I’m in Hollywood Chapter 904: Future situation

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Early on Saturday morning, Michael · Eisner drove to the Burbank Universal cinema.

After more than three months of preparations, the "Titanic" theme exhibition hall in Firefly Studios officially opened today.

Although Firefly Group executives in some interviews have repeatedly stated that this is just a test of the theme park project by Firefly Studios, it is even more like an image project of the company. But Universal did not dare to take it lightly.

The Universal cinema park operated by the Universal Pictures Group did not have too strong a competitive relationship with the Disneyland that is now part of the Firefly. One of the two parties is mainly for adult tourists, and the other is a children's dream park.

But now, the opening of the "Titanic" theme exhibition hall indicates that Firefly Group officially began to develop a theme park project for adult tourists over 18 years of age.

Although Universal Studios has a deep heritage over 30 years, in terms of the operation of the theme park, it is clear that Disney is included as its own Firefly Group and it is not lost to Universal. What's more, a large number of popular movies continuously developed by Firefly in recent years will also provide a rich theme for its development of the Studio City Project. In this regard, Universal Pictures is completely incomparable to the other party.

According to the information I found in advance, as early as a week ago, the limited 20,000 tickets for the opening day of the "Titanic" theme exhibition hall were sold out, and the tickets for the following week were basically sold out.

Obviously, this project has already shown its hot signs before the opening.

Although "Titanic" is gradually released within the scope of global, the popularity of this film will gradually cool down. A few months later, if you only rely on the "Titanic" theme exhibition hall, Firefly Studios can have two or three thousand tourists per day, which is good. However, as long as the Firefly Group executives are not stupid, they will definitely take advantage of the success of the "Titanic" theme exhibition to expand other movie-themed projects to maintain the popularity of Firefly cinemas. By then, Firefly cinemas will gradually develop into direct Capture competitors from Universal Studios.

Michael · Eisner walked around the park with the group Vice Chairman, which is responsible for the operation of the theme park, and asked about the booking status of the next few days. The park will officially open at 8:30, looking at the influx of cinemas Tourists, he just relaxed a little bit. But then the theme park management convened a temporary meeting to develop a new project in the studio and compete with the Firefly studio.

So until noon, the CEO of the parent company Seagram, Edgar · Bronfman called, and it was convenient for him to directly arrange lunch at a restaurant in the studio.

Edgar · Bronfman came over half an hour later and enthusiastically embraced the greeted Michael · Eisner, and they walked into a restaurant in the cinema together.

Also talking about the opening of the "Titanic" exhibition hall, Edgar · Bronfman turned the topic to the movie: "So, how about the first day of" Air Force One "Box Office, I have been busy this morning Other things, have not seen the data report? "

Air Force One is the main film of Universal Pictures this summer, starring Harrison · Ford. This project originally belonged to Sony Film Industry. It was only Sony that put all the resources on Godzilla, and Universal took the opportunity to grab it.

For this film, Michael · Eisner is both excited and somewhat worried, because he almost released the film Independence Day with "Bad Boys2" and "Ice Age" that day. In that case, in the face of "Casino Royale" which has just been released for a week, "Air Force One" is likely to be crushed by "Casino Royale" like "Bad Boys2".

"The first day is close to 12 million, and should be able to reach 55 million USD or more in the first week," Michael · Eisner said, adding with a smile: "There will be no more popular movies in the next few weeks, according to Air Force One "Word of mouth, this movie should come out of a long line, North America should at least get 150 million USD Box Office."

Edgar · Bronfman also nodded in satisfaction. The production cost of Air Force One is 85 million USD. If North America can get 150 million, the production cost is almost recovered. The film is also enough to make a profit on Box Office.

However, instead of seeing on newspaper yesterday, the third week of "Casino Royale" was released, Box Office was still as high as 5more than 2 million USD, and the newly-satisfied satisfaction of Edgar · Bronfman suddenly disappeared. Although I just arrived at Los Angeles from Canada yesterday, Edgar · Bronfman is very clear about what happened in the last week Metro Goldwyn Mayer Film Industry.

