In sunny Los Angeles, Warner Bros. CEO and CEO Barry Meyer arrived at the office on time. The coffee brewed by his secretary was on the desk at just the right temperature. The documents that needed to be processed or read were also placed in a conspicuous place.
Barry Meyer took a sip of coffee and then browsed the documents. One of them made him look at it for a while.
Warner Bros.' new film "Never Ending" released last weekend was a box office hit, with the box office in North America alone exceeding the production cost in its first week.
The film was also released in the United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Australia and other places, with the overseas box office reaching US$27.56 million in its first week.
In its three days of release, the global box office exceeded $60 million.
Martin Davis has a strong appeal.
Barry Meyer turned on his computer and checked. Since "The Mountain Has Eyes", except for "Summer in Jeans", Martin's other movies have all grossed over 100 million in North America.
This is quite an achievement.
Warner Bros., as the publisher, is the one that profits the most from it.
Celebrities are one of the best tools used by film companies to make profits. Of course, those who make the most money should be placed in the most conspicuous position.
Barry Meyer immediately picked up the phone and called WMA's Ali Emmanuel: "Ali, it's me. When are you free, let's go to the country club to play a round?"
Ali replied: "Did you encounter something happy?"
Barry Meyer said: "I want to talk to you about deepening cooperation between our two companies."
Ali knew that this was brought by Martin and said: "You call Allen, I will call Thomas, and the four of us will compete."
Barry remembered Thomas was Martin's agent and responded, "No problem."
Just like Will Smith's agent, he is also his guest.
When Barry Meyer went to the studio to find Alan Horn, he thought of Will Smith.
Since 1996, the movies starring Smith have been more successful than less successful. After entering 2000, he has made one hit and one hit after another, and he has been in the limelight in Hollywood for a while.
In recent years, in terms of commercial appeal alone, even Tom Cruise and Leonardo have to step aside in front of Will Smith.
Martin Davis seems to have some of the momentum that Will Smith had around 2000.
If there are a few more successful films, the commercial appeal will be...
Barry Meyer feels that if Martin can have the momentum of Will Smith's successive successes, his commercial appeal may be stronger than that of Will Smith.
The latter is a black man after all.
Barry Meyer met with Alan Horn, who mentioned one thing: "I'm going to push for a new Terminator movie."
The other party was the CEO of the film company and had such power. Barry Meyer said, "Do you have a plan?"
Alan Horn nodded: "After releasing the third part a few years ago, we spent a lot of money to obtain the copyright of the series. The third part has already made profits offline, and it is time to put the fourth part on the agenda."
Barry Meyer didn't say much. Warner Bros. has a professional internal review committee, and projects must be given a green light if they want to be approved.
…………
This week, the heavy snowfall in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada stopped completely. After a brief cooling, as the dark clouds dispersed and the bright sun hung in the sky, the weather gradually became warmer.
Martin and the rest of the cast and crew left New York to continue the film's promotional tour.
The crew came to Washington.
After participating in a program, Martin left the TV station and joined Kelly Gray, who came here last week, to attend an event in a club.
After getting into Kelly's car, Kelly introduced to Martin: "A high-end political party attended by many liberal cultural and sports stars."
Martin was very aware of what he did in Atlanta and said with a smile: "I can be considered a person who has contributed to freedom and democracy."
The car soon arrived at a suburban manor and parked outside the luxuriously decorated club. Martin followed Kelly inside. After waiting for a while, he met Julia, the president of the Atlanta Free Association, and the person holding a pink kettle. Shout out to Free Congresswoman Erica.
Unlike before when they could not speak in front of them, when they saw Martin coming, Julia and Erica shook hands with him and exchanged a few words with him.
The four of them entered the banquet hall together. Martin looked around and saw Hei Guanhai first.
The senator was taking his wife to socialize.
In addition, Martin also saw Hollywood's most famous left-wing stars Meryl Streep and George Clooney.
The two are well-known political activists in Hollywood.
The four of them went over to say hello, and Hei Guanhai shook hands one by one and said very cordial greetings.
When he shook hands with Martin, he said: "Did you bring any smart medicine? If I had that, my journey would be much easier."
Martin said seriously: "It is under urgent research and development. I am waiting for Congress to appropriate funds. Mr. Congressman must help."
"No problem." After joking, Hei Guanhai said: ""Never End" is a very exciting movie. Your movie captured many of the dreams I had when I was a teenager."
Martin said: "If Mr. Congressman's words get out, it can increase the box office of the film by 20 million US dollars."
Hei Guanhai laughed and changed the topic: "I've heard about what you did during your time in Atlanta. It's amazing."
"This is what I should do." Martin looked serious: "I want the flowers of freedom and democracy to bloom in this stubbornly conservative city."
