Chapter 192： Make up for

? DreamWorks Headquarters, Glendale, Los Angeles.

There was silence in the conference room. Everyone was looking at the old man wearing round glasses. The old man always gave a very gentle image. Now his expressionless face is as cold as a layer of ice.

"Susan, you can talk about it." Spielberg's tone was flat: "How much was the box office in the first week?"

Looking at her boss, Susan Arnold bit her head and said: "Blair the Witch 2, 3,383 theaters, with a box office of 4.68 million US dollars in the first week."

There was an instant sound of discussion in the conference room.

Spielberg said, "Quiet."

The discussion stopped abruptly.

Spielberg said: "How much has been invested in this project?"

Susan Arnold did not dare to delay, and quickly replied: "The purchase of the sequel rights is 12 million US dollars, the production cost is 6 million US dollars, and the publicity and distribution expenses are 16 million US dollars. The actual expenditure is 34 million US dollars."

Spielberg looked at her without speaking.

Susan Arnold understood what he meant, and continued: "The average Cinema audience score is D, and it is predicted that the North American box office will not exceed $10 million."

There was a faint inhalation sound in the conference room.

The people sitting here are all professionals. It is not difficult for anyone to think that most of the $34 million invested will be difficult to recover. Maybe it will be possible after 30 years of offline market operation?

After all, Spielberg is a big man accustomed to the wind and rain. I am not without failure. He is very stable and said: "All subsequent plans for "Blair the Witch" are stopped! Stop losses as soon as possible."

"Yes." Susan-Arnold was a bit unwilling, but unable to fight for it. This film was a complete failure.

But there is one thing I still don’t understand. With the same model and the same operation, why did "Blair the Witch" succeed but the sequel failed?

Scolding? Most of the successful sequel movies are selling big in curse.

Spielberg said again: "Go back and sum it up. Also, what are the names of the two directors?"

"Daniel Malik and Adiyado Sanziz." Susan Arnold replied.

Spielberg made a decisive decision: "DreamWorks will no longer work with these two people!"

This is not only for Susan Arnold alone, but also for everyone in the room.

All the executives and producers of DreamWorks Studios have these two names in mind.

What kind of director is most easily remembered by Hollywood studios? The most successful ones and the most failed ones.

At the end of the meeting, Spielberg returned to the office, his brows furrowed, his face full of grief, and even his always straight back was slightly bent, as if there was a mountain of pressure on him.

Since DreamWorks was founded, it has not gone smoothly.

People outside only saw the success of films such as "Saving Private Ryan", "American Beauty" and "Gladiator", but did not see the problems inside DreamWorks.

High-level division... Spielberg has a headache when he thinks of this problem. DreamWorks’ business has been divided into three independent parts. David Geffen has plans to withdraw from DreamWorks, and Jeff Katzenberg also thinks. Let the animation studio be independent.

Fortunately, it is still a group. As long as it can get rid of the predicament and break a path from the siege of the six major companies, these crises are nothing.

If the development goes well, all the problems are actually minor problems.

But thinking about this, Spielberg's head hurts even more. Since last year, the live-action film department has not been smooth.

First, the distribution department of PolyGram Films failed, and then the Mountain Foundation, which stayed in contact, refused to cooperate with DreamWorks, and then another sequel film that should have been very safe failed miserably.

Without digging into the distribution department, the overseas distribution channels of DreamWorks are still unable to be established in a short period of time, and it may even take six or seven years or more.

The Mountain Foundation gave up cooperation with DreamWorks, and the two TV drama projects were short of funds, and they were unable to start the project.

A sequel movie that should be easy to succeed fails, and the already tight cash flow will be further strained.

Spielberg felt that his head was about to explode, and it seemed that DreamWorks, which had a good momentum of development, had not laid a solid foundation at all!

Why are there accidents in some sure things? Especially these three things.

People are old and good, Spielberg analyzed it a bit, and suddenly discovered that these three things have one thing in common!

Where did Polygram's distribution department go? Embassy Pictures!

Which Hollywood company is the Mountain Foundation working with? Shahai Entertainment!

Who bought the copyright to the sequel to the failed "Blair Witch 2"? Relativity entertainment!

These are three companies, but nowadays Hollywood is a little better informed, who doesn't know this is a small group company!

The owner of the company is Ronan Anderson...

Spielberg suddenly took off his round glasses, his face full of dignity.

