Chapter 358: seven series

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Hollywood is not without big-selling war films, such as "Saving Private Ryan" produced by DreamWorks, with an investment of only 70 million U.S. dollars, a North American box office of 216 million U.S. dollars, and a global box office of 481 million U.S. dollars. It is considered one of the most successful films produced by DreamWorks. .

In addition, other war-themed films rarely sell well at the box office, and most of them are reduced to box office poison.

The investment cost is high, the subject matter is relatively small, and the risk is far greater than that of ordinary commercial films.

Not to mention, this film is the famous "Wind Talker" in the previous life.

Nancy Utley's eyes showed a strange look, Ryan not only decided to cancel the shooting plan of "Windtalker", but even chose to sell the project.

It is enough to explain one thing, he is not optimistic about the prospects of this project.

"I will try to contact other film companies or investors to sell the "Wind Talker" project." Nancy Utley reached out and drew a conspicuous red cross on "Wind Talker".

Frank Macasso opened his mouth, but finally stopped talking in an attempt to keep the "Windtalker" project

After all, the risk of investing in a war film is too great.

Now he talked about another important project.

"Barbara Brockley called, hoping that we can continue to invest in the next 007 film." Frank Macasso said a relatively unfamiliar name.

Barbara Brockley!

Ryan pondered for a while and said, "Yes, let her complete the shooting plan for the next 007 series film as soon as possible."

"Anything else she wants?"

As we all know, the 007 series of films is MGM's iconic series of films, and even the only series of films that MGM can rely on for survival, and it is also a guarantee of profitability.

But the 007 franchise isn't all MGM.

To be more precise, the 007 series of films belong to the Brockley family, a small family-run production company whose full name is EON Production Company.

MGM is only a collaborator.

At the beginning, Brockley and Harry Salzman received 1 million US dollars investment from United Artists to film "Dr. No", which started the famous 007 series of films and James Bond.

Now the production company is run by Brockley's daughter, Barbara Brockley, and Harry Salzman's shares in the company have already been transferred to Brockley.

Don't underestimate Barbara - Brockley, she personally produced the first 007 series of films "Golden Eye" a success.

The budget of this 007 series film is only 58 million US dollars, the North American box office exceeds 100 million US dollars, and the global box office is 350 million US dollars.

It can be described as a great success.

However, as a film investment company and distribution company, MGM did not make a lot of profits from it as the outside world imagined.

EON production company has the production rights, MGM only has the film distribution rights.

To put it simply, MGM is responsible for raising funds, and EON Production Company is responsible for preparing the crew for shooting and so on.

Among them, EON production company took a considerable part of the income, such as box office, DVD, TV on demand, peripheral products, copyright sharing and so on.

Every time a 007 movie is released and sold at the box office, EON production company can make a lot of money.

In contrast, MGM's income is at most similar to that of EON Production Company, and even only earned a hard-earned money.

Ryan also just found out about this matter not long ago.

It can be said that the 007 series of films is somewhat similar to the cooperation between Paramount and Tom Cruise on "Mission: Impossible". His production company takes a lot of money from it.

The income that can eventually fall into the hands of Paramount is pitifully small.

The most critical point is that in many cases, MGM only has the right to make suggestions for the shooting of the 007 series of films and the preparation of the crew.

That's why Ryan asked if Barbara Brockley had made any requests.

If he remembers correctly, the protagonist of the original "007: Die Another Day" is Halle Berry, a black actor of white descent.

Regardless of her acting skills, she is definitely not a goddess-level Bond girl in the film. Compared with Sophie Marceau in the previous film, she is simply weaker.

"She hopes that Pierce Brosnan can continue to star in the next 007 film." Frank Maccasso looked a little unnatural.

Pierce Brosnan has starred in three 007 series films, "007: Golden Eye", "007: Tomorrow Never Dies" and "007: The Dark Sun", almost becoming Barbara Brockley's exclusive actor.

You know, the 007 series of films are not Iron Man, Black Widow, Wonder Woman and other characters. It is not a rare thing for the crew to change the actor who plays James Bond.

