The King of Directors 2000

"Lee Sing-yew won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival."

"The king of directors after the millennium, Lee won two Cannes Palme d'Ors, a Venice Golden Lion Award, and three Best Director Awards."

“‘Joker’ became the biggest winner in Venice. Both Sight and Sound and Cahiers du Cinema reported on ‘Joker’ and considered it the best film of 2015.”

""Joker" was released in the beautiful country, opening in 3,900 theaters."

“‘Joker’ was a hit, earning $31 million on its opening day.”

“‘Joker’ was an explosion, showing high attendance in Paris, Rome, and London.”

"The number of theaters in North America for "Joker" has risen to 5,200."

“‘Joker’ has a Rotten Tomatoes fresh rating of 2015%, making it the highest-rated movie so far in .”

""Joker" scored 9.2 on Imdb and 9.1 on Yahoo Movies, both of which were the highest in 2015."

……

The day after Lee Sung-yao won the Golden Lion Award, "Joker" was officially released in Europe and the United States.

Thanks to the attention of Warner Pictures, the film has received high rankings in various countries.

There is no doubt about the quality of the movie and it will definitely receive rave reviews. The only question now is how much box office the movie can get.

After all, it is not a traditional superhero movie. Warner Pictures is not sure whether it will fetch 300 million or 500 million.

Lee Sung-Yao won the grand prize and didn't have any stay. He hurried back to Los Angeles with the rest of the crew early the next day, and then started the official promotion.

Emmerich did not follow the publicity. He came to the Warner Pictures headquarters building. He wanted to highlight his presence at this time and let other Warner Pictures executives know his importance.

The person responsible for inquiring about the information was Emmerich's assistant Joe Sarson.

This is a man in his thirties, 1.8 meters tall and 180 pounds in weight. He is steady and has Emmerich's trust.

This morning, in Emmerich's office at the Warner Pictures headquarters building, he was holding a cup of hot coffee and staring blankly at the tall buildings outside the window.

There are business districts like Los Angeles and Manhattan, New York, which look very modern.

It is not easy to gain a foothold here.

At this time, Sarson came over, with a happy face and an excited tone.

"Boss, good news. The box office of "Joker" on its opening day was 31 million. Major newspapers in Los Angeles are reporting on "Joker". Everyone predicts that the North American box office of "Joker" is expected to exceed 200 million."

When Emmerich heard this, there was not much joy on his face.

"Twenty million?"

The vast majority of Hollywood movie box office can be divided into two situations.

One is that the overseas box office is about the same as the North American box office.

One is that the overseas box office is twice that of the North American box office.

Generally speaking, the overseas box office of super blockbusters such as "Transformers", "Avatar" and "Avengers" is twice that of North America.

As for ordinary feature films, films with average overseas influence, the total overseas box office is generally about the same as the North American box office.

"Joker" is not a traditional superhero movie. The overseas box office is estimated to be about the same as the North American box office. In this case, the North American box office is 200 million and the overseas box office is 200 million. The total box office is only 400 million US dollars.

The results were passable, but not enough to push Emmerich further.

He hopes that the global box office of "Joker" can reach 500 million US dollars.

Sarson noticed his boss's face, thought for a while and said: "Boss, the movie's figures in Hong Kong Island and Peninsula are good. I think the box office in China will not be bad. Why don't we persuade Li to let him If we find connections, "Joker" will be released in mainland China, and the global box office will definitely exceed US$500 million."

After hearing this, Emmerich put down his coffee, thought for a moment and said, "Let's wait and see what happens."

He had asked Li Shengyao about his words before, but he directly refused.

Emmerich understands that Lee Sheng Yew does not participate in the box office share of "Joker". The box office amount has nothing to do with Lee Sheng Yew.

Helping Warner Pictures promote the movie has fulfilled the obligations of a director.

He doesn't have to pay any favors to let the movie be released in the mainland.

“Is Phoenix promoting it?”

"Yes, Phoenix is ​​very good this time and has been participating in the promotion."

Phoenix has always been restless, so he was able to follow the promotion this time because of the excellent quality of the film and Lee Sung-yew's face, so he was so obedient.

Emmerich breathed a sigh of relief.

