~： Five hundred and fifty one - bitter success

The normal distribution process of a Hollywood movie is always after it is officially released in the theater market, and then the movie will take advantage of the popularity to release video tapes, original albums, and the authorization of related derivatives, etc., and some more popular movies. , if it achieves a relatively eye-catching box office, it will even have to wait for several rounds of TV premiere rights to be sold before the producer will release the videotape.

Of course, the movies that can be officially released in theaters only account for a small part of the entire Hollywood production industry, and most of the low-budget movies. At the beginning of production, the production company's goal is the video tape market, and there is no chance at all. Appeared in movie theaters.

But this definitely does not include a movie of the size of "Batman: The Dark Knight". Warner Bros. has a complete distribution plan for the movie, and it is impossible to kill the chicken. Even that single album related to the movie was meant to market the movie in theaters, and Warner Bros. basically didn't plan to make much money on that album.

The two teenagers said that the movie peripheral store was only half a block away from the cinema. Zach Snyder and others followed patiently. The big incident on The Dark Knight also means that the movie's dream of hitting a higher box office will be shattered in an instant.

"I heard that there has always been a saying in the circle." Charlize Theron whispered to Hector Henry next to him with some emotion. "I've heard many people say that every big investment and big production in Hollywood, from the start of the project to the official downgrade, is always accompanied by countless troubles, inexplicable troubles, and there are almost no exceptions."

This is indeed like a curse. As long as it is a relatively well-known big production in Hollywood, it will encounter inexplicable troubles from the beginning of shooting. There are many reasons for this, but almost every big production is officially released. After the release, it is true They were all killed from all kinds of trouble and competition.

As long as he thinks of "Batman: The Dark Knight", the plot leaks, the sequel leaks, etc., the heart of Zach Snyder, who is walking in front, is slowly sinking.

It can be said that he has been with Wayne for a long time, and he has a relatively thorough understanding of this circle, so he has always been clear that every successful person is the target of countless people who want to make him unlucky, sometimes even doing something right I don't have any interests, but as long as the successful person is unlucky, there are countless people who are willing to do it.

"I'll go take a look first, Ector, you call Nina, whether it's true or false, you have to inform the boss, none of us know if there's anything else waiting behind it."

Turning his head and talking to Hector Henry, Zach Snyder walked a few steps quickly, followed the two teenagers, and walked into this video store specializing in the sale of movie peripherals.

After entering the store, he found that there were a lot of fans queuing up. In the store with a maximum of 40 to 50 square meters, it was like a sardine juncture. Hundreds of people were stuffed into it. Fortunately, the order was guaranteed, and most people were waiting in line to check out. .

There is a very obvious feature in the crowd in the queue, that is, almost everyone holds a videotape with a simple bat logo in their hands. Seeing this, Zach Snyder almost jumped up in shock.

You must know that Hollywood's copyright awareness has always been very strong, and no one is stupid enough to make such a mistake. Although piracy has always existed in North America, it only belongs to a very small part of the underground, especially since the 1980s. I don’t know how many years I haven’t seen a lot of pirated copies on the market, and doing so is completely worth the loss for the producers.

Hurrying from the shelf and picking up a video tape, Zach Snyder squeezed into the queue of fans, listening to these young people, chatting excitedly with each other about topics related to "Batman: The Dark Knight". The heart has slowly cooled down.

It's very simple, as long as this thing appears on the market, it can't be remedied at all. Even if it doesn't flow out much, it will have a huge impact on the movies that are being shown. Not much.

This is just a very ordinary peripheral store, no one knows how many stores that sell Batman video tapes in North America!

Not caring about anything else, Zach Snyder handed the cashier a Franklin, ignoring the other party's call for change, turned around and walked out of the store, they had to notify the news as soon as possible. to Warner Bros.

"I have called Nina, the boss is participating in a TV talk show, and Nina will tell him what happened after the end." Seeing Zack Snyder coming out, Ector Henry came up to him in a few steps, He said while taking the videotape from the other party's hand to watch.

"Ok."

Nodding, Zach Snyder looked at Charlize Theron, frowned, and said, "Sally, you go back to rest first, don't disclose this to anyone, Ike and Ictor go directly to Warner. Brother Building."

