Hollywood Domination Chapter 325: The one who doesn’t like trends

"It is rumored that Dameng will be involved in the "Fast and Furious" series? Universal Pictures is noncommittal in the face of inquiries, but it has a meal talk with President Adam Ferguson during the day and Dameng President Cesare Vigeri. Sources Claiming that although "Fast and Furious 4" has been filmed, Big Dream will still be involved in its distribution and promotion work, and "Fast and Furious 5" will be a movie with a big dream flavor, leading the company to launch three extraordinary films. The fiancé couple Cesare Vijari and Jennifer Jefferson in the movie will bring about earth-shaking changes to the series, and the first thing that will be changed is the investment scale of the movie series. "Fast and Furious 4 "The production fee of 85 million yuan seems to be a little overdue. The next racing series may reach a production scale of 150 million to 200 million yuan. This is another grand plan of Dameng in the next few years. So far, they have "Avatar", "Oz" and "Code Name" are three high-investment and large-scale special effects films that are in the pipeline. In addition, just a week ago, there was another scandal in the industry that aroused the public's response—the rumor that Palla Meng intends to reconnect with Tom Cruise and launch the "Mission: Impossible" series again. If the two rumors come true, then in the next three years, Big Dream will have five major productions released, whether it is DreamWorks, Lions, etc. The door is still Legendary Pictures, which won the Warner contract in 2005, and Marvel, which is brewing the concept of "Avengers", has already been left behind before this achievement. Big Dream will be the fastest rising in the next 10 years Is it a fast film company? When will this film company with many high-quality copyrights be completely acquired? Will it be acquired by Disney, or will it be bought by Comcast, News Corporation or Viacom? It seems that only time can answer the question."

Clicked the mouse, closed the page, Robert Iger took a sip of herbal tea from the mug, and calmly opened the previously buffered news video - in a somewhat rudimentary studio, surrounded by Wearing a tweed suit, the somewhat fat hostess continued, "Conte, thank you for the news, now let's focus on the next news: the founder of Paramount's parent company Viacom, Media tycoon Summer Redstone confirmed that Paramount may restart the "Mission: Impossible" series in the near future, Jim, what do you think of this news?"

"I'm more concerned about whether the big dream is involved." The male guest pushed his glasses and made a joke, which drew a burst of knowing laughter before he became serious. "The "Mission: Impossible" series, like the "Fast and Furious" series chosen by Dameng, is a series of works in an embarrassing period. It can even be said that the future is uncertain, and it is very likely that there will be no sequel for a long time. Not only because of the actors Some disputes with the company, in terms of themes, espionage themes and racing themes have indeed not been favored by the market in recent years. Although the "oo7" and "Bourne Shadow" series are well received, the box office is relatively limited, and the racing themes are even more popular. It has always been quite unpopular, mainly relying on advertising placement and peripheral sales to make profits. If Dameng chooses these two movies as their production direction, it will take a lot of risk, but this is very consistent with their usual style Yes, Dameng likes to challenge unpopular themes, or outdated themes that seem to have exhausted their potential. Looking at the company's production history, few projects are favored before the project is approved, even the recently popular superhero themes, It is also because of the female dominance that the film itself is full of suspense."

"But Jennifer seems to have such a character. She has always been very courageous in choosing films," the female anchor continued, "It also fits the style of the legendary Mr. Lei Shidong very well. Do you think it is correct? Is it because of Dameng's courageous choice that Mr. Lei Shidong praised Jennifer in the interview as "will be the leading figure in Hollywood in the next 20 years"?"

"Yes, yes, a very good point," Jim nodded, "Redstone himself famously said, 'To be successful, you have to live dangerously, as long as the danger can be justified. Accepted, as long as the return is far greater than the risk', we can see that Dameng's business style is very close to Lei Shidong's own ideas. As a small production company, Dameng wants to be in the big production company To rise under the outflank, it must avoid those fields with excessive competition, or choose to cooperate with the strong in these fields, so we can see that the strategy of the big dream is to choose the field with less competition, and then in the production Cooperating with a big company reduces the risk and gets a good distribution platform, and one thing that must be noted is that big dreams are relatively rare, and producers who can maintain cooperative relationships with many big companies at the same time— —”

"Yes," another guest joined the topic, "this is very special, and that's why we will talk about it in this program, because the status of Dameng is really special, generally speaking , an independent small production company like DreamWorks, it will maintain a long-term cooperative relationship with a company, if the cooperation is not comfortable enough, it will change to another partner, this model is more common. But DreamWorks did not choose a close parent company As a consistent partner of Disney, there are objective reasons for this, because Disney may not be able to produce all these blockbuster films within three years while taking into account its own production plan, and the cash flow of the big dream is very rich, impatient Continuing DreamWorks’ previous cooperation model with Paramount, so this cooperative development system was adopted. Of course, the title of Jennifer Jefferson’s genius producer is also very helpful to the company. In today’s Hollywood, some people may kick Drop Tom Cruise, but I believe no one will kick her, at least no one will have this idea before her movie fails."

