"The hype of the marketing, the input of a large number of cover characters, the controversy caused by the film itself, and Mel Gibson's charisma combined to make for the film's extraordinary premiere this weekend. ”

Sitting in the café of the Regent Hotel in Beverly Hills, Hoddle from Derbizi Cinemas was full of chagrin that he had missed the box office feast of "The Passion of the Christ" because of his seemingly casual choice more than a month ago!

Although I know that the success rate of the films released by Embassy Pictures is scary, who would have thought that even a film with a theme like "The Passion of the Christ" would operate successfully.

Hoddle touched his nose, regret was certain, but it had come to this point, and he could only find a way to make up for it.

As for what the side that put pressure on him will think, it is not in the scope of consideration.

Anyway, I have already refused the first weekend, and I have an explanation, and it is nothing to be screened later, it is now the off-season for movies, and the theaters are deserted, even if they don't rely on box office profits, and there is no customer flow to sell products, they are just decorations, since "The Passion of the Christ" can attract a large number of audiences, why should it not get along with the revenue?

Hoddle looked carefully at the newspaper in his hand, and the headlines on the front page of the entertainment section were unusually eye-catching.

"The Passion of the Christ is the best in North America!"

Considering the heat sparked by the controversy, box office tops seem like the film deserves it.

Hoddle did not expect that "The Passion of the Christ" would be completely different from the outcome of Martin Scorsese's film of the same genre.

At that time, the controversy brought a box office hit, but now the controversy has led to a box office explosion in the opening weekend.

Why is that? Could it be that different times lead to different results?

The controversy turned out to be directly linked to the box office.

Despite protests from religious figures, Mel Gibson's new film The Passion of the Christ has not suffered at the box office, and on the contrary, the overwhelming coverage of the film in the US media for weeks has undoubtedly amounted to free advertising. After the opening weekend, "The Passion of the Christ" earned $86.21 million in North America, far behind the $39.82 million of the second place "50 First Loves", and topped the North American box office list. ”

Seeing the figure of $86.21 million, Hoddle was speechless, this is not an ordinary box office hit, but a box office super hit!

If memory serves, Embassy Pictures seems to have bought out the entire copyright of the film for $40 million, and the North American box office alone had $86.21 million in the opening weekend, can this deal be more cost-effective?

Ronan Anderson's vision is really good and amazing, but he was pressured by some people to think that it was nothing to abandon a film with this theme, and he turned out to be a fool.

Giving up "The Passion of the Christ" on the first weekend, Hoddle felt that Derbiczi Cinemas had lost a lot, but fortunately, it was a favor, and if those people wanted him to do something like abandoning Ronan Anderson's favorite film, he would spray them in the face!

If the movies that can bring a large number of visitors are not screened, do you want to show your broken films that hit the streets?

Hoddle continued to read the newspaper.

"The Passion of the Christ has set the best single-day box office record for February, the best opening weekend box office record and the best weekend box office record for a single film at the North American Film Market. After major Hollywood companies refused to release "The Passion of the Christ", Embassy Pictures exclusively bought out the film, and the current box office results are also a testament to the company's unique vision. ”

In this traditional off-season for movies, the theater has a hard time, and Hoddle knows this very well.

The release of "The Passion of the Christ" undoubtedly injected a shot in the arm for Hollywood's box office sales in February, allowing it to sweep away the bleak slump.

Hoddle knew exactly what to do next, put down the newspaper, drank the last bit of coffee, glanced at the time, and rushed straight to the office of Embassy Pictures in Burbank.

One is a distribution company and the other is a theatrical company, and despite the unpleasant quarrels between the two sides, Thomas still found time to meet with Hoddle.

Embassy Pictures is also in business, and profitability is the most important thing.

"Congratulations on the success of your company's The Passion of the Christ. As if nothing had happened, Hoddle congratulated: "Mr. Thomas, the precision and operational uniqueness of the selection of films by Embassy Pictures are admirable. ”

Thomas said lightly: "Thank you." ”

Hoddle put up a smile on his face: "The film is a big box office hit, the next step is to expand the scale of screening, right?"

Thomas, of course, knew why Hoddle appeared at Embassy Pictures, and said directly: "The relevant work is already being done." ”

Hearing that the other party did not mention the topic of Derbizi Cinemas joining the expansion of screenings, Hoddle had no choice but to take the initiative to say: "Derbizi and Embassy Pictures have been partners for many years, and we have always cooperated very happily in the past few years.

