Chapter 260 The Plotted Dream Factory

"Forehead..."

Shion's tearful look made Nanaya feel guilty.

So he could only turn his face away so as not to see Shion's expression.

Regarding the schedule issue, actually part of it is Nanaya's fault.

When choosing the release date, Nanaya focused on the movies that he had an impression of.

After choosing to avoid the only noteworthy "Batman Begins", Seven Nights naturally set the release date of the movie on July 1st.

Anyway, the only movie worth watching in North America in early July is "Fantastic Four", and Nanaya, who already knows the quality of the movie, has nothing to fear.

So the problem arises. By only focusing on the movies in July, Nanaya subconsciously ignores the movies at the end of June.

"War of the Worlds" is such a movie that was ignored by Nanaya.

In terms of the quality of the film itself, "War of the Worlds" can only be described as average, and is mediocre among the works of Spielberg and Cruise.

It's not bad, but it's definitely not outstanding either.

The fact that even Nanaya, a time traveler, could ignore it shows the status of this movie in commercial films.

However, in the first half of 2005, almost everyone regards this movie as the second seed of the summer season besides "Star Wars".

It's no wonder outsiders think so.

As a commercial film, "War of the Worlds" has the premise that all movies will sell well, with big stars, big directors and big productions, and the story of aliens invading the earth is everyone's favorite science fiction theme.

However, reality is often cruel.

Judging from the box office, "War of the Worlds"'s North American box office of $218 million and global box office of $528 million are indeed not a failure.

But it was far from a success.

You have to know that the production cost of this movie is 120 million US dollars, and the profit-sharing agreement signed between DreamWorks and the distributor Paramount is particularly harsh.

Therefore, "War of the Worlds" is definitely a huge loss for the producer DreamWorks.

Coupled with the disastrous failure of another DreamWorks movie "Escape from the Island" during the summer season, it was inevitable that DreamWorks would be sold to Paramount at the end of this year.

However, no matter how miserable Spielberg is, it has nothing to do with Nanaya. For him, the more miserable "War of the Worlds" is, the better. Only in this way can his fate come to fruition.

[Is there anything I can use it for? ]

Nanaya suddenly thought of something, and he said to Iioka, "Iioka, do you have a promotion plan for "World War"?"

"I don't have it on hand, but the distribution department has it. If you need it, I can sort it out immediately."

"That's troublesome. Oh, and I want the one from The Island, too."

When Iioka walked to the door, Nanaya added another sentence.

"Do you think there is a place to start?" Shion asked.

"I've heard a little bit of rumors, but we won't know the details until Iioka brings up the materials."

Seeing Shion's anxious look, Nanaya couldn't help but hold her hands.

In the face of Shion's surprised expression, Nanaya comforted her softly:

"Relax, it's going to be okay. Even if we can't do anything with War of the Worlds, you have to have faith in my movie."

"No thanks."

Shion pulled her hand away coldly, "You should just say this kind of love talk to Rin directly. This way, you can coax these girls into bed without them even realizing it."

"That's not what I meant."

Nanaya hurried to explain.

"Don't say you haven't thought about it." Shion teased.

Seeing Shion's mocking expression, Nanaya subconsciously retorted: "Have you ever thought about it yourself?"

"You're itching, aren't you?!"

Nanaya originally thought that Shion would answer him in a teasing tone as usual.

However, Shion did not do so. She just blushed and stammered twice.

"I want you to hug me, but that's impossible..."

[Oh my god, are you shy? ]

Nanaya stared at his female boss with wide eyes in surprise.

The current Shion no longer has the demeanor of the strong woman known as the "Vixen of Washimine". Instead, she looks more like an adolescent high school girl.

Nanaya regretted flirting with his female boss and now he was in a dilemma.

"Boss, Director Kiryu, I brought the materials."

Iioka rushed into the office with a stack of documents, and his appearance broke the silence between Shion and Nanaya.

"Iioka, give the materials to Nanaya."

Shion hurriedly opened her folding fan and used it to cover her still slightly hot cheeks.

"Give it to me."

Nanaya hurriedly took the information. He just wanted to find something to do to distract himself.

Looking at the promotional materials about "War of the Worlds" and "Escape from the Island" that Iioka found, he then connected them with the "history" that happened in his previous life.

The relationship between DreamWorks, Paramount and Warner gradually became clear in Nanaya's mind.

