A new month has begun, temporarily two shifts a day, one shift in the morning and one in the evening at nine o'clock!

For Duke, the main work at this stage is to complete the finishing stages of "Return of the King", and then pay attention to the progress of several negotiations, the most important of which is undoubtedly Harry Potter Studios and Joanna? Rowling's copyright negotiations over the later installments of the series.

As Duke predicted, it was a long and difficult negotiation full of slapsticks and divergent interests.

Especially about Joanna? Rowling's share, the two sides are basically fighting for one ten-thousandth of the base, plus companies such as Walt Disney are obstructing it, the negotiations began with the release of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", and have lasted until now, which took more than half a year, and after making certain compromises, a new agreement was finally reached.

From the beginning of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Joanna? Rowling will receive a nine-and-a-half share of all peripheral revenues, including the film's box office, and Harry Potter Studios will pay a one-time $60 million base fee for the rights to adapt the latter four novels.

There's no way around it, Hollywood never has a profit that you don't pay, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone has been a huge success, Joanna? Rowling and her agency team are not fools, how could they give up their rightful benefits.

At the same time, the crew signed new contracts with all the actors, and the remuneration of most of the resident roles has been increased to a certain extent, especially the main young actors, who not only have their new contract salaries risen to the million level, but also received partial compensation after the success of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".

Without touching the profit sharing, substitution is only the last choice, and the crew will still use the original personnel as much as possible.

However, progress in the entire set will be paused slightly. There are two main reasons, one is Chris? Columbus didn't want to continue, and Duke was interested in changing directors; The second is that the voice change period and rapid development period of the young actors have arrived, and the project will be suspended for a year.

And these young actors also have to take acting classes according to Duke's requirements, and in the same way, the crew pays them a high salary, and they have to come up with the corresponding table. The former ones, the later cousins are really bad, especially the Gryffindor Golden Triangle, if it weren't for the fixed image formed by the series, the acting skills would not be much better than the extras at the bottom of Hollywood.

Actually, Duke and Warner are very clear about it, compared to Joanna? Rowling, these little actors are the real trouble, and two more films will be released at most. Their agents and parents will inevitably come running again to negotiate and even ask for a share of the profits.

But after so many years in Hollywood, and with Warner Bros. by his side, Duke was ready to deal with it, and when the time came, he signed a box office profit share with the young actors.

Harry Potter Studios is a separately incorporated company that can raise funds from Duke Studios and Warner Bros. on the basis of loans......

Over time, the popularity of "The Two Towers" has been declining, and the North American box office for the entire month of August only received $23.5 million. Although the soundtrack and DVD set have not yet been released, the promotion of "Return of the King". But it has been officially put on the agenda.

Because it is still far from the release, especially the hot screening of the first two parts, the market is full of expectations for the final chapter, Warner Bros. is still around "The Two Towers" in terms of publicity, and after "The Return of the King" completes the post-production work, for the time being, Duke is only more or less revealing some news.

"Director Rosenberg. Is it convenient to reveal the news of "The Return of the King"? ”

At the door of the Lord of the Rings Studio, Duke was stopped by several entertainment reporters, and when he heard their questions, he rarely replied with a few words, "I will use my instant sharing account to announce the latest posters, trailers, and release news." You can follow it at any time, and you are welcome to reprint it. ”

"Share your account instantly?"

One reporter was stunned, and another reporter reminded him, "It's the social networking site where the poster of "The Return of the King" was released for the first time." ”

Duke smiled, walked into the studio, escorted by two bodyguards, and said hello to the publicity department first, using his instant share account every few days to post some updates about the film.

Although the energy invested in this website is extremely limited, within the scope of his ability, Duke will also help to promote it, especially after the first few times, the website has taken advantage of the popularity of the Lord of the Rings, and the number of registrations has exceeded 500,000 in one fell swoop.

That's a remarkable number for a website that's still in its infancy.

"Hi, Duke."

Just entered the office, Wallace? Lee knocked on the door and walked in, as if he had something to talk about.

"Lee, what's wrong?" Duke sat down and gestured to the chair across from his desk.

Wallace? Lee sat down, he knew Duke's work style, and asked directly, "What do you think of my recent cousin, BOSS?" ”

Having struggled in the independent film industry for many years, he knows very well that opportunities must be fought for by himself, and he will also promote himself at the right time.