After chatting for a few words, Martin left here in time and followed Kelly Gray to get to know other characters.
Kelly simply said: "Next month, Hei Guanhai will officially announce that he will participate in next year's presidential election."
Martin glanced over there and whispered: "The black president."
Kelly said: “This is his disadvantage, but if it works well, it can also become his unique advantage.”
After making the donation, Martin found Meryl.
The latter was not surprised to see him: "I didn't expect that our political positions are actually the same."
Here, Martin certainly would not deny it, saying: "I have seen a lot of your speeches on political and social issues. You are very powerful."
Meryl said: "Lagged behind Jolie and Aniston."
Martin praised: "They are both outstanding independent women."
"Leading freedom and justice, haha." Meryl laughed.
Martin is also laughing. Although MeToo has been launched, the social environment is different and the forces behind it are different. Apart from Pete suffering, it has not expanded yet.
But no one can say what the future holds.
Meryl's voice suddenly dropped: "Many female practitioners in Hollywood should thank Jolie and Aniston. For some time in the future, the situation they face may be slightly better."
Martin added: "It's not easy for an actor either."
Meryl looked at Kelly Gray, then thought of Louise Meyer, and said, "You are much luckier than most people. The person who is willing to pull you up is at least a woman."
In this respect, Martin is indeed a lucky man.
He has never used the anorectal doctor's business card given by the fat landlord Antonio.
On the contrary, many of Antonio's male actor tenants used it but did not get ahead.
Martin saw Kelly Gray coming and said, "When we get back to Los Angeles, please come out with Nicholson to play."
"No problem." Meryl responded first, and then asked: "Can't you bring me to participate in the activities of the three of you?"
Martin's voice was very low: "Not suitable for ladies."
Before Kelly Gray came over, Meryl went somewhere else.
Martin accompanied Kelly and continued to socialize in the hall. People in the political circle might socialize at some point.
The crew spent two days in Washington, D.C., and then moved to Chicago, where various promotional events took place one after another.
In order to attract more viewers into the theater, the crew and creators tried to attract as much attention as possible.
Over and over again, Martin repeats a similar journey from loser to winner as the film's protagonist.
Aniston took the trouble to reveal Pitt's past and talked about her experience of falling out with Jolie and then reconciling.
Even Robert De Niro is breaking the news about his decades-long relationship with Al Pacino.
As for the various behind-the-scenes footage carefully prepared by the screenwriter, some of it will be revealed in every city we visit, and there are absolutely a lot of tricks.
For example, for the heroine, the crew revealed that they once invited Kate Winslet and Julia Roberts, and finally chose the most suitable Aniston.
During the movie promotion, a lot of news was made up, and the crew of Never Ending had a team dedicated to writing interesting tidbits.
In this traditional off-season for movies, the film has maintained a stable box office trend.
As the weather improved in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada, the enthusiasm of the originally suppressed audience was released.
On a new weekend, between the newly released "The Devil", "The Fog" and old films, more viewers chose "Never Ending" which entered the second week of screenings.
This film has maintained an unusually stable box office trend, and due to the average strength of its competitors, the box office for the second weekend was only a little more than 30% lower than the first week, with a revenue of 26.82 million US dollars.
Including the harvest of four working days, Ten days after the release of Neverending, the North American box office has accumulated 81.05 million US dollars.
The North American box office is about to exceed 100 million.
This weekend, the film was released in Latin American markets such as Brazil and Argentina, as well as in East and Southeast Asia, with a total overseas box office of US$51.14 million.
At the same time, another film "The Departed" starring Martin has entered its final stage of North American screening. The current North American box office has accumulated 187 million U.S. dollars, and the global box office has exceeded 300 million U.S. dollars.
According to the normal screening plan, this film should be withdrawn from North American theaters and enter the DVD and video market, taking advantage of the popularity to make another wave.
However, the crew would rather give 80% of the subsequent box office revenue to theaters and maintain a certain scale of screenings in order to compete for the Oscars.
The Departed will not be released from theaters, nor will it be released on DVD or video until after the Oscars.
If it can win a major Oscar award, the film's DVD and video sales will explode.
This era is not yet 10 years from now, the quality of the best films is guaranteed, and the Oscars have a relatively obvious role in boosting the market.
In seven or eight years, not to mention the market effect of the Oscars, even the ratings of the awards ceremony itself will become a big problem.
After winning multiple Hollywood Guild Awards, Martin Scorsese and the film have become the top favorites for this year's Oscars.
As for "Babel", which won the Golden Globe Award for Best Feature Film and Director, no one expected it to be an upset.
In early February, the 2007 Oscar selection ushered in an important step. The nominees luncheon to announce the nomination list was officially held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
(End of chapter)
