America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM

Chapter 232 Where is the copyright of "The Hobbit"? Who was the box office champion in 2004?

The sun shines on the bed through the window. The weather outside is still cold, but the United States has always been the most wasteful country in the world. The air conditioner does not stop, let alone a place where rich people gather like Beverly Hills.

Eric was leaning on the head of the bed, Theron was half lying on his shoulders, and the red hickeys on his neck and chest were clearly visible.

The celebration last night was so intense. The excitement of winning the Best Actress plus the surprise prepared by Eric made both of them very excited.

Not to mention that Theron's body has heavy traces of battle, but there are also quite a few on his.

A laptop sat on Eric's lap, and he clicked on Yahoo News. Sure enough, the entertainment section was almost filled with Oscar news, and there were more or less other sections.

The only thing that can steal the spotlight from this event is the upcoming Super Bowl.

"Isn't it, this Oscar is still boring? The New York Times comment is really confusing." Theron complained, pointing to a news headline.

Eric clicked the mouse to open it, and it turned out that he was complaining about Oscar's growing cowardice.

In the past, I was not afraid to make political fuss, engage in bitter satire, and criticize even the hottest topics. However, in recent years, I have become more and more timid.

Especially after the war broke out last year, the academy banned and warned every participating star not to talk about politics and to pay attention to their words and deeds, so everyone restrained themselves a lot.

Big guys like Eric don't care about the academy's ban, but they are even more reluctant to take a political stand easily.

Ordinary celebrities don't dare to disobey the academy's orders. Only high-status thorns dare to be the first.

For example, at yesterday's Oscars, only Sean Penn said, "There are no weapons of mass destruction," but he didn't dare to say more.

Christo's jokes are more subtle and sparse, and it's normal to be criticized for being boring.

“‘The Lord of the Rings: The Third’ swept the 76th Oscars, winning all 11 awards it was nominated for, unprecedented and unprecedented!”

"Sean Penn was crowned the emperor with "Mystic River" and was nominated four times and finally won the award; Charlize Theron was crowned the queen with "The Devil Wears Prada" and broke through herself."

"As film technology continues to mature, the competition for Oscars will become increasingly fierce, and surpassing "The Lord of the Rings" may become a fantasy."

"The battle for Best Actress has come to an end, Charlize Theron had the last laugh, and the Olsen sisters regrettably lost."

""Adele's Life" failed to pursue its dream and regretfully accepted the Best Original Screenplay Award. The Olsen sisters congratulated Charlize Theron on winning the Best Actress crown."

"Vanity Fair competes for beauty. A collection of female celebrities' outfits. Who is the most beautiful one?"

"Eric Cooper once again defeated a strong opponent to accept the Best Original Screenplay Award. He has been in the industry for one year. He is a true movie wizard!"

“Sofia Coppola admits she’s not disappointed, applauds ‘Lord of the Rings’.”

"The award-winning hit "Adele's Life" failed to win the Oscars. The gay community expressed disapproval and the impartiality of the Academy was questioned."

Theron watched the news with great interest: "Dear, it seems that New Line is really going to rise. Look at this news. The "Lord of the Rings" trilogy has brought at least more than 800 million US dollars to New Line. of direct income.”

"This is only direct income. If you include copyright and other extended income, if the golden five years are used as a period, it is expected to bring in more than 1 billion US dollars."

"In addition to extending the copyright income, there are also the prequel and sequel of "The Lord of the Rings". Mr. Tolkien's world view is very huge."

"New Line really has hope of getting rid of its reputation as an independent company and charging towards the top seven in Hollywood."

But Eric scoffed at this report and kept laughing.

"What's wrong? Why are you laughing, dear?"

Eric pointed to his cheek, and Theron smacked it obediently.

After a pleasant tongue kiss, Eric answered her questions.

"My dearest actress, you can only believe at most 30% of this bullshit report. It is full of conjecture and unrealistic inferences."

"'Lord of the Rings' is indeed extremely profitable, but splitting it at US$1.8 billion is still nonsense. New Line can get around US$1 billion at most."

