't know how to explain it, I just don't sell it. Now that we have reached this point, Whether you win or lose, let's all have a great game."
The other senior executives were a little dazed. Cameron, who had been silent for a long time, looked slightly excited, while Katzenberg shook his head with a wry smile. It was rare to see Eric's childish and self-willed side. After all, he was still a young man. ah.
However, indeed, since it has reached the current stage, it is simply impossible to recover the cost by selling the distribution rights in advance. Instead, it will only attract some people who take advantage of the fire, and the media will further look down on it under this behavior.
So, whatever the outcome, let's have a blast.
Anyway, the Firefly Group is enough to bear this kind of failure. (To be continued.)