Made in Hollywood

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"Duke, are you interested in football?"

In the huge banquet hall, Duke and a Russian-Jewish man sat in the corner of the lounge, the other seemed to be an avid football fan, "I'm talking about English football, in your name, buy a Premier League team. It shouldn't be difficult, in this case, we can meet on the court every year in the future."

"So, Roman." Duke put the wine glass in his hand on the table in front of him and asked curiously, "Is the rumor true?"

From the day he came to London, he kept reading from the newspapers that Roman Abramovich was going to buy a Premier League team.

"Actually, the deal is done."

Abramovich is obviously interested in making friends with Duke, and he looks like he is trusting. "This is not a secret in the football circle. Now it is only officially announced after the end of the season."

He smiled at Duke, "Soccer is the number one sport in the world, and there are countless fanatics around the world, and football is a great opportunity to expand its influence."

"expand influence?"

Duke crossed his chest with one hand and pinched his chin with the other. It is no exaggeration to say that his movie fans are all over the world, but compared with football, or some super club fans, it must be a lot worse.

Seeing Duke showing interest, Abramovich's next topic always revolves around English football, and it seems that he is really happy that Duke joins this circle.

Although he prefers American football and has also been a quarterback in his school, Duke also has some knowledge of English football. He has also heard of Abramovich, who is undoubtedly an English football enthusiast. Perhaps the acquisition did not have a purpose at the beginning, but later showed enough enthusiasm.

The Premier League is undoubtedly the world's No. 1 Golden Dollar League in the future. At least from a commercial point of view, this is the case. In fact, sports clubs are not only investment, there are many business families in North America who are using the sports industry for profit.

Duke is very interested in Abramovich's proposal. Imagine if he is now involved with a football club that has a strong influence around the world, and then the media will report it one after another. What kind of promotion will it bring to the upcoming "Return of the King"?

Yes, he never thought about acquiring a Premier League club, but he was happy to use such an opportunity to hype it up.

After finishing chatting with Roman Abramovich, Duke walked out of the banquet hall and called Tina Fey over.

"Notify David and Panney to come to London as quickly as possible!"

Eighteen hours later, Duke met his investment manager and public relations manager at the hotel. Together with the head of Warner Bros. UK branch, they discussed together for two full hours before leaving separately.

Duke withdrew from the London stop after the crew's promotional tour in Europe, and for the next two days. "The Times" reported a rather attractive news that someone had approached Manchester United, wanting to buy the club wholly.

Fleet Street felt the wind, and it only took a day. Just dug up the so-called insider, and then from the BBC to the newspaper. From the Internet to traditional media, there are overwhelming news reports about it.

"The famous director Duke Rosenberg, who has just finished the production of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, has now contacted the three largest shareholders of Manchester United and the club's management, and has officially submitted a quotation with a total price of up to 300 million pounds. !"

"Hollywood has invaded the English Premier League. Duke Rosenberg is tired of directing and wants to get into football, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy is likely to be his last."

"It is unacceptable for an American to buy a football club in England, and even if he succeeds in adapting the trilogy, the masterpiece of English literature, it does not mean that he has sufficient knowledge of the country's culture and traditions..."

There are also reporters who went to interview Manchester United's management. The club's CEO admitted that he had received an offer from Duke, but the club's shareholders have no plans to sell.

Manchester United in this era is incomparable to Chelsea. In just a few days, Duke's limelight completely overwhelmed Abramovich, not only occupying the headlines of the entertainment edition, but also easily grabbing the sports edition. headlines.

Even in the entire European region, many sports and non-sports large media are paying attention to this news, such as Germany's Bild, Spain's Aspen, and Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport. On the front page headline, it also used a long text to introduce Duke's origin in detail. Those sports fans who don't care much about the film industry, many people also know Duke Rosenberg and "The Lord of the Rings" three. The title of the song.

The hotel where Duke stayed in London was surrounded by reporter paparazzi.

Now that this explosive news was thrown out, Duke didn't mind standing up and saying a few words. When he was out and returned to the hotel, he specially accepted an interview with a reporter.

"I'm a Manchester United fan, I really like Ryan Giggs, David Beckham and Paul Scholes, Manchester United is one of the greatest football clubs in the world, I think I have the ability to make it better."