"Just wait a little longer. There have been no blockbusters released recently. Maybe there will be a turn for the better."

There really aren’t many blockbusters in October.

Super blockbusters such as "Avengers 2", "Star Wars 7", "Mission: Impossible 5", "Jurassic World" and so on have been released long ago.

There are also some highly anticipated movies, such as "Avatar 2", which will be released during the Lunar New Year in December.

Throughout October, the only movie with any strength was "Hotel Transylvania 2". This movie was released at the beginning of the month and currently has a box office of million in North America. The total box office in North America will be around million.

After hearing this, Sarson nodded, and then left quickly.

Within a minute, Sarson came back. He was a little unsure, but he still said: "Boss, I think the overseas box office of "Joker" is very good, and the total overseas box office may be twice the North American box office.

In the European box office countries of England, France, Germany, and Spain, "Joker" quickly topped the box office charts.

France and Spain both have local blockbusters released, and they had previously been gaining momentum, but neither of them could beat "Joker."

"Joker" is also performing very well in Asia. According to data from various parts of Asia, in Hong Kong Island, Wanwan, and Peninsula, "Joker" is about the same as "Transformers 4: Age of Extinction." "

Box office statistics across Europe are not as fast as those in East Asia, so although we know that "Joker" topped the box office list, the specific number is still uncertain.

Wanwan Hong Kong Island has already made statistics. According to the data analysis here, the first-day box office of "Joker" is similar to that of "Transformers 4: Age of Extinction" released last year.

"Transformers 4" is a billion-dollar movie.

Emmerich became excited when he heard this, "Are you sure?"

"I'm pretty sure that the data from all over the place has been transmitted. I think the overseas box office of "Joker" is very good."

If the overseas box office is twice that of North America, and the North American box office is 200 million, the overseas box office is 400 million, and the total box office is 600 million US dollars.

This box office must have made money.

Warner Pictures has not had any outstanding movies in recent years. This result is enough for Emmerich to show off his power in high-level meetings.

He suppressed the excitement in his heart and nodded, "Okay, keep an eye on the box office data in Europe and East Asia."

"Yes."

Sarson then left.

Emmerich turned on his computer and searched for the box office status of "Joker" in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and other places.

These three countries are the biggest box office sellers in the Americas. Although they are not as good as the beautiful countries, good movies can still have a box office of 20 to 30 million US dollars. He feels that "Joker" is quite suitable for these countries.

However, these countries do not use English as their official language, and there is relatively little movie information.

Emmerich could see no good news.

"Wait a minute."

……

Good movies don't care about the schedule. They don't adapt to the market, but lead the market.

"Joker" is such a movie. The box office in North America on the first day was 31 million US dollars. The box office on the second day dropped slightly, but it was still 29 million US dollars.

It grossed $60 million in two days.

Major media in Los Angeles predict that the North American box office of "Joker" is expected to exceed 300 million.

This prediction makes Warner Pictures very excited from top to bottom.

There is no doubt that the global box office of "Joker" will exceed US$500 million, and it is expected to compete for the top ten box office of the year.

On the third day, the box office of "Joker" was still US$29 million, which is even more exciting.

This data shows that the reputation of "Joker" has risen, which means that the box office of "Joker" will have a good continuation, and there is no doubt that it will exceed 300 million in North America.

Emmerich's office at the Warner Bros. headquarters building.

Sarson held the coffee in both hands, opened his mouth, drank it in one gulp, and then quickly said: "Boss, "Joker" has exploded in European countries, and the box office is very good, just like in East Asia, the specific box office is completely It can be compared to "Transformers 4: Age of Extinction".

Moreover, this movie has done very well at the box office in Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil.

I think this movie has the potential to gross over a billion dollars at the global box office. "

The box office was previously estimated to be 300 million, then 500 million, and now it is 1 billion.

Even Emmerich, who has always been calm, could not suppress the raised corners of his mouth at this time. He couldn't help but waved his fist, "Very good, very good, great."

The cost of "Transformers: Age of Extinction" was US$4 million, and the final global box office was US$ billion.

The cost of "Joker" is US$70 million. If it can get a global box office of US$1 billion, this movie will definitely be the most profitable movie in the past five years.

What's more, the movie has already won the Golden Lion Award.

