America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM

Chapter 195: Crush all the way, then go to China

In the corner of the cinema, two figures were hugging each other and lingering. It had been more than ten minutes since the movie started, and the man was still nibbling on the woman.

Feeling that the fire in his body was getting stronger and stronger, Theron could only struggle again and again before pushing Eric away.

She looked at the audience in the front row and gently punched Eric's chest: "That's enough honey, it will be heard."

"Haha, everyone is concentrating on watching the movie. Who cares? Come sit down."

"You are so annoying. I also want to watch the movie. The plot is very exciting. After all, it is Quentin's work."

Eric forced the other person onto his thigh and ran one hand along the inside.

"Then do you know that Quentin really likes women's feet? It is said that he spent ten thousand dollars to cover a woman's feet in a nightclub for half an hour."

Hearing this, Theron's eyes widened: "It's too exaggerated. Everyone knows about his foot fetish. Some people say that he makes women take off their shoes more frequently in his movies than airport security checks."

"But it's too much."

"It's a bit disgusting to think about it. If someone does this, I definitely can't stand it."

Then she added: "Except you of course, my dear, if you want to lick it, I will be very happy."

Eric immediately bit her earlobe and flicked it with his tongue: "How about we go home now?"

Theron looked at the big screen: "Wait, the movie is really good, let's just watch it, and don't you need to know your opponent?"

"Quentin Tarantino is not worthy of being my opponent. I admit that he is indeed a talented director. He is unique in both script writing and shooting."

"He has his own characteristics and his own unique style, which has also created a group of loyal fans."

"But because he is too distinctive, all the films he shoots are R-rated, so many people cannot accept his style, and it is almost a fantasy to compare R-rated films with PG13-rated films."

"In terms of the rating system alone, "Transformers" has already won too much. Even if it has been released for 10 days, it may not lose to him."

Eric dared to make such a conclusion, which was naturally based on certain judgments.

He has basically seen all of Quentin's movies. The highest-grossing one was "Django Unchained," which cost about four to five billion, but it was already at the peak of his business career, and it was also an era when the global film market was booming.

"Kill Bill" is indeed a classic, but if you want to compete with "Transformers", I'm afraid you are overestimating your capabilities.

Quentin's advantage is similar to that of Jackie Chan and Jet Li. He sells well in the disc market, but his box office is only ranked first among Hollywood directors.

And he will never reach the top level of Chris Columbus, Spielberg, George Lucas, and Nolan.

For the same reason, personal style is already very limited. The upper limit is so high that no matter how hard you try, you can't break it.

It is even more impossible for a director to change his style. The result of forced changes can only be dissatisfaction for both ordinary audiences and loyal fans.

"Wow, Uma Thurman is so cool! Bruce Lee's clothes look great on her."

HO

Watching the scene suddenly turn into black and white, blood spraying like champagne, severed limbs, heads flying around, and even splitting people in half with one knife.

The entire audience exclaimed from time to time, and some couldn't help but close their eyes.

Even though I knew it was R-rated before I came in, this was too much.

If the pictures were not adjusted to black and white, these scenes would not be tolerated even by the R rating and would definitely be deleted.

"OMG! Although the fight was beautiful, it was also too bloody." Theron said with a frown.

Eric hugged her tighter: "As you can see, this is the problem I'm talking about. Even adults think it's too bloody, so how high can the box office be?"

In fact, he still had something to say. For people who are used to watching Chinese martial arts movies, the battles in "Kill Bill" were too childish, lacking in beauty and power.

The final battle ended hastily, allowing Lucy Liu, who was so impressive in the early stage, to take the cake easily.

But after all, the main target is Japanese sword and halberd movies, such as "Asura Snow Princess".

After the movie ended, many people looked unhappy.

A reporter outside the venue was conducting random interviews and heard words such as "bloody", "too bloody" and "not suitable for minors".

After hanging out with Theron all night, there were already a lot of comments about "Kill Bill" the next day.

Although many people say that it is refreshing, enjoyable and very exciting to watch, this is Quentin Tarantino’s style.

But some media and audiences also criticized the movie for going too far, and Quentin seemed to be in a state of obsession.

And at the premiere, Lucy Liu warned the audience that they might not be able to stand vomiting after watching this movie, so they should be mentally prepared in advance.

Even Quentin himself issued an appeal: "Responsible parents must not take their children to watch "Kill Bill", as it may leave a shadow on them."

The film's creator went so far as to advise the audience to be cautious when entering the cinema and tear down their own show.

