hollywood melon man

Chapter 310 The inner calculation

This Disney and Warner inspection team was personally led by Doug Walt.

He is the CEO of Warner Pictures. He personally leads the team, which shows that he attaches great importance to the implementation of surrounding factory projects.

China attaches great importance to the establishment of these peripheral factories in China. Gilbert Jr. had previously talked with Tian Chongming about what the surrounding areas include.

Not just traditional figures, dolls, model toys, etc. It also includes clothing, hats, food, keychains, and more.

It does take a lot of effort to bring some high-precision products to China, and it also requires local factories to innovate the production machinery and equipment.

The focus of the inspection is human resources, preferential policies, and convenient transportation.

According to the plan, Disney and Warner will invest US$300 million in advance. It's nothing on a national level, but on a local level it's a massive investment.

The first stop is the Yangtze River Delta region.

The local area has made very detailed plans, including the construction of roads and surrounding facilities.

Of course, such a big thing is not so easy to finalize. Little Gilbert could not interfere too much, so although the Chinese side was in a hurry, the negotiations were still proceeding step by step.

This is a blessed land! "

But for inspection, we need to inspect multiple places. Moreover, it is the first time for many senior executives to come to China, so of course they have to travel a lot.

After inspecting the Yangtze River Delta and riding horses in Inner Mongolia, the delegation traveled south to inspect the Pearl River Delta region.

Moreover, "Lord of the Rings" was filmed in China. Of course, executives are curious about how a Western story can be filmed in this Eastern land.

After reaching an initial cooperation intention, professional business negotiators joined in and started talks with a team of lawyers.

But the Pearl River Delta has one advantage: it is close to Hong Kong Island. As an international financial center and a trade port in the Asia-Pacific, Hong Kong Island cannot be compared with Shanghai at this time.

There is another reason, which is unexplainable. In short, Disney and Warner are very satisfied with the Pearl River Delta region and finally decided to settle here.

In recent years, foreign investment has almost always entered China under this condition. It is obvious that this is a routine of exchanging market for technology.

But when they saw Minas Tirith in Gazi Mountain, and then went to the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and saw the Hobbit town Shire, they felt that nothing was strange.

Of course, this is a long-term perspective. In the short-term, the box office still accounts for a large proportion.

Many people think that "The Lord of the Rings" is a Western costume film and there is no room for product placement in the film. This is naive.

Apple's Steve Jobs was very considerate to shareholder Gilbert Little. During the preparations for "The Lord of the Rings", he sponsored the movie and produced a "Lord of the Rings" co-branded MP3 player and headphones.

In fact, in terms of preferential policies, both places almost offer their own most favorable terms, which are basically the same.

Clothes, hats, T-shirts and other items do not have much technical content, but peripheral products are not just these, but also include many electronic products.

It is no exaggeration to say that he believes that the total box office of the three films together can exceed 4 billion. If you include income from peripherals, copyrights, etc., the series will generate tens of billions of dollars in revenue.

This is only the first part. Doug Walter can even imagine the box office that the subsequent two parts will receive.

Doug Walter agrees, and it's hard for anyone not to agree with a movie that has grossed over a billion dollars worldwide.

"That's right." Little Gilbert said as if you were very strange. "If this was done in North America, we would probably spend 600 million, and it might not have the same effect.

During the negotiation process, the Chinese side proposed to set up the factory in the form of a joint venture.

Doug Walter also asked Gilbert Jr.: "Did we really build such a large-scale filming location with an investment of only $3.5 million?"

In this time and space, Apple has come back to life with its MP3 business.

Although the technical difficulty of MP3 is not high, Apple's share of the high-end market is quite high, which has also accumulated a lot of cash flow for Apple.

Jobs was not arrogant. He communicated with Gilbert Jr. several times and decided to focus Apple's business on computers and mobile phones.

Especially for mobile phones, Jobs proposed the concept of Apple smartphones for the first time at an internal research and development meeting and also released concept drawings.

The concept of smartphones actually existed as early as 1973, when Motorola engineer Martin Cooper proposed the concept of smartphones and invented the world's first mobile phone for the civilian market.

However, the concept of smartphones at that time and the smartphones of today are two different things, and the concept has undergone fundamental changes.

In addition to MP3 players and headphones, co-branded peripheral products such as computers and sunglasses are also on sale.

However, most of these peripheral products are not manufactured in China, but as time goes by, it is inevitable to move the factory to China.

