Hollywood Drawing

"An extremely crazy marketing, an art of deception that continues to grow amid the scolding of movie fans!" --- "Los Angeles Times"

In the office of the CEO of Paramount Pictures, Shirley Lansing put down the newspaper in her hand. When a new working day began, various news about "Blair Witch" dominated the headlines of the entertainment section of almost all newspapers.

At the same time, the marketing cases related to this film have also become the focus of research by all Hollywood film companies.

After the film took an incredible box office of 17.88 million U.S. dollars on Friday, despite the criticism from fans who watched it, the popularity of the film did not decrease but increased, and it once again reported a box office of 19.98 million U.S. dollars on Saturday.

In this weird atmosphere, the film was criticized by fans and the media, and its box office continued to rise. After Sunday, the first weekend box office exceeded US$50 million, reaching US$52.23 million.

This weird hit suddenly appeared in Hollywood. Shirley Lansing had people collect film information and survey data from a third-party survey company early on. These were not a problem for Paramount CEO.

Generally, around March every year, both the media and the public will focus on the awards season, and few blockbuster movies will be released during this time.

But "Blair Witch" broke out without scruples and ignited public opinion in a short period of time, which makes the trajectory of this film even more worthy of analysis.

"Good morning, Shirley."

After knocking on the door, the secretary led Mel Gibson into the CEO's office. After saying hello, the A-list movie star also looked at the newspaper on the table.

"The media has been full of damn news about this movie in the past few days. I also took the time to watch it. The film was just a piece of shit. I have to say, that fat guy Harvey Weinstein, this time he played A good trick."

"Who knows." Shirley Lansing waited for the secretary to go out, closed the office door, and frowned slightly at a pile of statistics. "This matter is not that simple. Even though it is the young director who is being pushed out and is being scolded, maybe Harvey Weinstein is not the real mastermind behind the scenes. I have specially asked someone to investigate."

Although the information she received was relatively ambiguous, Witch Studio was established as a partnership between two parties, which proves that this crazy, bold and very successful marketing plan was not controlled by Harvey Weinstein himself.

Mel Gibson heard her words and said with some emotion: "If this is true, this person's methods are really brilliant! He hid behind the scenes, avoided all possible risks, and yet he was able to get involved in this crazy plan , and if enough profits are made, the person who formulated this plan will completely change the promotion of Hollywood movies."

This kind of viral marketing plan relies on deception to drive movie fans into the theater. Although there were a lot of curses after watching the movie, it also gained a very large social influence amidst the curses.

The most important thing is that even director Mel Gibson can see that the film perfectly transformed public opinion and popularity into actual box office figures.

"Okay, this video has nothing to do with us."

Remembering the purpose of coming here, Mel Gibson was ready to get down to business. "Should we agree to Townsend-Rosman's proposal? I have been thinking about it these past few days. The risks are very high!"

Shirley Lansing nodded, also concerned about the risks. "Mel, in fact, I am inclined to agree to him, but we will not announce our release date yet. As long as we want to release it in May, we cannot avoid those two films. Instead of doing this, we should join forces with 20th Century Fox. Let’s squeeze in Batman Begins!”

Although I don’t know where Townsend-Rosman found out that their new film will be released at the end of May, the other party’s proposal is very tempting.

With "Braveheart" scheduled to be released a week after "Batman Begins" and "Die Hard 3," the two giants put pressure on theater companies to squeeze each other's number of theaters.

This will indeed have some effect. Twentieth Century Fox and Paramount, both of the six giants, will join forces, and the three major theater companies will definitely give some face.

Then the two huge media resources were brought together to try their best to discredit each other's films from all aspects and grab the audience at the beginning of the summer season.

Both of them know that if they do nothing or just perform regular operations, there is a high probability that "Batman Begins" will cause all-kills, once again causing a "Joker"-style market crush, forming a winner-takes-all situation. situation.

Since there is nothing we can do against Warner Bros. alone, we might as well join forces and control each other together.

"Shirley, the risks involved cannot be ignored!"

Mel Gibson reminded: "If we follow our original plan and release the films of the two companies one weekend apart, no matter who wins, we can temporarily avoid the winner."