The matter is far more influential than the three of them imagined. Similar to "Batman: The Dark Knight", a movie with huge influence and huge investment, this is the first time such a thing has happened in the circle, so when Zach Snyder two After feeling Warner Bros., I learned that Bruce Rosenblum had been informed of the situation.

At the same time, Wayne, who was participating in a TV interview in Chicago, did not hesitate after learning of Nina's message after the show. The hotel did not bother to go back, and handed over the crew that was being intensively promoted to Charles Rowan to lead, I directly booked a business jet and headed for Los Angeles that day.

Piracy appears! This was the first thought in Wayne's mind when he got on the plane. But in Hollywood, this situation is one of the most unlikely to happen. He was very anxious along the way, and the film had a good start. Of course, he didn't want to make himself elaborate because of these inexplicable things. The work effort was in vain. At eight o'clock in the evening, a Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicle parked under the Warner Brothers Building in Burbank. Wayne looked tired and took Nina and Sergey. After getting off the car, he walked into the building in a hurry. Numbers, like his heart at the moment, kept hanging up a little bit.

But when the three of them knocked on the door of the CEO's office, what they saw was very different from what they had imagined. Zach Snyder and Hector Henry, along with Bruce Rosenblum and John Gray. , Jeff Robinoff, and his secretary were sitting in the lounge area happily laughing, with no sense of urgency at all.

"I won the bet!"

Before Wayne could greet a few people, Bruce Rosenblum saw his figure and immediately stood up excitedly, waving his arms, pointing at the clock on the wall, and said excitedly to the rest of the group: "I'm still Before nine o'clock, I won, and you each owe me a good bottle of wine."

"Damn, I thought no matter how fast he was, he would be back in the middle of the night!"

Jeff Robinoff slammed the cigar out in the ashtray, stood up in a low voice, walked to the three of Wayne, shrugged, and said, "We called Charles, He said that you didn't return to the hotel, but got on the plane and rushed back."

Seeing the relaxed attitude of the few people, Wayne secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that if there was an irreversible situation, these people would definitely not have the time to bet with his time back, at least now. Sure, there should be something behind this that I don't know about.

He hugged Jeff Robinoff lightly. He sat on the sofa in the lounge area, turned around and looked around at the few people who were holding back their smiles. He spread his hands and said helplessly. : "Tell me, guys, what the **** is going on."

"Look at this."

Zach Snyder smiled, picked up the video tape he bought today from the coffee table, handed it to him and said, "Take a good look, this thing will definitely give you a huge surprise."

Taking the videotape, Wayne noticed at first glance that the cover of this thing was very rough, and it was occupied by large black shadows. But it's normal. After all, the poster of "Batman: The Dark Knight" is also based on darkness. Judging from the black bat pattern on this video tape, it is indeed very confusing.

What's even more strange is that at a glance on the entire cover, there is no text, no logo of the production company, no actor's name, no director's name, or even the movie name.

"here."

A finger tapped at the bottom of the tape, and Zack Snyder's voice sounded at the same time. Only then did Wayne notice that at the very bottom of the tape, there was a line of very small letters with the name of the film: "Dark Knight 2" ".

"What?!"

Looking up in confusion, Wayne didn't understand what it meant at all, what exactly did it mean. Several people saw his expression, and Bruce Rosenblum couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, here's the thing..."

Hector Henry was relatively honest, shrugged, and began to explain from the beginning. "We bought the tape and watched it right away. The stuff in it, in a way, has nothing to do with Batman: The Dark Knight, which might be considered a genius Marketing, but not about our film content."

Without waiting for him to continue, Bruce Rosenblum immediately continued his words: "I have investigated, this is a masterpiece of a new film company this year called The Asylum (Sanctuary). Their founder was originally It's a Village Roadshow executive named David Michael Larter, and this thing was the first project their company made."

With Bruce Rosenblum's narration, Wayne also understood why a few people were not worried at all, but still showed a smile that couldn't help but laugh. It is really too absurd, comparable to the plot that only appears in the movie , it really makes the Warner Bros. executives who are facing the enemy can't laugh or cry from a punch to cotton.

