Made in Hollywood

"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone?" Duke repeated subconsciously, and the girl opposite nodded earnestly, "Yes, it's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone!"

Has it been published now?

After thinking for a while, he couldn't find a clear memory. Duke smiled at the curious mother next to him, then turned to the opposite side, "Can you show me, Scarlett?"

"certainly."

Without hesitation, the little girl put the book in. Duke took a look at the cover first. The name of the author, Joanna Catherine Rowling, was striking.

Afterwards, Duke opened it and read a few pages. Although he had only seen the movie and had never read the original book, the information he had obtained was enough for him to judge that this "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was the same "Harry Potter" and the Philosopher's Stone.

Closing the book, Duke returned it to Scarlett Johansson, and his brows could not help wrinkling. This is a very delicious piece of fresh meat. It once created a production value of hundreds of billions of dollars worldwide, and the sales of peripheral products It easily crushed George Lucas' Star Wars series, and it must be false to say that he is not tempted or even very tempted.

However, it is very difficult for him to make fresh meat into delicious food.

Why is Harry Potter so popular?

If asked this question, Duke believes that the first reaction of many people is that the books and movies are excellent, the quality is guaranteed, and they are suitable for the taste of the market, and they will naturally become popular.

This is indeed the most basic condition. He still remembers that there was a debate between the Los Angeles Times and the elite writers in the United States that affected the entire world book market, because the latter, like professional film critics, put Harry Potter on the map. The heat is blamed on the poor taste of the masses.

In the eyes of the elite group of writers, literature only belongs to some natural class people, and those idiots need to be guided by those elites, and the elites are suitable for writing better articles to influence the public. Even determines the public's appreciation and reading.

To sum up in one sentence, there is a culture of stubborn unwillingness to put readers first in elite literary writing circles.

In fact, this is the same as some truths in the film industry. These people have forgotten that the reason why popular films and literature can flourish is the result of public enthusiasm, not the reason.

Why should you read it? If what you read and see does not enrich your mind and spirit. To be sublimated, what is the meaning or necessity of what you read and see? This is arguably the most high-sounding reason those elites have found for the masses.

However, they have forgotten, or deliberately ignored a little, when the public chooses these, it is just for entertainment, for a very simple pleasure. Instead of looking for the meaning of life or life, it can even be said that the public chooses these for their own daydreams that cannot be realized in their entire lives!

Among the literary and artistic elite, there are also unbearably unfounded assertions, like those who read popular novels and watch commercial films. They are free and idle people who do not care about the social, intellectual and political life around them.

However, while they belittle the popular culture represented by Harry Potter, they are destined to find a successful tool from the Harry Potter series, otherwise they will only go to decline.

Harry Potter suits the tastes of the masses. Provides readers with an excellent daydream that arguably underlies the success of this series.

However. Is there really no popular work on the market that can be compared? That's not necessarily the case, so why did Harry Potter succeed and nothing else?

The reason is simple, Time Warner got the copyright. And think that the works with enough potential are Harry Potter, and not others!

As a former graduate of the relevant film major, the Harry Potter phenomenon is naturally part of the analysis course. In fact, as long as you pay more attention, it is not difficult to find a fact. , did their best to promote it, and after several years of publicity and hype, Harry Potter had a trend that had already begun to become popular when the film was prepared.

It can be said that having Time Warner, a media platform that can rank among the top five or even top three in the world, is the key to Harry Potter's success!

Just like a movie, if a product has quality assurance, but there is not enough publicity, it may be successful, but the possibility of success is infinitely small.

Harry Potter is not naturally popular. If there is no support from a huge group behind it, it is really difficult to say how it will develop in the future.

As for the idea that gold always shines, and good movies and works can kill the whole world, only a fool would believe it in this day and age.

This is also the reason why Duke frowned. If the Harry Potter series is put into the hands of Fox, Paramount and even Disney, it is likely to embark on the road of success in the past. What will happen in the future if it is put into his hands?

He is a successful director, and it is not shy to say that he is even one of the most successful directors in Hollywood today, but can a director be compared with a huge media group? Even if Duke was a hundred times more arrogant and arrogant than Tom Cruise, he wouldn't be so stupid.

In the far east, the public knows books only because of movies, but in the western world, readers of novels are the key to the success of the first movie, and even the first work is a fan-oriented movie!