"Didn't the company that kicked Tom Cruise invite him back now? In Hollywood, the role of an actor is still very important after all."

With knowing laughter, Jim continued the topic just now, "This is directly taking the rumors seriously, and directly confirming that Dameng will cooperate with Paramount in "Mission: Impossible". In fact, there is no official statement Before, it was still difficult to determine whether this matter was true or false, because there have been a lot of rumors and scandals surrounding the next step of Big Dream recently, some of which are very exaggerated. These actually reflect the market’s perception of Disney and Big Dream Doubts about the relationship, including the week-long decline in Disney stock, should be related to this core rumor. Since Big Dream released the news last week, announcing that it will adapt "The Hunger Games", this rumor has spread like wildfire... Disney headquarters What happened with Dream? Is there a serious discord between the two sides? This is the topic that the market is really concerned about. Many rumors should be the natural reaction of the market-people want to know the truth very much, so the media began to release This is also a kind of pressure on Disney and Dameng. If this is just a misunderstanding, they should clarify it in the near future—"

"However, Sam Redstone and Rupert Murdoch suddenly began to show their favor to Dameng, and speaking to the media to praise Jennifer Jefferson can also be regarded as part of the company's strategy?"

"If you want to ask my opinion, this may also be a kind of prank-yes, this may really be a very bold joke, playing the media, and playing a harmless joke with colleagues, of course, Pai Shares of Ramon and Fox are also on the rise, but in general, the question of whether or not Dream wants to break away from Disney, and how difficult the idea is, is still shrouded in fog because Dream has been working with Disney for a long time. Other companies cooperate, if Dameng suddenly starts to cooperate with another big company, people will have a lot of associations, but it’s hard to say now, and it may be as usual, there is no conflict between Disney headquarters and Dameng—”

"However, it is rumored that Disney headquarters made an offer for "The Hunger Games", and the fact that the two companies have competed for the copyright has been confirmed by multiple sources..."

Pressing the pause button again, Robert glanced at the view count in the lower left corner of the page——for a Hollywood Business Review podcast, the 37000 play count of this episode is frighteningly high, you know, Prior to this, the podcast hosted by Hollywood think tank and independent critic Ivy Connor had thousands of views per episode. Although this podcast dedicated to commenting on Hollywood business news was full of content, it was even sometimes invited The executives or former executives of the Big Six, but the audience of general entertainment news does not care about the long-term strategy discussed on this program, the conflict of ideas of company executives-although these deep gossip indirectly determine the film and television world they can see, But they would rather spend their time on reality shows: at least with the intervention of screenwriters, reality shows are much more exciting and interesting than this kind of talk show.

Jennifer Jefferson's star power is reflected even in this small high-end unpopular show—this is the result of not being noticed by the fan group. Knowing about this program, as long as the celebrities on k repost it, the next program may become famous, and it will receive hundreds of thousands or millions of hits overnight.

Of course, Ivy may be happy with such a result, but Robert doesn't care about it. He is very happy that these spam clicks haven't appeared yet, so that he can have a very intuitive judgment on the real popularity of the industry now. ——The broadcast volume of 37ooo has already shown how much the Hollywood industry pays attention to this news. Although this news has not yet attracted the attention of the public, the media has only given a step-by-step report. After there is no ideal response, they will continue to report The focus is on the wedding date of Jennifer and Cesare, but it is conceivable that there must be countless reporters outside sniffing every crack, eager for further insider information, and once someone tells the truth about the matter The truth was leaked out, exposing the feud between Big Dream and Disney headquarters...

