hunt hollywood

"No," the assistant shook his head and said, "However, the director of the film is Catherine Bigelow. During the filming of "Run Lola Run", Catherine Bigelow served as the assistant director of Simon Westeros. He should be in Return favors."

Hearing the assistant's words, Ronald Goldberg wondered who Catherine Bigelow was, but he didn't ask any more, but just waved his hand and said, "In that case, forget it for now, you go ahead and do it just now." thing."

No matter how surprised, groggy, and secretly regretful the film company executives who had the chance to get the distribution rights of "Run Lola Run" in Hollywood, the astonishing box office data of the first weekend of "Run Lola Run" still spread quickly, and it was on the list of many audiences that afternoon. An important page of the evening paper.

Chapter 067 Touching Porcelain

Money is always the element that most stimulates the senses of ordinary people.

Compared with film critics who are more professional and personal, ordinary people often judge a movie based on its box office figures, and they are more likely to be attracted by a movie's box office figures.

The box office miracle created by "Run Lola Run" with 207 screens in the first weekend was naturally quickly pushed to the newspaper pages by major paper media that are very good at figuring out readers' minds.Moreover, the news of "Run Lola Run" generally left the entertainment section this time, and entered the current affairs section with more attention.

Due to life and reading habits, the development of the Los Angeles evening paper has been sluggish.

In order to attract the audience's attention, the evening newspaper "Los Angeles Herald" under the Hearst Group, which has been declining over the years, directly put the box office news of "Run Lola Run" on the front page of the afternoon, and also brought a heavyweight back.

"Run Lola Run" wins Stallone's new film with an average of [-] US dollars! ".

"Last Friday, the film "Run Lola Run" directed by the new director Simon Westeros started shooting on a small scale in the west coast states and New York. caused widespread controversy and discussion in the media.”

""Run Lola Run" lived up to expectations and was praised by film critics immediately after its release. With the box office data released for the four-day weekend of President's Day, "Run Lola Run" even surpassed Sylvie with the first weekend box office data of 551 million US dollars. Stallone's new film "Leap to the Top" achieved a good result of No. 1987 in the seventh weekend box office chart in 4."

"However, the comparison of various data between "Run Lola Run" and "Leap to the Peak" is even more surprising."

"The production cost of "Run Lola Run" was US$65, and "Leap to the Top" was jointly produced by Warner Bros. and Canon Pictures. The production cost was as high as US$2500 million, which is equivalent to 38 times the budget of "Run Lola Run". The number of screens released for "Run" was 207, and the number of screens for "Leap to the Peak" reached 1758, which is equivalent to 8.5 times the scale of "Run Lola Run"."

"Under such a disparity in comparison, "Run Lola Run" finally easily suppressed "Leap to the Top" with a box office of 551 million US dollars, and the average single-house figure reached an astonishing 26600 US dollars, far exceeding all films in the same period."

"It is foreseeable that, relying on excellent word-of-mouth and high topicality, as Orion Films pushes "Run Lola Run" to a broader market in the Middle East and Canada, the box office miracle of "Run Lola Run" has just begun. This mini ultra-low-budget independent film is likely to become the first film in 1987 with a box office of over [-] million in the next six months."

"At the same time, in the face of the failure of both word-of-mouth and box office of "Leap to the Peak", perhaps Hollywood should once again reflect on the ever-increasing cost of film production."

The content of this report by the "Los Angeles Herald" was almost the general focus of attention of the west coast media that afternoon and even in the following days.

With the media's one-sided discussion and even ridicule, Stallone, whose famous experience can be called inspirational, even became a tragic example of "the former wave died on the beach" for a while.

It was the most lively party period of the awards season before the Oscars, and the media reporters and tabloid paparazzi would naturally not let go of this great opportunity. Since they couldn't find Simon Westeros, another central figure in the incident, they all paid attention to it. Focus on chasing and intercepting Stallone.

Stallone's current status is obviously not something that can be shaken by the failure of a movie.Facing the pursuit and inquiries from the media, Stallone also kept his demeanor as much as possible, and basically dealt with it gracefully.

However, the clay figurine was also very angry, and was chased by a group of people for several days in a row. Before a party in Beverly Hills, Hollywood on the following Thursday evening, Stallone smeared his face because of a sour question from a paparazzi. Pay attention to each other.But the paparazzi refused to let go, and stopped in front of Stallone forcibly questioning him.