A piece of tempting delicacy is placed in the mouth. If you bite down, you will be held up. If you don't bite down, you will never be reconciled. This is what Duke's mentality is now.

He remembered very clearly that Time Warner only spent $250,000 to get the first film and related copyrights from Rowling. Even if the film was successful, it paid Rowling a compensation, but it was a lucrative business. .

Thinking of $250,000, Duke suddenly smiled. Even if he failed, the loss would not be big, and... he could find a partner.

With the strength of him and the Duke's studio, there is no way to turn Harry Potter into a money-sucking machine.

After getting out of the car, Duke called Tina Fey over, "Scarlett has a children's book in her hand, go to contact the publisher and the original author, and try to get the film and all peripheral copyrights except the novel."

Tina Fey nodded and was about to find Scarlett, but Duke stopped her and instructed, "Do it yourself, the sooner the better!"

"I see." Tina Fey waved to Scarlett. When the little girl came over, she said, "I'll deal with it now."

Reuniting with his mother, Duke walked into Ballroom No. 1 of the Hilton Hotel in London, which is full of celebrities and beautiful women. The guests and most of the models who attended the annual Victoria's Secret show were present in the ballroom.

Accompanying his mother to greet several executives of Victoria's Secret, Duke acted alone. In this case, being single is the most sensible choice, but he turned around and found that his status may have improved after becoming an angel. , Heidi Klum and other models who officially signed with Victoria's Secret did not come.

While there are others that look good too, there's Sophie Marceau's example. Plus it's London again, and Duke intends to keep his distance from those under the age of eighteen.

Even after the Gibson incident, Martin Bob was embarrassed by the joint suppression of Eno Martin and Pat Kingsley, but he was still the actual controller of CAA, and Duke would not underestimate anyone.

There are also acquaintances at the party. For example, the Cruise couple who were specially invited by Wei Mi.

"Duke, never thank you in person."

Tom Cruise took the initiative to meet him and said with a smile, "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to hit the best actor."

"You're too kind. Tom." Duke smiled back, looking past Cruise. Seeing Pat Kingsley's figure, I had a silent exchange with her, and took it back, "This is the result of your hard work."

"No. No, no, Duke."

Suddenly, Tom Cruise stretched out his right hand and put it in front of Duke sincerely, "In this circle, competition is sometimes unavoidable. We used to have some misunderstandings, but there are also "Chicago". After a successful cooperation, I think it is time to say goodbye to the previous misunderstandings."

After a little hesitation, Duke made a decision. After all, there was no conflict between the two that was too deep to be resolved. He shook it firmly in Cruise's hand, and said directly, "Chicago let me Seeing a different Tom, a hard-working, aggressive actor."

This handshake, the grudge between him and Tom Cruise can be considered to come to an end.

"What's the plan after that?" Duke asked casually while chatting. "If you're willing to pay $5 million, you can continue to be the male lead in my new film."

"You're too greedy, Duke." Tom Cruise shook his head, then said, "There's a series based on a TV series, the one I asked you to direct, that's been delayed for too long, and I'm going to start over again. Start, we are discussing cooperation with Paramount Pictures."

Hearing Tom Cruise talk about Mission: Impossible, Duke knew that Tang and the team behind him had made the most appropriate choice.

This is not surprising. The contradiction between the two sides has faded, and Duke has long since dissipated some of his original thoughts. Moreover, he is neither God nor the center of the world. It is impossible for the world to run according to his ideas.

Still, he captured a useful message from Cruise's words.

"Tom, I remember that you originally planned to cooperate with Disney." Duke asked suspiciously, "How did you become Paramount?"

"Don't you know?" Tom Cruise moved a little closer and said in a low voice, "The conflict between Michael Eisner and Michael Ovitz has intensified, and Disney is not a suitable partner for the time being."

Duke frowned slightly and asked tentatively, "I remember that Paramount Pictures has been short of funds recently."

"Yeah, so I will invest most of it myself." Tom Cruise was full of confidence, "Although other funds are temporarily unavailable, there will always be a solution."

"Thank you for your help." Cruise seemed to be telling the truth, "Even if I acted in a film like "Chicago", it was successful, which made Paramount more optimistic about my market appeal, So the negotiation and review of this project can be so smooth.”

"You're too kind, Tom!"

Although he was dealing with Cruise, Duke's head turned to "Mission: Impossible", lack of funds? (To be continued ~^~)

PS:  Ask for a recommendation ticket~~.