A reporter came forward and asked, "But there are Manchester United fans who are worried that you will borrow money from the bank to complete this acquisition, which will put the club on a heavy debt."

"I won't borrow from anyone!" Duke said very seriously, "I have enough funds ready, if Manchester United shareholders agree to my offer, this transaction will not bring any debt!"

Having said that, he threw out the most important words in the interview, "If the transaction is completed, I promise to take out all the proceeds from "The Return of the King" as the signing funds for Manchester United next season!"

As soon as this sentence was said, the scene immediately became a sensation. There are many reporters running entertainment. It is clear that Duke has obtained more than 200 million US dollars in revenue in the first two films. "The Return of the King" must be more or less. If This acquisition is really completed, how much money will Manchester United have for signings next season?

The goal has been achieved, Duke walked directly into the hotel under the protection of two bodyguards.

This news storm was almost pushed to a climax by him. The names of him and "The Return of the King" have been frequently mentioned by various media. Now that the information flow is extremely fast, it doesn't take long to accompany Manchester United. Together, it reached the ears of fans around the world.

"Duke Rosenberg? The Return of the King? The Lord of the Rings Trilogy?"

In a football-themed bar in India, a man in a Manchester United shirt asked suspiciously, "What is this?"

Someone in the know explained, "Duke Rosenberg is a Hollywood director, and those are his movies."

"Director?" The Manchester United fan was even more curious, "When did the director become so rich that he could afford our Manchester United team?"

"He's a very rich director!" Another person said, "It is written in the newspaper that his net worth is estimated to be more than 3 billion US dollars, and just any one of the Lord of the Rings trilogy can bring him a lot of money. Over $200 million in revenue."

"What?" The man was incredulous, "What kind of movie can make such a high income?"

"It is said that "The Return of the King", the last part of the trilogy, took less than 20 days and the global box office exceeded one billion US dollars?"

"There is such a scary movie, why don't I know? Is it showing here in India?"

"It's showing, there's nothing to do today, why don't we go and watch it together..."

"I'm going too, and I'll also see what kind of film the director who can buy Manchester United will make..."

A large group of people left the bar and headed straight for the nearest cinema.

Perhaps this whimsical publicity and hype did play a role, or perhaps the newly added film fans in the screening area were enthusiastic enough. When "The Return of the King" spent its fourth weekend overseas, the overseas box office not only did not continue to decline, On the contrary, there was a small rebound, and in seven days, it won 110.25 million US dollars from 95 countries and regions!

But the response to English football in North America has been subdued, with Return of the King continuing to decline at a healthy rate at the North American box office, and this week the film has its first real competitor, the sequel produced and distributed by Universal Pictures. Racing popcorn movie Fast and Furious 2.

However, due to the suppression of the number of theaters and the rate of filming, coupled with the withdrawal of the protagonist of the first film Vin Diesel, and the influence of the replacement of the heroine, the box office of "Fast and Furious 2" in the first week fell more seriously than that of the first film. , In three days, in the 2480 theaters in North America, only 18.98 million US dollars were received, and it was still unable to challenge the dominance of "The Return of the King".

"The Return of the King" still maintains a strong showing in 4,013 theaters. It won US$24.86 million from North America in the fourth weekend. Although the box office of a single theater is no longer dominant, theater operators are still willing to maintain a super-large-scale screening, because The income brought to them is not only the box office, but also the theater sales department that often sells out of stock!

Although the peripheral sales of The Lord of the Rings trilogy are incomparable to those of Star Wars, "The Return of the King" is the final chapter of the film and the last parting in the eyes of fans. Since the film was released, the sales of peripheral products have reached a peak , It is not even an exaggeration to say that it is a miracle. In less than four weeks, it has sold more than 400 million US dollars in North America!

Compared with the box office of the film, the peripherals are more profitable for producers, distributors and sellers!

Like all commercial companies, the North American theater chain makes any decisions based on commercial benefits.

However, the 4,013 theaters and high film rate of "The Return of the King" will stop there. Next weekend, "Finding Nemo" produced by Pixar Studios and distributed by Warner Disney will be released on a large scale.

But the achievements of "The Return of the King" are enough to make anyone involved in the production and distribution of this film laugh. Within four weeks of its release, the film grossed $421.18 million at the North American box office and $1.175 billion at the global box office! (To be continued ~^~)