Thinking of the fact that Eric Williams did not personally walk to the stage to show the powerful influence of turning over the cloud in the whole incident, Edgar · Bronfman was full of envy in his heart, which was actually his determination The reason for coming to Los Angeles.

Noticing the change in the expression of Edgar · Bronfman, Michael · Eisner immediately realized his thoughts, and the original good mood suddenly fell a lot.

There is really nothing to be thanked for.

Perhaps, compared to the situation of Sony and Warner this year, the situation of Universal is definitely much better, but Michael · Eisner has never been the kind of person who likes to compare with the guy who is not as good as himself.

As a very orthodox American theme film, even if Air Force One can succeed in North America, overseas Box Office will not be too good. Even if you can get 300 million in global, it is not as good as North America Box Office of "Casino Royale", let alone compared with global Box Office of "Casino Royale".

Think again about "Casino Royale", just three weeks after its release, the movie's North America Box Office has reached 200 million 47 million USD.

At the same time, the overseas Box Office performance of the film is even stronger. In the first week, 36 countries started painting simultaneously, and "Casino Royale" won 1.3.6 billion USD overseas Box Office in one fell swoop. With the gradual increase of the release of the ticket warehouse, the overseas Box Office fell only 27% in the next week, and then received 99.28 million USD. The overseas Box Office in the last week has also reached 68500,000 USD.

In three weeks, "Casino Royale" has been screaming 3.0300 million USD in overseas markets. It is expected that the first phase of overseas synchronization with North America will be released. The overseas Box Office of "Casino Royale" can easily reach more than 450 million USD.

Although it has been roughly synchronized in many ticket warehouses, there are also many countries overseas, and for various considerations such as protecting their own movie market, "Casino Royale" has been deliberately ranked after the summer file.

That is to say, "Casino Royale" will start the second stage of large-scale release after September. When the time comes, "Casino Royale" will get two more successively. 300 million USD Overseas Box Office is not a problem. This means that before the end of the year, "Casino Royale" is destined to break through the global 1 billion USD Box Office mark and become a movie in which second part global Box Office breaks through 1 billion USD in the career of Eric Williams.

1billion USD.

Compared to Air Force One, it ’s not worth mentioning at all.

Take the soda from the waiter and take a sip. Michael · Eisner abandons these frustrating thoughts and says to Edgar · Bronfman: "Ed, you still remember the" Scorpion King "we are working on. Well, that special effects movie derived from the "The Mummy" series? "

"Of course," Edgar · Bronfman nodded and said, "Why, what's wrong?"

"No," Michael · Eisner shook his head and said: "I have been thinking about this issue in recent weeks. Since Metro Goldwyn Mayer can make an agent movie universe, maybe we can also make an The Mummy universe around Egyptian mythology? "

Edgar · Bronfman paused and nodded immediately, said: "This is a good idea, why not. By the way, do you have a detailed plan now?"

"I haven't figured it out yet, but, um, it's almost the same."

Speaking of this, Michael · Eisner responded somewhat vaguely.

Actually, the plan in his heart is relatively mature, but it is not so simple to implement.

The main problem is still a few starring actors.

The success of two consecutive "The Mummy" series, all the leading roles of the film require a substantial increase in film remuneration, the main two male & female leads are completely negotiated, and at the same time reported the high price of 20 million USD plus profit sharing, Universal is definitely difficult Tolerated, therefore, the third part of the pay negotiation has been in a stalemate.

The "The Mummy" series is the only project in Universal that can bring stable and lucrative profits in recent years. Michael · Eisner believes that there is absolutely no Eric kind of courage with Pierce Brosnan. Therefore, this The matter has not been resolved until now. If several leading actors cannot get it done, the so-called The Mummy universe will certainly not be implemented smoothly.

