Now, "The Grim Reaper is Coming", which has played an important role in the creation and development of Relativity Entertainment, has filmed its fourth part, and "The Grim Reaper is Coming 4" will be released next year, and director James Wong also informed Ronan early that the next "The Grim Reaper is Coming 5" will be his last time in charge of the "The Grim Reaper" series.

Anyone who has been shooting the same series of movies for years on end will get tired of it.

If it weren't for the unsuccessful experience of leaving Relativity Entertainment, James Huang would never have been the director of this series for a long time.

With the success of time and series of films, James Wong's already cold ambitions gradually came alive again.

This is also normal, directors are people with active thinking, but any director who is a little ambitious will not be satisfied with the status quo.

"I can't make 'Death Comes' for the rest of my life. ”

In the reception room of the Relativity Building, James Wong said to Ronan: "I can't find new ideas and ideas for this series, so I can only keep repeating the existing model, and changing the director after the fifth part doesn't really have much impact." ”

Ronan really can't persuade James Huang to continue directing the "Death Comes" series, which is obviously impossible, saying: "It's okay, it's not a good thing to jump out of the existing model." ”

James Wong said, "Ronan, thank you for your understanding. ”

Ronan waved his hand and said, "You can say hello two years in advance, which shows that you care very much about me and the partner of Relativity Entertainment, and I also have time to find a suitable director again, so don't be so polite." ”

James Wong said, "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have succeeded." It's not you, I may not have found a chance in Hollywood after I encountered a setback. ”

Ronan is well aware that with the expiration of time and contracts, there will continue to be directors or actors who cooperate with Relativity Entertainment to jump out, and for stars and well-known directors, cooperation is a two-way choice.

Like the people before him, Ronan will not make a fuss just because the cooperation ends.

Business cooperation, there is a beginning, and naturally there will be an end.

But James Huang accompanied Shahai Entertainment and Relativity Entertainment through the most difficult period, and Ronan also valued him more, as he did when the first time the two sides ended their cooperation, reminding: "James, jumping out of the "Death is Coming" series is not a good thing for you, you will have a new world, but you still have to be cautious in the choice of new film genres." ”

Frankly, he doesn't want to see James Wong make any weird Japanese manga adaptations, such as "Dragon Ball".

James Wong said: "I'm going to plan a new horror thriller movie. ”

Ronan nodded: "After the script is completed, remember to send me a copy here." ”

If possible, James Huang also wanted to continue to cooperate with Relativity Entertainment, and hurriedly responded: "No problem. ”

Not long after staying with Ronan, James Wong said goodbye and left, "Death is Coming 4" is still in post-production, and he has to return to the crew to host the work.

Even if James Wong is no longer directing the "Death Comes" series, Ronan will invite him to be the producer of a sequel later.

For the sequels of many movies, Ronan also completely delegated power and handed it over to the relevant producers.

Others, such as Resident Evil, Fatal Bend, and Saw series, are also handled by their respective producers, and Ronan rarely bothered with related matters, only participating in the review of the edited version after all the production of the film has been completed.

In the afternoon, Embassy Pictures' latest release plan for next year, 2006, reached Ronan's side.

Since the dramas produced by Shahai Entertainment are basically broadcast on Netflix streaming media as a platform, the distribution business of Embassy Pictures is generally based on movies.

This distribution plan perfectly embodies the operating principles of commercial profit first and profit first, and is entirely based on sequel films and adaptations.

Strictly speaking, sequels to best-selling movies make up the absolute majority.

"Resident Evil 3", "Saw 4", "Minions", "Shrek 3", "Here Comes the Death 4", "Night at the Museum 2", "Caribbean 3", "Fast and Furious 3" and many more.

Non-sequel films are basically film adaptations: "Iron Man", "The Three Hundred Spartans", "The Departed", "Deadly Magic" and "The Da Vinci Code" to name a few.

The number of original films is very small, only Jessica Filton's "Juno" and "The Hangover", which has already completed filming and production.

The situation in Hollywood as a whole is that original movies are extremely sluggish, and any film company will be cautious in the face of original genres.

In addition, there are two other heavyweight works whose release plans are not fully confirmed for the time being.

"The Superman Family" and "Cars" produced by Pixar Studios, although the former is still in the production of dragging, is actually purely out of the fact that it does not want to be released by Disney, as long as Relativity Entertainment can reach an agreement with Pixar Studios, it can be completed at any time.

