Chapter 1214: Withdraw?

ILM has really played a big role in Hollywood.

It can be said that the direct or indirect cooperation with Industrial Light and Magic is indispensable for the current Hollywood blockbusters. Even Weta Digital has hired Dennis Murren as general consultant for special effects.

The acquisition of Lucasfilm is equivalent to the acquisition of Industrial Light and Magic. This will further deepen New Universal's role as a mainstay in Hollywood.

Of course, with great power comes great responsibility.

ILM is the special effects consultant for the whole of Hollywood.

For almost every Hollywood blockbuster, ILM will provide talent consultants and contract most of the film's special effects work. Of course, Industrial Light & Magic only does the best clips, and most of the special effects work is outsourced to overseas special effects companies.

For example, a Korean special effects blockbuster "Monster of the Han River", which has been marketed to the United States recently, has been widely promoted. It is known as the rise of Korean special effects masterpiece!

99% of the special effects of the film are completed by local special effects companies in South Korea, and only 1% are completed by American special effects companies. Because there are Korean students studying at ILM, ILM also sent a young special effects engineer to participate in part of the production.

During the promotion process of the film, various boasted that the level of special effects in South Korea is no less than that of Hollywood! The picture of "The Monster of the Han River" will not be worse than those Hollywood blockbusters!

99% of the special effects are made by Koreans themselves, how amazing is this?

South Korea's nationalism is so strong that Hyundai cars are everywhere in South Korea, and there is no market for German and Japanese cars in South Korea. Why can't Koreans eat beef? Of course this is an illusion. Koreans are very patriotic and only eat Korean yellow beef. The supply is in short supply, which makes the price of meat extremely expensive, and everyone has to save money to eat it. In fact, the price of imported beef is very low.

Because of such factors, "Monster of the Han River" will raise the strong national pride of the Korean people, as if the level of special effects in Korea can really be comparable to that of Hollywood.

In fact, the 1% is the core technology and the most critical part. The remaining 99% is not very technically difficult, and Hollywood is not rare at all. Even in Hollywood blockbusters, only the 1% is studied locally, and most of them are outsourced overseas.

After leaving ILM, the little secretary Ella Fisher said excitedly to Dunn: "With ILM, do we have a means of sanctioning them?"

"Um?"

"Humph! You can target Warner, or Paramount and Disney. If they fight against us again, ILM will not accept their orders, and they will not be able to make special effects blockbusters!"

Ella Fisher has been following Dunn to inspect Industrial Light and Magic, feeling that she has discovered a big secret.

Tang En said in disbelief: "What do you think? How can it be so simple?"

Ella Fisher raised her head, a little strange, "Isn't it?"

"Of course not!" Dunn shook his head and said, "MPAA will submit a tax rebate policy for blockbuster special effects to Congress because Hollywood has reached a consensus on this point. The biggest beneficiary of the tax rebate policy is Industrial Light and Magic, why do they do this? Help us? Because ILM wants to promote the development of the special effects industry in Hollywood."

"Really?" Isla Fisher was confused, as if she didn't quite understand.

Tang En paused and said solemnly: "The reason why Industrial Light and Magic is unique is that it can receive the most orders. If we set up obstacles and actively reduce the number of orders and innovation, even Industrial Light and Magic will be rejected again. Exceeding the possibility. In the final analysis, this is a very dynamic industry, and there is no arbitrary capital.”

……

Natalie's belly is getting bigger and bigger, and she is about to give birth in about 7-8 weeks.

During this time, Tang En was very calm. In his spare time, he mainly accompanies her.

Because Lucasfilm is about to be merged into New Universal, Dunn also made some pre-adjustments to the director of the film and television entertainment department.

Nina Jacobson, the former head of Marvel Pictures, will become the chairman and CEO of Dunn Pictures, and will also serve as the vice president of the film and television entertainment department, which is a promotion.

The power of Marvel Studios naturally falls to Kevin Feige.

In addition, the head of Rose Pictures Katherine Kennedy is leaving, she will become the CEO of Lucasfilm. Her first job in Hollywood was George Lucas' secretary, and her film career was closely tied to Star Wars. She is both Dunn and George Lucas agree to take over Lucasfilm's candidate.