It can be said that it has achieved a double success in terms of awards and box office. Emmerich laughed when he thought of this, "Sarson, everything has become different. I will go further."

Sarson understood what Emmerich meant, "Boss, this is all due to your excellent investment ability. Last year, no one was optimistic about Lee, no one was optimistic about "Joker", and no one was optimistic about Phoenix, but you defied everyone's opinion. , you withstood all negative pressure.

You made this movie the most unique superhero movie, your story will be remembered in Los Angeles, and you are one of the most outstanding top producers in Hollywood. "

Emmerich smiled and waved, then picked up the coffee and covered the corners of his mouth that were getting wider and wider.

He took a sip of coffee and watched the steam coming out of the coffee.

Emmerich said slowly: "Sarson, you are the person closest to me. You should understand why "Joker" is successful. Besides me, there is also Lee.

He is one of the best directors in the world. He is still very young, only in his thirties, and is still at his creative peak.

Man, is there any way you can keep Lee at Warner Bros. and let him keep making movies for us. "

"Joker" won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival and is still reaping high box office revenue.

There is no doubt that Lee Sheng Yew will become the darling of Hollywood. More resources will flow to Lee Sheng Yew in the future, and competition from the Big Six in Hollywood will be even greater.

Emmerich knows how difficult it is to get Lee Sheng-yew to continue making films for Warner Pictures. He wants to continue to cooperate with Lee Sheng-yew to bring him better results.

Sarson thought for a while, "Boss, from the production of "Joker", we can see that compared to the salary, Li is more concerned about the production rights, editing rights, and the subject matter he is interested in.

I think the six major Hollywood companies will not be stingy with the remuneration and production rights and editing rights. In the end, what Li chose was the subject matter of the movie.

We should consider what kind of themes Warner can provide to satisfy Lee. "

Emmerich heard this and nodded, "What you said makes sense. Please help me think about it during this time and see what kind of interesting themes we can provide."

……

Time passes and winter gradually arrives.

As the weather gets colder and colder, it stands to reason that the film market will gradually enter a period of decline. It will not be until the end of December, when the Christmas and New Year holidays arrive, that the film markets in Europe and the United States will prosper again.

This year is completely different. The main reason is naturally the release of "Joker". This movie, released in October, is not only a hit in Europe and the United States, but also in East Asia, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. The box office is getting more and more popular. good.

As the statistics from various places were compiled, the Los Angeles media once again adjusted the forecast data, believing that the global box office of "Joker" will exceed one billion US dollars, around US$1.1 billion.

Emmerich is undoubtedly the most popular person at Warner Bros. recently.

Warner Pictures and DC Films are about to appoint new executive presidents.

At this time, Emmerich had such achievements that he became the best candidate to become the CEO of Warner Pictures and DC Pictures.

Not only many Warner Pictures insiders turned to Emmerich, hoping to be appreciated by the new president.

Many high-end Hollywood parties also invite Emmerich, and many Hollywood superstars hope to cooperate with Emmerich.

It can be said that this period of time was the most glorious period of his life.

Emmerich enjoys this kind of life very much. He is very uplifted and very happy. He wakes up every day and hears good news.

As time goes by, the global box office of "Joker" has exceeded one billion US dollars. It depends on whether it is 1.1 billion or 1.2 billion in the end.

On this day, Sarson hurried to Emmerich's office.

"Boss, if we want to continue to cooperate with Li, we must show our sincerity."

"Sincerity?"

Emmerich is very sincere towards Li Shengyao. The two have known each other for such a long time and have always maintained communication.

Sarson nodded and continued: "Boss, Audika will be in February next year."

Yes, Oscar will be here in three months.

"Joker" has been confirmed to be nominated for the 2016 Oscars.

Each Oscar category is selected by approximately 2,000 judges from around the world.

Although it is difficult to influence two thousand people, the Oscars have always had lobbyists who rely on their sharp tongue to influence the judges and thus the final results.

Hollywood thinks this is public relations and an operational tool.

The cost generally ranges from $5 million to $10 million.

Lee Sheng-yew did not ask Warner Pictures to operate "Joker", so does Warner Pictures need to show sincerity?

(End of this chapter)