"Maybe we really don't need to be too nervous." Nanaya said, "Paramount may not try her best."

Seeing Shion's confused expression, Nanaya hurriedly explained.

Spielberg's DreamWorks had been targeted by the Big Six for a long time and was jointly strangled.

In the past, DreamWorks was able to struggle thanks to Spielberg's strong directing skills.

But with the box office failure of last year's The Terminal, the shortcomings of Spielberg's films began to be exposed.

By now, DreamWorks had already been on the edge of the cliff. "War of the Worlds" and "Escape from the Island" were Spielberg's last struggles.

He invested everything he had in DreamWorks, hoping to make DreamWorks rise again with these two big movies, but the results showed that these were just the last struggle before the death of the salted fish.

Now that they have been defeated, the Big Six will not let DreamWorks stand up again.

This can be seen from the many problems in the promotion of "War of the Worlds" and "Escape from the Island".

For example, now that the summer vacation is approaching, the promotion of the two movies is still lukewarm.

"World War" is still okay, as Paramount still did some promotional work.

But "Escape from the Island" really illustrates what it means to be a child raised by a stepmother, and Warner's publicity just missed the point.

Obviously, it is a summer popcorn movie, but so far very few of its target audience have heard of it.

Paramount is promoting "World War", but compared to Washimine's bombardment on the Fate project, "World War" is more like a routine step-by-step process.

This unusual publicity made Nanaya smell a hint of conspiracy.

The other six major companies probably also saw Spielberg's desperate attempt and planned to destroy DreamWorks and swallow it up with these two films.

They have succeeded in the past, and this time should be no exception.

Ultimately, DreamWorks itself has a weak foundation, and more than half of the company's performance relies on Spielberg.

The last company to operate under this model was Tsuburaya, which is now a subsidiary of the Washimine Group.

Just like the Ultraman series to Tsuburaya.

As for DreamWorks, it was still okay when Spielberg's movies were popular.

If his movie fails, the entire DreamWorks will face a major crisis.

After entering the new millennium, this world-class director gradually declined.

The slow development of the story and the heavy humanistic atmosphere in the story were Spielberg's advantages as a director that made him successful in the last century.

But with the changing times, the audience's tastes are also changing, and Spielberg's old stuff is no longer popular.

His box office appeal is declining year by year, which is particularly evident in the North American market.

In fact, in Nanaya's memory, since "The Terminal", except for "War of the Worlds", Spielberg's other films have all been flops in North America.

Even "Ready Player One," which grossed over $500 million worldwide, only earned $136 million in North America.

"So you don't think The War of the Worlds is anything to be afraid of?"

"Yes." Nanaya nodded and said, "As long as our movie is better than "World War", the audience will stand on our side."

"War of the Worlds" has grand scenes and many stars, but its shortcomings are also very obvious.

After the crisis in the first half, the ending of the second half was too hasty, resulting in the problem of a poor finish.

What's more, "War of the Worlds" is based on a novel of the same name, but the novel was published in 1898!

The idea of an alien invasion was novel at the time, but by now in 2005 it has become a commonplace idea.

Especially the ending where the aliens die because of the infection of Earth's bacteria. From today's perspective, it is quite unconvincing.

In a nutshell, this is a typical Spielbergian movie, but precisely because of this, the movie will not please today's audiences.

Nanaya felt that the reason why "War of the Worlds" was able to earn more than 200 million US dollars at the box office in the previous life was probably because there was a lack of strong competitors in this period.

You really can't find a blockbuster that can compare to it.

Are you going to watch the terribly modified "Fantastic Four"?

Stop it.

"So, we don't need to scare ourselves." Nanaya said with a smile, "They are not our opponents. We just need to keep our own pace."

In fact, there is still an impact. Spielberg's name can still attract many people to watch movies, otherwise "War of the Worlds" would not have received nearly 65 million US dollars in the opening box office.

But with this opening data, the final box office was only 200 million US dollars, which also shows that the film's potential is limited.

"No, I can't believe it just by your own words."

Shion tapped the table with her folding fan.

"How about this, you and I will go to the movies together on June 28th!"

"Just me and you?"

Nanaya felt that this woman must have taken the wrong medicine. Two days before the movie premiere, instead of promoting it, why did you go and contribute to the box office for your enemy in person?

"Yes, just you and me."

Shion opened her folding fan to hide her evil smile.