Unbearable, Stallone raised his hand to push the opponent away.

Then, it was obvious that Rocky was possessed. Following Stallone's slight push, the paparazzi fell to the ground, 'comatose'.

Although many people can see that this is an obvious touch, but such a hot news, it is all sales, who cares about the facts.

So, the next day, there was a lot of news in the media like "Stalone became angry and knocked out the paparazzi".The cause of the whole incident is very clear, so "Run Lola Run" still maintains a hot topic, as if it has once again been heavily poured with a barrel of gasoline.

Time soon entered the second week of the release of "Run Lola Run".

Although the release operation was accelerated as much as possible, the number of screening screens of "Run Lola Run" in the second week only increased to 265, which was mainly due to the additional screening halls of the theater chain itself that signed the screening contract.

The contracts signed between Orion Pictures and these theaters can only get 43% of the box office share, Simon can get 15%, and Orion Pictures can get 28%.

Now that the popularity of "Run Lola Run" is so high, Orion Pictures is naturally unwilling to take this kind of share ratio, so it is still negotiating with other theaters.Of course, since it is a fixed sharing contract, even if Orion's share from the theater increases in the future, it has nothing to do with Simon.

However, Simon is very satisfied with the current situation.After all, if you cooperate with the seven major companies, even if you can talk about the share, Simon will probably only get about 10%.

What's more, Simon still retains all other distribution copyrights of "Run Lola Run" outside the North American theaters.With the film's success at the theater box office, subsequent copyright sales will naturally yield more lucrative profits.

On the other hand, the first-week box office of "Run Lola Run" was also released amidst the heat, and the final figure was fixed at 697 million US dollars, still tightly suppressing Stallone's "Leap to the Peak". Compared with the data of the four-day weekend, It also draws a little more into No.3's "Spirited".

Many media have begun to speculate on the specific box office prospects of "Run Lola Run".

With the current word-of-mouth and popularity of "Run Lola Run", combined with the long-term distribution and multi-round screening operation mode of this era, the film's survival cycle in North American theaters is likely to reach about half a year.

In six months, that's about 26 weeks.

"Run Lola Run" reached US$207 million in the first week with 697 screens. Combining the word-of-mouth and popularity of the film, as well as the box office curves of some popular Hollywood films, the media generally predict that the final result of "Run Lola Run" The North American box office is likely to reach a staggering $1.5 million to $2 million.

Chapter 068 The Incident Movie

Coolidge, Arizona.

When "Run Lola Run" was just released, in the face of the praise from the media, most of the crew still only thought that Simon was a young man with a little more talent.

However, with the release of the film's box office data, in recent days, everyone's eyes on Simon have changed significantly, even Catherine.

The box office in the first week was 697 million US dollars.

Such data, 20 years later, may not even be as good as a fraction of the box office of a super blockbuster in the first week.But in the 80s, especially when the film was released on only 207 screens, it was enough to surprise many people's attention.

You know, in the past 1986, among the 451 films released in North American theaters, less than 697 films had a total box office of more than 90 million US dollars.That is to say, in this era, more than 80% of Hollywood movies every year have a total box office in North America that is less than "Run Lola Run" for more than a week.

Moreover, for "Run Lola Run", the box office in the first week is obviously just the beginning.

Judging from the film's current word-of-mouth and media popularity, "Run Lola Run" has been successfully promoted to a standard "event film", which is Hollywood's general term for films that have achieved far beyond expectations in social response and box office data.

Before "Run Lola Run", only "The Exorcist", "Star Wars", "Jaws", "ET" and other films could be called event films, but "Star Wars" etc. The film is still a Hollywood standard commercial film.

Although Hollywood also has similarly low-cost successful films such as "Mad Max", the total box office of "Mad Max" in North America was only more than 800 million US dollars, which is considered brilliant, but far inferior to "Mad Max". Run Lola Run is a miracle that the box office in the first week has exceeded the production cost by 10 times.

Now, "Run Lola Run" is equivalent to creating a precedent for low-cost high-grossing films such as "The Blair Witch" and "Ghost Story" in the original time and space.

In addition, what makes some people even more terrified is the prediction of the box office prospects of "Run Lola Run" by some media.

$1.5 million to $2 million.

It's still a box office figure that won't look too special 20 years later.

