Made in Hollywood

A new month has begun. For the time being, there will be two changes a day, one in the morning and one at 9 o'clock in the evening!

For Duke, the main work at this stage is to complete the final stage of "The Return of the King", and then pay attention to the progress of several negotiations, the most important one of which is undoubtedly the Harry Potter studio and the Copyright negotiations between Joanna Rowling for later installments in the series.

As Duke expected, it was a long and difficult negotiation full of wrangling and divergent interests.

Especially regarding the share of Joanna Rowling, the two sides are basically fighting on the basis of 1/10,000, and companies such as Walt Disney are interfering with it. The negotiation started from the release of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" and has been It has lasted for more than half a year, and after making certain compromises, a new agreement has finally been reached.

From the beginning of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban", Joanna Rowling will enjoy a 9.5% share of all peripheral income, including movie box office, and a one-time Harry Potter studio. Pay a base fee of $60 million for the rights to adapt the last four novels.

There is no way to do this. Hollywood has never been able to get benefits without paying. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" has achieved great success. Joanna Rowling and her management team are not fools, how is it possible will give up their own benefits.

At the same time, the crew signed new contracts with all the actors, and the remuneration of most of the resident roles has been increased to a certain extent, especially the main small actors, not only the new contract remuneration has risen to the level of one million, but also Received partial compensation after the big sale of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".

In the case of not touching the profit sharing, the replacement is only the last choice, and the crew will use the original crew as much as possible.

However, the progress of the entire series will be paused slightly. There are two main reasons, one is that Chris Columbus does not want to continue and Duke also intends to change the director; the other is that the voice-changing period and the rapid development period of the young actors have arrived, and the project will be suspended for one year.

Moreover, these young actors also have to take acting classes according to Duke's requirements. In the same way, the crew pays them high salaries, and they have to show corresponding performances. The performances of the former ones were really bad in the later period, especially the Gryffindor Golden Triangle. If it weren't for the fixed image formed by the series, their acting skills would not be much better than the extras mixed in at the bottom in Hollywood.

In fact, Duke and Warner are very clear, compared to Joanna? Rowling. These little actors are the real trouble. If two more films are released at most, their agents and parents will inevitably come to negotiate again, and even ask for a share of the profits.

But after so many years in Hollywood, there was Warner Bros. to help. Duke has prepared the means to deal with it, and then it will be fine to sign a box office profit share with the young actors.

Harry Potter Studios is a separately incorporated company and can fully finance Duke Studios and Warner Bros. by way of loans...

Over time, the popularity of "The Two Towers" has continued to decline. North America grossed just $23.5 million for the month of August, even though the soundtrack and DVD set have yet to hit the market. The promotion of "The Return of the King" has been officially put on the agenda.

Because the release is still far away, especially the hot screening of the first two films, the market is full of expectations for the final chapter. Warner Bros. still revolves around "The Two Towers" in terms of publicity. After the post-production work of "The Return of the King" is completed, it is only Duke who has revealed some news more or less for the time being.

"Director Rosenberg, is it convenient to reveal the news of "The Return of the King"?"

At the entrance of the Lord of the Rings studio, Duke was stopped by several entertainment reporters, and when he heard their questions, he rarely responded with a few words, "I will use my instant sharing account to announce the latest posters, You can pay attention to the film and the news of its release at any time, and you are welcome to reprint it.”

"Share account instantly?"

One reporter was stunned for a while, and another reporter reminded him, "It's the social networking site where the first poster of "The Return of the King" was released."

Duke smiled, walked into the studio under the escort of two bodyguards, greeted the publicity department first, and used his instant sharing account to post some updates about the film every few days.

Although the energy invested in this website is extremely limited, Duke will also help to promote it to the best of his ability. Especially after the first few times, the website took advantage of the popularity of The Lord of the Rings, and the number of registrations exceeded half a million in one fell swoop.

For a site that is still in its infancy, that's an impressive number.

"Hi, Duke."

As soon as he entered the office, Wallace Lee knocked on the door and walked in, as if he had something to discuss.

"Li, what's the matter?" After sitting down, Duke pointed to the chair opposite the desk.

Wallace Lee sat down. He knew Duke's work style and asked directly, "What do you think of my recent performance, BOSS?"

