Although it will take some time for Pixar Studios to integrate into the system of Relativity Entertainment, Relativity Entertainment has begun to operate a full line of products related to Pixar Studios from the moment the two parties signed the acquisition agreement.

For example, the latest two "Toy Story" animated shorts quickly landed on Netflix streaming, and the spin-off short film "Big Eyes Boy's New Car" from "Monster Power Company" will also enter Netflix streaming after being revised.

In addition, the major broadcast channels were informed that after the expiration of Walt Disney's license for Pixar animated films, they would need to negotiate a contract with Pixar Studios if they want to continue broadcasting.

Then there are the all-important peripheral products, according to the copyright return agreement, Disney has a one-year buffer period for the use of peripheral products, and after one year, it needs to be authorized or removed from the shelves.

Since the beginning of 2006, Relativity Entertainment has placed a large number of orders with agents and processors on the other side of the Pacific, and in the next few months, Pixar Studio's animated films will continue to be distributed to the global market through the marketing channels of Embassy Pictures.

In addition, the Blu-ray version DVDs of these animated films are also being suppressed, and they will soon be on the shelves.

These animated films like Pixar Studios have been operating for a long time through peripheral channels, and each one means more than a billion dollars in profits.

In the first month of 2006, the whole relativity entertainment was quiet.

On the one hand, it is digesting the harvest of the "Disney Project", such as Pixar Animation Studios, the live-action rights of classic animated films, and the establishment of Princess Animation Studios.

On the other hand, the external publicity and public relations resources are fully inclined to "Brokeback Mountain".

With the help of social trends, as well as the unique and unprovoked culture and values of a few special groups in the United States, "Brokeback Mountain" has become the number one favorite for this year's Oscars.

In January, after Ang Lee ate fifty "plastic chickens", "Brokeback Mountain" reaped huge results in the most important outpost awards.

At the Golden Globe Awards for American TV and Movies, "Brokeback Mountain" won a big victory, and although it did not win any acting awards, it won the most important two awards for Best Film Director and Best Feature Film.

On the two most important weather vane awards, Ang Lee won the Directors Guild Award for Best Film Director, and "Brokeback Mountain" won Best Film at the Producers Alliance Awards.

The winning of these two weather vane awards also made "Brokeback Mountain" the first favorite at this year's Oscars.

In early February, the 78th Academy Awards nominees luncheon was held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Beverly Hills, and "Brokeback Mountain" received a total of eight Oscar nominations, including Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Actor and Best Picture.

The publicity and public relations work of Embassy Pictures is very good.

However, there are also some strange voices that continue to be heard, after all, there are also a lot of straight men of steel among conservatives, and some of them have called films like "Brokeback Mountain" very disgusting through the media or online social media.

This is normal, a gay film is bound to bring huge controversy.

After all, this is not ten years away.

Fortunately, Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain" is very subtle, and most centrists will not be disgusted when they watch it, and it can even cause emotional resonance.

In this regard, it has to be said that Ang Lee's oriental background has played an extremely important role.

If you shoot with a European director, maybe it is a spicy-eyed style such as left and right for men, men on top of men, and men are valuable, and art masters like Lars von Trier may have direct shots such as ancient roads and hot sausages.

Ang Lee will shoot a film with an extremely sensitive subject matter, which can be accepted by most people, which is very rare.

In this regard, the box office data of the film is the best proof of this.

Before the Oscar nominations were announced, "Brokeback Mountain" had been screened in more than a dozen theaters, with a total of only $1.73 million at the North American box office.

With eight Oscar nominations and the number one Oscar favorite, Embassy Pictures began to expand its screenings, with the film's North American theaters soaring to 2,189 and grossing $19.88 million that weekend.

Due to the film's outstanding reputation and the Oscar effect, if it can gain something at the Oscars in the later stage, the North American box office is very likely to hit $100 million.

It is difficult to say overseas, but judging by the equal rights situation of the gay community in Western society today, the overseas box office should not be lower than the North American box office.

Ang Lee still has a certain appeal in the European market.

Embassy Pictures is also stepping up public relations for "Brokeback Mountain", striving for the two awards that are extremely important.

In early February, some statistics of Relativity Entertainment were released, and after years of copyright accumulation, channel development, and mergers and acquisitions, Relativity Entertainment's profits in 2005 increased rapidly.

After the listing of Netflix Network, as the most money-burning subsidiary, Netflix Network's financial accounting has been officially spun off from Relativity Entertainment.

