Made in Hollywood

If you want to talk about what Leonardo DiCaprio wants most, anyone familiar with him will know that it is definitely not a female model with blond hair and long legs, but the Oscar's best actor statuette!

In "Inception", Leonardo? DiCaprio's performance is dazzling enough.

As a result, Leonardo's team also began to build momentum for next year's Oscars. Although it is only May, the people or films preparing for the Olympics have already started to act. Even the last Oscar ceremony has just ended. Many famous films and actors appeared in the media and major film festivals, trying to accumulate capital for the Olympics.

Relatively speaking, Leonardo's action is not too early, while Duke's plan is very behind.

However, Duke is also happy to see Leonardo win the award. Everyone has their own likes and dislikes. Every Oscar will always have the Best Actor statuette to be awarded. If the winner is his friend, it is of course a good thing.

"In "Inception", the perfect transformation, Leonardo fully displayed the inner struggle of the characters, and created a character with flesh and blood, so that the audience can fully integrate into the film and enhance the overall appreciation of the film."

There are not a few similar articles in the media, and more importantly, Leonardo has become the cover character of the new issue of Time Magazine.

This time "Inception" hits theaters, and many media in Europe and the United States believe that Leonardo is a popular candidate for the best actor Oscar next year.

Beneath the bust of Leonardo on the cover of Time Magazine, there is a direct quote from a comment Duke made about him.

"Leonardo's contribution to Inception was enormous, and I think he's one of the best actors working today, and he's been fantastic in our film."

Just like promising Sofia Coppola to pull Nicolas Cage out of the quagmire of the nightmare cycle, as long as you can help your friends. Duke generally doesn't stand by.

It's just that his friends are very limited. With his character, those who don't get his approval, even if they fall in front of him, Duke will choose to ignore them.

In fact, in Hollywood today, his title of "two-faced man" has already been widely circulated in the circle. Many people know the hardness and coldness hidden under that seemingly peaceful face.

Duke's success has also attracted countless people to analyze him, including many professional analysis institutions, such as Ed Mintz, a famous Hollywood and film market analysis expert.

The name Ed Mintz is a super unfamiliar name to most movie fans. The 69-year-old has never participated in any premieres, and his name will never appear on Hollywood's power list. But he has made a huge contribution to the entire Hollywood film industry in the past few years-the CinemaScore film market research company he founded has provided the entire industry with inestimable box office reference information.

Unlike the test screenings organized by some major studios, CinemaScore's survey is conducted immediately after the audience has watched the film's premiere, and the final box office predictions based on these audience's word-of-mouth always show amazing accuracy.

In 2008, "Everybody's Superman" received an A-level market score, and Ed Mintz predicted that the film's North American box office would be around 230 million US dollars. In the end, the actual box office was 228 million U.S. dollars; last summer's "Lost Land", according to CinemaScore's C-grade score, predicted 48 million U.S. dollars, but it was actually 49 million U.S. dollars; "G-Type Leader" is also a C-grade score. The predicted $57 million was actually $60 million; there are also classics such as the C-rated "Mall Super Cop". It was predicted to be 24 million US dollars, and it was 24 million US dollars in the end.

What is even more convincing is that last summer's hit film "The Hangover", when the film premiered, even if someone boldly predicted 150 million US dollars, no one would believe it. But CinemaScore thought the film would take in around $228 million, and the actual result was an even more astonishing $270 million or so...

Of course, CinemaScore’s forecast is not 100% accurate, and mistakes are inevitable. For example, "Now Rescue" predicted 70 million US dollars, but in the end it was 145 million US dollars; and Ed Mintz is extremely optimistic about "Fast and Furious" 4, which he thought could reach $200 million, but was influenced by "Mad Max" and only made $150 million.

But in general, compared to the freshness of Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB scores that have little to do with the market, cinemaScore, a box office forecast report based on the scores reported by fans after the premiere, is still very convincing.

CinemaScore ratings are easy to understand. A means success, B means it’s okay and quite satisfactory, and C means bad news, which means that box office tragedy is about to happen. Opening night audiences rarely give a D or an E, and very few films get an F, which, according to Duke, should never have been released at all.

