Chapter 20： Genius equals the future

In 1997, before the rise of Internet publicity, movie fans relied more on movie reviews and word-of-mouth to choose moviegoers.

And "Titanic" has an absolute advantage in both aspects.

Especially when the box office data of 6.15 million US dollars in advance came out, many market analysts have foreseen the potential of "Titanic" to sell well at the box office.

On May 7th, Columbia Pictures made a strong campaign for "The Fifth Element", but unfortunately, Sony Entertainment, which lacks TV station publicity, is not the opponent of 20th Century Fox at all.

"The Fifth Element" went ahead with $1.07 million, while the box office of "Titanic" on this day reached $18.96 million!

With the approach of the weekend, the market will inevitably rise, and some people have begun to clamor that the first-week box office of "Titanic" is likely to break the record of 85 million US dollars created by "Jurassic Park"!

On Saturday, "The Fifth Element" topped the North American box office with 13.9 million and "Titanic" with 27.6 million;

On Sunday, "The Fifth Element" had a box office of 8.4 million in North America, and "Titanic" directly broke the single-day box office record of 30 million US dollars with excellent publicity, reaching 31.5 million!

So far, the first week of box office was officially released, and "Titanic" was the leader of the box office with 83.81 million US dollars!

Although it failed to break the first-week box office record set by "Jurassic Park", such data is enough for Fox Pictures to hold a celebration in advance!

In fact, there is no need for Dunn to mention it. Bill McNick, who has been suppressed for more than half a year, can't hold back, and can't wait to win a big victory to consolidate his position.

"Titanic" lived up to expectations, let him live up to his expectations!

However, just to be on the safe side, the official celebration party of Fox Pictures is not suitable to be held now. Bill McNick held a private celebration party in his mansion in Beverly Hills.

It can be said that the stars have arrived!

Basically, as soon as this big guy shows up, as long as he is in Los Angeles and has some famous stars, directors, and producers in Hollywood, no one will lose face.

Especially when the "Titanic" market is optimistic.

And the young director Dunn Walker is naturally one of the protagonists of the celebration reception.

"Hey, little Dunn!"

People who dare to call Dunn like this are rare in Hollywood. Dunn retracted his thoughts of accosting Jennifer Aniston, and when he looked back in surprise, he saw a bearded old man holding a glass of champagne and smiling. towards oneself.

Dunn's eyes lit up instantly, it turned out to be him - George Lucas!

This is George Lucas, who has the supreme status in Hollywood. He actually took the initiative to climb it?

Such an honor really makes Tang En somewhat proud.

At the premiere of "Titanic", he met another big man, Steven Spielberg, but the Jewish guy was obviously taller than Lucas, just smiled and said a few words to Cameron , didn't pay any attention to Dunn at all.

In contrast, George Lucas is much more friendly.

Of course, this is also the reason why Lucas has a close relationship with Cameron, and he can truly understand Dunn's ability.

"Hello, Mr. Lucas." Dunn quickly walked over to him. He respected the big man who created the legend of Star Wars from the bottom of his heart.

"You don't have to go outside, call me George." Lucas's accent is a bit southern, and the unbuttoned buttons at his neck also indicate his detachment. "Congratulations to you, you made a great movie."

"Thank you!" Dunn raised his glass with him, without the nervousness and shyness that young people should have, just like an old friend for many years, "George, I am your loyal fan, and "Star Wars" is my favorite movie of!"

When he mentioned "Star Wars", Lucas's eyes showed a bit of brilliance, and his chubby face couldn't hide his pride, "Your age... seems to be a year younger than "Star Wars"."

Dunn waved his hand and laughed, "Don't mention my age, it's almost a Hollywood joke."

Lucas had a serious look on his face, "Don, you don't have to prove anything like them. When I put my entire fortune into the filming of "Star Wars", wasn't I just as mocked? Genius equals the future!"

"Genius equals the future?" Dunn's eyes lit up and he joked, "George, your words are really philosophical. But I heard that there is another genius who bought your animation department?"

Lucas was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect a kid under 20 to dare to tease him face to face, and said with a smile, "Haha, young people are quick to respond! Indeed, Jobs is a genius. I admit that I was wrong at first."

Jobs bought the animation department of Industrial Light and Magic for $10 million, and turned it into the famous Pixar animation studio.

Dunn lowered his voice and whispered, "Don't worry, George, maybe in the future... I will help you get revenge?"

"Oh? How do you say it?"

Dunn said meaningfully: "For example... buy Pixar back?"

Lucas frowned and said with a little warning: "Little Dunn, I know that you are very capable. You can make a movie like "Titanic", and your special effects skills must be good. But animated movies and live-action movies have some The essential difference is not the high level of special effects, otherwise I wouldn’t be selling the animation department back then.”

Tang En smiled and pointed to his head, "George, genius is equal to the future, that's what you said."

Lucas was stunned for a moment, then laughed out loud, "Good boy, no wonder Jamie admires you so much! React quickly, understand humor, the key is to be neither humble nor arrogant in the face of seniors..."

"I don't think it's respectable, right?" Tang En said with a smile.

