"I'm sorry, Mr. Stone. ”

In the reception room of Emperor Entertainment Group Cinemas, Miller politely said to the project director from Warner Bros.: "I don't have the authority to expand the theater for your company's "Eyes Wide Opening", my boss has gone to the headquarters, let's wait for him to come back." ”

This is, of course, a prevarication, and the six major companies are the main source of films after all.

Stone smiled: "The Los Angeles branch has the heaviest weight in the Imperial Entertainment Theater Company, Mr. Miller is not only an expert in film selection, but also in charge of the theater business, and the expansion of the release of "Eyes Wide Open" is just a matter of your words. ”

Miller saw that he couldn't get rid of it, and said: "I really can't call the shots in this matter, and Emperor Entertainment doesn't have any spare theaters now." ”

"As far as I know, your company plans to pull 700 theaters out. Stone was quite well-informed: "It's always okay to give one-third to "Eyes Wide Opening", right?"

Speaking of which, Miller knew that Emperor Entertainment's actions could not be concealed from an established company like Warner Bros., so he simply said honestly: "These theaters already have a plan." ”

Stone frowned: "With a plan? for DreamWorks' upcoming "Ghost Invasion"? No, this film has as many as 2,800 theaters......" He seemed to think of the answer: "Could it be for that "Blair the Witch?"

Miller didn't deny it and nodded.

Stone immediately questioned: "It's too risky for your Imperial Entertainment company to expand the screening to 700 theaters, right? According to my understanding, the cost of that film is about $50,000 at most, and the cast is not well-known." ”

Miller didn't refute, but said: "The total investment in the publicity and distribution of "Blair the Witch" has reached 15 million US dollars! In terms of publicity alone, it is only a lot more than "Eyes Wide Opening". ”

Stone argued: "Eyes wide open is Stanley Kubrick's posthumous film! starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman!

"The average box office of your "Eyes Wide Opening" is only $9,000. Miller shook his head slowly: "And the average box office of "Blair the Witch" is as high as $59,000!"

Seeing that Stone still wanted to speak, Miller stopped him and said: "Your company knows better than us that the North American box office of "Eyes Wide Open" cannot exceed 100 million, and obscure content is difficult to attract audiences, if it weren't for Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, we would have scaled back theaters and filming this week. ”

Since the other party is from Warner Bros. and several large companies in Hollywood, Millerdo explained: ""Blair the Witch" is different from ordinary test screenings, with as many as 200 premiere theaters and a single box office of $59,000, and the market energy of this film is far from being released. ”

The cinema company is not a charity, and although it is involved in a lot with the six major companies, it cannot watch a film that can make a lot of money, but it is indifferent.

Stone talked for a while, but seeing that there was no result, he had to say goodbye and leave.

Miller sent him out, Imperial Entertainment actually took good care of Warner Bros., and the theaters and film schedules of "Eyes Wide Open" this week will basically not decline.

As for Blair the Witch......

Sighing and shaking his head again, Miller picked up the relevant statistics on his desk, this film was really unexpected.

Unexpectedly, it really turned social heat and discussion into actual market revenue.

After so many years of experience in the industry, I still have to look away, but fortunately, I am also a little prepared, and it is not difficult for Emperor Entertainment to expand the screening.

Judging from the current situation, this crazy propaganda and marketing has succeeded.

How could Embassy Pictures come up with such a plan? García Rodriguez has known this man for a long time, this man has the ability, but such a crazy plan is not his style.

Miller suddenly remembered one thing, Embassy Pictures was bought some time ago, and the buyer seemed to be a young producer named Ronan Anderson.

Could it be Ronan Anderson's handiwork?

Miller remembered the name Ronan Anderson, and planned to write a report to the head office after some investigation, and the theater selection also depends on the producer.

Suddenly, the phone rang, and Miller answered and said a few words, realizing that the caller was AMG's Brown.

The conversation between the two has always revolved around "Blair the Witch".

"A crazy, brainy, successful marketing campaign, the person who made the plan would change the pitch in Hollywood. ”

Miller couldn't agree more with what Brown said: "It's all the more rare that this man is clever and hides behind the scenes, avoids possible risks, is not only crazy, but also cautious." ”

Miller asked, "How many theaters did AMG come up with to support the expanded screening of 'Blair the Witch'?"

"It's not more than 700. Brown didn't have to hide it, and said on the phone: "This film can bring us a huge amount of traffic. ”

There is a box office when there is foot traffic.

