According to the news from George Smith of Bluebird Pictures in North America, the shareholders of EMI Pictures agreed to sell EMI Pictures to Bluebird Pictures for US$25 million, and also bear EMI Pictures' debt of US$13.2 million, for a total of

38.2 million US dollars, one month has passed since George Smith's guarantee.

This price is already on the high side. Compared with George Smith’s original estimate, it is nearly 20 million US dollars higher, but it is not unacceptable. After all, it is a film company with distribution systems in North America and Europe. For Bluebird Pictures

Say, this is a qualitative leap.

When we arrived in Los Angeles, it was already evening. We had just experienced a heavy rain in the afternoon, and the rain had not stopped yet. As soon as we left the airport, we saw George Smith and David, who had been carrying a pistol all year round.

George Smith has returned from New York and started renting offices. In the future, Bluebird Pictures' position will be transferred from New York to Los Angeles and officially become a member of Hollywood.

"Mr. Cai..."

"George, thank you for your hard work." Cai Zhiliang asked as he left: "Why did Carlock Films give up in the end?"

This time with the acquisition of EMI, Carlock Pictures is the biggest competitor of Bluebird Pictures, and Warner Pictures only made a false shot, but drove up prices, allowing EMI to have confidence, which is a typical example of harming others and not benefiting oneself.

.

If it assumes the debt, Carlock Pictures is only willing to offer 35 million US dollars. Naturally, it cannot compete with Bluebird Pictures. After all, this is a business society, and profit is the most important.

George Smith said: "Carlock has made frequent acquisitions in the past two years, and is not rich in funds. Like our acquisition of EMI this time, it was also an acquisition with debt, and it has not produced a big-selling film. In terms of profitability, it is not as good as Bluebird

Naturally, the film industry cannot compete with us."

"How are you going to solve the debt problem?" The acquisition of EMI Pictures is also a snake swallowing the elephant for Bluebird Pictures, which is burdened with debts that are several times more than the existing assets.

"I plan to go to major film festivals to buy some films that are suitable for distribution. I will first run into the team. When "Pretty Woman" is released next year, if it can have a box office of more than 50 million US dollars, I can solve a small part of the debt. From now on, only EMI will

If the film industry reduces distribution fees, I believe many independent production companies will choose to cooperate with us and gradually resolve these debts."

As a distribution company at the upper reaches of the Hollywood food chain, it is not easy to make money, because most of the resources are controlled by the seven major Hollywood film companies, but it is also not easy to lose money. 99% of distribution companies go bankrupt because of the impact of the production department.

Cai Zhiliang nodded, and then asked about the filming of "Pretty Woman", "Who is in charge of the crew now?"

"Andrew." George Smith said: "Andrew has been in the film industry for 10 years. Last year he participated in a big production like "Rain Man". He has rich experience. Moreover, the crew has sufficient funds and director Marshall is here, so there will be no problems."

.”

"Is the cost of 13 million US dollars enough? Can't we overspend?"

"It's more than enough. Now that the shooting is going smoothly, I guess I won't need so much." George Smith said: "I just finished shooting at the Regent Beverly Hotel in Los Angeles. I will stay in New York for a week and then go to Europe. Everything has been arranged.

That's right, Lotus Car Company has agreed to sponsor this movie, which will save us a lot of money. If you come two days early, you can still meet the crew, or go to New York next week?"

"Regent Beverly Hotel?" Cai Zhiliang asked.

George Smith nodded and said, "Yes, it seems to be the hotel over there in Hong Kong City."

What a pity. Cai Zhiliang then asked: "When will the signing ceremony with EMI Pictures be scheduled?"

"Next Tuesday, there will be some media attending, and Bluebird Pictures will officially establish a foothold in Los Angeles." George Smith gave a brief introduction and said: "After the signing ceremony, we will go to New York in time."

After all, Cai Zhixiang serves as the first producer. It seems unreasonable not to visit the scene in person. He said: "After signing the contract, I will have time to visit the set."

"Robert Ludlum's spy novels, Bourne's Identity, Bourne's Hegemony, Bourne's Ultimatum trilogy, and film and television adaptation rights have all been purchased for a total of 950,000 US dollars, mainly the first "Bourne's"

The film and television rights of "The Bourne Identity" have been sold to Alan Shahn Production Company at a relatively high cost. Due to the poor ratings of the TV series "The Bourne Identity", the latter two "The Bourne Supremacy" and "The Bourne Identity"

"The Ultimatum" has been in hand for a long time, and it only costs 100,000 US dollars." After introducing the copyright of the Bourne series of novels, George Smith said: "However, the 007 series produced by MGM, "License to Kill" was also released this week.

