~： Two hundred and seventy-two - join forces in advance

"An insane marketing, an art of deception that continues to rise amid the rebuke of fans!" - Los Angeles Times

In the CEO office of Paramount Pictures, Shirley Lansing put down the newspaper in her hand. After the start of a new working day, various news of "Blair Witch" almost occupied the headlines of all newspaper entertainment sections.

At the same time, the marketing cases related to this film have also become the focus of research for all Hollywood film companies.

After the film won an incredible $17.88 million at the box office on Friday, despite the scolding from fans who watched it, the popularity of the film did not decrease but increased, and it was reported again at the box office of $19.98 million on Saturday.

In this strange atmosphere, the film was criticized by fans and the media, and the box office went up all the way. After Sunday, the first weekend box office exceeded $50 million, reaching $52.23 million.

Hollywood suddenly appeared in this kind of bizarre explosion, Shirley Lansing had people collect film information early in the morning, and the survey data of a third-party survey company, these are not problems for Paramount CEO.

Generally, around March every year, whether it is the media or the public, their attention will be on the awards season, and there are very few blockbuster films that will be released during this time period.

But "Blair Witch" broke out without any scruples, and detonated public opinion in a short period of time, which made the trajectory of this film even more worthy of analysis.

"Good morning, Shirley."

After knocking on the door, the secretary led Mel Gibson into the CEO's office and greeted him. The first-line movie star also looked at the newspaper on the table.

"In the past few days, the media has been full of **** news about this film. I also took the time to watch it. The film is just a mess of shit. I have to say, Harvey Weinstein, the fat fat man, this time he played A good trick."

"Who knows." Shirley Lansing waited for the secretary to go out, closed the office door, and frowned slightly at a pile of statistics. "This matter is not so simple. Don't look at the little director who is being scolded now. Maybe Harvey Weinstein is not the real man behind the scenes. I have specially asked someone to investigate."

Although the information she received was rather ambiguous, the fact that the Witch Studio was opened by a partnership between the two parties can prove that this crazy, bold and very successful marketing plan was not manipulated by Harvey Weinstein himself.

Mel-Gibson heard her words and said with some emotion: "If this is the case, this person's methods are really clever! He hid behind the scenes, avoided all possible risks, and was able to be in this crazy plan. , to make enough profit, the people who made this plan will completely change the promotion of Hollywood movies."

This viral marketing plan uses deception to drive fans into the theater. Although there is a lot of scolding after watching the movie, it has gained great social influence from the scolding.

Most importantly, even the director Mel Gibson can see that the film has perfectly transformed public opinion and popularity into actual box office figures.

"Okay, this movie has nothing to do with us."

Remembering the purpose of coming here, Mel Gibson is going to get down to business. "Should we agree to Townsend-Rothman's proposal? I've been thinking about it for the past few days. It's very risky!"

Shirley Lansing nodded, also worrying about the risks. "Mel, I'm actually inclined to say yes, but don't announce our release date. As long as we want to release in May, we can't avoid those two films. Instead, it's better to join forces with Twentieth Century Fox. Let's squeeze 'Batman: Hour of War' together!"

Although I don't know where Townsend-Rothman investigated, their new film is going to be released at the end of May, but the other party's proposal is very tempting.

Let "Braveheart" be released a week after "Batman: Hour of War" and "Die Hard 3". The two giants put pressure on the theater company to squeeze each other's opening theaters.

This will indeed play a role. The six giants, 20th Century Fox and Paramount, will join forces, and the three major theater companies will definitely give some face.

Then, they gathered two huge media resources and tried their best to discredit each other's films from all aspects, so as to grab the audience at the beginning of the summer season.

Both of them know that if they do nothing, or just operate routinely, there is a high probability that "Batman: War Hour" will be killed, once again causing a "Joker"-style market crush, forming a winner-take-all situation.

Since there is no way to face Warner Bros. alone, it is better to join forces and restrain each other together.

"Shirley, the risks involved cannot be ignored!"

Mel-Gibson reminded: "If according to our original plan, the films of their two companies are released a weekend apart, no matter who wins, we can temporarily avoid the edge of that winner."

