Joe Ruth's pressure, like a mountain, weighs on his shoulders.

In the past, he was obviously overly optimistic.

He thought that he was the confidant of Disney's butler Michael Eisner, so he could do whatever he wanted with his achievements in live-action movies in recent years.

But after the release of "Sixty Seconds of Extreme Speed", the situation changed greatly.

Disney's internal controversy continued, questioning his major decision-making mistakes in the marketing and distribution of "Sixty Seconds".

Even his biggest backer, Michael Eisner, sternly stated that if "Sixty Seconds of Speed" loses more than $20 million, he, the chairman of the production department, will have to step down!

He is not the only chairman of Disney's production department, and Michael Eisner's favorite thing is that two or three people are in charge of a department, blurring power and encouraging internal competition.

Joe Ruth shuddered and calmed down, only then did he remember what kind of person Michael Eisner really was.

Iron-fisted, ruthless, cruel, self-serving, turn your face and don't recognize people!

At that time, Michael Eisner was seriously ill and hospitalized, and he had four consecutive surgeries, what should Disney do? He arranged a future for Disney in the manner of a Chinese feudal monarch: he sealed the name of the heir in an envelope and announced that it could only be opened if the operation was unsuccessful.

Back then, he had a conflict with Jeffrey Katzenberg and directly fired the hero who brought a second spring to Disney cartoons. Not only that, but he was also removed from all the cartoons in which Katzenberg participated, and no longer cashed out the bonus.

Back then, Disney spent a lot of money from CAA to poach Michael Ovitz, who was the most powerful Hollywood at the time, and because he didn't agree with Michael Eisner's concept, he didn't hesitate to take out a $120 million termination fee and directly fired him.

Ignoring Michael Ovitz's tenure, he made great contributions to Disney's acquisition of ABC Group.

Joe Ruth has seen the situation clearly, if "Sixty Seconds of Speed" loses too badly, even if he has brought excellent films such as "The Peerless Tribulation" and "Sixty Seconds of the Supernatural" to Disney in the past few years, he will definitely be swept away.

Michael Eisner never talks about anything!

"Payne, it's me, Joe. ”

Joe Ruth was very reluctant to make this call, because he knew that face was a piece of compared to profit. He took a deep breath, "Today's film schedule and release scale, isn't it right?"

Payne is the president of Carmichael Cinemas in the United States, and when he heard Joe Ruth's voice, he quickly smiled, "Old man, I almost forgot to tell you, hehe." You know, a new movie was released today, "Chicken Run", which is a cartoon starring Mel Gibson and Phil Daniels, and children love to watch it. ”

Joe Ruth said very unhappily: "Even so, you can't squeeze the schedule of "Sixty Seconds of Speed" like this, right?

Payne was secretly dismissive.

If you don't squeeze the schedule of "Sixty Seconds of Extreme Speed", will you lower the schedule of "Spider-Man"? He is not stupid!

At this time, it is the time when audiences across the United States are frantically snapping up tickets for "Spider-Man", and the higher the scheduling rate of "Spider-Man", the more the theater will earn!

As for "Sixty Seconds"...... What bullshit?

"Hehe, isn't this also a no-brainer. It's normal to compare, Paramount's action movie "Hardcore Detective" has a scheduling rate of only 4.5%, "Mission Impossible 2" is even lower than 0.92%, and "Sixty Seconds of Extreme Speed" has a 10.5% scheduling rate, which is already very good. Paynepi said with a smile.

Joe Ruth almost blew up!

Can this be the same?

"Hardcore Detective" has been released for a week, and it has long passed its peak, and "Mission Impossible 2" has been released for more than a month.

"Sixty Seconds of Extreme Speed" is a new film, a new film that has just been released for two days!

"Payne, don't you think the current theater schedule is very abnormal? The film schedule of "Spider-Man", on average, exceeds 72%, and so many other blockbusters divide less than 30% of the market equally, which is very deformed!" Joe Ruth held back his anger, his voice stiff.

Payne rolled his eyes, "Joe, I'm sorry, this is the general trend of the market, not my personal decision. Do you know? "Spider-Man" accounts for 82% of the total revenue of Carmicha Cinemas today! And "Amazing 60 Seconds" only has 8.7%! Cinemas have their own rules, and there is nothing I can do about it. ”

Joe Ruth gasped, he knew that "Spider-Man" was very popular, but he didn't expect that 82% of the total revenue of the theater chain would come from this movie.

This is comparable to last year's "Star Wars Prequel 1".

Joe Ruth is now both resentful and self-reproachful.

At the beginning, why did he go crazy and adjust the schedule with Tom Rothman to suppress "Spider-Man"?

If "Spider-Man" is an aircraft carrier on the sea, then "Sixty Seconds of Extreme Speed" and "." are a rickety flat boat, which is completely incomparable.

《.》？

By the way, tomorrow, this movie by Fox will be released.