In other words, some core components will not be brought to China. All this shows that China's market and labor cost advantages have attracted the attention of major multinational companies.

Anyone who can reach the top of a multinational company is not a fool. Capital pursues profit, and of course it will go wherever there is profit.

The preliminary inspection was done, and little Gilbert didn't stay much longer. After the leisurely vacation, he returned to North America and plunged into the studio to complete the post-production of "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers."

As expected, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" is firmly heading towards a box office of US$11.09 million in North America, and the film's global box office has reached billion.

This box office result is the highest box office record in Gilbert Jr.'s directorial career.

However, everyone believes that this will not be the final record, and next year's "The Two Towers" will break this record.

The success of "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" is not only a success at the box office, but also a success for the actors. Elijah Wood became an A-level client of CAA and received numerous film appointments.

Ian McKellen's Gandalf and Magneto make people feel that this is the summer that belongs to this British national treasure actor.

Orlando Bloom and Anne Hathaway have become idols in the United States and even around the world, with countless fans and endless endorsement invitations from brands.

Other actors have their own say, but the one who gained the most is undoubtedly Nicole Kidman.

Although her role as Queen Galadriel is not actually that many, it is still a major role. And as soon as she appeared, she made a very deep impression.

More importantly, the film's box office was so high that it finally allowed Nicole Kidman to get rid of the dilemma of being a hit but not a hit, and took off the title of box office poison.

Now, Nicole Kidman is more confident, and her relationship with Tom Cruise seems to be better. It is said that she is preparing to have a second child.

This is quite good. Little Gilbert has indirectly achieved the myth of Hollywood's golden boy, and seems to be very stable.

When he returned to North America, little Gilbert received an invitation to a party from Tom Cruise. Presumably the couple also knows the importance of maintaining a good relationship with little Gilbert.

"When can we work together again?" Tom Cruise and Gilbert Jr. talked about working together again.

Little Gilbert clinked glasses with Tom Cruise and said, "Tom, I know you are a very good actor, and I have been looking forward to working with you again."

This is the truth. Today's Tom Cruise is an enhanced version of Tom Cruise, with an Oscar-winning actor.

Of course Tom Cruise was happy to hear this, but he knew that a director of Gilbert's level would take the initiative to invite him if he wanted to collaborate.

Those who strive for it on their own rarely get roles.

Generally speaking, the director takes the initiative to send an invitation to an actor, and the actor is pre-determined for the basic role. The audition is often a formality.

Tom Cruise, who won an Oscar, had a new pursuit. He was not satisfied with the status quo and quickly started preparations for his own film "Mission: Impossible 3".

At the same time, he also plans to deepen cooperation with Gilbert Jr.

Everyone knows that starring in a Little Gilbert movie is almost a guarantee of success. But so many actors in Hollywood want to work with little Gilbert, so the opportunity is particularly important.

Nicole Kidman is also satisfied. She plans to set her sights on winning the Best Actress Oscar. Her husband won the Best Actor Oscar for his musicals, and she also plans to take on one or two musicals to test the waters.

However, there is no sympathy for Tom Cruise’s divorce, and I don’t know whether Nicole Kidman can realize her Oscar dream.

Another very important thing is that starting from September, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", with Little Gilbert as the producer, will officially begin the promotion work.

This film has been highly anticipated since the beginning of the project. It is also adapted from a novel. It can be said that this film is not much less popular among certain groups than "The Lord of the Rings".

Starting in mid-September, the film held two internal preview screenings and received unanimous praise from executives.

After little Gilbert returned to North America, he also took the time to watch the finished film. It was slightly different from his previous life, probably because of the replacement of Harry Potter actors.

Overall, the film is still in line with expectations, and Gilbert Jr. feels that the performance of the film will not be bad.

This is indeed the case. After that, the film held three more preview screenings, which received an enthusiastic response and the reputation was quite explosive.

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" is slightly different from "The Lord of the Rings", both movies adapted from novels. This movie is full of childishness and many whimsical ideas, which is quite interesting.

Compared with the grand perspective of "Lord of the Rings", "Harry Potter" focuses on the perspective of three children, giving the audience a different experience.

The British are definitely happy this year, because both films are based on British literary novels and will do well.

Of course, we still don’t know how “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” will perform in the theater market, but given Gilbert Jr.’s vision and appeal, the performance should not be too bad.

On November 2000, , "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" held a grand premiere. Little Gilbert took Scarlett Johansson to the premiere of the film.

(End of this chapter)