The former Village Roadshow executive David Michael Larter, together with two other friends, established a film company called TheAsylum this year. Their original business strategy was also similar to that of many Hollywood directors. Like small film companies, they want to focus on producing low-cost independent horror films, and then slowly accumulate experience and capital for development.

But when they discovered that the popularity of the movie "Batman: The Dark Knight" had exploded across the United States before it was released, they decided to revise the company's development strategy.

Only use the title, poster, genre, movie introduction, vague storyline, character experience, etc. that have been revealed by "Batman: The Dark Knight", which are all available to the public, and then quickly use this information, while guessing roughly Content and storyline, while rushing to shoot.

The most ridiculous thing is that from the perspective of the plot and so on, the script and other aspects are purely original, and objectively speaking, it has nothing to do with Warner Bros. "Batman: The Dark Knight".

Half a month, it only took half a month. According to Bruce Rosenblum's investigation, this movie called Dark Knight 2 took only half a month from preparation to completion. They have seen the movie content. Now, the special effects don't even cost 50 cents, and the actors are almost all amateurs. After all, you can't expect a movie produced in only half a month to have any good results.

But people are fast. Before the official release of "Batman: The Dark Knight", they have already filmed the film. The Asylum company's goal is very clear, that is, while "Batman: The Dark Knight" is released. After the fiery popularity, he directly released the specious videotape, making a huge profit in the videotape market. "I met the ancestor of the Hollywood cottage, which belongs to..."

After listening to a few people's explanations, Wayne lit a cigarette and couldn't help but muttered to himself in a low voice.

"What?!" Jeff Robinoff, who was sitting beside him, turned his head and asked suspiciously, "Did you speak Chinese just now?"

"It's okay." Wayne waved his hand quickly, checked the topic, and looked at Bruce Rosenblum. "How are you going to solve it? We can't let this company just smack us like this, right? I guess fans who bought the video tapes would be hiding at home and yelling at them."

"The legal department has been notified, and a lawyer's letter will be sent to the other party, but..." Bruce Rosenblum made an expression you know. "Tomorrow morning, we will inform our media and issue a statement, lest more fans continue to be fooled."

His meaning is very clear. If you want to solve this matter, you can't stop it in a short time. Since the other party has made up his mind to take advantage of this heat, he must be ready for the defendant.

Wayne nodded silently. Originally they mentioned the name of the company TheAsylum, he didn't feel anything, but after hearing about the production process and the way of the production, the memories that had been sealed in his mind slowly faded away. was also revealed.

This company should not be unfamiliar to movie fans on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, especially those who have been on film forums. The ancestor of the Hollywood movie copycat, the most powerful thing is that this company relies on the well-known large-scale production of the copycat, from its establishment. After more than 20 years of development, there is not a single movie that loses money, which is the most unbelievable.

The more famous incident is the "The Hobbit" that Warner Bros. later launched. This film lost about $100 million in exchange for brothers, but The Asylum was in the videotape market a few days before the release of "The Hobbit". Introducing The Age of The Hobbit!

It can be said that not a cent of the publicity cost was paid, and Warner Bros. made a huge profit in the videotape market by relying on the promotion of "The Hobbit" by Warner Bros. Even if Warner Bros. took the other party to court after the incident, it was a confused account in the end, because the content of this "The Hobbit Age" was completely original, yes, it was based on the movie poster, introduction, and genre of "The Hobbit" original...

Even if the court sentenced TheAsylum to lose the case, it only allowed them to change the title and movie poster, but this punishment is completely irrelevant, because they have already made a lot of money in the videotape and disc market.

And this is not a special case. Before the release of Disney's popular film "Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Undead Treasure", they released the video of "One Piece". Before the release of "The Da Vinci Code," they released a video of "The Da Vinci Treasure," and before "High School Musical: Graduation Season," they released a video of "Sunday High School Musical."

There is also "Atlantic Rim" similar to "Pacific Rim". Before "Transformers" was released, they had "Transforming Body", and "100,000,000 Years Before History" similar to "100,000 Years Before History", Universal Pictures also because of them The Asylum's "Battleships of America" ​​lost hundreds of millions of dollars, thus suing TheAsylum's "Battleships of America", it can be said that the company is in some ways a wonderful miracle.

