Although the transaction contract was signed, it will definitely take another month or two to complete the various small and cumbersome asset and business transactions between Firefly Investment and Sony Group. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

However, through Bill Michanick, Eric quickly took control of Columbia Pictures. A week later, Colombia was largely back to normal.

After so many years of tossing and turning in his own hands, Eric does not expect too obvious changes in Colombia in the short term, as long as the production and distribution scale of a major film company is restored in the next year or two. In all fairness, in Hollywood, as long as you don't toss and make movies seriously, it's really not too easy for a big studio like Columbia to lose money.

Sony has never been able to sort out the operating rules of Hollywood over the years, and has made a series of stupid decisions before and after, coupled with the instinctive rejection of local powers, which has caused the situation of Sony Pictures to get worse and worse.

In fact, if Sony Pictures can be given a few more years, even if there is no blockbuster work like "Spider-Man", the other party will be able to gradually adapt.

Now, naturally, Sony will never have that opportunity again.

Completed the acquisition of Sony Pictures, and the Firefly system included more than half of Hollywood's major studios in one fell swoop. Although the remaining three major film companies did not say anything on the surface, they were not calm about this matter in private.

The first week of October is also the 11th week of the release of Midnight Bells.

This horror film, which unexpectedly created a phenomenal movie-watching trend, earned another $6.74 million at the box office this week, and still maintained a very modest weekly decline of 16.9%.

What's even more amazing is that while continuing its miraculous box office trend, "Midnight Bell" also reached $251 million at the North American box office this week, successfully breaking the $250 million mark and becoming the third highest box office in 1998 so far.

After "Midnight Bell", "Breaking Bad 3" has also become the only film to break the $300 million mark at the North American box office so far this year, with a total box office of $322 million.

The next "The Day After Tomorrow", the North American box office was 256 million at this time. However, compared with "Midnight Bell", which still maintains a very impressive single-week box office, whether it is "Thunderbolt 3" or "The Day After Tomorrow", the single-week box office has entered the closing stage of only a few hundred thousand dollars, and the total box office data in North America will basically not change much.

It is not difficult to imagine that it may only take the next week for the total box office of "Midnight Bell" to surpass "The Day After Tomorrow" in North America. Until the release of "Star Wars Prequel" and "Mission Impossible 3" at the end of the year, the horror film will remain in second place at the box office for a long time.

Judging from the production cost of "Midnight Bell" of only $30 million, the return on investment of this horror film is even more staggering.

On a good weekend, on a yacht off the coast of Los Angeles, Michael Eisner, Edgar Bronfman, Lei Shidong and Gerald Levin rarely got together, casually gathered around a round table on the deck and played bridge. ”

Lei Shidong counted the cards in his hand and said casually: "Heh, it should be, if Paramount can make such a movie, let me hold ten celebration banquets." ”

Gerald Levine paused and said, "I just want to say that I can't go on like this." ”

Edgar Bronfman closed his cards, looked at the crowd earnestly, and suggested, "Perhaps, we can also form an alliance, like those four." ”

Lei Shidong glanced at Edgar Bronfman: "What about the advantages, what advantages can we bring by our alliance?"

Gerald Levin shook his head and laughed self-deprecatingly, "We don't have Eric Williams here. ”

Edgar Bronfman nodded, not knowing whether it was intentional or not, and muttered to himself, "If only there wasn't Eric Williams over there." ”

The few people at the table suddenly fell silent.

After a moment of silence, Lei Shidong, the oldest in the grade, glared at Edgar Bronfman fiercely and warned: "Ed, for the sake of me and your father, I warn you, this is a world with rules, and you must not have such thoughts in the future." If there is no Eric Williams, then there can be no you, or without me, everyone can disappear casually, and the world will be in chaos. ”

Edgar Bronfman, of course, was not stunned, and he regretted what he had just said, and said solemnly: "Thank you, Summer, I remember. ”

Lei Shidong nodded with satisfaction, looked at Michael Eisner, who had just spoken, and said, "Michael, you can also say a few words." ”

Michael Eisner said: "Winning Sony Pictures is already the limit of Firefly's expansion. The three of us, no matter which one of them, could no longer be eaten by the other side, and there was no way that the federal government would allow Eric to do so. The key is how we can fight for more market share in the next competition. ”

Lei Shidong realized that Michael Eisner already had his own ideas, and asked, "Tell me carefully." ”

Michael Eisner laughs, "Actually, it's not that hard at all. Because the template for the firefly system is there. Now that Eric Williams has proven his vision for ten years, let's follow quickly what Fireflies do. Just like a Japanese-style horror film like "Midnight Bell", I have already made several scripts for the characters during this time. ”

Gerald Levine said: "It's just that you've been following the fireflies, but you've been doing it all these years. ”

"So, we should follow closely, as soon as the fireflies start to start certain projects, we don't have to wait for the results, we have to follow up as much as we can, so that we don't get left behind. Michael Eisner continued: "We also have to invest more in special effects blockbusters, although the alliance between the three companies will not give us much advantage. However, if the three of us can come together to create a special effects company similar to the digital realm, then we will be able to make up for the shortcomings in special effects technology. This aspect has also been our weakness for the past few years, and it has limited the scale of our special effects films. You should be able to find that there are only special effects film projects that have not yet been released in the hands of the Firefly Group, such as the big-budget "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "Iron Man", "Spider-Man", "Guillotine Valley", as well as the medium-production "Teddy Bear", "Legend of the Night", "Resident Evil", etc., which add up to more than all the special effects movies of our three companies. ”