However, in North America as a whole, even if you count "Platoon", which was only expected to exceed 1986 million yuan but actually did not exceed [-] million yuan, in the whole year of [-], only five Hollywood films achieved a North American box office of over [-] million yuan.

Among them, "Top Gun", which promoted Tom Cruise to a world-class superstar, ended up with only US$1.76 million at the North American box office.

So, watch "Run Lola Run" at this time.

The total North American box office is expected to be 1.5 million to 2 million U.S. dollars, which means that if the next Hollywood movie released this year is a little bit disappointing, the North American box office champion in 1987 is likely to be replaced by a film with a production cost of only 65 U.S. dollars. Indie movies take away.

18 is old.

65 million US dollars.

The first movie in my life.

North American box office champion.

Many people seem to be watching a legend being born.

The hotel where the crew of "Blood Corpse Night" stayed.

The time is June 2th, Saturday.

In the screening room that has been simply remodeled, several main creators of the film are watching the sample footage that was just shot this week.

As a director's assistant with a fixed weekly salary, Simon didn't have to and was not qualified to appear on this occasion.

However, last week, Catherine personally took him to watch the demo.It's just that Simon didn't have any right to speak at that time, basically just watching.

This week, it was the producer Edward Feldman who spoke in person at noon, hoping that Simon could participate in the job, and also offered to mention that he might be able to change his position as an assistant director to an assistant director, just like Catherine in "Run Lola Run" "The same position as in ".

Simon naturally didn't mind helping, but he also understood Edward Feldman's idea of ​​using his name in the release of the film in the future. Although he agreed to watch the sample film together and participate in the discussion, he did not accept the other party's re-signing of the contract. suggestion.

In the screening room, after playing a scene of Kalebo kneeling in front of Mei to suck her blood, Catherine pressed pause and subconsciously looked at Simon who was sitting on the other side of the viewing machine.

"There are still some small problems with the lighting, but it can be adjusted in post-production," Simon said, but then said: "It's just that I think the emotional changes between the two of them in this shot are too frequent, and it's hard for the audience to appreciate your feelings. What kind of emotion do you want to express?"

After listening, Catherine said: "This is a progression and sublimation of the relationship between Kalebo and Mei."

Simon thought about it for a moment, and said, "Then, here we need to convey a strong emotion to the audience. Maybe we can do this and add an intimate scene."

Catherine heard the Nth "maybe it can be like this" after Simon joined the group, and felt some inexplicable emotions in her heart, but said: "I'm afraid it won't work. Adrian and Jenny's contract doesn't include clauses involving intimacy."

Catherine said, and looked at the producer Edward Feldman.

Edward Feldman also shook his head regretfully, and said, "Simon, the crew's funds are very tight. Amending the contract will definitely require additional money. The two of them probably won't agree easily."

Simon smiled and said, "I don't mean the ones that need to take off their clothes, but behind, kissing, embracing, feeling the scorching sun in the rising sun, like a couple who are about to die in love, and they don't hide themselves in until the last moment." dark."

Having said that, Simon picked up a pen casually and simply drew a sketch in his notebook.

Catherine and Edward Feldman listened carefully, and quickly agreed to Simon's plan, and decided to add a scene just now.

The discussion continued until evening, when someone knocked on the door of the projection room, and then Janet appeared at the door.

Simon was a little surprised. Janet hadn't mentioned that she was coming, so she quickly got up and greeted her.Catherine, Edward Feldman and others also stood up.

Simon and Janet hugged and asked with a smile, "Why do you suddenly want to come here?"

Janet blinked and looked at Simon: "Don't you know?"

Simon was also a little puzzled: "What do I know?"

Janet stared at Simon for a moment, confirming that he really didn't know why, and then with a flash of cunning, she changed the subject and said, "I'm not the only one, Mr. Peter Sanders from Fox is also here."

With that said, Jenny gestured behind her, let go of Simon, and went to greet Catherine and the others.

Simon was not as surprised by the arrival of Fox Vice President Peter Saunders as Jenny was, and it was easy to guess the other party's intentions, so he just stepped forward, smiled and shook hands with him.

Chapter 069 Death is coming

Peter Sanders seemed a little impatient, and after exchanging pleasantries with Simon, he proposed to find a place to chat.

Simon didn't refuse either. After greeting Janet and the others, he took Peter Sanders away from the hotel where the crew was staying and went to a nearby coffee shop.