The key is that no matter how they get sued by the Big Six, they don't lose money for every movie. Netizens on the other side of the Pacific call this company that specializes in bad movies the ancestor of Hollywood copycat movies, which is better than art movies in the San Fernando Valley. At least the female artists in the San Fernando Valley make superhero art films and pay the studios for the copyright...

"I have to go back and have a good night's sleep. I haven't had a good rest during this time." Wayne looked at the videotape on the table and shook his head dumbfounded. He didn't tell Warner Bros. I know too well the virtues of this company. This is a wonderful company that has been brought to court by the six giants in turn, and it is still strong for more than 20 years.

"It's almost midnight." Bruce Rosenblum pointed to the clock on the wall and said, "Don't wait for the box office of The Dark Knight today?"

"Forget it, since everyone ran back, I want to go back to rest early."

Waving to a few people, Wayne took Nina and Sergey out of the office without any hesitation. His emotions were tense all day today. After learning of this videotape incident, he wouldn't be rude to himself. After the harm caused by the movie, the tight string in my heart also loosened, and now I just want to go back and have a good sleep.

"Boss, do you want to warn that company?" Sergey turned his head in the car heading for Beverly and asked with a gloomy face.

"Forget it, let them go."

This is a company that is struggling to survive by being completely shameless and throwing its bottom line in the Pacific Ocean, and Wayne can only think of it with a strange sense of joy.

This incident is just a small episode here for Wayne. He is going to reunite with the crew again after a day off at the manor to continue the next publicity plan.

The reason why several executives of Warner Bros. did not get home from get off work so late was that on the one hand, they were waiting for Wayne who could not wait to get on the plane, and on the other hand, they were waiting for the first day of the next weekend of "Batman: The Dark Knight". box office.

Not only the Warner Bros. family, but also Universal Pictures are staring at the box office. I don’t know how many companies and people in the circle are also staring at the upcoming box office, and even theater companies are also staring. Which film achieves better results is a matter of the company's film arrangement strategy after the weekend.

"Jurassic Park 2 ushered in its first weekend into the North American theatrical market. After a one-day screening yesterday (Friday), it reported a box office of $32.5 million, plus $12.4 million for Thursday's advance screening. The box office of Jurassic Park 2 was 44.9 million US dollars on the first day. According to the prediction of many third-party authoritative forecasting agencies, the box office of this film in the first week will not be less than 120 million US dollars. The box office broke out on the first day, and it took only one day to make nearly 45 million US dollars in the North American theater market. If this result is considered alone, it is definitely a success, but this masterpiece opened on the first day. , still ranked second in the single-day box office list.

After a week of fermentation, "Batman: The Dark Knight" ushered in a strong rebound in the box office on the second weekend after its release. This film once again ignored the market rules. After getting $16.46 million on Thursday, Friday That day soared to 47.5 million US dollars, pressing the newly released "Jurassic Park 2" and taking the box office champion of the day As of now, the total box office of "Batman: The Dark Knight" has come At 332 million US dollars, this is the fastest film in Hollywood history to exceed 300 million US dollars. Many authoritative forecasting agencies have stated through the media that the box office of this film will not fall below 450 million US dollars. Over 93 years of Joker and Jurassic Park Part 1, there won't be too much difficulty..."

"$450 million! $450 million!" Putting down the newspaper he saw halfway through, Universal Pictures CEO Ron Mayer leaned on the chair with his hands folded, and as he muttered to himself, he was in the In the conference room of , people began to discuss this terrifying number one after another.

No one expected that "Batman: The Dark Knight" could usher in a box office rebound on Friday after a whole week of screenings, after consuming the enthusiasm of a large number of fans. This was in "Jurassic Park 2". Snip the completed score. Such a situation has completely disrupted Universal's promotional plans.

Ron Mayer was still a little unbelievable at this time, even if he had already received the specific box office a few hours ago, which was close to 45 million US dollars, which is completely for "Jurassic Park 2". Meeting Universal's expectations also means that the film, if nothing else, should bring big profits to Universal and Steven Spielberg.

However, this good box office performance, when put together with its competitors, seems so bitter. His prediction for "Jurassic Park 2" is quite accurate, but he is very accurate in "Batman: The Dark Knight". Predictions, apparently outrageous, came home.