As for the CEO of Rose Pictures, Donna Langley, CEO of Universal Home Entertainment, will be in charge.

Plus Amy Pascal, head of Universal Pictures...

The leaders of New Universal's three major film companies, Universal Pictures, Dunn Pictures, and Rose Pictures, will all be women!

Under the current situation of Hollywood feminism, New Universal is both a promoter and a force practitioner.

In May, the box office of "Thor" has reached 320 million US dollars, of which the North American box office is 120 million US dollars and the overseas box office is 200 million US dollars. If nothing else, this will be Marvel Studios' lowest-grossing film.

It seems that the popularity of superheroes has slowed down.

Until May 4th, Thursday.

Another Marvel superhero blockbuster has appeared, this is Daredevil 2: King of Darkness from the dark series!

During the Oscars broadcast, "Daredevil 2" grabbed a 30-second spot and played a trailer. The dark colors and majestic background music almost became ABC's most popular segment of the night. advertise.

At the Super Bowl, Marvel Studios also spent $3 million to buy a 45-second advertising space, and also sent a trailer for Daredevil 2!

You must know that there are many blockbuster movies released this summer in New Universal, "Cars", "Miami Vice", "Pirate Alliance 3", and even "Avengers" directed by Dunn Walker!

None of these films got the precious Super Bowl advertisement spots, and New Universal chose Daredevil 2!

This is a powerful campaign!

Although Daredevil's reputation is not big, he finally gained fame under this powerful propaganda.

Especially the trailer edited by Nolan himself is really magnificent and majestic. Hans Zimmer's soundtrack softens the dazzling compactness of electronic music and the majestic symphony of symphony, which is really shocking.

Early-stage box office, $7.85 million!

Not too high.

But it was officially released on May 5th, which really set off a carnival in the movie market!

Friday, $67.2 million, Saturday $47.8 million, Sunday $43.9 million... Including the early stage, Daredevil 2's first weekend box office exceeded $150 million!

$150 million at the box office in its opening weekend!

When this report came out, it shocked the whole Hollywood.

It seems that they haven't felt this way for a long time.

Such a frenetic opening weekend box office... This is completely the rhythm of a super blockbuster blockbuster with a box office of 1 billion US dollars!

Daredevil?

Oh, God!

When film critics and Hollywood insiders saw such box-office figures, almost all of them exclaimed.

This is so shocking!

The previous "Spider-Man 1" and "Spider-Man 2" grossed more than $1 billion at the box office, and this is America's favorite superhero with many comic book fans.

In addition, it was Tang En who came out in person and won the box office of 1 billion US dollars. Although he was amazed, he was not shocked.

But Daredevil was different.

Although Nolan's "Daredevil 1" is well shot, it has high ratings from critics and fans, and even the highest rated superhero movie in recent years. On imdb, it is even better than Dunn's "Spider-Man 1". "The rating is still high.

But this can't cover up Daredevil's innate weakness, this is just an unknown superhero of the eighteenth line.

The fan effect is very poor.

Many people in the industry were even worried when they heard that Marvel Studios had invested $200 million to make Daredevil 2 at all costs.

Unexpectedly, after the real box office data came out, everyone was shocked!

Not only is the box office dazzling, but the reviews are even more exaggerated!

One-sided praise!

"It's a comic book adaptation, but it's also a dark and highly complex drama! If you're just thinking of it as a superhero movie, you're wrong." - Newsday

"In the compact action plot design, more angles and wider perspectives are used to shoot, and the near-perfect picture shocks the audience. If you are lucky enough to enjoy the IMAX version, you will be even more surprised and cheered. Magic 2: King of Darkness is also unique in that it tells the audience about a hero who grows through his life and inner fears and nightmares." - The Hollywood Reporter.

"Don't be a hero, you're better than a hero! Nolan has created the best comic book movie ever!" - "Rolling Stone"

"He's not our hero, he's the king in the dark. This is Christopher Nolan's most transcendent work, art and technology, seriousness and entertainment, and it's a perfect balance in this film. "--"New York Times"

"Penelope Cruz, the Spanish actress, has created the most successful villain in history. She is an alternative superhero. I suddenly expect Marvel Studios to start the "Erica" ​​project as soon as possible."- —The Los Angeles Times

……

At a time when the whole of Hollywood was shocked by Daredevil 2's astonishing results, there was some confusion within Warner Bros.