"What about the salary?"

Jon Fertimer closed the folder in his hand and asked bluntly, "How much does she plan to pay?"

"When Pierce Brosnan starred in "007: The Black Sun", he had already received $12 million in salary and a certain percentage of the box office."

"The remuneration for the next 007 film will definitely need to increase a lot."

The reason is very simple, "007: Black Sun Crisis" is a big hit at the box office, and the salary of the lead actor in the film definitely needs to be increased.

"She'll convince Pierce Brosnan to accept $18 million or less," Frank Macasso said.

18 million US dollars salary!

Ryan drummed his fingers, feeling that the $18 million salary is not unacceptable, "Promise her, the $18 million salary is acceptable to Orion Pictures, but the box office share cannot be higher than the last 007 film."

In fact, for Pierce Brosnan, who starred in three consecutive 007 films, the $18 million salary is not a lion's mouth.

Of course, this is also related to the replacement of several James Bond actors in the 007 series.

Pierce-Brosnan is not irreplaceable, otherwise, if you are the leading actor in any series of films, you can call out a base salary of 20 million US dollars plus a share of the global box office.

"Besides, she thinks she can try to find a black actor to play the Bond girl!" Frank Macasso said in an awkward tone.

A Bond girl has always been synonymous with beauty and sexiness, and a black Bond girl!

He couldn't imagine it.

"Black Bond Girl!"

David Kirby, director of the publicity department, showed an exaggerated look and said, "God, what do you want me to tell the media then?"

"Do you want the media to describe her as a **** black pearl!"

"It's not that exaggerated." Frank Macasso explained: "You can choose a black female actor similar to Halle Berry like the "X-Men" crew."

Halle-Berry!

Everyone nodded, choosing a fair-skinned black actress, you can give it a try.

"Reject."

Ryan suddenly said, "Just say it's my opinion."

"It's not in the commercial interest of the film to cast a black actress as a Bond girl, nor is it in line with the image of a Bond girl in the audience's mind."

It's not that he discriminates against blacks, but that he asked a black actress to play the Bond girl, which is awkward no matter how you look at it.

In his previous life, he had watched "007: Die Another Day" several times. Halle-Berry's appearance did not look like a Bond girl at all.

On the contrary, Rosamund Pei, who played the role of the villain Bond girl in the film, looks like she is a glamorous Bond girl.

"Barbara, she is sometimes stubborn." Frank-Marcasso spread his hands, "I can only try to persuade her."

The 007 series of films is the only life-saving straw for MGM, and Barbara Brockley, who has mastered the shooting of the 007 series of films, has always been very strong.

"Then suspend the shooting plan of the 007 series of films."

Ryan said very simply: "I don't care how she cooperated with MGM before, but now that MGM has been acquired by Orion Pictures, everything must follow the way of Orion Pictures."

MGM only has the 007 series of films, and Orion Pictures is not the only 007 series of films.

Whether it is the unreleased "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "Harry-Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", "X-Men", or the planned "Spider-Man" and "Avengers", the value is higher In the 007 series of films.

Suspend the shooting plan of the 007 series of films!

Frank Macasso was shocked, with an expression of disbelief on his face, "This is a 007 series movie!"

"Even if you agree to Barbara's request and take some risks, this film will still bring a lot of money in the future."

Hearing Frank Macasso's words, Ryan glanced at him and said, "Orion Pictures is not the MGM of the past, and the 007 series filming plan is not irreplaceable."

"And the company has a lot of things to deal with. It is impossible to waste too much energy on the 007 series of films and Barbara Brockley."

Speaking of this, Ryan felt the need to remind him, and continued: "Next, Orion Pictures will integrate with MGM, overseas distribution companies, and Blue Sky Studios. Regarding the shooting plan of the 007 series, you can Talk about it in a while."

"Frank, you have to be clear about one thing. Orion Films is very busy. "Black Hawk Down" will be released soon. The investment of this film is as high as 90 million US dollars."

