Institutions such as the California Institute of the Arts and New York University's Film Institute have opened special courses on Duke and his films, and while his films may seem too commercial in the eyes of the academy, no one can ignore the great commercial success in this commercial country...... しs

In addition, most of the students produced by these institutions will also go on to Hollywood's extremely relevant industries, and they are also more practical. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

If a person's success once or twice is accidental, then the continuous success, in the eyes of everyone, is definitely worth studying.

Not to mention these professional colleges, even Duke's personal biography has appeared in the market, and these unlicensed biographies are full of all kinds of content, just like the unauthorized biographies of other Hollywood stars.

Especially the ridiculous things he did in his early years, Duke didn't hide it much at the beginning, and it was not a secret in the circle of insiders and entertainment reporters, but it was described vividly, coupled with his current fame and appeal, which attracted a considerable number of people to watch.

One of the most famous is the rumor in the music circle about him and the country diva Shania? Donn and pop diva Madonna? A ridiculous affair about Siconi, and some people have also confirmed it from the mouths of the two divas, some film companies also want to adapt this relationship into a film.

When a person is famous, all kinds of people and things will always try to get involved.

Duke's mentality is good enough, as long as these people are not too excessive, he will also turn a blind eye, which is the inevitable result of the celebrity effect.

After a round trip to several major cities in the Western Pacific. Duke returned to Los Angeles at the end of June, and "Transformers" spent its fourth weekend in theaters.

Although the film only earned $16.06 million this weekend. However, it still won the North American box office list, easily achieving four consecutive North American box office titles, and the cumulative North American box office of "Transformers" also reached 366.54 million US dollars, and the final box office figure is very likely to exceed the 400 million US dollar mark.

In terms of overseas box office, "Transformers" has expanded to be released in more than 150 countries and regions since the third week. And compared to The Dark Knight. The upbeat film became even more popular outside of North America, and after further expanding its overseas reach, the overseas box office figures have skyrocketed again, and now it has amassed a whopping $550 million.

The film's global box office also successfully exceeded the $900 million mark, with a goal of $1 billion.

In China, after nearly 30 days of screenings, the box office figure of "Transformers" has reached 985.66 million RMB, which is infinitely close to the billion mark, and is about to become the first film in Chinese film history to break 1 billion RMB at the box office.

And China Film Group also came with good news, after many efforts. "Transformers" successfully got the key to the postponement from a certain big scissors, and the release time in China will be extended by another month, for a total of 60 days, which is enough for the film to squeeze most of the potential of the Chinese market.

Back to Los Angeles. Duke paid a little attention to the Transformers stats, and turned his attention to other areas, such as the Cinéfondation, which was established two years ago.

This film fund was a product of Wall Street's investment in Hollywood at that time, and Duke established this film fund not with the intention of investing in films, but to wait for this year to do those platter plans.

"Transformers" can be so popular, in fact, it is not only the movie itself and the excellent publicity. It is also inseparable from the social environment.

Nowadays, the North American economy is in turmoil, from the insurance industry to the real estate industry to the financial industry companies have gone bankrupt, and a large number of people are unemployed, unlike the economic situation, whenever the social and economic turmoil, the North American film market will be relatively prosperous, perhaps hiding in the theater or at home, immersed in the virtual world is the best way to escape the cruel reality.

In the first half of this year, the North American cinema market has been running at a high level, and the box office figures for these six months have been nearly 12 percent higher than the same period last year.

But these cannot change the overall economic situation in North America, especially those fund companies that have invested in Hollywood through platter plans, which are also facing a serious crisis.

While Hollywood still looks thriving on the surface, there is a big problem behind it: underfunding.

Shortly after returning to Los Angeles, Tina? According to a survey by a number of institutions, between January 2006 and December 2007, Wall Street banks, hedge funds and wealthy limited partners invested a total of $8.7 billion in Hollywood film production, and this investment led to more than 20 percent more Hollywood film production in the two years to 2008 than in the previous five years combined.

However, the current film investment is drying up.

Since last August, Wall Street has not had a new film fund, which includes equity funds, mezzanine funds and financing partnerships including bank debt.

In the past few years, Hollywood studios have been able to receive some of the money used to make their films through these funds.

For example, in 2006, Ryan? Cavaraug founded Relativity Management to raise more than $2 billion in cash and debt capital from hedge funds such as Elliott's partners and traditional banks such as Deutsche Bank, and used it to create the Gun Hill Road 1 and 2 Film Funds.

