v2 Chapter 393： The importance of publicity

After the Oscars in 2001, Duke completed the editing of the footage for "The Fellowship of the Ring," but the post-production has not yet reached the end, and the soundtrack produced by Howard Shaw needs to be added, and then the sound effects will be edited.

Overall, Howard Shaw's soundtrack fully meets Duke's requirements, but he did not immediately proceed with the last two tasks.

In the soundtrack, Howard Shaw combined symphony and opera techniques, extensively collected world music materials such as Africa, India, and Gulte, carefully brewing the magical epic tunes of the new century, releasing a sensational and regretful grandeur, stirring wave after wave A wave of majestic frenzy.

There is no problem with the music, but Duke is not satisfied with the performance version.

"Howard, I have no opinion on your song."

In the conference room of the Lord of the Rings studio, Duke sat at the top of the conference table. This project must be based on his opinion, "but the standard of the performer is slightly weaker."

This is an obvious problem, even a layman like Duke can hear it.

As a "Lord of the Rings" fan, his previous soundtrack and performance left him too deep.

"Duke, our time." Doug Walter reminded him, "There is no more." It will be a trial meeting in one month."

Duke frowned and thought for a while, "I will use the unscored version for the trial."

This is a common practice in Hollywood. Doug Walter thought for a while and nodded slowly.

"Charles..." Duke turned to his production manager, "You are responsible for contacting the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and getting them done as soon as possible."

After Charles Rowan nodded, Duke said again, "Howard, once Charles and the Philharmonic have an agreement to play. I need you to communicate with them in time."

"No problem." Howard Shaw also nodded.

Finally, Duke looked at Doug Walter, the other party is likely to be the next ceo of Warner Bros. It is quite necessary to build a good relationship. "Doug, Howard’s composition is very good. I think it may become a classic. Use a better one. The performance of the orchestra will be helpful for future soundtrack albums..."

He slowly slowed down, "If the film can be as successful as I expected, we can also cooperate with the Philharmonic Orchestra to hold a "Lord of the Rings" concert in the future!"

Doug Walter's eyes lit up immediately, which undoubtedly added another channel for making money for the film.

At present, various peripheral products of the film are also under development and production. Many accessories such as the lord ring chain, the elven short bow, the elven headdress, the evening star pendant, etc., as well as the figure of the doll, are also about to enter the stage of distribution.

The source of revenue for this series is not only from box office, DVD and TV copyright revenue, but also from various peripherals.

At the end of the meeting, the soundtrack and sound effects editing were added and paused. Charles Rowan and Doug Walter both went to busy negotiations and publicity work according to Duke's suggestions.

Charles Rowan’s negotiations with the Philharmonic Orchestra came to fruition first. The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra is indeed well-known and large enough. These also meant huge expenses. It was not the first time that they played the music for a film. Before enough bids, the two parties quickly reached an agreement. Howard Shaw also entered the resident of the Philharmonic Orchestra to help the other party to master the score and performance as soon as possible. .

In addition. On the advice of Howard Shaw and the Philharmonic Orchestra, the Lord of the Rings Studio invited famous soprano singer Renee Fleming, legendary female singer Anne Lenex, and flute player James Galway. The soundtrack is polished.

This directly led to the final cost of "The Fellowship of the Ring" will exceed Duke's estimate of 115 million US dollars.

And during this time, Duke was also not idle. Together with Weta Studio, he continued to improve the special effects of the film. Now that he had overspend, he simply increased the total production cost of the film to 120 million US dollars!

At the same time, various publicity work of the film is still proceeding in an orderly manner.

In mid-April, on the eve of the trial meeting, all Trump-related industries in the United States were replaced with large posters of "The Fellowship of the Ring Expedition" in the most eye-catching billboard positions, which attracted the attention of passing pedestrians.

It’s undeniable that Donald Trump’s show marketing is indeed prone to arouse people’s disgust, but his vision is still good. The various buildings under Trump’s industry are basically located in the most prosperous areas of major cities in the United States. After that super show, his reputation became even stronger. Perhaps because he participated in this movie, he did not intend to violate the contract at all. After Duke made a phone call, he actively cooperated with the promotion of "The Lord of the Rings" jobs.

Even, in the latest issue of "Walking with Billionaires" he recorded for nbc, he specifically mentioned "The Lord of the Rings" and invited members of the crew such as Elijah Wood and Sean Austin after the film was released. Board his show.