Tomorrow is Saturday, just in time for the weekend of box office hits. If you can't take advantage of the current stage to return to the box office more, then "Sixty Seconds of Extreme Speed" will really be hopeless.

There is no possibility of long-term screening of action movies!

"Payne, tell me the truth, tomorrow "." will be released, will you definitely have to adjust the film schedule again?" Joe Ruth was a little nervous.

Payne said calmly: "Of course, this is also a blockbuster, schedule the film...... It should be around 15%. ”

Joe Ruth hurriedly asked: "What about our movie......

Payne said lightly: "Joe, I understand what you mean, but the theater chain has the rules of the theater chain, and we all have to act according to the contract, and it is impossible to make an exception for you because of our friendship, right? ”

The distributor and the theater company sign a floating contract, and if the market response of a film is too poor, the theater chain can unilaterally adjust the film schedule, reduce the scale of screening, or even ...... Forced downshift.

Joe Ruth then communicated with the managers of many theaters such as Emperor Cinemas, AMC Cinemas, and Cinemark Cinemas, and the replies he received were similar.

Everything depends on market feedback.

A movie like "Spider-Man", which is a box office hit, can't appear one or two in a whole year, and now is the time for the theater chain to make a lot of money, how can it be possible to watch the green money slip away for a little favor?

As for "Sixty Seconds"......

I'm sorry, but since it's a flat boat in the sea, let's drift slowly.

Maybe a miracle can really happen and return to Hong Kong smoothly under the waves set off by the aircraft carrier "Spider-Man"?

……

With the release of "Spider-Man", Don walked between Universal Pictures and Don Pictures, and there was non-stop good news, not to mention how happy.

Word of mouth exploded! Box office hit!

This is not the point, the comics of "Spider-Man" on the market are sold out, Marvel Entertainment is stepping up printing, and various peripheral cooperation applications are also coming one after another.

Prior to this, because of publicity needs, Universal Pictures had reached cooperation with a number of large companies, such as Coca-Cola's "Spider-Man" special edition.

Now, it's more about Marvel Entertainment's copyright authorization for the image of "Spider-Man", which has nothing to do with Universal Pictures, it's all its own profits.

It is conservatively estimated that within a week, Marvel Entertainment will be able to earn at least $30 million through image licensing.

It does not include the profit share from the sale of Spider-Man dolls, suits, etc.

At this moment, Ron Meyer, the big butler of Universal Pictures, came to Donn's office to negotiate a business.

Universal Pictures is interested in bringing in Marvel's superheroes to Universal Studios, and the first phase is Universal Studios Orlando.

At this stage, Donn was not interested in working with more partners, so he got straight to the point, "Mr. Meyer, Universal Pictures has just changed owners, and I don't think this is the best time to work together. ”

Just last week, France's Vivendi Group announced the completion of the acquisition of Canada's Seagram Group.

Universal Pictures officially became a subsidiary of the emerging French media giant.

It is said that Vivendi Group will vigorously develop in the entertainment industry, borrowing the brand of "Universal" to component Universal Entertainment Group, which includes many departments such as Universal Music, Universal Games, Universal Movies, and Universal Publishing.

And every major department is reorganized.

Universal Games alone, has several well-known game companies such as Blizzard and Snow Mountain.

Universal Movies ...... In addition to Universal Pictures in the United States, there are also Gaumont Pictures, the largest film company in France, and Polygram Cinemas, the second largest in Europe, and will continue to expand its acquisition business, with a great posture across the two continents of Europe and the United States.

Ron Meyer heard the teasing in Donn's tone and sighed, "No matter what, Universal Pictures has a history of nearly 100 years and is one of the eight traditional Hollywood studios, and no one can change this!"

Donn shook his head, "That's not necessarily, Columbia Pictures changed its last name." ”

Ron Meyer frowned, "Universal Pictures...... The current development is quite good, and it will not follow the old path of Colombia. ”

Don pursed his lips with a look of disdain, "After Columbia Pictures was acquired by Sony, it has been losing money year after year and its performance has declined, if it weren't for Sony's continuous injection of funds, I'm afraid it would not be as good as DreamWorks." Asians can't afford to get into Hollywood, and neither can Europeans!"

Ron Meyer smiled, "Donne, you're too pessimistic......"

"No!" Donn interrupted, with a straight face, "Chaplin back then would rather face bankruptcy than absorb foreign funds and maintain the independence of Hollywood." But times have changed, and the MGM tragedy is the best proof of this. As the president of Universal Pictures, you have to be prepared. ”

"It's not that exaggerated, is it?"

"What if?"

Tang En stared at him stunned, "The reputation of the Vivendi Group, you should know, your favorite is acquisition, reorganization, split, and sale. Blizzard has been tossed by them, and only half of the family property is left, and Universal Pictures is so confident? Don't forget, the current MGM has lost the film rights in its glory days, all because it fell into the hands of Warner because of the split and transfer of the year, which is more than 2,000 movie rights!"