Because the production budget of "The Departed" is as high as 90 million US dollars, such a high investment determines that it is different from the usual Oscar-winning films.

There is no small-scale screening temptation, and there is no audience that can be controlled, with the full promotion of Embassy Pictures, "The Departed" is like a commercial blockbuster in the holiday file, directly with the scale of nearly 3,500 theaters, large-scale release in North America.

The huge publicity release, Tom Cruise Garwell Smith's double male lead combination, is a guarantee of the box office.

In this era, Tom Cruise is a little better, and Will Smith's appeal is very exaggerated, but as long as the films he starred in, as long as the basic quality is guaranteed, there is no bad box office.

At this time, Shi Huang is really an emperor-like existence for the film market.

Of course, whoever it is, at any given time, can't underestimate Tom Cruise's influence.

Although the R-rated rating of "The Departed" is unfavorable, even if the audience of the gangster theme is a little small now, "The Departed" still broke out with extraordinary market appeal after its release.

In its first weekend in North America, the film earned $38.88 million.

Compared to a lineup produced by Ronan Anderson, directed by Martin Scorsese, and starring Tom Cruise and Will Smith, the $38.88 million first-week box office is not much.

This is more due to the limitations of the subject matter.

The box office of the first weekend of "The Departed" is already the best opening result since Martin Scorsese entered the film industry.

It also set a new record for Martin Scorsese.

Since its release, "The Departed" has received rave reviews, and all kinds of touting voices have been heard endlessly, and it has naturally become a hit in the awards season.

The Oscar public relations of Embassy Pictures are also proceeding step by step, and everything is based on stability.

Martin Scorsese's resume over the past decades is one of the film's biggest assets during the awards season and the Oscars.

If other directors have directed "The Departed", it is difficult to say what the final award result of the awards season will be.

But Martin Scorsese plus "The Departed" and the effect is definitely explosive.

The famous film critic Roger Albert said in his column: "The Departed" is a gangster movie of the highest level, and it is Martin Scorsese's best work since 1990's "Goodfellas".

This also represents the mainstream view of the North American media and commentators.

The freshness of "Departed" on Rotten Tomatoes is as high as 95%, the overall media score is 85 points, and the IMDB score has been hovering between 8.7 and 8.8 points in a short period of time.

Although by the second release weekend, the film's rating on IMDB gradually dropped to 8.6, but this is already comparable to Martin Scorsesese classics such as "Goodfellas", "Taxi Driver" and "Raging Bull".

Blessed by good word-of-mouth, "The Departed" was unusually stable at the box office, with the North American box office the next weekend down only 29 percent from the opening weekend, at $27.61 million.

Ten days after its release, "The Departed" earned $78.5 million in nearly 3,500 theaters in North America.

It is not difficult for this film to exceed 100 million at the North American box office, but if you want to recover your investment through the North American box office achievements, you must gain something at the Oscars.

The PR team at Embassy Pictures has taken action, and Martin Scorsese and the team of managers behind him have also started the PR work of the awards season in a low-key and pragmatic way.

With Martin Scorsese's network of contacts over the years, when the quality of the film is indeed guaranteed, there are still many people who are willing to vote for him.

"As it stands......"

In the small conference room at Embassy Pictures, García Rodriguez told Ronan, "Our main competitors are Plan B's 'Babel', DreamWorks' 'Letter from Iwo Jima', and Weinstein Pictures' 'The Queen'. ”

Thomas continued: "I remember that 'The Queen' was a project that we gave to Weinstein Pictures. ”

Publicity Director David Villa said: "In the current publicity and PR landscape at Weinstein Pictures, their main goal is not to be the best director and the best picture. ”

Ronan then said: "Harvey Weinstein has asked me to meet this afternoon, and I'll try it out. ”

García Rodriguez added: "Martin Scorsese and 'The Departed' have the highest chances of winning Best Director and Best Picture as long as we do our job well, and there are no strong contenders this year. ”

Everyone else agrees with García Rodriguez, and there is now a consensus between Hollywood and the media and entertainment that 2006 will be a veritable year for Hollywood.