Silently let out a long breath, Robert inserted his hands into his black hair and made a tight movement, as if venting his emotions. After a while, he slowly let go of his hands, Wiping his face wearily: It has been nearly a month since Disney made an offer for "The Hunger Games". During this month, many things have happened. The preparation of "oz" It proceeded step by step, and the personnel from both sides also met twice to communicate on the starring candidates. Dameng is already working on adapting the script of "The Hunger Games" and holding the first round of actor auditions. As for the main part, there is no need Having said that, there was no delay in the daily affairs, but there was only one thing that should have happened that never happened—neither the headquarters nor the big dream had any intention of actively communicating with him. Although Dick Cook I have brunch with him every week to report on the work progress of the week, but I never mention "The Hunger Games", and Jennifer and Cesare are even more terrible. I made a phone call to myself...

Both Headquarters and Dameng continued their work as if nothing had happened, as if the previous conflict was just an illusion and had no effect on the relationship between the two parties, or even if it did, the two parties did not intend to continue the conflict , so there is no one to complain, lobby, win over, or threaten. This situation seems to make Robert gratified and happy, but on the contrary, the more nonchalant these two people are, the more headaches he has——Robert has realized that he I made a big mistake. The decision to let the headquarters and Dameng cooperate to develop the fairy tale series completely intensified the conflict between the two companies. The two sides don't come to communicate with him now, not because they didn't take the previous conflict to heart, but because they both know that when they come to Robert, Robert can't do anything other than mediate, regardless of whether it's Dick or Jennifer, They no longer want to mediate this matter anymore, and their silence is just a signal to convey themselves-in the Disney Group, there is him without me, and there is me without him!

Of course, silence in words does not mean silence in attitude. The recent close contact between Dameng and Fox, Paramount, Warner, and Universal is the best announcement in itself. They have bargaining chips. Niu, the dividends that Big Dream brings to Disney every year can be said to be comparable to the revenue of Disney’s headquarters, because the hematopoietic department of Disney Group is not in the film company. In many cases, the profits brought by the film will be in the surrounding areas and Disneyland. , the toy department is reflected, but the big dream is just the opposite, they only make movies, and their movies are also very profitable. There is no big company that does not want such a high-quality subsidiary, and once Jennifer and Cesare, who hold the company's control, leave—even if it is just such a rumor, such a possibility, it will drive Disney's stock price down. Obviously, Now Jennifer is not only a star in the eyes of the general public, but also a star figure in the eyes of investors. This round of rumors has caused a lot of gains due to the announcement of the production of "oz" and the launch of the fairy tale series some time ago. Disney's stock has been sold back to its original form. Dameng is obviously very conscious of its rising position in the group, and they are very airy. Now they don't contact Robert at all. It is clear that Robert needs to make a statement on this incident, otherwise there is no need for the two sides to talk at all.

As for Dick, it is needless to say how important he is to Robert. He is the only high-level surviving from the time of Michael Eisner to the present. He started as an amusement park driver and has been promoted to this position step by step in the past 38 years. , the impression score in the board of directors is very high, and the relationship with many producers is also very close. Even in the process of Robert's ascension, he also gave him a lot of help, so after Robert became the chairman, he did not clean him up. ——In the past few years, almost all the former ministers in the Eisner period were job-hopping, retired, and resigned were resigned. Only he can continue to secure the position of CEO, which shows how good the relationship between the two parties is——Actually Even if the relationship between the two parties is not so harmonious, Robert still has a lot of worries about moving such a veteran. Among the factions within Disney, apart from those shareholders who only consider investment, the Walt Disney family, which holds a lot of shares, is a power , Robert was designated as an important supporter of the CEO, and Walt Disney's nephew, Roy Disney, the board member who directly caused Michael Eisner to step down, and Dick have been friends for many years, want to sacrifice Dick to appease Jennifer, Robert had to ask Roy for his opinion first.

It is also because of this that Dick appears to be so stable. As for his attitude, there is no need to mention it-Disney's sudden offer to "The Hunger Games" and Dameng's overreaction have actually explained everything. For Robert, after a little understanding of the cause and effect, the attitudes of the various parties are as clear as an open book: this department does not really want to compete with Dameng for the copyright of a book, even Disney needs a blockbuster. Ya adapted the series, Dick wouldn't do such a thing to a brother company of a group just because of this. It’s like Dameng’s making a statement by hooking up with each other. The department’s approach itself is a statement—Dick is very dissatisfied with the support, help and support that the group has given to Dameng over the years. He needs Robert to come Declare personally who is the boss and who is the leader.

