Hearing them say this, Sid secretly laughed.

Stimulating and driving away the audience or something has always been a boring false proposition.

Just like Fire Lion's own "Song and Dance Film Project" and "DV Film Project", the only truly successful plan can only be to be keenly aware of market changes, accurately grasp the needs of the audience, and then take advantage of the trend to launch films that can attract the corresponding audience groups to focus on their inner needs.

People are not dogs, can they really rely on stimulation and repelnce to get it?

Besides, even if it can pry some people into the cinema with overwhelming publicity, it is unlikely to have a substantial impact on the entire movie-going market.

If this is really that simple, will there be any money-losing films in the world?

Who wouldn't throw money at it?

Hollywood has no shortage of cheque-wielding fools, but there are few wise people who understand the market.

And then, Sony's distribution executive actually believes that these teenage male audiences don't care about the quality of the film "Black Hawk Down", they only care about the action scenes and popcorn in the movie.

The executive laughed and joked that the popcorn in the theater was sure to be a big hit because of the film, so theater managers should give Sony a bigger share of the first weekend.

Whether he was joking or really asking for it, the hint didn't deter a few theater companies from buying the film, and they politely rejected Sony's offer on the spot.

Seeing such a scene, Sid couldn't help but secretly raise his eyebrows, who said that Hollywood doesn't understand people, these theater buyers are very shrewd, how can Sony negotiate with others with these superficial tricks.

In the past few years, Sony has been the bottom of the Big Seven, and almost all the movies it produces and distributes are bad movies that are neither applauded nor popular.

In this case, it is simply a fool's dream to ask the theater company to give real money and screen time without evidence and persuasion.

After a series of futile negotiations by Sony, it was finally the turn of "The Da Vinci Code" and "Harry Potter" dominated by the Fire Lion.

On the Fire Lion's side, Jon Filheimer and others are of course in charge of such specific details, and Sid and Shirley obviously want to test him.

So, this negotiation was led by Jon Philheimer.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in fact, we can look at this year's summer file very intuitively and concisely. Jon Philheimer said with a smile to a group of cinema operators at home and abroad.

Then he pulled out a pre-made schedule of the three-month summer season from June to August. In addition to the date and date, there are also real rivals on it, in addition to the films of Fire Lion and Sony, the A-grade blockbusters of other major studios, namely "The Da Vinci Code" and "Harry Potter".

"This summer, there are actually only six films other than Sony and Fire Lion that really have the potential to be a box office hit!" Jon Philheimer said, putting up the timetable printed on cardboard and showing it to theater publishers.

They are Universal's "The Mummy 2," Disney's "Pearl Harbor," Paramount's "Tomb Raider," Fox's "Doctor Doolittle 2," Universal's "Jurassic Park 3," Fox's "Battle for the Planet of the Apes," and Warner Bros.' "Rush Hour 2." ”

"Among them, the release time of "The Mummy 2" is May 4th, which is not a traditional summer time, so there is no competition with our film, and it can be ignored. ”

In the following June, there will be "Pearl Harbor" on the 1st of the first month, "Tomb Raider" on the 11th of the middle of the month, and "Strange Doctor Doolittle 2" on the 19th of the second month. ”

"Regarding the question of "Harry Potter", Mr. Leon will explain it to you in person later, and the release time of "The Da Vinci Code", which is co-produced and distributed by our Fire Lion and Sony, will be released on Friday, June 29th. ”

"So in terms of release time, the only ones that can really compete with us are "Tomb Raider" on June 11 and "Jurassic Park 3" on July 18, and "Strange Doctor Doolittle 2" is a standard black comedy, so in terms of audience positioning, there is no conflict with "The Da Vinci Code", which I believe everyone knows very well. ”

It was the first time for the buyers of the cinema chain to see such an ingenious internal meeting, and this one made them nod their heads with interest.

Because in the past, no matter which major studio, it would pass the plot of the film, and then take the investigation report of the National Research Group to introduce the "quadrant" audience of its film to the theater company.

Simple division of under twenty-five, over twenty-five, male, female, and race/ethnicity.

In Sid's view, it has long been outdated to go to his grandmother's house, and if he follows the National Research Group's rough method of dividing the audience, it is impossible to capture the young young audiences who love to sing and dance in the "Song and Dance Film Project".

Therefore, this kind of thing, which is valued by the seven major studios, is only the most basic and erroneous reference standard within the Fire Lion.

Seeing that the theater operators were attracted by his explanation, Jon Philheimer continued to explain: "And the former's "Tomb Raider", according to the National Research Group, this action movie featuring Angelina Jolie is extremely attractive to and only male audiences over the age of 25. ”

"And according to our internal research report of Fire Lion, Tomb Raider is actually very attractive to young men between the ages of 17 and 30, especially those who have played Tomb Raider games. ”

"But at the same time, our 'Da Vinci Code' includes two 'quadrants' of men and women over the age of 25, so we have a larger potential audience. ”

"As for "Jurassic Park 3", although it has the same 'quadrant' audience as "The Da Vinci Code", we surpass each other in terms of freshness and popularity of the original work. Regarding this point, I think that whether it is a theater friend in North America or a theater dealer friend in Europe and Japan, everyone should know the power of "The Da Vinci Code". ”

Although Jon Fairheimer's words were a bit arrogant, both North American and overseas theater operators couldn't help but nod in agreement.

After a three-month sales record of one million at the end of '97, "The Da Vinci Code" rose in the next three years with Sid's own fame, and with Sid's other sales.