Chapter 313

In recent years, the sales of peripherals, especially video tapes and DVDs, have accounted for an increasing proportion of the revenue of a movie, and major Hollywood companies have also made changes, the most obvious of which is the cancellation Instead of selling the copyrights of films and video tapes for several years in the past, it has expanded or established its own disc and video tape distribution department to maximize profits.

Warner Bros. originally had such a department, but now it has been expanded into a subsidiary company that specializes in distributing DVDs and video tapes of Warner Bros. and its partners' films. Relying on Time Warner's broad platform, the subsidiary's press and distribution capabilities It's not a problem.

On August 13, 1998, the North American box office of "The Matrix" stayed at US$327.58 million, successfully breaking the US$325.79 million North American r-rated film box office record held by "Saving Private Ryan".

On the day the film was released in North America, DVDs and video tapes were officially released in North America. Although the sales were not as amazing as "Titanic", they were enough to make other companies envy.

In the first four days, the sales of "The Matrix" video tapes were 23.54 million U.S. dollars, ordinary DVD sales were as high as 28.02 million U.S. dollars, and ultra-luxury souvenir DVDs worth 199 U.S. dollars also sold 580,000 copies. The three together created 6～∴ , $3.1 million in revenue!

At the same time, the talks between Duke Studios and nbc television station came to an end. The latter took away the North American television broadcast rights of the film for the next three years for a total price of 20 million US dollars.

A movie that is extremely popular at the box office and its surroundings is extremely popular, and the revenue it can create is amazing.

Warner Bros. and Duke Studios are the biggest winners this summer. Compared with The Matrix, Godzilla, which was released at the same time, is still struggling in theaters, striving to push the North American box office of more than 95 million US dollars to 100 million. The dollar mark.

Walt Disney's "Peerless Tribulation" is better, currently the North American box office is close to 150 million US dollars. Counting overseas and later income and profitability is not a problem. Michael Bay, the director known as a "little blaster" by the North American media, is approaching the way he once was.

Only when it comes to peripheral income, the two films plus the "Clash of Heaven and Earth", which has been downgrade long ago, are multiplied by five, and it is difficult to compete with "The Matrix."

"The Matrix" is so hot, a lively celebration party is essential.

Warner Bros. spent a lot of money on the video tapes and DVDs of the film for a full week. Duke rented a private club in Malibu to host celebration parties. Duke, who had already rushed to work in New Zealand, also returned to North America.

Since it was a celebration party, Duke was naturally the focus of being surrounded and complimented by everyone. After a long socializing, he just hid in the corner and wanted to be quiet. Warner Bros' ceo Jeff Robinoff sat down with him. Opposite.

"Duke."

Jeff Robinoff knew his character well, so he went straight to the subject. "Have you thought about incorporating the Duke's studio into Warner Bros.?"

Duke thought for a while and asked, "Jeff, is this your personal opinion?"

"No, no..." Jeff Robinoff shook his finger, "I represent the opinion of the entire Time Warner."

Duke is musing.

Jeff Robinoff said again, "It's still a way of swapping shares. Warner Bros. exchanges shares of the same value for your shares in the Duke Studio."

"That is, Warner wants to hold 100% of the Duke's studio?"

Hearing Duke's question, Jeff Robinoff nodded immediately. "It's true."

Hugging his chest with one hand and supporting his chin with the other, Duke thought for a while and understood Warner's intentions. In fact, it is not complicated. It is related to the "Matrix", "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and the "Harry Potter" series. .

"The Matrix" revenue horror. And it is clearly a series.

Although the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy is known as the most difficult magical masterpiece to shoot, his continuous success obviously gave Warner enough confidence.

The "Harry Potter" series has been vigorously promoted by the Harry Potter Studios, and there has been a trend of explosion.

Warner obviously wanted to take all the copyrights of these three series into his bag, and for this reason he did not hesitate to give him more shares of Warner Bros.

Should Warner's opinions be considered? Duke must think carefully. He has neither the idea nor the ability to make the Duke's studio bigger in exchange for the shares of Warner Bros. who can also enjoy the bonuses of these series. It is not a bad thing, and even in his opinion, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

But the problem is that there is only one release of "The Matrix", and both "The Lord of the Rings" and "Harry Potter" are only in the preparation stage. Warner cannot pay enough for this, and the timing is simply wrong.

"Jeff..." Duke smiled, "Always give me some time to think about it."

