Made in Hollywood

"Tom, there have been rumors recently that your marriage with Nicole is in crisis and you are about to divorce?"

Standing in front of the red carpet at the dinner, Tom Cruise clasped Nicole Kidman’s fingers tightly, as if he didn’t mind the question just now, "How is this possible? As you see now, we two This is very good. We love each other and we are working hard to manage our marriage and family."

"Do you have any plans for the next step?" a reporter from Warner Group asked.

Tom Cruise showed a charming smile, "I have devoted a lot of time and energy to "Chicago", and in the past year there has been too little time with Mary..."

"Um..." He thought for a moment and said, "After "Chicago" is over, I don't plan to take over work for the time being. I will mainly accompany Mary. We have already discussed that it's time to form a complete family. We are ready I want a baby, a child that belongs to both of us."

The reporters around were in an uproar. Driven by the caring people, the uproar did not last long and turned into applause. Family is always the most valued value orientation in this land, especially families who want children...

The pre-planned plan fully achieved the effect, Tom Cruise felt that his image instantly became extraordinarily tall ∷←, and smiled extremely brightly, Nicole Kidman frowned and looked at him slightly, and moved closer.

"You should kiss me." She tried to keep her lips from turning, and squeezed this reminder through her teeth.

Tom Cruise woke up and leaned in to kiss Nicole Kidman's side cheek lightly, how they looked like a very loving couple.

In an instant, the reporters' sentiment surged, and the shutter sound became one piece, and the flashing light almost turned the surrounding into daylight.

Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman took photos in various intimate poses. It took a long time to walk into the hotel.

This is a pull conference jointly organized by Warner Bros. and Duke Studios. Although the film will not be released for a while, the work on the awards season has already started. Duke did not stay in the pull conference for too long, so The protagonist's position was given to Robin Grande, who will work hard to win nomination for the best film in various awards.

As for Tom Cruise and Naomi Watts. To be nominated for Oscars, it is necessary to look at the methods of them, their public relations and agents based on the work of the film crew.

In this era, the Internet is still underdeveloped. Oscars have a clear role in pulling the box office of films, and "Chicago" is full of visual impact, and it is not a movie like "Shawshank's Redemption" that is not suitable for theaters.

After the pull conference, with Tom Cruise as the center, the topic of "Chicago" has set off a new round of hype.

"We are completely at a disadvantage in publicity."

In Miramax's office. Bob Weinstein put down the newspaper in his hand. Recently, the media has been flooded with news of "Chicago", but the "British Patient" that was released at the same time was not very popular. "The momentum of Warner Bros. hype is very strong."

"This is no way."

Harvey Weinstein looked calm, "How can Ralph Fiennes be more attractive than Tom Cruise? Anthony Minghella is far less famous, image and ability than Duke Rosenberg," Even if we use the same methods, it is impossible to get the same attention. And Anthony Minghella is an old-school director, and it is impossible to personally play like Duke Rosenberg."

"Do you think……"

Don't wait for Bob Weinstein to finish. Harvey Weinstein said, "It must be fake. Do you think that a **** like Duke Rosenberg will really be dumped by an actress? Don't be kidding."

Then he shook his head to Bob, "I understand what you mean, but it's not suitable. Both films were drawn on a small scale, and there is no direct competition now. If we contact the media and accuse them of false propaganda, It will inevitably cause another group of media to counterattack. The dispute will bring more topics and attract more people's attention, and what can we use to prove that this kind of thing is false? As long as Duke Rosenberg Grid and Catherine Zeta Jones moved together, and all the rumors were self-defeating."

"Bob, our goal is Oscar." Harvey Weinstein said firmly, "All our work is around Oscars, as long as we can get the heavyweight nomination, the popularity of the film and the expansion of the screening It will not be a problem."

"So, what we are focusing on should be the impact that "Chicago" may bring to us at the Oscars!"

In the headquarters of Paramount Pictures in the Hollywood area, Shelly Lansing looked at the release list in her hand and shook her head.

"We are going to collide with Duke Rosenberg's new film again this time!"

Although she said this, she didn't have any worried expressions, "But this time we don't have to worry."

A vice president answered with a relaxed face, "Even if the director of "Chicago" is Duke Rosenberg, even if the actor is Tom Cruise, even if their hype is very vigorous, they cannot change this. It is a fact that it is a niche song and dance film! It is also impossible for commercial theaters to invest a lot of resources on them in the first week!"