I don't know why, but he felt that the resources and opportunities that should belong to DreamWorks were taken away by others.

This feeling is very bad.

But when you think about it, chances are actually slipped away from DreamWorks.

What happened to Polygram Pictures was that he didn't know people well and ignored Albert Hoffman's old problems, which resulted in accidents.

The Mountain Foundation and DreamWorks have been hesitant, and refused Indians to invest in big projects such as "Gladiator" several times. Even he felt that DreamWorks lacked sincerity.

The copyright to the sequel to "Blair the Witch" was bought by Susan Arnold from Relativity Entertainment.

Spielberg knew very well that the power to employ people, do things, and make decisions is in his hands.

"Is it me who can't?" Spielberg's rare self-doubt: "I'm old? Can't even compare to a young man in his early twenties?"

Ronan Anderson, Relativity Entertainment...

These two names are constantly circulating in Spielberg's mind, especially Relativity Entertainment, which has complete North American distribution capabilities. After winning the distribution department of Polaroid Pictures, it is actively exploring and constructing overseas distribution channels. It is said that the channels have been After the shop is over, it is almost time to release the movie to try the effect.

That is an overseas distribution channel, an overseas distribution channel that even DreamWorks does not have!

Spielberg pressed the intercom and called the assistant in: "Go and check, what is the latest film released by Embassy Pictures?"

The assistant is very familiar with the industry dynamics and directly replied: "I heard someone say some time ago that Embassy Pictures did not have a theater release plan in the first half of the year. The movie to be released recently is the "Human Elimination Project 2" scheduled for Halloween."

Spielberg asked: "How about the overseas release of this film?"

He thought about it, and said: "It should also be distributed by Embassy Pictures."

"Go check it, confirm the news, and then summarize it to me." Spielberg thought slightly, and then ordered: "Let people pay more attention to the news of Relativity Entertainment, Embassy Pictures and Shahai Entertainment."

"Yes." The assistant responded immediately: "I'll let someone do it."

Spielberg sat in the office, thinking again.

Overseas distribution channels are too important for DreamWorks. He made a huge mistake before, and there should be a chance to make up for it.

If Embassy Pictures can successfully distribute films overseas...

"Blair the Witch 2" is even worse than Ronan expected. When he saw the box office data of this film, he discovered one thing.

The past two years seem to have a special relationship with DreamWorks.

It's a pity that the "Brothers" that has been paying attention has never found a chance to intervene, and can only watch this mini-series that can get countless benefits in the future.

However, Ronan also had no regrets or other similar emotions.

After all, DreamWorks got the copyright early, and the original author even served as a consultant for "Saving Private Ryan". He had friendship with Spielberg and Tom Hanks and would give priority to cooperating with these two people.

Ronan knew very well that even those who were born again could not do all the good things.

Greed is good, but in moderation.

He never forgot this sentence.

Greed is like a fascination pill, it can overwhelm all people's sanity. When the mind is full of thoughts to make a fortune, it is like "come to lie to me" engraved on the forehead. It is especially easy to be caught. use.

At the end of June, Robert Lee finally returned to Los Angeles from overseas.

"Danny Donald stayed in the East for the time being." Robert Lee said to Ronan: "With him over there, it's easier to do a lot of work. The Oriental style is very different from ours."

Ronan looked at the work log that Robert Lee brought back and asked, "Is the work going well over there?"

Robert-Lee said: "In the beginning there were a lot of troubles, but the original Polygram channels played a big role. They had established a certain network of contacts before there, which helped a lot."

Ronan asked, "Have you submitted the materials for The Bourne Shadows?"

Robert-Lee said immediately: "It has been handed over to China Film Group and related departments China Film Group is interested, but we can only discuss whether to introduce it after seeing the film."

"Good." Ronan said, "We are waiting for the news."

Robert-Lee wondered: "Ronan, I have been there on the ground. The film industry over there is very backward. Not only are there few theaters, but they also closed down in large areas and the box office share is low. Is it necessary to expand the market?

Ronan simply explained: "Do you know that there are 1.3 billion people over there? And the economy is developing rapidly, how big will this market be in the future? The North American film market is also developing step by step. With rapid development, we can enjoy huge dividends."

Robert Lee said: "Ronan, you see farther than me, I listen to you."

Ronan smiled and said, "Let's rest for a while."

"I can rest for three days." Robert Lee asked: "You called me some time ago. Didn't you say that you have important tasks for me to do?"