More crucially, there is foot traffic, and high-margin items like Coke and popcorn will be sold.

Miller calculated, and with the resources invested by other companies, "Blair the Witch" would have at least 2,000 theaters by the time the new weekend arrived.

But if you think about it, it's normal for a film with a total investment of more than $15 million to enjoy such treatment.

This publicity and marketing plan is very special and effective, but it is also thrown out of money.

Hopefully, this film will not disappoint after the expanded screening.

Different from the former Artisan Pictures, Embassy Pictures, under the supervision of Ronan, formulated a perfect plan and filing early, and there were three different filings in the work plan after the first week of release alone, and now the implementation is the most idealistic one.

Garcia's communication with the commercial cinema chain company is very smooth, the theater is affiliated with the commercial company, of course, it will not miss the big fat delivered to the mouth in vain, at the beginning of the new week, the embassy pictures determined the number of theaters for the next weekend of "Blair the Witch".

The film will have 2,750 theaters when it is expanded!

Ronan immediately made the decision to make an additional investment and print 500 copies.

For the promotional release of "Blair the Witch," Embassy Pictures has borrowed $17 million from Relativity Entertainment.

Of those, $10 million came from bank loans, and the other $7 million was previously raised by Ronan through various sources.

Of course, this money has not been fully spent, and the cost of publicity and marketing is being invested one after another.

Now that the topic of "Blair the Witch" is hot enough, there is no longer a need for large publicity expenses.

Ronan expects the actual total investment in the film to be more than $18 million.

It is said that it is a miracle of a small-budget film, only after the actual operation, the so-called small-cost is just the production cost of the film, and the total investment is still scary.

But the revenue is already predictable, and several forecasters, based on social repercussions and the first-week box office, have all determined that the North American box office of the film will not be less than $80 million.

There is also an overseas box office.

Waiting for the film to be released, plus videotapes, TV broadcasts, etc., the most conservative estimates are that "Blair the Witch" can also generate $100 million in revenue.

Fortunately, as soon as he had the ability and opportunity, he took the lead in getting the distribution company, otherwise he could only hold back even if he had an idea.

If you don't have a distribution company, if you want to play these tricks, you can only end up being a worker of other distribution companies.

No one is a fool, the cost of tens of thousands of dollars and the investment of more than 10 million dollars......

The distribution channel is much more important to future plans than anything else.

The further the distribution channel goes, the more difficult it is to acquire, and I vaguely remember that in the previous life, Lionsgate acquired the average scale of Artisan Pictures, that is, Artison Entertainment, and spent a total of $450 million to expand the distribution channel and film library.

Artisan Pictures is not too conspicuous among medium-sized Hollywood companies.

There is also Relativity Entertainment, which was established after 2000 in the previous life, brandishing banknotes from Wall Street in his hand to enter Hollywood, repeatedly preparing for the setback of distribution channels, and trying to buy a distribution company with money can not find an opportunity, and finally had to spend nearly 200 million US dollars after 2010 to get 45% of the channel dominance of an inconspicuous distribution company, Overture Pictures, which can be regarded as having the ability to distribute.

The $200 million does not include the film library, which is only less than half of the distribution channels, or rental.

Now that there is a chance to win a relatively well-established distribution company, Ronan feels that he has been favored by Lady Luck.

There has been controversy about "Blair the Witch" on the Internet and in the media, and it is impossible for this video to hide from everyone, but Ronan has not paid much attention to it, and no one has led public opinion, and controversy is the best way to promote the film as it is about to expand its screening.

This weekend, "Blair the Witch" will have a competitor to the same genre, and DreamWorks' horror film "Ghost Invasion" will open in more than 2,800 theaters.

And the film concentrates stars such as Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, etc.

Another weekend, there is also "Runaway Bride" starring Julia Roberts, the real Julia Roberts is not happy to be a runaway bride, and she has to perform another play on the big screen.

Then it's August, and the traditional summer season is strictly over, and the North American film market will also enter a relatively off-season.

Ronan doesn't plan to pay attention to these two films, if the market response of "Blair the Witch" is not good, he may find a way to rub off on Julia Roberts's popularity, but with the current situation of "Blair the Witch", it is estimated that other films will take the initiative to take advantage of the popularity.

On Monday, "Blair the Witch" continued to show in 200 theaters, still maintaining an output of more than $10,000 a single day and earning $2.6 million.

On Tuesday, it rebounded above $3 million.

This film has become a sensational social topic, and in the style of Hollywood, people who have taken the initiative to get hot will come up.