The King of Huayu Science Fiction

Chapter 330 Greed
On the other side of the ocean, Los Angeles, the headquarters of Universal Pictures.

Jeff Miller cheered up and said to Universal President Robert Kent who was sitting at the top: "Robert, this will cause an irreparable rift in the close cooperative relationship we have established with DreamWorks over the past two years. I don't understand. , "The New Mummy" is obviously scheduled for Halloween, why should it be moved?"

"Jeff, the close cooperative relationship you mentioned is actually just a sunk cost. Chen is a very cunning businessman. While he is using us, he is still perfunctory us!" Robert stared at Jeff sternly, trying to convey a sense of oppression : "You have made too many concessions to DreamWorks!"

Jeff didn't seem to care about the sense of authority the other party was trying to maintain, and responded bluntly: "The sunk cost you're talking about won't be the US$10.2 billion global box office of "Gravity", right? Then I hope such a sunk cost The more the merrier."

Robert's eyelids twitched. The final global box office of "Gravity" was 10.2 billion US dollars, ranking third in the current 2016 annual box office list, and it is also the only non-Hollywood movie in the top ten global box office.

It is also the highest-grossing movie released by Universal this year. It is ridiculous and regrettable that this is not a movie produced by Universal. It even made some unscrupulous media in Hollywood ridicule that "Universal Pictures" should be renamed "Universal Distribution Company", Or called "DreamWorks North American Publishing Company."

The unprecedented success of "Gravity" not only symbolizes the fruitful cooperation between Universal and DreamWorks, but also makes Jeff Miller, the senior vice president who dominates the relationship with DreamWorks, soar. He has a deep foundation in Hollywood, and his grandfather is also a director of the parent company of NBC Universal Group. He has long been aiming for the position of president, and now the threat of "self-respect" to him is even greater.

However, Robert Kent has long been prepared: "Let me emphasize that 10.2 million of the 5.2 billion US dollars box office of "Gravity" was obtained in the Chinese mainland film market. The box office in mainland China and the Asia-Pacific region has exceeded 6 million US dollars, and we can only share 4.2 million US dollars."

As soon as this remark came out, the expressions of the other senior executives present at the meeting, who were sitting upright and did not dare to intervene in the bickering between the two big bosses, could not help but change slightly. Even though they had known this number for a long time, they would still feel instantly dazzled every time they heard it .

The box office of a movie in the Chinese single market reached 5.2 million US dollars. This figure can already rank second in the North American market this year, second only to the American movie religion "Star Wars VII".

Everyone in the conference room is an elite, and all of them are from prestigious schools. Of course, they will not think that this is a box office fraud in China like many ordinary people. They know that the film market in the country across the ocean has really skyrocketed.

Seeing everyone's reaction, Jeff Miller couldn't help sighing in his heart. It seems that "Matrix" is hopeless.

Chen Jingxing's film "Matrix", which will be released in China in October, is also released in Europe and the United States in cooperation with Universal. There is nothing wrong with the cooperation between the two parties.

However, Universal President Robert Kent suddenly decided to push "The New Mummy" to be released in early October. This is Universal's own heavyweight project. Naturally, a foreign film cannot affect the box office of its own blockbuster, so he decided to postpone "Matrix". Released in North America and Europe.

Robert even thinks that at least one month's buffer should be vacated, and the release in the United States and Europe should not be considered until November.

At first glance, these demands are reasonable, but in fact they are a threat to DreamWorks.

The primary reason that drew Robert's attack on the cooperation between the two companies was that he believed that Chen Jingxing was perfunctory to Universal and did not have the sincerity to implement the co-production agreement signed between DreamWorks and Universal.

You must know that DreamWorks is eating food in the North American market, and the increasing appetite has triggered a rebound from other major companies. If it weren’t for Universal’s hard support, “Gravity” might face a strong suppression, let alone It is unknown whether the opening performance of [-] theaters, which created a record-breaking foreign film, can be opened in [-] theaters.

Of course, Universal also got a considerable profit from it, but under the pressure of other big studios, to escort DreamWorks' films all the way, Universal is naturally "repaying the favor", asking for a deeper cooperation with DreamWorks, and a bigger share. The cake, that is, joint production, so that they can also enjoy the box office of Chen Jingxing's movies in China and the Asia-Pacific region.

Therefore, before the release of "Gravity", the two companies signed a co-production agreement.

However, Chen Jingxing rejected Universal's intention to invest in "The Martian", and promised that the projects that would allow Universal to get a share were two or three "Matrix" movies, as well as the zombie-themed movies that DreamWorks would develop in the future-this kind of theme was destined to be released in the future. It is not possible to release it in China, so it is a logical choice to find an international partner to co-produce and earn a global box office.