Having struggled in the independent film industry for many years, he is very clear that the opportunity has to be won by himself, and he will also promote himself at the right time.

"Not bad." Duke nodded approvingly, "It's better than I expected."

Duke knows some of the habits of people who came out of the independent film circle. Perhaps his old classmate has encountered too many obstacles in the independent circle, and his literary atmosphere is not strong. In "The Two Towers" And in the post-production of "The Return of the King", it can really be described as excellent.

Duke understood what he wanted to say, raised his hand to stop what Wallace Lee wanted to say, thought for a moment, and said, "But these are not enough. Lee, I have the right to adapt, you must In the next time, prove to me that you are capable enough to prove that you have the value for me to invest."

It would be too much of a joke if he could invest tens of millions of dollars in post-production work on just two films.

Like all Hollywood companies, investing in movies is never a simple matter, and it is not a decision that can be made just by slapping the forehead. Any investment or project approval is relatively cautious.

"Li, I need a one-and-a-half minute trailer." Duke still gave the other party a chance to prove himself, "You are responsible for cutting out the first trailer for "The Return of the King", if I'm satisfied..."

Wallace Lee's eyes lit up immediately, but Duke's voice changed, "I will have a new project next year, as long as the trailer can meet my basic requirements, you can help me prepare this film with Anna next year. It's your chance to prove yourself up close."

"Is that the new script going to Paris?" Wallace Lee asked.

Duke nodded, "It's the script I gave Anna last week, you two can talk about it first."

After completing the script outline and character setting, Duke handed over the script to the editorial department of Duke Studio, and other screenwriters filled and perfected it. There is nothing surprising about the plot of this script. It's all Hollywood's usual things, even the most touching father-daughter family in it, has nothing to do with strangeness and innovation.

Just like what he said, those popular movies are basically half the Pacific Ocean away from new ideas.

No matter what else, take this project already named "Hurricane Rescue" as an example. If the script is delivered to the film company by a newcomer, there is a 99.9% chance that it will be sent to the film company after being browsed for a while. Entering the script library, slowly accumulating dust in the corner, I don't know when it will come out.

But in the hands of directors and producers with successful experience, it will be treated differently.

Although the script of "Hurricane Rescue" has been completed, Duke is not ready to start production immediately. There is still a lot of work to be done on "The Return of the King". This is only a small investment and short time-consuming project.

Since September, Duke's instant sharing account has successively released some relevant information such as "The Return of the King" posters and character modeling, and as a major shareholder, he has communicated with Google in particular, as long as someone uses Google to search for "" "The Return of the King" or social networking sites, etc., instant sharing sites will inevitably appear in the forefront of searches.

And at his suggestion, the instant sharing company's new website and social software have simplified functions to make it easier for users to use, which is not much Duke did for his girlfriend.

After all, he is not a professional, and he can only use the influence of himself and his works to help Ivanka promote the website.

What's more, Duke has always held 45% of the shares. If the website can really grow, it will be a good thing for him.

By the end of October, thanks to the vigorous promotion of various aspects, the number of registrations of the instant sharing website finally exceeded the 1 million mark, and the average daily number of visits was close to 300,000, although it was far less than that of websites or software such as blogs. , but it is also a very good development momentum among the same type.

At the same time, after a slow and long screening, the North American box office of "The Two Towers" finally broke through the $500 million mark on October 25, which is the second North American box office in history to exceed $500 million. The film is also Duke's first North American box office work of over 500 million, and the global box office has also surpassed "The Fellowship of the Ring", surpassing the $1.2 billion mark in one fell swoop, reaching $1.21577 billion!

But unlike when "The Fellowship of the Ring" crossed a billion dollars, the media and fans in the United States were very calm. This result was seen by everyone two months ago. It took a long time to see Duke With more success, the media and the public no longer feel the novelty.

"If 'The Two Towers' can't exceed $500 million in North America and the global box office can't compare to 'The Fellowship of the Ring', that's news!"

The Los Angeles Times review undoubtedly represents the views of the majority.

However, this is indeed a gratifying achievement. Since mid-October, Duke Manor has been busy setting up the banquet hall and preparing a grand party, which is not only for the success of "The Two Towers", but more to celebrate Ivanka's twenty-first birthday. (To be continued ~^~)

PS:   Ask for monthly and recommended tickets!