The $40 million big production is a squib, far from being comparable to "Ghostbusters II" that was released at the same time, and even worse than "Dead Poets Society" which has been released for half a month."

Since the 007 series is a representative of spy movies, there are many reasons for its poor performance. However, it is undoubtedly wise to shelve the same type of movie "The Bourne Supremacy" at this time. This is what George Smith meant, and it is inevitable that there will be some regrets.

"How much is the box office of this 007 movie on the first weekend?" Since it was only released this week, the weekend box office has not yet been released, so we can only estimate it based on the first day's box office.

"It is estimated to be 6 million U.S. dollars, which is less than the one-day box office of "Ghostbusters II". It will take only a few years to recover the cost. It is probably impossible." George Smith said with some gloating.

Komei is really trying to keep its mouth shut, but it still hasn't been able to get the European box office share.

"Ghostbusters II" is a movie produced by Columbia Pictures, which is probably the Hollywood version of "Mr. Zombie". The first "Ghostbusters" was released in 1984 and was a box office hit. It is still the box office record for North American comedy movies.

Keeper. "007: The Killer"

"Photo" collided with the sequel of this popular movie. It was almost impossible to go out without watching the almanac. After all, the box office of the previous "007: The Living Daylights" was not satisfactory, which can only explain the casting of the third generation James Bond.

It was a failure. The two 007 movies he starred in in succession did not do well at the box office.

Compared with "Ghostbusters II" and "License to Kill", which were released in 2,000 theaters, "Dead Poets Society" was much more cautious. It first opened in 8 theaters, which effectively controlled the fermentation of the film's reputation.

It was released in full theaters this week, so much so that it can still dominate "License to Kill" this week.

If the cost cannot be recovered through the box office, it must rely on offline operations. For example, in the video tape market, even if it takes several years, the cost can be recovered, but isn't the time cost a cost?

"Isn't it similar to "Rain Man"? Even if it cannot be compared with the later performance of "Rain Man", recovering the cost is still not a problem, right?" In Cai Zhiliang's impression, with the global influence of the 007 series, profitability has always been

No need to worry.

"The 007 series is like fast food in McDonald's. There is nothing worth remembering. How can it be compared with "Rain Man"." George Smith was very disdainful and said: "If the box office is not good on the first weekend, it will only be sold on the street.

It is expected that the final North American box office will not exceed 400

With a cost of US$0.40 million, plus a publicity cost of US$20 million, with the current first-week box office, losing money is an inevitable result. It is only possible that the 007 series is very popular around the world, especially in Europe.

The cost will be recovered within the next two to three years.”

This metaphor by George Smith is quite appropriate, and it is also a common feature of Hollywood blockbusters. Logic and connotation may not necessarily be there, but it just feels fun to watch. "License to Kill" is obviously not an example of this.

"The newly appointed 007 has made two movies in a row that are not ideal. What is MGM's plan to continue filming with Mr. Dalton, or is it planning to replace him with James Bond?" Cai Zhiliang asked with a smile.

, after all, it is well known to the world that Timothy Dalton has signed a five-film contract with MGM.

George Smith sneered: "The box office of this 007 movie is not satisfactory. MGM may be in crisis again. Where will there be energy and funds to start such a big production again."

""Rain Man" was last year's box office champion, can't it alleviate MGM's predicament?" Cai Zhiliang is a little curious about how much debt MGM has. After all, this "Rain Man" can at least bring MGM at least

$150 million in proceeds.

"'Rain Man' is MGM's only big-selling film in recent years. It just filled the hole in the past few years, and now it has fallen into the hole again because of this 007 movie." George Smith said:

"But don't worry, it's Bluebird Pictures' profit, and there won't be any less."

Seeing that George Smith was so confident, Cai Zhiliang didn't remind him anything.

"Are there any restaurants nearby?" Cai Zhiliang asked as he approached the hotel.

George Smith has been to Los Angeles many times and is familiar with the neighborhood. He said: "There is a Mexican restaurant in front of it. It tastes good. I often eat there. I don't know if it is closed now."

"Mexico..." Cai Zhiliang hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded and said, "That's okay."

After all, it was so late and there were not many restaurants open. Even if Cai Zhiliang was not used to Mexican food, it was better than nothing.
Chapter completed!