This behavior immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of the Weinstein brothers. It is said that even Disney, the father behind Miramax, was also unhappy.

But what they are unhappy about is not the same thing.

Although Disney acquired Miramax, it has always given Miramax full freedom and has never interfered in its operations. It just makes me money.

Therefore, Disney does not participate in the creation, filming, internal test screenings and other aspects of the movies released by Miramax. They believe that the Weinstein brothers know who the big and small are.

"Kill Bill" is completely contrary to the style that Disney has always implemented and is suitable for all ages.

It doesn’t matter if you failed at the box office. Dad can forgive you, because movies are inherently risky.

But if your ideas and thoughts are not consistent with your father's, then you cannot tolerate it. This kind of behavior is very dangerous.

It must be corrected, and it must be corrected with a heavy blow!

As of November 28, "Transformers" took in nearly $15 million at the box office on Friday, and the figures are still impressive.

"Kill Bill" was slightly better with a box office of $16 million from more than 2,400 theaters.

Although "Transformers" has an advantage in the number of theaters it is released in, "Kill Bill" has an advantage in terms of release time.

And if the box office on the first day beats the box office on the twelfth day, it seems to be a win, but in fact it is a loss.

When the box office results came out on Saturday, the negative impact really began to appear in the face of criticism from the media and audiences.

"Kill Bill" only took over 9 million US dollars at the box office, a drop of more than 40%, which surprised many people.

"Transformers" took in $12 million at the box office, only one day behind, and overtook it again.

Entering December, the box office will be announced on Sunday.

"Kill Bill" continues to plummet, with only 5 million US dollars left, and it took in 30 million US dollars at the box office in the first three days.

"Transformers" is still an old tradition. It dropped but not significantly. It still stayed within 20% and took in a box office of US$10 million.

The box office grossed a total of US$37 million in the last three days of the second weekend, and there was a significant increase in the number of middle-aged people bringing their families with them among the moviegoers.

Yahoo Entertainment, the New York Times, the Chicago Post and other media immediately published the news in the entertainment section.

"Kill Bill" lost, and lost miserably. It wanted to chop off the heads of Transformers with a samurai sword. This kind of comment seems particularly funny now.

However, some media also touted it from other angles. For example, the cost of "Kill Bill" was only US$30 million. Judging from the current trend, Miramax is sure to make a fortune.

And the box office of 30 million US dollars has set a new record for the company's first three days, and also broke Quentin's own record.

His previous best was $9.31 million for "Pulp Fiction."

So if you lose to others but win to yourself, then you have not lost.

When things got to this point, the so-called box office war came to an end early.

"Transformers" took in US$97 million at the box office in its second week and US$8.5 billion in North America in half a month.

The overseas box office has also been booming. After hitting US$7.3 billion in the first week, it took in US$95 million this week, a smaller drop than in North America.

The current global box office of "Transformers" totals 5.3 billion US dollars.

Killing like crazy, absolutely killing like crazy!

This number temporarily ranks fourth in the 2003 movie box office rankings.

It was preceded by "Finding Nemo" with $7.1 billion worldwide, "The Matrix Reloaded" with $3.9 billion and "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" with $5.4 billion.

Two belong to Disney and one belongs to Warner.

According to the predictions of major institutions, Warner's blockbuster "The Last Samurai" will be released in theaters this Friday.

But Quentin has proved with "Kill Bill" that Judao culture is vulnerable to Cybertron technology.

Even if Tom Cruise goes into battle in person, no one expects him to be able to stop the Autobots and Decepticons from continuing to charge.

So after the end of this week, the global box office of "Transformers" will definitely surpass "Pirates of the Caribbean" and rise to third place.

It is uncertain whether "The Matrix 2" will reach the fourth or fifth week, but it is certain to be defeated.

No one dared to ignore the bold words Eric had made, and many media outlets dug up the report.

"Mr. Cooper, what do you expect the box office of Transformers to be?"

"I think it will be over $700 million."

The interview a year ago is still vivid in my mind. How many people ridiculed me at the beginning, and how many people are being slapped in the face now.

Die-hard fans have ridiculed this topic over and over again, praising Eric more and more, and urging him to work overtime to release the second part before the end of next year.

With the joy of a box office hit, the blessings of fans, and spending one day each with Theron, Nicole, and the Olsen sisters, Eric and Gadot boarded a flight to Asia.

This global promotion is mainly divided into two lines, with two people responsible for Asia and Australia.

Xiao Jianjian and Chris Evans were responsible for South America and then Europe.