But from the perspective of Universal, this is naturally insincere, and even suspected of being a white wolf with empty gloves.

And Robert chose to remain silent until now and suddenly launched an attack. He wanted to use "Matrix" as an exchange condition to force Dreamworks to back down, expand the scope of co-production, and let Chen Jingxing put forward more sincere conditions when "Matrix" was about to be released.

Of course, Robert’s move is also to increase his own bargaining chips. If his "soft food and hard food" can dig a bigger cake from DreamWorks, the original "Dream Hero" Jeff Miller will become "appeasement". "Sent", the fruit of winning over Chen Jingxing and DreamWorks will also be picked by Robert.

"The kung fu craze around the world has faded long ago, and it's uncertain whether there will be a second or third part of "Matrix". Isn't this an empty promise?
Zombie movies are even more ridiculous. This kind of niche plasma movie has always been eaten by those small companies who pick up leftovers. Universal can't bear to make it, let alone co-produced with other companies?He is just delaying time and perfunctory us, can we tolerate it?
Without our support, can that Huaguo be able to dominate the North American market?It has long been eaten alive by other big manufacturers!
We do not take advantage of others, nor will we allow others to take advantage of us! "

Seeing that all the directors showed the same hatred towards Robert's "speech", Jeff knew that the general situation was fixed, and he had no way to change it.

Of course it wasn't because of Robert's ridiculous logic of "don't let that Huaguo unilaterally use us and take advantage of us".

What really united Robert to the majority and made Jeff a minority was the $5.2 million box office of "Gravity" in China!
It is the greed that the global executives can no longer restrain, the greed for the Huaguo market!

There are only two channels for Hollywood movies to enter the Huaguo market. One is to approve movies and sell off the copyright at one time. Universal, as one of the Hollywood giants, naturally looks down on it.

Another channel is to share the blockbuster films, but there are two problems. First, the proportion of the producers of the account-sharing films is only 25%.

Secondly, most of the super-English-themed movies that can eat meat in the Chinese market are conditions that Universal does not have, and there is more and more evidence that Hollywood blockbusters have a box office limit in the Chinese market. In the past two years, The films that can create box office miracles one after another are all local films in Huaguo.

And Dreamworks is the company that has repeatedly set box office records for Huaguo movies.

Co-production films can perfectly bypass these obstacles and restrictions, and directly feast on the Huaguo film market.

Co-produced movies with DreamWorks get even more.

Since I allow and even support you to eat meat in North America, you should also allow me to eat meat in Huaguo Market.

A group of executives at Universal didn't think it was greed, it was an equivalent exchange, and the price offered by DreamWorks obviously couldn't satisfy their appetite, "Matrix II" and "Matrix III" that were still on paper, and The even more outrageous so-called zombie movies seem to them to have too little weight, or even no weight at all.

Jeff understands the thinking of these people, and he also knows that Robert's decisive shot is also very important that the weight of "Matrix" in their hearts is much lower than that of "Gravity".

"Gravity" is almost perfect in terms of visual effects, music, plot and conception, and the special effects studio responsible for the special effects work is Universal's special effects studio, so Universal's executives and producers have long expressed interest in "Gravity" Full of confidence, this is also an important reason why Universal is willing to fully support and participate in the release of "Gravity", and finally reaped fruitful results.

"Matrix" only has a lot of kung fu elements in it, which makes some people very unfavorable. Kung fu movies have long since declined, and any movie with kung fu elements is easy to be viewed as bad.

In terms of visual effects, it is far less shocking than "Gravity". Although the sci-fi creativity is very shocking, shocking sci-fi creativity has never been a guarantee for a box office hit.

Not to mention the strange aesthetics in the movie, the dress style is too weird, several senior producers at Universal couldn’t agree after seeing the first cut version sent by DreamWorks, even though they all thought the movie was good-looking, it was hard to understand. Its market potential is estimated.

This also made Robert dare to use it as a pawn to "raise the price" with DreamWorks. If it is a movie like "Gravity", the interest is moving. Robert will feel bad too.

……

Chen Jingxing hung up the phone, looked at Xu Wenshen who was staring at him and shrugged: "It seems that Universal has decided to add insult to injury."

"They don't have confidence in "Matrix", do they?" Xu Wenshen said with some concern: "If you rely on Firefly alone, I'm afraid you won't be able to get many theaters to open. In case other companies suppress it..."

"Then don't think about the North American market." Chen Jingxing sneered: "At that time, they will ask for it."

(End of this chapter)