"Because it also involves dividends from Peter Jackson, Miramax, the Tolkien Copyright Society and other parties."

"Let me tell you something. Peter Jackson alone got at least 300 million US dollars from "Lord of the Rings". Especially after the success of the first part, his share also increased."

"How do you know such a secret?" Theron was a little surprised.

It's normal for her to be surprised. In fact, the figure of 300 million US dollars is too exaggerated. Let alone 2004, even in 2024, it will still shock people's jaws.

Before winning the Best Actress Award, Theron was not a top female star in Hollywood, but she was still firmly in the top tier.

However, her salary is only about 6 million US dollars. If it is more, no one will hire her. The producer will consider it and think that you are not worth the price.

Even if she becomes a Best Actress now, the highest market price will not exceed 10 million. It is impossible to get any more, and there will be no box office dividends.

US$10 million is still the salary for a commercial blockbuster, and if the film fails, the price will be reduced immediately.

US$300 million is enough for her to make 30 movies. She probably won't be able to make so many movies in her lifetime, so surprise is inevitable.

"Don't believe me? I have a pretty good relationship with Big Beard. He revealed it once after he drank too much, and he proudly showed off his bad taste to me."

"Oh my God! 300 million US dollars, I can't believe it. Can a director make so much money? My dear, I suddenly want to transform." Theron has not yet recovered.

Eric pinched her cheek: "The director's job is not easy. If an actor is a screw, then the director is an artist. Their positions and angles are completely different."

"I ask you a very simple question, do you know how many components a mature crew should contain?"

"Let me count you, including producer, chief director, screenwriter, executive producer, co-producer, life producer, executive director, casting director, chief cameraman, assistant cameraman, radio team, lighting team, props team, makeup team, costume team, set team, and actor team.”

"There is also a post-editing team, a post-dubbing team, a post-production team, a publicity team, a publicity team, and a ground crew team."

"Okay, okay, okay, okay, I don't want to be a director anymore, it's too much trouble, and it's going to make my head hurt." Theron stopped him hastily.

Eric chuckled: "Just the name makes you feel troublesome. The reality is that you have to coordinate them well, and no mistakes can be made in any aspect."

"You can make hundreds of thousands of people operate efficiently under your command, and finally achieve the effects you want and express the thoughts you want to express. This is the ability of a top director."

"There are very few directors in Hollywood who have this ability, and Peter Jackson is one of them."

What Eric is talking about now is still very simple. When it comes to actually making a movie, it is much more complicated than this and there are more problems to face.

Take last summer's hit "Pirates of the Caribbean," for example. Although director Gore Verbinski is not well-known, he definitely has the ability to become a top director.

The most well-known example in the industry is that when this guy saw that the first part of the movie was a hit, he immediately happily prepared the script for the second part with the screenwriter in advance, waiting for Disney to give the order to start filming.

In the end, he did wait, but what he waited for was not good news about Mickey Mouse, because Disney bosses believed that only the second film was too slow.

If we want to make a movie, we should learn from "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Matrix" and shoot the second and third parts together. We can make money while the iron is hot. The release date has already been set.

But the problem is that everyone writes all the scripts in advance before shooting, so that they can shoot at the same time.

"Pirates of the Caribbean" has not yet considered filming the third part, and the script has not even been completed yet.

This kind of commercial blockbuster cannot be tossed around for several years like the King of Sunglasses. Disney requires both high quality and fast shooting. A pure beast is like your client!

But director Verbinski had no choice but to obey orders.

To make matters worse, "Pirates of the Caribbean" had many filming locations, with a lot of islands to visit, and the shooting time was very tight, so he could only visit each island once.

That means you have to shoot the second and third parts at the same time.

But what about the script? Where's the fucking script?

How do I know what to shoot without a script?

So Verbinski could only negotiate urgently with the screenwriter, and after going to an island, he hurriedly compiled a plot. Regardless of where the plot should be placed in the movie, he filmed it first.

So the two-line shooting made the timelines of the two stories completely messed up.

On the fourth day of filming for the second part, the last scene of the third part's finale has been filmed.