"Not bad." Duke nodded approvingly, "It's better than I expected." ”

Some of the habits of people who come out of the independent film circle, Duke knows a little bit, maybe his old classmate has encountered too many walls in the independent circle, and the literary atmosphere on his body is not strong, in the post-production zuò of "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King", it can indeed be described as excellent.

Duke understood what he was trying to say and raised his hand to stop Wallace? Li thought about it for a moment and said, "But that's not enough. Li, I have already got the adaptation rights, and you have to prove to me in the next time that you are capable enough and that you have the value to let me invest. ”

If just the post-production work of two films can make him invest tens of millions of dollars, it would be too child's play.

Like all Hollywood companies, investing in movies is never a simple matter, nor is it a decision that can be made on the brain, and any investment, any project, is relatively cautious.

"Lee, I need a one-and-a-half-minute trailer." Duke still gave the other party a chance to prove himself, "You are responsible for cutting the first trailer of "The Return of the King", if I am satisfied......"

Wallace? Lee's eyes lit up immediately, but Duke changed his voice, "I will have a new project next year, as long as the trailer meets my basic requirements, you can assist me in preparing this film with Anna next year, this is your chance to prove yourself up close." ”

"Is it the new script that's going to Paris to shoot?" Wallace? Lee asked.

Duke nodded, "It's the script I gave Anna last week, you two can talk about it first." ”

After completing the outline of the script and the character setting, Duke handed over the script to the editorial department of the Duke Studio, which was filled in and perfected by other screenwriters, and the plot of this script was not surprising, from creativity to storyline development, it was all Hollywood's usual things, even the most touching father-daughter relationship in it, it had nothing to do with strangeness and innovation.

As he said, the popular films are basically half a Pacific Ocean away from the new ideas.

Regardless of the rest, let's take this project that has been named "Hurricane Rescue" as an example, if this script is submitted to the film company by a newcomer, there is a 99.9% chance that it will be sent to the script library after being browsed a little, and slowly accumulate dust in the corner, I don't know when it will come out.

But in the hands of directors and producers who have had successful experiences, its treatment will be completely different.

Although the script of "Hurricane Rescue" is completed, Duke is not ready to start production immediately, and there is still a lot of work to be done on "Return of the King", which is just a small investment and a time-consuming project, so there is no need to rush at all.

Since September, Duke's instant sharing account has successively released some posters and character modeling and other relevant information of "The Return of the King", and he, as a major shareholder, has made some communication with Google, as long as someone uses Google to search for "The Return of the King" or social networking sites, etc., the instant sharing website will inevitably appear in the forefront of the search.

And with his advice, InstantShare's new website and social media have simplified the functionality to make it easier for users to get started, which is also a small help that Duke has done for his girlfriend.

After all, he is not a professional, and he can only use the influence of himself and his works to help Ivanka promote the website.

What's more, Duke has always held 45% of the shares, and if the website can really become bigger, it will be a good thing for him.

By the end of October, thanks to the vigorous promotion of all aspects, the number of registrations of the instant sharing website finally exceeded the 1 million mark, and the average number of daily visits was close to 300,000.

At the same time, after a slow screening, the North American box office of "The Two Towers" finally broke through the $500 million mark on October 25, which is the second film in history to exceed $500 million at the North American box office, and the first Duke work to exceed $500 million at the North American box office, and the global box office has also completed the surpassing of "The Fellowship of the Ring", breaking through the $1.2 billion mark in one fell swoop, as high as $1,215.77 million!

But unlike when "The Fellowship of the Ring" passed a billion dollars, the media and fans across the United States were very calm, and such a result was seen by everyone two months ago, and after a long wait, and the number of times Duke succeeded, the media and the public no longer felt novel.

"If 'The Two Towers' doesn't exceed $500 million in North America, and the global box office can't compare to 'The Fellowship of the Ring,' that's news!"

The Los Angeles Times' review undoubtedly represents the opinion of the majority.

However, this is indeed a welcome achievement, and since mid-October, the Duke's Manor has been busy setting up the banquet hall and preparing a grand pie, both for the success of "The Two Towers" and more for the celebration of Ivanka's twenty-first birthday. (To be continued......)

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