Last year, the group achieved a net profit of US$2,176.8 million.

This data is mainly composed of box office, copyright peripheral operations, and stock market investment.

Including the purchase of several small-scale overseas films, Relativity Entertainment released 21 films last year, with a total box office profit of $712.12 million.

The films that contributed the most to box office profits were "Pirates of the Caribbean 2", "Spy 3" and "Despicable Me".

"Pirates of the Caribbean 2" grossed $1.2 billion worldwide, and the latter two both grossed more than $600 million, with the three films contributing nearly half of the total box office profits.

Once a big-budget and big-budget film is successful, it generates even more profits.

In addition to the profits on Disney's equity, the rest of the profits mainly come from TV series and various peripheral channels.

The single most profitable project came from "Peppa Pig," which generated more than $600 million in annual revenue last year, but its production costs and publicity and distribution expenses were quite low.

As more big-budget movie projects come online and a number of popular TV series are produced, Relativity Entertainment's profits will only get higher and higher.

Compared with profits, Relativity Entertainment's debt has always been under control, and even if the acquisition of Pixar Studios mobilizes a large amount of cash, the capital chain of the group company still runs smoothly and maintains quite abundant cash reserves.

In 2006, Relativity Entertainment will still maintain the release of more than 15 films, including many heavyweight works.

The weekend after the Super Bowl, Embassy Pictures released Relativity Entertainment's first film of 2006.

The Da Vinci Code, a film of the same name co-financed by Sea Entertainment and Tom Hanks' Pretong Pictures, is an adaptation of the popular religious theme.

Compared with the relatively fast shooting and production speed of Relativity Entertainment, this film directed by Tom Hanks as the producer and Ron Howard can be said to be a typical Hollywood medium and large-scale production operation mode.

One year of preparation, one year of filming and production, and then another year of publicity and release.

According to the agreement reached between Shahai Entertainment and Preton Pictures on the cross-investment of "Mamma Mia" and "The Da Vinci Code", Ronan basically did not participate in the filming and production of "The Da Vinci Code", and the entire film was basically completed under the control of Tom Hanks and Ron Howard.

The special religious theme, coupled with the almost blasphemous content of the original content, has caused countless debates since the preparation of the film.

The Da Vinci Code was the most controversial film of 2005-2006 due to the influx of protests and opposition letters from the Catholic League and ministry groups.

When the request of the Catholic Ministry, which had hoped that the name of the organization would be withheld during the filming of the film adaptation, was rejected, the ministry launched a campaign to justify its name, promoting it through various media outlets, and using various ways to illustrate the misrepresentation of its organization.

There is even a bishop who has launched his own blog to refute the "untruths" of The Da Vinci Code.

The level of protest also intensified as the film's release approached.

But movies are always a very special commodity, and the controversy that may be fatal on other commodities is often a booster for movies.

Just like The Passion of the Christ, the controversy brought widespread attention to The Da Vinci Code.

The fact that a film can cause widespread controversy often means that the film can be commercially successful.

Relativity Entertainment and Embassy Pictures are also experienced in this area.

For example, on the eve of the release of "The Da Vinci Code", many religious experts called on all Catholics to watch this film full of fallacies, only in this way can the errors be discovered.

Such a call has also been echoed by some congregation groups.

It is undeniable that most of the experts are high-end elites.

But there are also some experts who are veritable "brick families"!

However, no matter how controversial the film is, the crew will not be directly involved in it, and Tom Hanks and Ron Howard are also smart people.

At the premiere, in the face of interviews with many media reporters, Ron Howard wisely held high the banner of "fiction": "The film will not be overly entangled in religious issues. Dan Brown is a successful writer rather than a religion and historian, and we made this film because I love the story. ”

Tom Hanks also made it clear: "The focus of the film is on the thriller and suspenseful plot, and all we want to do is make a good film that is not too obvious with religious overtones." ”

Ronan didn't go to the media to join in the excitement, religion is too sensitive, and Relativity Entertainment stayed behind Tom Hanks' Preton Pictures safely and made as much money as possible.

Just like Embassy Pictures did when it released Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.

Ronan just greeted the guests in the VIP room and went straight into the theater to wait for the movie to be shown.

Frankly speaking, as a non-believer and someone who has never studied the Bible or anything like that, it is somewhat rare to understand The Da Vinci Code.

Some of the organizations and allusions that appear in it will not be well understood by the audience in the East.

This will cause some viewers to look confused.