Don't say that the actors don't know what they are filming, no one knows what they are filming!

Verbinski himself didn't even know what plot to film in order to round out the story. Normally when a director encounters a situation like this, he would have given up and finished the work.

But surprisingly, the final result was quite good.

What is a top director? This is!

So they are worth the price!

"Baby, there is still one very important thing that I haven't clarified about this report, and that is the copyright issue."

"Although Mr. Tolkien has many works, the one most closely connected with "The Lord of the Rings" is undoubtedly "The Hobbit". Other works such as "The Children of Hurin" and "The Silmarillion" are also related, but the age gap is too big. For a long time, the story is relatively fragmented, and it is not suitable for filming at the moment.”

"And the rights to The Hobbit are not owned by Miramax or New Line. Why don't you guess who got it?"

Hearing this question, Theron immediately realized something, and his beautiful eyes revealed surprise: "My dear, do you have the copyright?"

Eric nodded: "Yes, this can be regarded as one of the few high-quality assets left by the former MGM. Of course, if you look at it before the popularity of "Lord of the Rings", no one realized that this thing could onto the big screen."

"That was in the 1970s. The Tolkien family sold the rights to "The Hobbit" to United Artists. Later, United Artists was acquired by MGM, so the rights naturally went to MGM. "

"I should thank Warner for not leaving this gold mine behind. Now it belongs to me."

"The Lord of the Rings is a global hit, spreading Tolkien's name all over the world, and paving the way for the filming of "The Hobbit." In addition to thanking Warner, I also have to thank the Weinstein brothers and New Line, they were also the founders.”

"Then start this project quickly. We will also shoot a trilogy. Taking advantage of the enthusiasm of movie fans around the world, the project will definitely make a lot of money." Theron suggested.

After the movie was released, MGM's stock price must have soared, and the 1% of her own shares would more than double.

Eric waved his hand: "Don't worry, "The Hobbit" is a high-quality project in your opinion, and it is a bargaining chip in my opinion. Some people will be more anxious than me."

"You mean New Line and Miramax?"

"Hmph! It's all the companies in Hollywood, but the two of them must be the most anxious. It won't be long before lobbyists come to visit."

"But why do we need to co-produce? MGM is fully capable of doing it independently, so why should we share the cake with them?" Theron was a little confused.

Eric stroked her blond hair, the scent of intoxication still lingering on it.

"I said that copyright is just a bargaining chip. New Line can join in if it wants to, but it needs to show enough sincerity."

"money?"

"No, I don't lack money, what I lack is support."

"What are you talking about honey? I have no idea what you're thinking."

"I have an initiative that will change the development pattern of global film and television. It will be released soon. It will attract dissatisfaction and siege from many people. Although I have already attracted a few allies, it is not enough. I need to unite more people around me. "

"I get it, it's like YouTube and Facebook, right?"

"That's all. You are such a smart girl!"

"Haha, I occasionally pay attention to news in other fields. There are too many reports about Facebook and YouTube. Many people say that these two websites are pushing the Internet era to a higher and further future."

"They all praise you as a genius, not just in movies. Movies have concealed your talent. Some people even suggested that you concentrate on the Internet."

"Grab it with both hands, both hands must be hard!"

"What's the meaning?"

"Learned in China, it means doing two things together to achieve mutual success."

Theron nodded: "Now that the Oscars are over and many crews have started filming, when are you going to start filming "Inception"."

"I think it will be soon. The crew has started to set up, and filming of Nicole Kidman's "La Vie en Rose" has also been completed. Filming will definitely start in March."

"Do you want to release it by the end of the year again?"

"I haven't thought about it yet. I have several blockbuster films waiting to be scheduled. I need to plan them carefully. The Christmas season is too crowded, which is not a good thing. I have to talk to Spielberg."

"DreamWorks?"

"Yes, they are producing an animated film for me. It is an A-level animated blockbuster. MGM has invested more than 100 million US dollars. If nothing else, it will top the box office this year."

"Huh? Cartoon? Champion?"

"Yes, it will definitely happen."