Although this is the most conservative plan, it is also the most passive plan, and he also has a very big concern. "Have you ever thought that if those two films were mutually beneficial, or if they each attracted different audiences and fans, Townsend-Rothman would definitely turn his back immediately and join forces with Warner Bros. to suppress us!"

This situation is very common, especially during the most important summer season. Two companies that were allies one second will become life-and-death rivals the next and start to plot against each other.

To put it bluntly, everything is for profit, just like the six major companies now, there is a lot of cooperation and fierce struggles in the dark.

Shirley Lansing shook her head, picked up the cold coffee and took a sip. "As long as we want to release it in May, this is unavoidable, unless you are willing to avoid the summer release and move "Braveheart" to October or November."

This year's summer season has had an unusual start. Just because Warner Bros. announced the release date of "Batman Begins" in advance, a large number of films originally scheduled to be released in May have been rescheduled, and many people want to avoid this. A super masterpiece.

This has resulted in overcrowding in later schedules. Almost starting from the first weekend in June, at least two major productions will be released every weekend. Most film companies would rather go to the overcrowded later months than go head-to-head. Compete with Batman.

Wayne Greenberg has proven time and time again that when one of his films becomes a success, it turns into a viewing frenzy that lasts for weeks, and that releasing at the same time as his film is a recipe for death.

Everyone knows that he cannot always succeed, and there will always be a time when he encounters Waterloo. But no one is willing to take a gamble and see if "Batman Begins" is his Waterloo.

This summer masterpiece for the return of the Lord of Darkness has a production cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. It is still filming the most familiar Batman. Everyone in the industry knows very well that as long as there are no big surprises, this film will The box office cannot be lowered.

This strange situation in the May schedule is also a huge opportunity for Mel Gibson and Shirley Lansing.

Their initial idea was simple: not to announce the release date of "Braveheart" until after the Oscars, and then announce the release date while promoting the film. In this way, as long as they can withstand the momentum of "Batman Begins" in its third week of release, their film will be able to occupy at least a two-week gap.

"Mel, if Townsend Roseman doesn't call, we still have the possibility of fishing in troubled waters, but now..."

Shirley Lansing shook her head and said seriously to the big star in front of her: "I know the old Jewish man. If we can't reach an agreement on this matter, he will definitely join forces with Warner Brothers without hesitation. This matter will change Being me, I will definitely do this. If there is one less competitor, it is possible to get more box office."

"Okay, let's do it." Mel Gibson nodded. "If you need me to contact the media and film critics later, please let me know."

In fact, for this "Braveheart", his ambition is not just limited to the theater market. For the filming of this film, Mel Gibson acted as both a director and an actor. This is an important work for him to prepare for an Oscar breakthrough.

In his heart, he is not afraid of 20th Century Fox's "Die Hard 3". If he only competes with this film, he is very sure that he can win, but with "Batman Begins" it will be different. .

He had studied Wayne Greenberg before. This young director made him feel uncomfortable, but he had to admit his talent. Just the box office success it has achieved so far since its debut deserves everyone’s careful treatment.

"I will communicate with Townsend Rothman." Shirley Lansing said: "That's it for today. I have a meeting later to discuss the Oscar for "Forrest Gump"."

"OK."

The two shook hands and ended the conversation.

After Mel Gibson left, Shirley Lansing once again turned her attention to the survey data on her desk. She knows much more than the outside world reports, and "Blair Witch" cannot be the work of Harvey Weinstein alone.

Thinking about the information I got, if there is anything I can use...

"Blair Witch" was such a hit at the box office on its first weekend that Bob Weinstein, who had been prepared for it for a long time, sent out copies of the film on Sunday. In this off-season for movies, expanding the scale of screenings is definitely imperative.

At the beginning of the new weekend, the number of theaters showing this film has increased to 2,450. The ample number of screens also ensures that the film can squeeze out all its box office potential in a short period of time.

From the filming of the film to now when the box office is beginning to explode, the promotional funds invested in the project "Blair Witch" alone have reached an astonishing fifteen million US dollars, while the filming of the film only cost a few hundred thousand US dollars. , most of the expenditure is still used to buy film.

But as soon as the film was released, the first weekend's box office earned back all the initial investment, and it has begun to generate large profits.

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