It was early March, and "whale rider" had been in theaters for half a month.
It proved that even with the banner of environmental and animal protection, an art-house film is still an art-house film, and it's impossible to achieve high box office.
Those animal and environmental activists usually shout quite loudly, but when it comes to contributing to the movie's box office, they fall silent.
It fully demonstrated what it means to be able to talk but not act, similar to keyboard warriors.
In half a month, "whale rider" had only just reached 16 million USD at the North America box office. Looking at this trend, it would probably end up with just over 20 million USD in North America.
However, this film should still make some money in Europe and Australia, especially in New Zealand, as the movie directly depicts the local indigenous people.
It's estimated that the global box office will reach over 40 million USD. Compared to the 7 million USD acquisition cost and the small promotional expenses, it certainly won't lose money, but it won't earn much either.
The good news is that the IMDB rating is still good, currently at 8 points. Even if it drops a bit later, it should maintain above 7.5 points.
When the Cannes Film Festival comes in May, if the film is submitted and lucky enough to win an award, it will be very beneficial for subsequent copyright sales.
Regarding the filming of "transformers", the scenes in Los Angeles city have been completed. These were the most difficult scenes to shoot, and under Eric's direction, no major problems occurred.
After finishing this part of the filming, Eric left the crew again. After all, besides filming, he also had to deal with company matters.
Patty Jenkins continued to lead the team in shooting small-scale scenes like family scenes, while Neill Blomkamp, after finishing location scouting at Hoover Dam, led the team to Utah for more filming.
The terrain here is complex, with mountains, deep valleys, gravel, and rivers—all the elements. Its vast and beautiful environment has always been a favorite filming location for Hollywood.
Through a month of filming experience, the crew integrated quite well, and Eric also found a trick.
For him, as the general director, as long as the script is solid enough and he finds one or two sufficiently capable assistant directors, most of the scenes can actually be completely handed over to them.
He only needs to take time to shoot some parts, check the filming progress, promptly identify and remedy poorly shot areas, and a commercial film can be produced.
When it's released, his name will naturally still be on the director's credit. Although some scenes weren't shot by him, the people who shot them were his puppets. Is there any difference from him shooting it himself?
Absolutely no difference!
Of course, the premise is that it's a commercial film that doesn't focus too much on details. Art-house films that scrutinize details are much more troublesome.
And after this period of interaction, Eric found that Patty Jenkins's ability is quite good; she is completely qualified as an executor.
However, she also has a drawback: she always likes to nitpick details. Such a person is more suitable for art-house films.
Neill Blomkamp also has a lot of talent, but he still needs at least two or three more films to mature.
When it comes to the next movie, he wonders who he should find to be the assistant director.
In addition, Eric has been writing several scripts since filming at the Nevada military base. The outlines are now complete, consisting of three horror thrillers: "happy death day", "a quiet place", and "don't breathe".
He has already arranged for the production department to find screenwriters to fill out the scripts, and it's estimated they can be completed and start filming in about a month.
He originally wanted to make "It", but when he started writing, he suddenly realized the copyright was with Warner Bros., so he had to give up.
At the MGM Building, Eric and his father were discussing matters in the office.
His father's original secretary, Susan, officially accepted her new position and has already departed for the other side of the ocean, serving as an advance scout.
He got a new secretary, who again was a young blonde with big waves, and even younger than Susan. Eric couldn't help but suspect their relationship again.
"Eric, regarding Dual Star Entertainment, I've had a specialist investigate it."
"What were the results?" Eric sat up straight.
"Overall, Dual Star Entertainment's performance has declined in recent years. The company's valuation is roughly around 600 million USD, possibly even slightly lower."
"The largest shareholder is Robert Thorne, who holds 45% of the company's shares. The Olsen Sisters' parents each hold 5%, and the two sisters each hold 5%."
"And Robert Thorne's luck doesn't seem to have been very good recently. He made a quiet exit during last year's stock market crash, definitely losing a lot of money, but the exact amount cannot be traced."
"Since he took a big tumble in the stock market, several companies have actually wanted to acquire his shares in Dual Star Entertainment."
"But Thorne has consistently refused to sell. The reason I heard was that his asking price was too high."
"Based on his shares, the maximum value is 700 million USD, but this guy has a huge appetite and seems to think the Olsen Sisters are still hot commodities, asking for 500 million USD."
"A foolish old man, no wonder he can only stay in the television industry his whole life."
After his father finished speaking, Eric asked, "So this guy definitely won't sell?"