The production of the latter is also in the final stage, and all the production work can be completed by March next year at the latest.

Because of the secrecy, Ronan called García Rodriguez directly about "Cars" and pushed "Cars" until 2007, even if a deal could be reached with Pixar Studios this year, so that after the deal was reached, Embassy Pictures would have more time to prepare for the release and promotional work.

This is a very special animated film, even if there is no Disneyland, the overall operation of animation peripheral products is not as good as Disney, but after "Peppa Pig" and a number of animated feature films, Embassy Pictures has also opened relevant offline channels.

As long as the publicity and distribution work is in place, "Cars" can also create huge commercial value in the hands of Relativity Entertainment.

Someone once asked Pixar Studios, as the leader of the computer animation production industry, which is the most commercially successful animated feature film?

The real results were unexpected.

It's not Toy Story, it's not Finding Nemo, it's not WALL-E.

It's "Cars"!

The box office of this animated feature film can only be said to be average, but the revenue it generates in the offline toy market is simply amazing.

Even if there is no Disneyland, Relativity Entertainment can also be licensed to other studios or theme parks, and it can also bring a lot of revenue in terms of amusement parks.

As for toys, dolls and related licensing, etc., after years of development and development, these embassy pictures are not comparable to Disney, but they are also the distributors in Hollywood after Disney.

"Peppa Pig" brought nearly $650 million in revenue to Relativity Entertainment in the first eight months of this year, as evidenced by this.

Under the operation of Embassy Pictures, "Peppa Pig" is getting closer and closer to Ronan's goal of annual revenue of $1 billion in three years.

Of course, at the peak of "Peppa Pig", the annual operating income was as high as nearly 1.2 billion.

The unit is pound sterling.

Once an animated film or series is a huge success, the revenue scale is often much larger than that of the popular live-action film.

Like the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series, even with the brain-dead powder effect bonus brought by the captain, it has been pulled further and further away by "Peppa Pig".

The offline effect of "Cars" is far above that of "Peppa Pig".

Ronan still remembers that in order to cheat the subsidy, someone added an extra person to the name, and Lightning McQueen changed it slightly, and it was released in theaters in a grand manner.

Then again, even when the port city and Hollywood movies are at their most shameless, they can't reach this point.

It is understandable to follow the trend and copycats, after all, Hollywood and the Hong Kong City film industry have done this kind of thing, but can it be explained by following the trend and copycats?

Due to the need for secrecy, the situation of these two animated feature films is only within the extremely narrow scope of Ronan and a few high-level executives, and Embassy Pictures will not have direct contact with the two animated feature films for the time being.

And the situation is not certain for the time being, and everything is variable until the contract is actually signed.

Ronan knows very well that don't look at Steve Jobs who looks like he is on the same side as Relativity Entertainment, it's because Pixar Studios, as a pure content producer, must have a strong distribution channel to reflect value, plus he himself has a need for Netflix network and cash......

Also, Ronan's plan looks like it can really help Pixar Studios get the rights back.

If the plan doesn't go well, Steve Jobs will definitely kick Relativity Entertainment out of the way and move to other companies.

Even, you may turn around and fall into the well.

Therefore, Ronan only uses the foreign part as a help to see the wind and rudder, and the real key lies in the relativistic entertainment itself.

In mid-September, Scott Swift brought Ronan good news.

"We have an investment agreement with the Indians, and new investments from the Mountain Foundation have been secured for a total of up to $400 million. ”

Scott Swift's face was tired, and he obviously rushed to the Relativity Building as soon as he got off the plane: "The agreement with the Falch Foundation has also been signed, although the Falch Foundation is larger than the Mountain Foundation, but because of the failure to invest in Wall Street, they are relatively cautious this time, and the first investment with us is only $350 million." ”

Ronan nodded slightly: "More than I expected." ”

Scott Swift added: "We have also had preliminary results in a new round of financing in the island countries and South Korea, and many investors have expressed interest, and it is expected that by December, there will be more than 200 million yuan in financing. ”

"Of course, some of the film companies involved in financing also have conditions. Scott Swift said embarrassedly: "They require some actors to appear in Hollywood film and television dramas, not the main role, the supporting role is fine." ”

Ronan said, "No problem. ”

This is obviously for gilding, in fact, not only oriental actors, but also the film and television circles of many countries are like this, taking a turn in Hollywood, playing some small roles, and after going back, they will be the so-called international superstars.