The two sat down and ordered coffee casually. Peter Sanders said, "Simon, I'm here this time to discuss the contract between you and Fox."

Simon just nodded slightly, waiting calmly for Peter Sanders to continue.

Peter Sanders looked at Simon's expression, paused, but changed the subject temporarily, and said, "Simon, Mr. Goldberg arranged a sample screening of "Butterfly Effect" on Tuesday, and the effect It wasn't great, and the few critics who were there thought the film was a bit of a mess."

Simon gently turned the coffee that the waiter had just served, and said lightly: "If this is the case, Mr. Sanders, I can only say that I am sorry. However, I believe my script is a very wonderful story, and I I also believe that Brian has enough strength to present this story perfectly. Perhaps, you should be more patient and wait for the film to be completely completed."

Feeling Simon's strength, Peter Sanders, who originally wanted to make a difference, remembered Ronald Goldberg's entrustment, so he had to say: "Well, it should be like this."

Listening to Peter Sanders' tone, Simon didn't want him to be too embarrassed, so he took the initiative to change his address and said, "Peter, did you just talk about that contract?"

Peter Saunders took a sip of the coffee in front of him, put down the cup, and replied: "Yes, Simon, we plan to fulfill the priority right in the contract now and buy your "Death Comes" script." , and, Mr. Goldberg also hopes that you can direct the film yourself. If you agree, the project can start now, and the schedule is set at the end of the year."

The great thing about "Death Comes" is that it's a very original idea, but it's just a generic plasma thriller with limited box office potential, and Simon doesn't want to waste too much energy on this movie.Moreover, Simon has already signed his next director film contract to Orion, and it is impossible to cooperate with Fox immediately.

However, Simon did not immediately refuse, but asked, "Peter, what about Fox's conditions?"

Peter Sanders hesitated for a while, but this time he didn't make any more detours, and directly quoted the price offered by Ronald Sandberg: "Simon, as long as you are willing to direct it yourself, we can give you $200 million." The director's remuneration, plus 10% of the North American box office profit share. This is a very generous offer, Simon, under normal circumstances, it is impossible for a newcomer like you to get a profit share. Moreover, I can reveal to you, you This contract is exactly the same as Brian's salary for directing "The Butterfly Effect".

Simon nodded slightly this time, and Fox's conditions this time were more sincere.

In this era, except for a few people such as Spielberg at the top of the pyramid, the highest salary of other first-line directors is only about 500 million US dollars.

This condition of Fox is also an affirmation of his directing skills in "Run Lola Run".

You must know that in Hollywood, where the film industry is already very developed, the studio's assessment of a filmmaker's ability is still very accurate depending on the work.

If Simon is now hitting the box office by accident with a non-technical flick like The Blair Witch.Well, studios are sure to wow, but unless you want to take your chances and capitalize on the popularity he's amassed with The Blair Witch.Otherwise, no studio would be willing to offer him a directing contract at all, let alone the current salary plan that is already a quasi-first-line director.

Speaking of which, this is also the result Simon had hoped to see at the beginning.

Thinking of this in his heart, Simon could only shake his head regretfully, and said: "Sorry, Peter, I have already signed a director contract with Orion, which is actually a subsidiary condition for Orion to release "Run Lola Run" for me."

When Peter Sanders heard the words, he didn't know what to say for a while.

If it had known that "Run Lola Run" could achieve the current box office results, Fox would definitely be willing to sign the same contract with Simon.

pity.

There have always been countless ifs in this world, but there can only be one result.

Fox is not aware of the specific details of the distribution contract signed by Simon and Orion, but due to several consecutive contacts, the relevant conditions are actually not difficult to guess.Now that Simon has agreed to the conditions, Orion will definitely maintain its share of the North American box office at around 30%.

So, even if the total North American box office of "Run Lola Run" is calculated at US$1.5 million, Orion will be able to earn US$5000 million in box office share in the future.

As for the cost of publicity and distribution, according to Peter Saunders' observation, the box office of "Run Lola Run" is basically only supported by heated discussions in the media and word-of-mouth from the audience, and Orion Pictures' expenditure in this regard is simply pitiful.Even if Orion Pictures takes the initiative to increase investment in publicity and distribution in order to obtain more profits in the later stage, it is impossible to exceed 1000 million US dollars anyway.

Calculated in this way, Orion Pictures will earn a net profit of US$4000 million just for the simple theatrical release of "Run Lola Run".