Edgar · Bronfman did not realize the difficulties encountered by Michael · Eisner. The more it seemed, the more he felt that his plan was feasible, so he said: "In this way, I happen to stay in Los Angeles for a while. You can take time Discuss together. "

Michael · Eisner nodded and curiously said: "Are you going to stay in Los Angeles recently, is there anything important?

"Yeah, I just met with Doug Morris in the morning. Speaking of this, maybe you can also give me some advice on this matter."

Doug Morris is the CEO of Universal Records, Michael · Eisner is usually not less than the other party dealing with, asking: "About Record Company?"

"This is so ..."

Edgar · Bronfman was just about to speak. The waiter brought their lunch together. He paused a little and waited for the waiter to leave before continuing: "I plan to continue to increase the proportion of Seagram's media business Well, just recently, there was news from Europe that Philips intends to sell Poly Gold Records. I think this may be a good opportunity to further expand the Seagram record business. "

The Michael, Eisner, who had already picked up the cutlery to eat, listened to Edgar, Bronfman, frowned slightly, and put down the cutlery again, seriously: "Ed, I do n’t think this is a good idea. You must know Firefly Is that Fireflyer player right now? Everyone is discussing that online digital music may seriously impact the physical record. If this trend becomes true, buying Polygram now is equivalent to taking over a big burden from the top. "

"I don't think so," Edgar · Bronfman shook his head and laughed: "Michael, I should be more aware of this than you. Over the past few decades, from vinyl records to cassettes Players, and the CD records that appeared in previous years. Although some people said that the new playback carrier may affect record sales, in fact, this situation has never happened, and the record industry as a whole is thriving. The reason why there are so many rumors this time is actually very simple, but Japan electronics manufacturers worry that Fireflyer players will affect their market position in the field of traditional portable players, so they will make so many alarmist speeches. "

Michael · Eisner doesn't know much about the recording industry. After listening to Edgar · Bronfman, he realized that he had already made up his mind. He didn't plan to persuade anymore. After thinking about it, he still said: "I think If Polycom wants to find a buyer, Firefly Group should be more suitable. They want to promote the Fireflyer player. copyright is definitely not enough without music. So Ed, maybe you can wait again, if Firefly Group is for this If you are not enthusiastic about it, Seagram is better to be cautious. "

"Speaking of this," Edgar · Bronfman looked around deliberately, and lowered his voice intently, saying: "I happened to hear some news, Williams last time went to United Kingdom, I have already contacted PolyGram By the way, although there has n’t been any news about it yet, you should also know that if there is any news in the media, then Firefly must have been talking to Philips, and there will be no chance for us to shoot. "

Michael · Eisner froze for a moment, and asked carefully: "Ed, where did you get the news from, did you not fear that this was specifically revealed to you by Polygram?"

"Haha, rest assured, this is something I can easily find out. The source must have nothing to do with PolyGram. What I have to do now is to reach an agreement with Philips before Firefly is officially released." Edgar · Bronfman After talking, he smiled proudly.

Michael · Eisner smiled sympathetically and asked again: "So, how much does it cost to buy PolyGold?"

"About 10billion USD," Edgar · Bronfman said: "I plan to sell the rest of the company ’s beverage business. By the way, you must also cooperate with it. Then Seagram will issue bonds of about 5billion USD, which is roughly Is enough. "

The total size of Seagram Group is about 30billion USD. Due to the continuous expansion in recent years, the media industry including Universal Pictures and Universal records has accounted for more than 70% of the total market value of Seagram. If you buy Polaroid, Seagram will probably be completely transformed into a media group.

It ’s just that Michael · Eisner suddenly realized that after buying Polygram, half of the entire Seagram group ’s industry will be the recording business, and now it will issue 5billion USD bonds to further increase the debt ratio of the Seagram group. The industry is really declining with the rise of digital music as analyzed by the media, and the situation that the Seagram Group will face in the future will be very bad. (To be continued.)