The ratings of this show are very good. As a businessman, Donald Trump is so active and there is no reason. The first thing is that he is optimistic that this film will sell well. Inviting the crew of "The Lord of the Rings" can continue to expand the influence of the show. ...

Besides, this is an invitation after the release. If the film hits the street, he can cancel the invitation completely.

In short, as in the past, Warner Bros. has used all the propaganda methods available now. The slight difference is that they have increased their propaganda efforts on the Internet.

Network marketing played an important role in the success of The Matrix and Blair the Witch, especially the latter.

The major Hollywood companies are not fools. Under such circumstances, how can they not see the value of the Internet to the film industry?

However, compared to the major Hollywood companies that started late, the network navy that Duke controls is already strong enough, and even in the vote for the most anticipated summer film initiated by Rotten Tomatoes, "The Fellowship of the Ring" With the participation of more than 100,000 people, they got 99% expectation and 9.9 points.

Although the film is highly anticipated by the audience, the role played by the network navy cannot be ignored.

Duke knows very well that both Rotten Tomatoes and imdb can be affected by the navy. After all, a certain director’s brainwashing farce is too famous.

To put it bluntly, Duke and Warner Bros. are using various methods and methods to promote the film.

Any big-selling film can not be sold as long as it is produced with good enough quality. Throughout the history of Hollywood movies, the quality is excellent and even classic films, because the publicity is not good enough, leading to the street Countless.

Yes, Duke has related memories of the past, but making a movie is not as simple as copying and pasting. If there is no accumulation and hard work for more than ten years before coming to this world, even if he has seen or even studied those What about the film?

Directing is a highly professional job!

Then there is publicity. If a film is not supported by publicity, can it sell well? There is only one "Titanic" in this world.

Moreover, although the original announcement of the big ship was relatively ordinary, after the film showed a trend of big sales, the publicity was almost an overwhelming bombing!

Besides the distribution, this is even more important for the film. The film does not have the support of the distributor, which means that there are not enough theaters. Where can the box office be obtained without theaters? Without enough viewers, where can there be high peripheral income?

Once the film has been selling big, Duke knows this. The question is will others know it? Hollywood produces so many films a year. If it is not for the confidence now, but for the past few years, why should the distributors and theaters do their utmost to support his films?

There is also the release time. The average director has no say in this aspect. What if "The Matrix" crashes into a big ship? What are the consequences?

Whether or not a film can sell well at the box office and peripherals, the quality of the film itself is only the most basic condition, and there are too many factors that can affect it in the future.

For example, once "Spider-Man", if it does not cut Peter Parker crawling on the World Trade Center when it is released, what kind of consequences can it cause?

Any successful film depends not only on the film itself.

Duke never thought that "The Fellowship of the Ring" does not pretend to be a publicity and distribution work. Before and after "Pearl Harbor", "Shrek", and "Tomb Raider", many major productions were announced. When the film competes, as long as you throw it out casually, you can kill all enemies in seconds and easily stand at the top of the North American box office charts.

That is simply daydreaming!

Success never comes to the door by itself, it always requires people to work hard for it.

To this end, Duke prepared a publicity budget of US$80 million for "The Fellowship of the Ring", making the total investment of the first episode stack up to US$200 million!

The success or failure of the first part is self-evident for the importance of a series. As long as "The Fellowship of the Ring Expedition" sells out, the following two parts can save a lot of money in publicity.

Counting the fees paid to the Tolkien copyright agency and the original copyright holders for the film, after the release of "The Guardian of the Rings", the global box office must reach at least 600 million to 650 million US dollars in order to recover the cost through the box office. .

This can be said to be a huge amount of pressure, but every major production of Duke is carried forward under the pressure of a mountain, and no amount of pressure can crush his rocky shoulders.

The time is slowly approaching May. Although the soundtrack is still being recorded, the preview cannot be postponed. On the last weekend of April, Warner Bros. convened three consecutive shows involving theater representatives, media reporters and ordinary audiences. The trial screening, the various statistics of the trial screening will directly affect the release of "The Fellowship of the Ring".

If "The Fellowship of the Ring Expedition" has a poor reputation from both the theater and the general audience, even if it is Duke's work, it can't be painted on a super high scale. (To be continued...)