"The next summer, there will be "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring" with an investment of 100 million US dollars, "X-Men" will be released in July, and "Harry-Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in cooperation with Warner Bros. will also be shown.”

The shooting plan of the 007 series of films is far less important to Orion Films.

Frank Macasso suddenly understood one thing. Orion Films is not MGM. It is only the four films that Ryan mentioned. The minimum investment of one film is as high as 90 million US dollars, and the investment of the remaining three films is all at 100 million US dollars. USD or more.

Among them, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" is the beginning of the trilogy, and the entire project is expected to invest 300 million US dollars. "X-Men" is the highlight of Orion Pictures' superhero movie plan.

To this end, it even acquired Marvel Comics, one of the two major comic companies in North America.

Not to mention "Harry-Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". For the promotion of this film, Warner Times has spent a lot of resources and money on global promotion and hype.

Seeing Frank Macasso bowed his head and said nothing, Ryan glanced at everyone, "One last thing, before the end of next year, the above company departments will be integrated and moved into a new office building."

"Okay, if there is nothing else, everyone can go back and tell all the employees of the department that we will have an office building of our own next year."

After speaking, Ryan saw that no one spoke, so he got up and walked out.

The reason why he didn't choose to buy or rent an office building right away was that Ryan wanted to wait for the September 11 incident next year to take the opportunity to buy a large enough office building at a low price.

For a while, many employees of Orion Pictures showed joy on their faces.

An office building of its own is not only a change in the office environment, but also a symbol.

The first batch of employees of Orion Films were in a daze, and now they not only got back the film library of the previous company, but also MGM's film library.

The previous film library of Orion Pictures was bought by MGM a few years ago.

Now I am about to own an office building of my own, which is unbelievable like a dream.

Back in the office, watching Sofia Coppola who hesitated to speak, Ryan leaned on the chair and stretched.

"Don't worry, the shooting plan of "Scary Cannibal" will not be cancelled."

"You can tell old Coppola the good news earlier." Ryan shrugged and said.

"Frightening Cannibals" was produced by Francis Ford Coppola, Sofia Coppola's father.

"I'm hoping to cancel the shooting plan of "Frightening Cannibals", so that he can completely rest for a while."

Sofia Coppola is not worried about the old Coppola, and even hopes that he can retire early.

"Windtalker!"

"You don't seem to be very optimistic about the future prospects of this filming project?" she asked.

No way, the film star Nicolas Cage is her cousin.

"how to say!"

Ryan gestured and said: "The risk of spending 115 million US dollars on a war-themed film is really too great."

"You can investigate the release data of war-themed films. Except for Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan", in recent years, there has not been a war film with a large investment in Hollywood that has been able to sell well. "

"Even if "Braveheart" produced by Paramount, the box office in North America is only 75 million US dollars, if the film's overseas box office is not bad, I am afraid that Paramount will not even be able to recover the investment in the film."

The budget of this film is as high as 72 million U.S. dollars, but the North American box office is only 75 million U.S. dollars, which can almost be said to be a hit.

Fortunately, the film's overseas box office performance is not bad, as high as 135 million US dollars.

It can be seen from here that war films are not a good choice due to their high investment and high risk~www.wuxiaspot.com~ Including the war blockbuster "Pearl Harbor" being filmed by Touchstone Films, it takes advantage of the right time, place and people.

In the previous life, this film still didn't really achieve a big hit.

You must know that the Pearl Harbor incident will always be a scar in the hearts of Americans, and many World War II veterans who have personally experienced the Pearl Harbor incident are still alive. Next year will be the 60th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor incident.

However, the film's box office and reputation can only be said to be a commercial success.

There is also the plot of "Wind Talker", which is extremely speechless. It tells the story of 29 Indian Navajos who were drafted into the army. Because their language could not be understood by foreigners, the US military trained them as special translators, known as "" Windtalker".

The first time Ryan saw the script, he felt that MGM was crazy, and he didn't think about how many Indians there are in North America?

Ordinary white people care about Navajo Indians!

It's really a **** of a movie if it's a box office hit.