In the eyes of all Hollywood production and distribution companies, the presence of Ed Mintz and his CinemaScore, which specializes in researching the market, is much more important than Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB, the latter two are worthless to the film market It doesn't count, and the former can quickly figure out the market prospect of a film, allowing the film company to adjust accordingly.

After watching "Inception", the well-known master analyst especially talked about Duke when he met his friend David Geffen, one of the three giants of DreamWorks.

"He's growing up really fast!"

In a mansion in Las Vegas, David Geffen shook his bald head and said to Ed Mintz who was drinking tea together, "When I noticed him, he had become the best in the industry. one of the directors."

"Excellent director?"

Ed Mintz stood up and poured another cup of black tea for David Geffen. After sitting down, he shook his head, "Duke Rosenberg is not just a director. In my opinion, he is also a director. Top marketing guru."

David Geffen was slightly taken aback, "Duke does often give Warner Bros. some groundbreaking marketing suggestions, but he doesn't have the ability to formulate complete plans and implement them..."

"That's not what I mean, David." Ed Mintz leaned on the back of the sofa, raised his feet, and said, "I don't mean these marketing, but he made the marketing directly into the movie."

"Oh?" David Geffen became interested, "Tell me about it."

"The essence of marketing is exchange. The premise of exchange is to impress people. To impress people requires an insight into human nature, so those who understand human nature are naturally marketing masters."

Picking up the teacup and taking a sip, Ed Mintz said unhurriedly, "Whether you are a director or a brand, Duke Rosenberg is very skilled in grasping human nature, and the film's gorgeous visual effects Of course it’s shocking, but the core of his films has never failed to resonate with mainstream audiences, and Duke has done a great job of that.”

David Geffen immediately flashed a few of Duke's movies in his mind, then nodded, and it was exactly as Ed Mintz said.

"Take "Inception", which is still in theaters, for example..."

After organizing the language a bit, Ed Mintz said, "The film is positioned in dreams, and it is a good subject in itself. This field is a blue ocean. The audience is used to watching sci-fi action movies straightforward and rude, and they are somewhat numb. Uninspired. Yet we know very little about dreams, and are very interested..."

"From Stealing Dreams, Designing Dreams, Implanting Dreams, and Dreaming Dreams, Duke has outlined a perfect brand story, formed the entire brand structure, and enriched the brand connotation. If we dig deep into the supporting points, then this concept will be empty and impossible to implement. In this way, Duke’s 'Inception' virtually occupies the first position of similar brands."

David Geffen understood what Ed Mintz was trying to convey and said, "From this perspective, implanting dreams is the same as we implant brands in consumers' minds."

"It's not just these..." Ed Mintz continued, "Have you noticed the emotion reflected in the movie "Inception"? There are also his past films, which are basically the same. For a brand , Love, family affection, friendship, and the realization of self-value are all eternal themes."

Hearing this, David Geffen couldn't help sighing, Duke Rosenberg's films always contain these, and these are simply one of the best marketing tools to attract audiences.

To a certain extent, the success of Duke Rosenberg does not mean how strong he really is, but that he has more market awareness than others and respects the market and audience more.

"There are two most difficult things in this world." Ed Mintz suddenly stretched out a finger, "One is how to put other people's money into one's own pocket."

When David Geffen looked over, he stretched out his second finger, "The second is how to put your own thoughts into other people's heads."

Ed Mintz emphasized his tone, "Among Hollywood, he is the best at both!"

"Inception" dominated the film market in North America and even the world for two consecutive weeks, and the upsurge of controversy caused by it can be said to be the best evidence for Ed Mintz's words. However, on the third weekend of its screening in North America, " Inception" ushered in a heavyweight opponent.

Directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett, Walt Disney's "Robin Hood" hits North American theaters on Friday.

Because David Ellison acquired the corresponding investment shares and further expanded the investment relationship, the production cost of this epic masterpiece was as high as 200 million U.S. dollars, and the promotion and marketing expenses were close to 150 million U.S. dollars!

Whether it is the cast of directors and actors, or the scale of investment and publicity, this is one of the rare super-large productions in recent years.

From Disney to David Ellison, they are all confident that "Robin Hood" has all the conditions for a big hit.

However, the development of the facts is surprising. (to be continued ~^~)