Lucas shook his head, "I don't have so many rules! If you don't believe me, you have time to go to Lucasfilm, where, who takes me as the boss?"

Dunn looked at him meaningfully, "I will go."

Lucas noticed his complicated eyes and laughed, "You kid, aren't you trying to make Lucasfilm's idea?"

Dunn didn't deny it, "Isn't that bad for Pixar to return to the embrace of Lucasfilm?"

Lucas shook his head with a solemn look on his face, "Boy, it's good to have ambitions, but you need to be shrewd. If you're not sure, don't talk about it. Even if you're a genius, you can't make enemies anywhere."

Dunn's smile restrained, "Thank you George, I see."

At this moment, Bill McNick walked over with a blushing face. Compared with the indifference some time ago, Bill McNick was obviously much closer at this moment, "Hey, Dunn, what are you talking about with George?"

"Of course we're talking about movies." Dunn didn't answer the topic, and instead asked, "Has the overseas box office come out?"

"Not much, three to ten thousand."

Speaking of this, Bill McNick's face was not natural.

In the final analysis, it was because he didn't trust Tang En enough, and the release and publicity were too late, so that there are very few areas where it is released overseas, and the publicity is also very lacking.

Tang En doesn't matter, no matter how bad it is, it's better than the situation in the previous life, right?

"It doesn't matter, take your time, word of mouth is our greatest weapon!" Dunn expressed confidence.

Bill McNick nodded happily, "Yes, the movie's reputation is very good, although the box office in the first week failed to break the record of "Jurassic Park", but with its super reputation, I believe the film's second week box office, There will never be much less."

With the release of the box office in the first weekend, the market analysis department of Fox Pictures has given a forecast for the future box office.

However, such data, in Dunn's opinion, is simply a joke.

The box office curve of "Titanic" was a legend in a previous life. Other movies have been declining all the way, but "Titanic" is different. Because of insufficient publicity and strong word of mouth, it has continuously bucked the trend, and the box office has increased for several consecutive weeks, which has surprised market analysts throughout Hollywood.

"Bill, trust me, the next week's box office won't be too bad!" Tang En's eyes were bright and he was confident.

Bill McNick smiled and didn't say much. He was no stranger to Dunn Walker's "brilliant words".

On the other hand, George Lucas, who was next to him, had a narrow face. He was teased by this little guy just now, so he wanted to teach him a lesson, "Oh? Dunn, tell me, how much do you think the next week's box office will be?"

"The box office in the first three days exceeded 80 million US dollars, and the next week will be a full seven days. There must be some growth, right?"

Bill McNick thought Dunn was young and didn't understand the market situation, so he quickly settled the situation. After all, Dunn was kind to him, "Don, you may not know much about some situations. Although there are seven full days in the next week, the box office popularity must be high. going down."

Dunn shook his head firmly, "No! Bill, I have confidence in my movie! Remember what I said?"

Lucas smiled and said, "1.8 billion guarantee, 2 billion target?"

"That's right!"

Dunn patted his chest and looked at Lucas deeply, "Trust me, because...genius is equivalent to the future!"

…

"Beautiful young lady, can you get to know me?" Tang En held a wine glass with a gentle smile, and came to a girl in a blue dress very gentlemanly.

Of course he knew her, the famous Hollywood beauty Liv Tyler.

It's just that Liv Tate is still a small person. She participated in the independent film "Stealing Incense" directed by Bernardo Bertolucci last year, because the US distribution rights of this film are in the hands of Fox Searchlight. UU Reading took this opportunity to catch the big ship of Twentieth Century Fox.

Tonight's party, she also trusted her parents for several layers of relationships, and finally got an admission ticket, just to get to know big people, and then step into Hollywood smoothly.

She doesn't want to be in the dirty modeling circle anymore, and she doesn't want to continue to work hard in the chaotic independent film circle. She can't wait to enter the mainstream film circle.

And Tang En's appearance made her heart beat faster, realizing that the opportunity was coming.

"Hello, Mr. Walker, I... I'm Liv Tyler, my father is Stephen Taylor, the lead singer of the 'Aerosmith' band, my mother is Liv Ulman, she is also a star in Sweden, I..."

Tang En was amused by her nervous and incoherent look, "Okay Liv, don't be nervous, do I look scary?"

Liv Tyler said in a panic, "No no no, Mr. Walker, you... You are very kind and handsome."

Dunn waved his hand, "Just call me Dunn."

Liv Tyler smiled like a flower, and called out sweetly, "Don!"

Tang En blinked his eyes and stopped talking, and went straight to the topic, "Liv, there are old guys here, they really aren't suitable for us young people, why don't you... go have a drink at my place?"

It was so late that Liv Tyler understood the meaning of the words even though he was young by inviting the girl to drink at home.

She joined the modeling circle first, and then the independent film circle. She had more experience and knowledge than Tang En, so she twitched her lips playfully and smiled sweetly: "Okay, I don't like the atmosphere here either, it's too restrictive."

"Let's go."

Tang En smiled at her, and Liv smiled back, took his arm naturally, and left with a happy face.