America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM

Chapter 40 My Goal (please follow up)

Rhode Island, Hasbro headquarters, press conference site.

Alan Hassenfield was casual, and a reporter from the New York Entertainment News immediately stood up and asked: "Mr. Hassenfield, it is rumored that Paramount is also seeking the rights to Transformers. Why didn't Hasbro choose Paramount instead of Transformers?" Where is Gao Mei?"

Hassenfeld's face turned dark. What the hell, he started making trouble when he came up. Are all reporters in the entertainment industry so dismissive?

However, he still replied: "MGM and Paramount are both excellent film and television companies. In fact, you can choose anyone. The reason why I finally decided on MGM is because my family likes "Tom and Jerry" very much."

"In other words, this is a choice that favors emotions rather than production capabilities?"

Hassenfeld laughed: "Isn't sentiment a bonus? Otherwise, why are you standing here today? Transformers itself is a representative of sentiment. Of course, Paramount is also a very powerful company, I have said this!"

"But, 'Tom and Jerry' now belongs to Warner, and all of MGM's classics now belong to Warner, so why not go to Warner?"

What kind of stupid question was asked by a stupid reporter? It was clearly looking for trouble. Not only did Alan Hassenfeld look bad, but everyone at MGM also looked bad.

Kerkorian resold MGM many times that year, although he would always buy it back after selling it.

But after some transactions, Warner chose to withhold some classic film and television dramas and add them to its own film library, and only sold those inferior products back to Kerkorian.

These include classic works such as "Tom and Jerry", "Blue Bridge" and "Gone with the Wind".

This incident can be said to be an eternal pain for MGM. If you want to take back these classic works, I am afraid that the only way is to acquire Warner. But for MGM now, it is no more than a fantasy.

Alan Hassenfeld didn't want to pay attention to this reporter: "Sorry, you have asked enough, one question for each person, next!"

A reporter from the Long Island Herald raised his hand and asked: "'Transformers' is the childhood of children all over the world. Countless people are waiting for its live-action. Is MGM confident that it can be produced?"

Eric nodded secretly, this is a normal question. Was that guy just bribed by Paramount to cause trouble?

Eric turned on the microphone power: "This is a redundant question. We are absolutely confident that we will make "Transformers" well. We will find the best director and screenwriter, and choose the most suitable actors. It will be a big production!"

"Can you tell me the cost of MGM's investment and the expected box office?"

Seeing that the other party was very polite, Eric didn't mind answering one more question.

"MGM plans to invest no less than US$500 million. I'm talking about production costs. If you want to present the Autobots on the big screen, you will need a lot of special effects. We are already prepared.

"As for the box office, I estimate it will be around US$700 million, but this is just my expectation. We won't know until the movie is released."

As soon as this statement came out, the scene immediately became excited. Everyone is engaged in entertainment and knows the movie box office very well.

You must know that it is only 2002, not yet the era of box office blowout. What is the concept of 700 million US dollars? It is definitely a standard that only top blockbusters can achieve.

Even Hollywood can only produce one or two movies with a global box office of more than 700 million US dollars each year.

The 1998 box office champion was "Armageddon," with a global box office of $5.3 billion.

The 1999 box office champion was "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace," with a global box office of $2.7 billion.

However, the runner-up "The Sixth Sense" had a global box office of US$7.2 billion, which did not reach 700 million.

The 2000 box office champion was "Mission: Impossible 2" with a global box office of US$4.6 billion.

The 2001 box office champion was "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" with a global box office of US$7.4 billion.

The runner-up was "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" with a global box office of US$9.8 billion.

The third runner-up was "Monsters, Inc." with a global box office of less than $600 million.

So far in 2002, only "Spider-Man" has exceeded 700 million at the box office, reaching 3.5 billion US dollars. Even Star Wars, which has always been strong, cannot do that.

The global box office of "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones" was only US$5.3 billion, which was far worse than the first film and far from the expectations of George Lucas and 20th Century Fox.

In 5 years, Hollywood has only produced 4 movies with a box office of over 700 million. You can imagine how terrible this number is. They are all rushing to win the annual championship.

Eric's bold words made not only Hasbro frown, but even Charlie Cooper's heart skipped a beat.

This is too big to say. Even if Cameron were to come, he would not dare to brag about the box office of 700 million.

The reporters all focused their cameras on Eric in an instant, and some people started asking questions regardless of order.

Eric smiled and kept silent. Telling the answer once was enough. Saying more would be a waste of words. Anyway, this sentence will be published in the newspaper tomorrow. As for whether others criticize him or praise him, the market will give feedback.

The reporter pressed for questioning for a while, but found no results, and the scene gradually returned to calm.

The press conference continued for more than half an hour, and more and more questions were asked until the host said that time was approaching and there was only one last question left.

Eric clicked on an Asian guy standing in the back row. He raised his hand for a long time, but he was too short and could not be noticed.

"Hello, Mr. Eric, I am a reporter from American Entertainment Online. I would like to ask what MGM's plans are regarding actors? Do they already have potential candidates, or are they preparing for auditions?"

Eric took a sip of water and said: "Both of them. The candidates for the heroine and the second male lead have been decided. MGM has already found the most suitable people."

"But the candidates for other roles have not yet been decided. We welcome all actors to audition, but for the male lead, I have to put forward a few requirements. It is best not to be over 24 years old, or at least look like a teenager."

The reporters' eyes lit up and they hurriedly wrote down that this was big news. The Asian guy hurriedly asked: "Mr. Eric, can you reveal the candidate for the heroine? I think many people who like Transformers want to know who she is. ?”

"It is not convenient to disclose this issue for the time being. I can only say that she is the one that MGM has been looking for for a long time. She will definitely not disappoint everyone's expectations."

After saying this, Eric turned off the microphone. The press conference ended and everyone began to take a stand, but the reporters still asked loudly.

"Mr. Eric, is this Natalie Portman?"

"Keira Knightley, is that her?"

"Kristen Dunst, it has to be her, right?"

"Charlize Theron? Is it Charlize Theron?"

"Angelina Jolie?"

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