David Villa, director of publicity, said: "The quality of the film is already available, the rest depends on the publicity and PR, Martin Scorsese himself has a very obvious advantage, if nothing else, most of the public opinion will be biased in his favor, if the nomination is disappointed again, the academy will face a lot of pressure." ”

"That's a subtle reminder to the academy that you should give me a trophy for Best Director. García Rodriguez has a trick to public relations: "without touching their bottom line." ”

David Villa nodded: "That's right, we have prepared tens of millions of dollars in publicity and public relations funds, but how to use this money is also very particular." ”

Ronan is no longer involved in specific front-line affairs, and said directly: "You plan well, I just want the result." ”

The executives at Embassy Pictures understood what this meant, and García Rodriguez even said: "Rest assured, the advantage is so obvious, we won't let any surprises happen." ”

From the beginning of their release, Martin Scorsese and "The Departed" have been the favorites of the awards season, and ten days after their release, they have become the number one favorites.

The big hit must die That's the World Cup, and the most common situation for the Oscars is that the first favorite pushes all the way to the awards season and then becomes the winner at the Oscars.

The reason why an upset is called an upset is because the probability of occurrence is very low.

An extremely important part of Embassy Pictures' public relations work is to prevent the emergence of unpopular people as much as possible.

After the meeting at Embassy Films, Ronan returned to his office, and after working on some paperwork, Connie quickly came in to report that Harvey Weinstein had arrived.

Ronan met Harvey Weinstein in the reception room, and after a few years of relative silence, the big fat man was now in high spirits again.

"I watched The Queen. Ronan said directly: "Very good film." ”

Harvey Weinstein can pose in front of the CEOs of the Big Six, but in front of Ronan, he has always put his posture very low, because he knows which people in Hollywood he really can't afford to mess with.

Moreover, Walt Disney is now in a mess, and he can see very clearly the reason for this.

Harvey Weinstein's fat face was full of smiles: "Ronan, Weinstein Pictures can return to the awards season with "The Queen", and thank you and Relativity Entertainment, if you didn't take the initiative, the project "Queen" would not have reached my hands." ”

Ronan will not look high because of Harvey Weinstein's low posture, but he is still as calm as ever, and said with a smile: "Harvey, we are friends, there is no need to say such kind words." At that time, we also helped each other, and it was ideal if the end result was a win-win situation. ”

Harvey Weinstein hurriedly said: "It's a win-win. He took the initiative to get to the point: "Ronan, the first goal of "Queen" in this awards season is Best Actress, which does not conflict with the goal of Relativity Entertainment. ”

Ronan said without hesitation: "I will mobilize the people around me and vote for "The Queen" for the best actress as much as possible." ”

Hearing this, Harvey Weinstein was reassured that although he was a veteran of Oscar public relations, if it really worked, he might not lose to Relativity Entertainment, but he was really scruples about the strength of Ronan and Relativity Entertainment.

The six major companies in Hollywood, the equity is too dispersed, it is impossible to rashly target a certain person or company, the six major companies hold the power, and they are all professional managers, and all aspects must be considered when making any decision.

But relativity entertainment is different, and many things are simply the embodiment of Ronan Anderson's personal will.

Such a company that is strong in itself and can make quick decisions is terrible once it becomes an enemy.

Harvey Weinstein doesn't want the newly established Weinstein Pictures to become the second Walt Disney, and with the strength of Weinstein Pictures, it is far less capable than Walt Disney.

Walt Disney was tossed by Ronan Anderson and was worse off than dead, and Weinstein Pictures was tossed a few times and died.

Harvey Weinstein immediately responded: "The best picture and best director tickets that Weinstein Pictures can influence are all for "The Departed." ”

Ronan smiled and said, "Xavi, hopefully we can continue to win this awards season. ”

"Absolutely. Harvey Weinstein swore by it: "I believe that. ”

At this time, he said: "Ronan, if the opportunity is right in the future, I hope that Weinstein Pictures can have more cooperation with Relativity Entertainment." ”

Ronan calculated the time, it was still early before Harvey Weinstein was finished, this guy was very good at independent small production, and immediately said, "No problem." If possible, the overseas distribution of Weinstein Pictures can be handed over to Embassy Pictures for the time being. ”

The newly formed Weinstein Pictures does not have overseas distribution capabilities for the time being, and Harvey Weinstein has also discussed this business with Ronan before, and the Weinstein brothers also need new overseas distributors after separating from Walt Disney and Miramax.

Harvey Weinstein said: "Yes, we can sign a distribution contract. What I mean is that the overseas distribution of "The Queen" will be handed over to Embassy Pictures. ”

In the past, overseas distribution in Miramax was done by Disney's Bowei International.

"Embassy Pictures will give Weinstein Pictures the most generous distribution contract in the industry," Ronan said. ”