However, banks are becoming more and more selective when it comes to lending, and many banks are even unable to protect themselves, and the difficulty and cost of lending can be imagined.

The Wall Street crisis can affect the whole world, and Hollywood is certainly not exempt, with many filmmakers struggling to live on stock funds or lines of credit, and low-tier players like MGM Pictures looking for patrons.

Where is the next person who is willing to burn money in Hollywood? This is the answer that many studios want.

If oil prices and Mumbai's stock market remain elevated. The tycoons of the Middle East and India will not be stingy, but now that the brokerage crisis has hit, everyone is too busy to take care of themselves. I'm afraid this channel is not very realistic.

On the surface, Hollywood should be booming with the North American box office, but in reality, Hollywood's revenue stream has shrunk.

So far this year, Hollywood's DVD sales revenue has fallen by 19 percent compared to the same period last year, and overseas distributors are only interested in pre-sales of typical Hollywood blockbusters such as "Transformers" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

"The situation now is. If a film doesn't have big-name stars and well-known directors involved. ”

in the office. Wait for Duke's gaze to take off the papers, Tina? The Philippines said at the right time, "There will be no overseas buyers who are willing to pre-purchase and distribute the copyright." ”

The sharp decline in pre-sale revenue is also a major problem for Hollywood.

Tina? "The revenue stream for TV has also declined due to declining advertising sales and competition from online video," Fei added. ”

Hearing this, Duke couldn't help but sigh, although he himself will not be affected much, but the economic crisis has had a far greater impact on Hollywood than once understood.

Even a well-known director like Spielberg is now worried about funding.

At the beginning of this year. India's Reliance Communications Group had pledged a $550 million investment in his DreamWorks to smooth its exit from Paramount Pictures, provided that JPMorgan Chase Bank financed $700 million for it.

But it didn't take long for the stock market to crash. Reliance's market value has shrunk by more than 60 percent, and Spielberg and JPMorgan Chase have reduced the amount of funding to $325 million, while Reliance only needs to provide a matching investment, but DreamWorks' share of the production cost of each film will also rise from 40 percent to 70 percent.

No production company wants to face such a situation, which means that if a big-budget film fails, the consequences will be catastrophic.

It's not just DreamWorks. The funding crunch has also forced major studios to adjust the production ratio of various types of films, and the entire industry has seen a 'dumbbell effect', that is, the two extremes of big-budget and small-budget films are frequently released, while the number of films in the middle of the cost is scarce.

Hollywood studios will spend more money on blockbusters like "Transformers," and there will be more films like "Tales of the Night" on the small-budget side, while films with budgets in the $50 million to $100 million range like "Doom" will be significantly reduced.

To be precise, Hollywood is experiencing an unprecedented 'money shortage'.

In the words of the other side of the Pacific, people who have a lot of money in their hands today will become the 'God of Wealth' in Hollywood.

Duke remembers very well that the person who once played this role was called David? Ellison, who used his abundant cash flow to acquire investment shares in the corresponding films at low prices from multiple movie platter plans, and saved Paramount Pictures with a savior attitude, so as to truly gain a foothold in Hollywood.

But now it's no longer David who is leading the way? Ellison too.

"Both Dune Capital and Relativity Management are facing a serious crisis,"

Sitting across from Duke, Tina? Fei told him about the latest situation, "If they can't integrate internal resources and get enough liquidity, they are very likely to follow the path of Lehman Brothers." ”

"How's your contact with them?" Duke asked.

"Me and Ryan? Kavalaug personally talked three times, and he insisted on not letting go of his mouth at 50 percent. ”

Tina? Fei also frowned a little, although he was taking advantage of the fire to rob, it was not easy to buy the film investment shares in the other party's hands at half price.

"Keep talking, keep it as low as possible to 40 percent." Duke thought for a moment and advised, "The rest can be put aside, and Walkey Fund's stake in Twentieth Century Fox's "Avatar" and "The New Men", Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" and "Pirates of the Caribbean 4", DreamWorks Animation's "Crazy Primitives" and "How to Tame Your Dragon" are the focus! ”

"I understand." Tina? When Faye was about to leave, she remembered something, "It is said that David? Ellison is also interested in taking over some of the platter plans. ”

"Well...... Duke said after only a few minutes of thought, "follow the plan you have made in advance, and get the news out." "To be continued.

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