Maybe at the beginning, Dick’s demands were only these, but after Dameng’s fierce counterattack and subsequent arrogant statement, the conflict further escalated, and now Dick has to ask Jennifer to leave office even if he doesn’t ask for it ——Even if the two sides reluctantly reconcile and Jennifer doesn't leave, how can the two companies continue to cooperate? Even though the preparatory meetings for "oz" are still going on one after another, how could Robert be deceived by this kind of news? It's just that neither of the two sides wants to tear their faces apart first, and they don't want to alarm the outside world. If they really don't even shoot "oz", then the news reports can't be stopped at the current scale. Dameng is about to break up with Disney. As soon as the news comes out, God knows what kind of sensation the media will make, and how Disney's stock price will fall...

On the one hand, he is a veteran who has been working together for many years and has a good relationship. On the other hand, he has a terrifying aura, but it is always a bit unclear and dubious. Robert doesn’t want to give up on any of them. Let him get into trouble, and in this matter, he himself is very annoyed-both Dick and Jennifer are too arrogant, Dick suddenly provokes, and that slap is equivalent to hitting him in the face, making him The favorability of this CEO has dropped a lot, and Jennifer's response has not made people happy. This girl who is soaring at rocket speed is indeed a bit young and reckless, somewhat like a nouveau riche: deal with this conflict , is there no other way? So what if the department gets the copyright of "The Hunger Games"? Could it be that under Dameng's protest, he has no authority to transfer it to Dameng for production?

Rubbing his face again, Robert felt that his intelligence and energy had reached a bottleneck. The personnel conflicts that had unfolded this month made him feel seriously powerless: there must be a way to get the best of both worlds and comfort the two at the same time. Or he strongly hopes that he can come up with a way to avoid the choice, because no matter how he chooses, the price will be extremely expensive-kicking Jennifer, this idea has a serious sense of absurdity just thinking about it, he believes that if he really Do that, and your competitors are sure to pop champagne that night.

And kick Dick? ——No, kicking Dick is far from being as simple as it seems...

Dream itself is a rising star company. Its mainstream ambitions can be seen at a glance, and it is difficult to contain it. Even without Dick's rebound, the conflict between the two companies is inevitable. In conflicts at different levels, if Robert makes a decision to lean towards the big dream, it will be a guide for the hearts and morale of the headquarters, and even the perception of the outside world, making people form the impression that the group is leaning towards the big dream. The consequences of this are really unpredictable, and can even determine the company's trend in the next period of time-after all, Disney Pictures is the foundation of Disney's start-up, with a long history, carrying the company's intangible assets, no matter what How many film and television companies has Disney acquired, and its position in the group cannot be higher than that of Disney Pictures? Pixar makes animations with peace of mind, Marvel develops its own resources with peace of mind, and makes manga changes. Don’t think about dividing up the cakes of Disney Pictures. Emotionally, many members of the board simply couldn't take it. Not to mention that Big Dream not only has a short history, but this company is not completely owned by Disney, and nearly half of it is in the hands of two individual shareholders. In terms of blood, it is not considered a direct descendant of Disney...

For Robert, the meaning of this question is tantamount to 'to be or not to be'. When it came time, I had to make a choice, but as time went by, Universal and Dameng began to flirt with each other. Warner sent people to contact Dameng like crazy, and Rupert Murdoch praised Jennifer...but he He hasn't made up his mind yet - how should he make up his mind?

Rubbing his head and walking out of the study, Robert felt the vibrating sound of the phone in his pocket, so he took out the phone, "hello? Uh-ok-ok, I see..."

"Whose call is it?" Willow raised his head from the sofa to look at her husband, and said with a smile, "Why do you have such a strange expression?"

"It's about work," Robert said briefly after hanging up the phone, but then he couldn't help laughing bitterly, and he solved the mystery himself, "Forget it, there's no point in keeping it secret—it's me Hired commercial detective, he just called me... Cesare and Sony's Michael Linton came out of a restaurant in Malibu just now, and they looked very happy..."

Don't want to continue entangled in this topic, before his wife could speak, Robert changed the subject, "There should be a delivery this morning, have you received it? It should be a CD."

"Yes," Willow Bay understandably did not continue to ask, she stood up and took out the disc, handed it to Robert, and asked curiously, "Is this a trial disc of some movie? Are you sure?" It seems to care?"

"Well, it's the only film that Dameng sent to Cannes this year," Robert nodded, ""Slumdog Millionaire", the cooperation between Dameng and Warner, should be for this, but take After getting it, they refrigerated it for half a year before processing it, and recently re-edited it, and officially started the pre-promotion. I asked them to give me a copy of the exhibited version that was sent to Cannes. We will watch it during the movie time in the afternoon. ..."