The rest continue to stay in North America to promote.

The first stop was Japan. Although Eric didn't like the small life, Japan was a big money bank, so he still had to go there in order to make money.

I stayed here for two days, and on the first day I had an interview with Hayao Miyazaki.

Eric still maintains respect for this director who has made such clear anti-war works as "Grave of the Fireflies" and "Porco Rosso".

What's more, he also urged the open-minded Abe to apologize and reflect on the history of the invasion of China in World War II. He is an artist with a conscience.

The next day, he appeared on the Japanese national variety show "SMAP×SMAP" and played with Takuya Kimura and four other hosts.

As for why I mentioned the other four people, it was because Eric and Gadot couldn't remember each other's names.

Eric is too lazy to remember, but Gadot really can’t remember.

During the period, I also met with the company leaders of Shōnen Jump, Shogakukan, and Shueisha, and briefly discussed the film and television adaptation of anime IP in their hands.

For example, "Death Note", "Dragon Ball", "One Piece", "Naruto", "Fullmetal Alchemist", "Ghost in the Shell", "Yu-Gi-Oh!" and so on.

These high-quality comics are all gold mines, and it would be best if they could get the copyright in advance before they become popular.

Several companies naturally have great ideas about this, especially after seeing "Transformers" killing everyone, winning the box office championship in Japan for two consecutive weeks, and sweeping everything around the world. Who can not be jealous.

This meeting can be regarded as an agreement to cooperate. The specific content will be discussed in detail after Eric is finished.

Of course, what we are talking about here are film and television adaptation rights. As for the comic distribution rights, they are all handled by branches established by the Japanese in the United States.

Eric has also completed control of Marvel, which is equivalent to having the ability to create and distribute comics. However, if he wants to get a piece of the Japanese comic market, he still has to think of a way.

After leaving Japan, the two flew to South Korea. Although Bangzi's ticket potential is not as good as Japan's, it is also among the top in Asia.

So even though Eric didn't like them either, he still wanted to be considerate for the sake of box office.

The two stayed here for another day and accepted an exclusive interview with South Korea's KBS TV station. Eric was invited to dinner by the head of CJ Entertainment.

Although the other party is a first-class film and television company in South Korea, when it comes to Hollywood, it is no different than a small fish or shrimp.

Naturally, the reason for inviting guests to dinner is to seek cooperation, hoping to obtain some investment shares or obtain the agency rights for MGM movies in South Korea, etc.

After the meal, he wanted to invite Eric to experience the special service, but since Gadot was nearby, he was too embarrassed to accept it.

When I got back to the hotel, I couldn't help but regret. Why did I team up with Gadot? If I teamed up with Ryan Reynolds, why not take off!

It's a pity that it's all over now.

At about 10 a.m. on December 5, a family plane landed at Yanjing International Airport.

When the two were walking in the hall, Gadot's beautiful appearance immediately attracted a lot of attention.

Soon, a young man wearing glasses came closer and asked in fairly fluent English: "Are you the heroine of "Transformers"?"

When Gadot came to China for the first time, she thought no one knew her, so the two of them didn't hide their faces at all.

Showing a sunny smile: "Yes, I am Gal Gadot."

The young man immediately waved and shouted not far away: "That's her, come here quickly!"

Wow!

Suddenly a dozen people ran over, all of them wearing small things related to Transformers.

"I found your itinerary from MGM's official website. We have been waiting for more than an hour."

Gadot looked at the men and women in front of her with some surprise, who were almost the same as herself, or even a few years older.

"Really? I'm sorry that the flight was delayed and made you wait for so long. Is there anything I can do to make up for it? Can I sign an autograph or take a photo with you?"

The young people immediately nodded and cheered.

At this time in China, Hong Kong circles are becoming popular, Hallyu has invaded, and star chasing has become more and more common and increasingly crazy.

But on the contrary, celebrities are becoming more and more aloof and rare to see.

How have they ever encountered a star as approachable as Gadot, who is also a big Hollywood star and whose celebrity status is far higher than that of the Korean Wave.

Then they took turns signing autographs and taking photos, and someone took out an unopened genuine Transformers toy from the bag and wanted to sign the box.

This situation quickly attracted the attention of the people around him. In order to show off his signature even if he didn't recognize him, others gradually gathered around him.

Seeing that there would be no end to the delay, Eric could only call Susan.

In the end, they were surrounded in the hall for more than half an hour and signed hundreds of names. They were finally rescued by Susan and others.

He waved to the regretful fans and hurriedly got in the car and left.