"Of course!" Jeff Robinoff said solemnly, "No matter what, Warner will respect your ideas."

After Jeff Robinoff left, Duke considered for a while and decided to postpone the matter temporarily and wait for the right time to deal with it.

A tall figure flashed past him, sat opposite, and handed a glass of champagne over.

Charlize Theron gathered her long hair and said, "I am here to thank you."

Duke touched her wine glass, "You look more beautiful and confident."

"You brought this to me." Charlize Theron drank it after Duke drank the champagne. "Without you, there would be no Charlize Theron now."

"How does it feel to be a big hit?" Duke asked with a smile.

"Excellent!"

Putting down the glass, Charlize beckoned the waiter to bring two glasses of champagne, "I have never felt so good."

"Everywhere I pass in North America, there are countless men and women crazy for me." She moved closer, "Even in the Far East, the voice of shouting and screaming for me did not decrease."

In Duke's "The Matrix", although the actor Neo's role is guaranteed first so that the film will not be out of balance, Trinity's space is much larger than before, especially in combination with Charlize. ? The gunfighting and fights designed for the characteristics of Theron's figure are definitely eye-catching weapons.

One of the many changes brought about by The Matrix is ​​that Charlize Theron is as popular as Keanu Reeves.

For some people at Warner Bros., Duke's return from New Zealand is a good opportunity for face-to-face exchange of cooperation projects, and Doug Walter quickly found it.

"Duke, how long does your new project plan to complete?" he asked.

"From September, two months of preparation, two months of shooting, two months of post-production and publicity." Duke thought for a while and said, "It will definitely be completed before next year's Oscars."

"Summer vacation?" Doug Walter asked again.

Duke resisted the urge to roll his eyes and said, "Please, Doug, this is just a small investment film, and it will be completely overwhelmed in the competitive summer."

"I think your small production can compete with other directors' big productions."

Doug Walter turned to look at Charlize Theron, "Is that so, Miss Theron?"

"I think what Mr. Walter said is very reasonable!" Charlize said seriously, "Who dares to underestimate you now?"

"Hardcore fans of the Lord of the Rings..." Duke opened his hands and said, "After the news spread, many die-hard fans of the Lord of the Rings objected to me putting this series on the big screen, thinking that I would destroy their magical classics. ."

Doug Walter shook his head, "In every era, there are old-fashioned people. They never understand that only looking forward can succeed."

"Have you never heard of it?" Duke smiled helplessly. "Some **** fans of the Lord of the Rings are going to form a group to New Zealand to protest against me."

"They can't change your continued success!"

Doug Walter had just finished saying this. Someone came over and whispered a few words in his ear. He nodded to Duke, "There is something to be dealt with. I'm leaving for now."

The surroundings were a little quieter, and Charlize Theron and Duke continued to talk while drinking.

"The Matrix just rolled off North America." She asked curiously, "Are you preparing for a new work again?"

"It's just a small production to practice." Duke said casually.

Since he went to New Zealand in mid-August, he has been convening people to make preparations. The Warner Bros. review was passed at the end of last month. The initial $8 million in funding and the corresponding financial supervisor and production manager were also Get in place quickly.

This time I came back, not only to participate in the celebration party, but also to sign a director contract with Warner Bros. producers. For such a small production, Duke only took a symbolic $500,000 as compensation in order to reduce the crew's performance in all aspects. Upfront expenses.

Of course, a stepped sharing agreement determined by the film's revenue figures is also indispensable. The maximum share is the same as "The Matrix", which can reach 20% of the film's global box office and percentage of peripheral revenue. fifteen.

However, whether the new project will succeed in the end, even if Duke has certain confidence in himself, he dare not make any guarantees.

At this stage, he holds some stocks in Apple, Yahoo, and Microsoft, and is also a major shareholder of Victoria's Secret and Warner Bros. He has billions of dollars in net worth, and the combined global box office of the six completed works is close to US$3 billion. Not to mention the failure of a small production, even if it is a production with an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars, it will not seriously affect his status in Hollywood.

Besides, in order to ensure that the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy is as successful as possible, it is an indispensable choice to practice with such a small multi-line narrative production.

At the end of the party, Duke and Charlize Theron didn't have any communication, they got in the same car tacitly and drove to the west of Burbank.

"Have you heard, Duke?" Charlize said, "Sony Columbia Pictures plans to cancel the sequel to "Godzilla" and temporarily seal the series." (To be continued...)