"We should always pay attention to this film!" Shelly Lansing said solemnly, "Don't forget that its director is Duke Rosenberg!"

Paramount Pictures’ new film "Star Trek: First Strike" also chose the Thanksgiving Weekend, but did not make any publicity for "Chicago" because not only the audiences of the two sides are obviously different, but the number of theaters opened is also huge. The gap does not form too much competition at all.

The Duke’s Studio and Warner Bros. did not intend to target movies of the same period. They just did their own publicity and distribution work, contacting theaters, making and shipping copies, hiring research consulting companies, and public relations media to let Duke and Tom Cruise. Other major actors and staff frequently attend various events and actively negotiate with major theater companies and independent theaters.

"The type of film has determined that it is impossible for us to get thousands of open-painting theaters."

Doug Walter, the head of Warner Bros. Distribution Department, stood in the conference room of the Duke’s studio and said, “We communicated with a number of commercial chain theaters, and they insisted on showing "Chicago" on a small scale in the first week to watch the subsequent market. Make specific changes in response."

Hearing this, Duke was not surprised. The audience reputation of the "Chicago" preview was good, and he also won the Audience Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, but none of these can change the fact that musicals have long since fallen.

The theaters used to support him, because he made a big-selling summer commercial film. Now no one can predict the real market response after the release of "Chicago", not to mention that Paramount Pictures’ commercial masterpiece will be released this week. In fact, there is no choice at all about where the theater will invest a lot of resources.

"Due to the limitation of theater chains, Warner Bros. has formulated a corresponding distribution strategy."

Doug Walter continued, “We only had 100 movie theaters in the early stage. The main target will be nostalgic groups. They will drive the spread of the film’s reputation. The movie theaters are mainly in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. In cities, after word-of-mouth is completely fermented and the market has formed a certain degree of hunger, we will contact the theaters and request a large-scale release.

Duke knew this for a long time and had no objection. Among the newly released films with a certain strength on Thanksgiving, Paramount Pictures' "Star Trek: First Strike" opened with 2812 theaters, which is undoubtedly the most popular. The film with the most commercial strength; Miramax’s "The English Patient" is equally competitive, and it implements a similar distribution strategy as "Chicago". There are only 268 theaters open. If he remembers correctly, this is once The big winner of the Oscar; "Chicago" theaters are compressed and can only choose to be conservative, with only 100 theaters in the first week.

This kind of distribution strategy of opening pictures by clicking is a typical niche film distribution method. It is only suitable for genres such as singing, dancing and literary films with a limited audience. The genre films themselves cannot get too many open cinemas. .

Of course, this is a distribution strategy often used before the award season, and it is also an effective method. Duke and Warner Bros. will not experiment with films of this investment scale.

After the brief pre-screening communication ended, Penny Kelly called Duke and Catherine Zeta Jones together and went to the reception room where no one was nearby.

"When the film is released, you can formally respond to this relationship." Pani Kelly's main instructor is still Duke. After all, Zeta Jones has almost no capital to speak. "If Kate's role can meet expectations, she will become famous. When she can further attract the media, she will move into your mansion."

The light in Catherine Zeta Jones's eyes was fleeting, and it seemed that she couldn't wait.

But Duke's next words pulled her back to the real world, "These are no problems. What I want to ask is, when will Kate leave? When will this temporary relationship end?"

Duke didn't go to see Catherine Zeta Jones at all, and the reason he said it in front of her was to remind her that he was not a fool, and how could he not see the unrealistic ideas of this woman.

This temporary relationship did play a role in the promotion of the film, but Catherine Zeta Jones was also a beneficiary. Her public relations and agent have used Duke's reputation and status to build momentum during this time!

To put it bluntly, this is just a temporary win-win relationship.

Why didn’t Penny Kelly understand what Duke meant, gave him a relieved look, and said, "I will make a suitable plan. Duke, you should first prepare for the premiere of the film. Red carpet, don’t let Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman take the limelight away."

"I'm just a director, no matter how big a star like Cruise is."

Turning around, Duke looked at Zeta Jones, who didn't know what he was thinking, "Kate, have you chosen the dress? If not, we can choose the dress together." (To be continued...)