Founded in 1976, the two founders had the ambition to develop high-cost blockbuster films that would eventually be on an equal footing with Hollywood's seven studios. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

And the first collaborator they found was Stallone, who became famous for "Loki". The 1982 release of First Blood, an action film that cost just $14 million and grossed $120 million worldwide.

With Stallone's ace action movie, Carlo Films immediately had the capital to challenge the seven major studios. 1985's "First Blood 2" came out, and the film was even more successful, grossing more than $300 million worldwide. Carlo immediately hugged Stallone's golden thighs firmly and signed a contract with him for ten more films.

In the late '80s and early '90s, Carlo brought in James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger to work on a new film he had just bought, called "The Terminator."

Needless to say, "The Terminator", a peerless classic that made Kashen, really embark on the road of great gods, not only made Cameron and Schwarzenegger the number one grossing film of the year, but also made Carloco Pictures a real rival of the seven major studios.

But in the 90s, in 1995, Troco Films, which was ready to challenge the original film again, confidently launched two high-budget films - "Dancing Girl" directed by Paul Verhoeven and "Cut Throat Island" directed by Renny Haring.

The former, who had previously shot two blockbuster films for Carlocco, "Total Recall" and "Instinct", was arrogant in his desire to make an NC-17 film a commercial blockbuster. (NC-17, the strictest and most demanding rating of North American films, is absolutely forbidden for minors.) What's more, most cinemas are reluctant to show such films because they feel that the audience for such films is too small to make a profit.)

The latter is the director who directed "Die Hard 2" and "Mighty Mountains".

The cost of "Dancing Girl" is 45 million, and "Cut Throat Island" is as high as 92 million, you must know that this is the mid-90s, and a big production of more than 100 million dollars is unheard of. At this time, the world's No. 1 box office blockbuster is still "Jurassic Park", which costs 63 million and has a global box office of 980 million.

But as a result, the combined box office of these two films of Carlo Films was only $30 million.

Carlo Films, which was already not financially strong, collapsed in an uproar. Troco Pictures, which had led the counterattack of small and medium-sized studios for nearly two decades, finally went bankrupt and liquidated, and its film library was acquired by MGM.

The generation of overlords who have been disturbed one after another, just because they are not careful, they will lose everything. The negotiation team of Columbia Pictures provoked this topic at this time, and its meaning can be said to be known to everyone in Sima Zhao's heart.

Although most of the people in the Fire Lion were angry, many people couldn't help but doubt in their hearts, the limelight of Carlo Pictures in the past was far better than today's Fire Lion Pictures, but in the end, it still couldn't bypass the squeezing of the big studios. This had to send chills down everyone's hearts.

"Fire Lion has never been a company, but a group. Shirley Sandberg said steadily, "And I don't think Columbia Pictures has the experience of successful A-grade productions." ”

Shirley's (Sandberg) words immediately woke up both sides of the negotiations.

The group operation of the Fire Lion is a grand strategy set from the beginning, and this corporate strategy, which is completely different from the previous small and medium-sized film companies, has benefited the various branches of the Fire Lion a lot. Fire Lion's killer new reality show and sky-defying ratings have already sent shivers down the spine of executives at North America's major television networks.

And more importantly, with the hot TV channel, whether it is the film promotion of Fire Lion Pictures or the singer creation of Fire Lion Records, they all have the initiative that is not weaker than others. Not to mention the huge amount of cash flow created by several ace reality shows of the Fire Lion TV Network, even the top medium-sized studios such as DreamWorks and New Line can't match.

Thinking of this, everyone in the Fire Lion immediately straightened their waists, and Sean also sneered and said: "Speaking of which, you Colombians also know what a big production is? I remember that of all the movies you released this year, there are not a few that are profitable." We have only one "Warm Corpse", and the global box office has already exceeded 200 million US dollars. ”

"You!" the middle-aged white-collar cadre of Columbia Pictures, who had just made a mockery, glared angrily, but could not say anything to refute it. Because this is indeed Colombia, the tragic status quo of the pseudo-seven and the real weakness.