"He will sell, unless we offer 500 million USD."
"Hahahaha."
Father and son laughed simultaneously, at the fool who treated reality like a fairy tale.
"After understanding all this, I didn't even try to sound him out through an intermediary. If he knew it was MGM acquiring, I think he'd dare to raise the price to 600 million."
Eric shook his head: "Then there's no need. He lost badly in the stock market, and I don't believe he's not short on cash. Since this guy still harbors illusions, let's set a trap for him."
"What do you plan to do?"
"The company's development momentum has been very good recently. How about we make an issue out of fundraising?"
Some things are understood with a single sentence. His father smiled slightly: "Wouldn't AK Films work?"
"No, AK Films has only produced one hit, 'sharknado.' The others are knock-off films that don't go through theatrical release, so the appeal is too weak."
"And since we're going to acquire, even if we can't acquire all of Thorne's shares, we must at least acquire most of them. Only MGM has that kind of appeal."
His father nodded: "Okay, I'll find the right people. To be honest, it's been a long time since I've done something like this. We'll also release some hints to the media during recent interviews."
After tentatively settling the plan targeting Robert Thorne, his father briefly discussed the revenue situation of several recently released films.
The box office shares for "red dragon" and "barbershop" have already arrived, and the share for "die another day" is coming soon. "saw" will be a bit later.
The sales of copyrights for these films have also been very good. "red dragon" continues to perform outstandingly in DVD sales, which is typical for the hannibal series.
Although "saw" hasn't been released yet, high-rated R-rated films are always the most popular items in the DVD market.
As of now, the total revenue from various sources for these films is approximately 75 million USD, and this revenue will continue to increase, expected to reach 300 million USD by the end of the year.
In addition, there was 33 million USD in various revenues from copyright and merchandise sales in the fourth quarter of 2002.
Movies, after all, are a long-term business. Box office revenue has always been the smaller portion; the bulk always comes from subsequent copyrights and merchandise.
"Eric, besides the transformers project, there's another matter you need to pay attention to."
"What?"
"The zombie TV series Darabont is filming, if we want to submit it for the Emmy Awards, we don't have much time left."
"Hmm, I remember. I'll find some time to check it out. At least let's get a pilot episode out first."
"Which TV station are you planning to sell it to?"
"Haven't decided yet. Let me think about it."
In the United States, TV series production differs from film production. The pilot episode Eric mentioned is a characteristic of American TV shows.
Unlike films, which are usually produced by major film companies, TV series are more often funded and produced by TV stations.
This situation is very prominent in the current year, but in 20 years, the situation will undergo drastic changes.
By then, major film companies will also start getting involved in TV series production.
After all, compared to a one or two-hour movie, a dozen-hour TV series often attracts more viewership and clicks, and viewership and clicks mean traffic, and traffic means dollars.
Looking at it now, the general production process for American TV shows is as follows:
First, major TV stations acquire scripts from the market, usually hundreds of them. Then, they conduct internal reviews, with the first round eliminating over 80%.
Next is the second round of screening, again eliminating over 80%. At this point, only about ten to twenty scripts usually remain.
Then, teams are recruited to produce pilot episodes, which are what we sometimes see as Season 0, Episode 0.
After the pilot episodes are produced, they go through internal screenings and broadcasts on TV, gathering audience feedback. Finally, about 5 shows are selected to proceed, and the others are eliminated again.
The entire process takes approximately one and a half to two years. Over 97% of scripts are rejected during this process, indicating extremely high competitive pressure and brutal competition rules.
But that's relative to typical American TV series. "the walking dead" is a completely different model; it's directly produced by a film company, so it doesn't have to cater to TV stations.
If unsure, one could also shoot a pilot episode. For someone like Eric, who is confident, he can directly shoot a whole season to sell.
The model is somewhat similar to that in China, and also a bit like the streaming model in the US 20 years later.
Ultimately, it boils down to one core principle: whoever holds the money calls the shots. If you invest yourself, you can do whatever you want. If a TV station invests, you have to listen to them.
At "the walking dead" set, Eric got out of the car and walked into the studio.
After finishing work on "transformers", Bordeaux moved into this series to become the producer.
Seeing Eric arrive, he immediately hurried over.
"I'll go call Frank over."
"Wait, let him finish this scene. How's the progress now?"
"It's acceptable, at least it's on schedule, it just requires a bit more overtime pay."
"So the crew often has to rush the schedule?"