After listening to Michael Eisner, Lei Shidong nodded approvingly and said, "Perhaps, we can strengthen our support for industrial light and magic." ”

Michael Eisner immediately shook his head and said: "Industrial Light and Magic can't help it, it has been pulled too far from the digital field, and Lucas has no ambitions in the movie, and the recent "Star Wars Prequel", many CG special effects are entrusted to the digital field. If you look at the digital space, it already has three offices in North America, California, New Zealand, and I heard that they may also have a branch in Canada in the next year or two. Therefore, it is best for us to start immediately and integrate the resources of our three special effects companies. ”

Stimulated by the digital field, although the scale is small, several major Hollywood studios have also set up their own special effects film departments.

After a brief discussion and a final decision, Gerald Levin said: "That, Firefly's '4200' plan, what do you think, do we need to follow up?"

After being quiet for a moment again, it was Lei Shidong who spoke first: "The investment is too big, the risk is too high." ”

Michael Eisner said: "The last time I went to Firefly Studios, I saw the effect of the RealD system, and it was very impressive. It's just that, not to mention the upfront investment, if you want to implement it, just the cost of copying each movie in the future will be doubled. Copies in IMAX format are more expensive, about ten times more expensive than regular film copies. According to the scale of 2,000 screens, if a film that originally cost only $4 million to copy is released in 3D and 3D-IMAX formats, the cost of copying will increase to $12 million for 2,000 3D screens and 100 3D-IMAX screens. ”

The others breathed a sigh of relief, and in the film era, the most important factor limiting the scale of film distribution for solo filmmakers was the cost of copying. Even for the Big Seven, the cost of film copies is an expense that cannot be ignored.

The $12 million copy cost of a film is equivalent to the direct exclusion of all low- and medium-budget films. Even if it's a big-budget film, studios need to think carefully about the film's box office prospects.

"Maybe that's why Eric Williams is determined to take Sony Pictures, after all, the source of a film worthy of distribution in 3D and IMAX is a big problem," Edgar Bronfman said, remembering Michael Eisner's suggestion, looked at him and said, "So, Michael, do you think we should follow suit?"

"If the Fireflies allow us to join the program, I think it's necessary to follow up. The point is, since Eric has invested so much in the early stages, it's unlikely that he will allow us to jump in and get a piece of the pie right away. ”

"With just 2,100 3D and IMAX screens in North America, I think an average of one new film per month is the most reasonable, at least no less than one every two months. Even if the Firefly system has four major film companies, it is impossible to distribute all films in this way. The three of us must still have this kind of source of fireflies in our hands. ”

"Let's let this matter go for the time being," Lei Shidong said suddenly: "Michael, after you go back, you can discuss it with Shirley and Richard from Warner, and first integrate the special effects department in our hands." As for the '4200' plan on the Firefly's side. If they succeed next year, the theater chain will definitely automatically increase the number of 3D screens, and if it fails, we don't have to worry. ”

When Lei Shidong said this, everyone remembered that Lei Shidong's family started by operating a cinema chain, and no one present was more familiar with the cinema business than him.

The fact should indeed be as Lei Shidong said, if Firefly's '4200' plan is successful, the theater chain will definitely take the initiative to increase the number of 3D screens. At that time, there will definitely be excess resources for the other three films. If it fails, the major theater chains will definitely avoid the 3D projection system of Firefly, and there will be no need to pay attention to this matter at that time.

The only trouble after all is the IMAX theater, the Firefly Group has bought the Canadian IMAX company with a full suffocation, and intends to build its own theater chain.

However, this does not seem to be a problem, after all, compared to the theater size of more than 30,000 screens in North America, 100 IMAX screens basically do not affect the big picture.

……

At the same time, Firefly Studios.

In the studio of "Gravity", although today is Saturday, in order to solve some small problems in shooting, Eric still rushed over to work with Robert Byron and others to study the solution to the problem.

Entering October, the filming of this film is finally coming to an end, and according to the current progress, it will only take about another ten days, that is, after October 20, the crew can rush to Arizona to shoot the only few location scenes, and everyone in the crew can also relax.

In the busy morning, Eric received a call from ICM, and it didn't take long for Michelle Simmons, ICM's gold medal female agent, to come over with Charlize Theron to visit the class and discuss about "Soul Shifting Girl".

Walking into what is said to be the most advanced soundstage in Hollywood, Michelle Simmons and Charlize Theron looked around curiously, and when they saw Eric waving at the two of them, they hurriedly walked over.

"Hey, Eric, long time no see," Michelle Simmons warmly hugged Eric, and Charlize stepped forward to hug Eric.

After saying hello, Michelle looked at the huge robotic arm and complimented: "Eric, maybe you are the only one in Hollywood who can come up with so many wonderful ideas." ”

Eric sent a staff member to make coffee for the two women, smiled and nodded, "Thanks, Michelle, and Charlie, come and sit." ”

Letting the two girls sit down next to a large operating table, Eric himself sat down and said straight to the point: "So, have you read the script of "Soul Shifting Girl"?"

Because of Eric's reprimand for Kate last time, Charlize was inexplicably a little restrained in front of Eric, and Michelle had to take the initiative to reply: "Well, this is a good script, Charlie and I think it's great." ”