"Can be considered. Thomas said very seriously: "But it will take a while, after all, you rejected The Passion of the Christ last time, and we didn't prepare much copy of it." ”

It's all reasons and excuses, and Hoddle doesn't understand these truths, but the film market was cold in February, and it was hard to have such a hot film, and he refused it because of the pressure, which led to a crack in the cooperation between Debizi and Embassy Pictures, and now he must take the initiative to make up for this crack.

When he entered Embassy Pictures, he remembered another thing that Thomas had mentioned, Embassy Pictures is going to release more than a dozen films this year, and even the theme of "The Passion of the Christ" can be used as a hit, what about other works with stronger commercial elements?

After all, Debizi is a small cinema company and doesn't have much capital.

If the company that exerts pressure in the future gets out of the production predicament, it's a big deal to bow to them again.

As a commercial company, the interests are important, and this little bit does not damage the face of self-esteem, in fact, it is nothing.

"I was too short-sighted. Hoddle said very seriously: "Mr. Thomas, I solemnly apologize to you and Embassy Pictures for this, I have been regretting this time, and I should not have affected the good cooperation between Debizi and Embassy Pictures for some inexplicable reasons. ”

"It doesn't matter. Thomas said so, but he didn't say anything explicitly.

Hoddle gritted his teeth and said, "Derbizi screens "The Passion of the Christ", and the theater's share is reduced by five percent!"

After all, the other party is a cinema company, and Thomas can't force it too much, saying: "Since Debizi is willing to continue to cooperate with Embassy Pictures, we will not ignore the needs of our partners." Mr. Hoddle, I'll inform the distribution department later, and ask them to prepare a copy for Debizi. ”

"Thank you. Hoddle hurriedly said, "Thank you very much. ”

Thomas smiled and said: "You're welcome, we are partners, and cooperation should be a win-win situation." ”

Hoddle said a few more polite words, then said goodbye and left the embassy films, and as soon as he got in the car, he hurriedly greeted the people below and told them to prepare for the release of "The Passion of the Christ" at the Derbizi Cinema.

Theaters are like shopping malls, there is customer flow to have revenue, and the box office is the most intuitive data to reflect the customer flow of a film.

Putting away the phone, Hoddle's originally anxious mood instantly improved, but not long after he was happy, the phone suddenly rang, and after looking at the displayed number, his original good mood began to be gloomy again.

He picked up the phone, listened to a few words, and said, "I'm sorry, I can't do that, Debizi is a commercial company, and it's impossible to ignore a film as good as The Passion of the Christ." Sir, we refused to release "The Passion of the Christ" in the first weekend, and the loss was as high as millions of dollars, who will make up for this part of the loss? Of course, I don't mean to let you make up for it, after all, our friendship is not ordinary, but I can't continue to refuse this film, Debizi has hundreds of employees, and I need to be responsible for their salaries. ”

I don't know what was said on the other side of the phone, Hoddle's face became even more gloomy, and he said in a low voice: "This matter is over, I hope you will not make such excessive demands in the future, and I will not agree again, so be it, goodbye." ”

Hanging up the phone, Hoddle felt relieved, the other party is a top company in the film industry, yes, but he is not a shareholder of Debizi, the favor has been returned, and he will not be responsible for their bad things in the future.

Hollywood, Paramount Studios, Shirley Lansing calmly listened to the assistant's report on the latest situation.

"The people below just reported back the message. The assistant said as succinctly as possible: "Those small theater companies have taken the initiative to contact Embassy Pictures and ask to join the screening ranks of "The Passion of the Christ", which will increase to more than 3,500 theaters in North America by the end of this week." ”

Shirley Lansing rubbed her eyebrows lightly and said, "I didn't expect this film to be so explosive. ”

The assistant cautiously asked, "What are we going to do next?"

"Following the previous strategy, withdraw the power against relativity entertainment. Shirley Lansing is also concluding that Paramount Pictures is not as powerful as imagined in the face of Relativity Entertainment, and it is undoubtedly unwise to disperse forces to attack DreamWorks and Relativity together. She said slowly: "According to what I said last time, the matter of Relativity Entertainment will be handled by the group company, and our goal is DreamWorks." ”

The assistant hurriedly responded: "Okay, I'll let them give up contact with the theater party." ”

No matter how small actions are made, it will not work, and in the face of the huge benefits that "The Passion of the Christ" may bring, many problems are not problems at all.

Shirley Lansing continued to think about DreamWorks, and as for Relativity Entertainment, it was completely thrown aside.

This time, I rushed up to bite it, but the meat didn't bite, and my teeth almost collapsed.

She gradually came to a clear understanding that in the years when the Big Six companies had been completely attracted to DreamWorks, Relativity Entertainment had developed into a strong company.

Any of the six major Hollywood companies alone, if they want to swallow Relativity Entertainment, it may not be possible in the short term.