This year, Columbia Pictures produced and distributed a record 21 films, the highest since Howard Stringer took office in '97.

This should be a welcome thing to do, but embarrassingly, Colombia has so far released seven films in North America, both of their own production and those from Europe.

But the only thing that really makes money is an ethical romance film called "Fatal ***". With a cost of 10 million, it was exchanged for a global box office result of 70 million. Other films, all of which were wiped out.

Among them, there is even the action film "8mm" starring Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage, and the comedy-horror film "The Hand That Makes Idols (Idle Hand)" that Jessica Alba mentioned when she came to audition for "Youth Musical".

Almost all of these film projects have lost more than half of the production costs. With such poor results, it is no wonder that small and medium-sized studios such as DreamWorks and New Line Pictures have had a spring breeze in recent years.

Although Colombia's provocation was reversed, the other side was not to be outdone, and immediately several more people bargained. And the fire lion was of course not to be outdone, so what was originally a good production meeting turned into a war of words against each other.

It wasn't until Shirley (Sandberg) and John Cali agreed to postpone the production meeting that the drama was put to a halt for the time being.

Sean immediately came to Shirley Sandberg's office, and he asked suspiciously, "Why are Sony's people so aggressive all of a sudden? Is it because of that?"

Shirley Sandberg nodded, "I think that's the case, a few months ago, who of us would have thought that that humble record label would create an international superstar?"

Sean and Shirley Sandberg said that the reason for Sony's sudden leopard change was Sid's little girlfriend, Britney Spears.

Originally, Howard Stringer was only planning to sell Sid a favor, which is why he sold Jive Records, which had spun off the Backstreet Boys and their behind-the-scenes team, to Fire Lion. But I never thought that Sid's so-called little girlfriend, only a few months later, she became the best-selling teen singer in history with a single and an album.

The name "Britney Spears" swept the world in an instant.

Not only has Britney herself become the hottest international pop star, but even Fire Lion Records, which was reorganized from Jive Records, has also made a lot of money. This couldn't help but make Howard Stringer hold back his internal injuries, and the duck in his mouth was tricked into eating by others, which was no fun experience.

And Sony's North America, which is already full of factions, has led to strong dissatisfaction with Sony Records' chairman of Howard Stringer.

And this is the real reason for Sony Colombia's "sudden turnaround" at the moment, since it was lost on the record, then it was dug back on the movie. With such a simple idea, and with the acquiescence of Howard Stringer, the negotiating team led by John Cali was in the mindset from the beginning.

"So what now?" Sean looked at Shirley Sandberg with some headaches, even though he had always prided himself on being resourceful, he felt a little helpless in the face of this situation.

"Drag. Shirley Sandberg said briefly.

"Drag?" Sean asked curiously.

"Yes, Sony is mainly because of the unbalanced mentality, so it wants to scrape more oil and water on the "Harry Potter" project. But just let them realize their poor production and profitability again. Naturally, they know the benefits and urgency of working with a company with great production capabilities. Shirley (Sandberg) analyzed in detail.

"This kind of cross-company cooperation, the side that first reveals its weaknesses and weaknesses will definitely lose to the point where there are no bones left. Instead of asking for someone now, it is better to start the project independently, so that when the other party wants to cooperate again, we will have more bargaining chips. ”

"Okay, what about publicity and distribution?" asked Sean, confused.

"According to our original plan, we were supposed to be responsible for the promotion of North America, which is the main premise. Shirley (Sandberg) said firmly, "And if it's released......" She paused, smiled and said, "Whether it's AMC Theaters or other theaters, they're all waiting for "Youth Musical" in July!"

"As long as the performance of "Youth Musical" is as desired, then how can they not grab the first head of the next A-level production directed by Sid?" Shirley's words made Sean nod heartily in agreement.

"That's true. ”