Bordeaux smiled wryly: "There's no other way, time is still a bit tight, and you also know Frank; he's not someone who sacrifices quality for speed, so overtime is the only option left."
Eric nodded: "That's the right thing to do. The quality of the show must be prioritized. By the way, how much of the budget has been spent?"
Knowing Eric was coming in advance, Bordeaux had all the accounts ready and retrieved them from a nearby box.
"I've summarized it. This is a simplified account. So far, 68% of the budget has been used, totaling 28.96 million USD."
Eric took the ledger and began to flip through it, but even an insider would still be confused by the various bills within.
He also knew there would definitely be some shady dealings, which are unavoidable. If you don't let the people below gain some benefits, why would they work hard?
So, as long as the result is good enough, a little corruption is acceptable.
After a quick glance, Eric said, "Overtime pay should be given when due, but you must maintain one bottom line for me: the budget must not exceed 45 million USD."
"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on the crew and try my best to keep the budget within 40 million USD," Bordeaux assured, patting his chest.
Eric then turned his attention to the filming set. He hadn't managed the casting.
His gaze swept around, initially thinking he wouldn't recognize anyone except Bar Refaeli, but he unexpectedly spotted quite a few familiar faces.
The actor playing the male lead, Rick, was still Andrew Lincoln. Since this series was filmed six years earlier, Eric had expected a different actor because of the age discrepancy.
Rick is set as a sheriff, and a young actor's face wouldn't be convincing in that role.
But upon seeing his resume, he found that Andrew Lincoln was already 31 years old. His face was not much different from his original timeline; he wasn't old, but not young either.
The actor playing Daryl was still Norman Reedus. This guy is 34 this year, so his age also matched, and this charismatic role still fell to him.
The actress playing Carol was still Melissa McBride. She is 38 this year and is an old hand of Darabont's. Of course, Darabont contacted her immediately. Melissa also appeared in the movie "The Mist."
Besides these familiar faces, Eric also discovered an actor who surprised him a bit.
The actor originally playing Glenn was Steven Yeun, a Korean, but this time it was Daniel Wu, a young heartthrob from Hong Kong.
Actually, to say young isn't quite accurate; his resume showed Daniel Wu was 29 this year, but Asians tend to look a bit younger.
After a scene was shot, Frank Darabont walked over.
"Eric, this is your first time on set. I thought you had forgotten about this show."
Eric laughed: "How could that be! This is a show meticulously crafted by MGM, and one I spearheaded. I just have a lot of faith in you, Frank."
Darabont immediately felt better.
He took the water cup handed by his assistant and took a big gulp: "I know your purpose. You want to know the filming progress, right? Don't worry, we definitely won't miss the Emmy Awards."
"In a month and a half at most, I can produce at least the first 6 episodes. As for the latter 6 episodes, we can film and broadcast simultaneously."
"By the way, I always forget to ask, you always say we can't miss the Emmy Awards. Specifically, which day are you planning to broadcast?"
Eric spread his hands: "That's why I'm here, Frank. I need you to cut the first episode as soon as possible so I can take it to sell."
Frank Darabont touched his ear, thinking he had misheard.
"Eric, has MGM not finalized a deal with a TV station yet?"
"No, but I have great confidence in 'the walking dead.' It will definitely kick off a zombie craze, and whoever buys it will profit."
It took a moment for Darabont to react, thinking to himself that rich people really know how to play; they don't follow the rules at all.
However, recalling his filming during this period, he knew that MGM indeed had that confidence.
When these zombies run and bite on TV screens, many people will go crazy for them.
"Okay, you're in luck. I've almost finished editing the first episode. It'll be ready in two days, is that okay?"
"Of course, I've always trusted your ability."
Eric said, looking towards Daniel Wu: "This Chinese actor is good, his appearance is excellent. His face is suitable for the big screen."
Darabont nodded in agreement: "Daniel Wu knows kung fu, he's agile, and he nails many action scenes in one take. He's a great young man; perhaps he'll become the next Jackie Chan or Jet Li."
"Hmm, remember to change his nationality to China. People from those few countries across the strait distinguish themselves very clearly. Don't make a joke."
"Is that so? I feel people from China, Korea, Japan, and other countries all look pretty similar."
"Can you distinguish between Germans, Norwegians, and Swedes?"
Darabont shook his head: "I can only distinguish between Canadians, Americans, and Mexicans."
"Yes, it seems you understand the point."
Nicole Kidman will appear after 5 chapters. Please look forward to it.