Although this is the most conservative plan, it is also the most passive plan, and he has a very big concern. "Have you ever thought that if those two films were to lose both sides, or to separate fans from different audiences, Townsend Rothman would definitely turn his face and United Warner Bros. would turn around to suppress us!"

This situation is very common, especially during the most important summer vacation. Two companies that were allies one second will become life-and-death opponents the next and begin to calculate each other.

To put it bluntly, everything is for profit. Just like the six major companies now, there is a lot of cooperation and fierce struggle in the dark.

Shirley Lansing shook her head and took a sip of the cold coffee. "As long as we want to release in May, it's unavoidable, unless you're willing to avoid the summer schedule and move Braveheart to October or November."

This year's summer season started very abnormally. Just because Warner Bros. announced the release time of "Batman: Hour of War" in advance, a large number of films originally scheduled to be released in May had their files changed, and they all wanted to avoid it. A super giant.

This has caused overcrowding in the later schedules. Almost from the first weekend of June, at least two major productions will be released every weekend. Most film companies would rather go to the crowded later months than face it. Compete with Batman.

Wayne Greenberg has proven more than once that, once his film is successful, it can turn into a viewing frenzy that lasts for weeks, and it would be self-defeating to release it at the same time as his.

Everyone knows that he can't be successful all the time, and there will always be times when he will encounter Waterloo. But no one wants to gamble to see if "Batman: War Hour" is his Waterloo.

The return of the king of darkness to the summer blockbuster, the production cost alone is hundreds of millions of dollars, and the film is the most familiar Batman, everyone in the circle knows very well, as long as there are no major accidents, this film The box office will not be lower.

Mel Gibson and Shirley Lansing see this strange situation in the May schedule as a huge opportunity.

Their original idea was very simple, not to announce the release date of "Braveheart", and to announce the release time while promoting the film after the Oscars. This way, as long as they can withstand the momentum of "Batman: Hour of War" in its third week, their films will have at least a two-week gap.

"Mel, if Townsend Rothman doesn't call, we still have the possibility to fish in troubled waters, but now..."

Shirley Lansing shook her head and said seriously to the big star in front of her: "I know that old Jewish man. If we can't reach an agreement on this matter, he will definitely join hands with Warner Bros. without hesitation. Be me, and I will definitely do it, one less competitor, and it is possible to get some more box office.”

"Ok, then do it." Mel Gibson nodded. "When you contact the media and film critics later, if you need me, you will notify me."

In fact, for this "Braveheart", his ambition is not just the theater market. For the filming of this film, Mel - Gibson is both a director and an actor, which is an important work for him to break through the Oscar.

In his heart, he's not afraid of 20th Century Fox's "Die Hard 3". If he just competes with this film, he has a good chance of winning, but with "Batman: War Hour" it's different. .

He had studied Wayne Greenberg before, and this young director made him feel uncomfortable but had to admit the talent of the other party. The box-office achievements made so far from their debut alone are worthy of careful consideration by everyone.

"I will communicate with Townsend Rothman." Shirley Lansing said, "That's it for today. I will have a meeting later to discuss the Oscar for Forrest Gump."

"OK."

The two shook hands and ended the conversation.

After Mel Gibson left, Shirley Lansing once again turned her attention to the survey data on her desk. She knows more than the outside world reports, and there is no way that "Blair Witch" was written by Harvey Weinstein alone.

Thinking about the news I got, is there anything I can use...

"Blair Witch"'s opening weekend was a big hit, prompting Bob Weinstein, who was already ready, to send out copies of the film on Sunday. In this off-season for movies, it is definitely imperative to expand the scale of screenings.

Starting from the new weekend, the number of theaters for this film has increased to 2,450. The ample number of screens also ensures that the film can squeeze all its box office potential in a short period of time.

From the filming of the film to the moment when the box office started to explode, the propaganda funds invested in the project "Blair Witch" alone reached an astonishing 15 million US dollars, while the filming cost only a few hundred thousand US dollars. , and most of the expenditure is still used to buy film.

But as soon as the film was released, the box office in the first weekend earned back all these initial investments, and it has already begun to generate a large amount of profit.

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