What about "Batman 2"?

Two years ago, Daredevil 1 and Batman 2 were released on the same schedule. As a result, Daredevil 1 won word of mouth and Batman 2 won the box office.

This made Barry Mayer very happy, and confidently expressed that he would continue to maintain this advantage in the sequel!

Movie reviews and word of mouth are nothing.

Box office is the most important thing!

Besides, this is Batman! Is America's No. 1 superhero more popular than Spider-Man! Compared with the 18th-tier Daredevil, isn't it crushed?

So, Barry Mayer is full of confidence.

Don't look at the early stage of "Daredevil 2" is very strong, but "Batman 2" is not bad, Warner also bought the advertising space of the Super Bowl and put on the trailer of "Batman 2".

In addition, Barry Mayer also used a little trick in the arrangement of the schedule.

"Daredevil 2" will be released on May 5, and "Batman 2" is scheduled for May 19, just two weeks later.

Generally speaking, half of a movie's box office hits in the first two weeks of its release.

"Batman 2" is scheduled for such a release schedule, and the intention is obvious, just to cut off the tail of "Daredevil 2"!

But now there is trouble.

Daredevil 2 is so hot!

This is exactly the same as when "Star Wars Episode 1", "Spider-Man", and "Pirate Alliance 2" were released! This is running for $1 billion at the box office!

Such a blockbuster movie cannot digest the heat of the market in the first two weeks of its release. Coupled with the unanimous applause of all the film critics, the IMDB website almost gave it a perfect score!

Yes, full marks!

In the past, "The Godfather" was the top all-time scorer on IMDB, and all other films were ranked behind. Until the appearance of Daredevil 2, the IMDB website seemed to be in the middle of a system crash, and more than 1 million ratings poured in overnight, and most of them gave full marks. Pushed the score of "Daredevil 2" to 9.7 points, surpassing "The Godfather", the first in history!

Recently, New Universal seems to be shamelessly trying to take advantage of this and continue to build momentum for Daredevil 2.

Warner has already heard some wind.

In terms of the perfection of the movie, "The Godfather" is a well-deserved number one in history, and it is very famous! It is a must-have teaching material for all film schools, including the director's shooting techniques, as well as the actor's performance skills, including specialties in music, color, editing, etc.

By juxtaposing "Daredevil 2" and "The Godfather" to incite fans to discuss, this will undoubtedly further expand the influence of "Daredevil 2"!

This is a shameless move, but it works.

Now that the Internet is becoming more and more developed, and there are more and more new media, it is the most beneficial marketing method to incite fans to discuss.

What should we do now?

Warner's side is on pins and needles, especially several executives of DC Pictures, all of them are embarrassed.

They are afraid!

Daredevil 2 is too strong!

They also all watched this Marvel blockbuster that started this year's hot summer season. To be fair, they were really shocked! They were really worried about Batman 2.

These two films are not at the same level at all!

Without the Nolan brothers, "Batman 2" is just a well-established superhero film. Batman continues to play the heroic image of the hero in the film, fights the villain, and then has a happy ending.

But Daredevil 2 is different, this is a real epic crime drama!

Alan Horn has confirmed that his contract will expire in 2 months and he will leave. However, he is still the president of Warner Bros. after all. Fighting spirit. Now that Marvel is strong and DC is weak, we have to find a way to develop ourselves first, rather than compete head-on with them.”

Barry Mayer held back his breath and said, "Reschedule? How to adjust? In June is "Pirates 3", in July is "Avengers", those are blockbusters that have already booked a box office of 1 billion US dollars!"

Alan Horn said, "Go to the Christmas stall!"

"you!"

Barry Mayer almost died of anger.

A summer blockbuster that Warner Bros. was pushing, was forced to withdraw from the archives and go to the Christmas stall to grab the market?

Do you still want a face?

Don't forget, this is Batman!

"No!" Barry Mayer waved his hand, his face turned cold, "Daredevil 2 is very strong, but Batman 2 is not bad! The schedule remains the same! Batman 1 can beat Nightcrawler. Devil 1, Batman 2 can also beat Daredevil 2!"