I’m in Hollywood

In the wealthy area of ​​Mountain View Manor, halfway up the mountain north of Santa Monica, Eric's car stopped outside a mansion and just got out of the car, Amy Pascal and her husband Bernard Weinraub Greeted together.

Good evening, Amy, and Bernard, Eric and Amy Pascal hugged gently, and shook hands with Bernard Weinlab before explaining to Amy with a smile : Dru said that there are other things tonight, so she won't come. She should have said hello to you, right?

Amy Pascal nodded understandingly and said, Eric, let's go in.

The girl originally made an appointment with Eric, but the cocktail party is completely different from other entertainment-oriented parties, especially this business-type cocktail party tonight. There is no lively music, no dancing crowd, everyone is just We chatted together seriously, the girl was very uninterested at first, and happened to receive an invitation to the end of the year carnival from the girlfriends group, so in the afternoon, she acted coquettishly on the phone and released Eric's pigeon directly.

After traveling in London and New York for more than half a month, and returning to Los Angeles, Eric couldn't avoid these things.

Today is Monday, November 30th.

MGM's year-end blockbuster Mission Impossible 3 just had its second weekend of screenings.

After several years of complete fermentation of the Agent Cinematic Universe, coupled with the meticulous production of MGM, Mission: Impossible 3 has almost no suspense once again.

In its first seven days, Mission: Impossible 3 grossed $115.35 million on more than 3,200 screens across the United States. Thanks to the good reputation of the media and the audience, although there are good new films before and after the release, Mission Impossible 3 still maintains a strong three-day box office drop of 37% in the next weekend, and collects another 47.23 million US dollars.

Ten days after its release, Mission: Impossible 3 has grossed $162.58 million at the box office.

Eric and Amy enter their mansion together.

After teasing a few words of compliment about the trend caused by the New York Times interview, the topic quickly turned to the movie, Amy said: The most surprising thing is Teddy Bear, the data I saw this morning. , the total box office is more than 160 million US dollars, which is only one million US dollars less than Mission Impossible 3. There must be a lot of people in Hollywood who are going to toss other children's toys for a while.

Teddy Bear, which was released a week ahead of Mission Impossible 3, had a box office of $88.65 million in the first week. This animation and live action film, which relies on motion capture technology, is a combination of both content scale and box office data. One eyeball.

Under the high topicality, despite the impact of Mission: Impossible 3 in the second week, Teddy Bear still dropped by only 43% at the box office, and collected another 49.19 million US dollars. This past weekend, Teddy Bear's box office decline narrowed again, falling only 31%, with a three-day box office of $23.49 million and a cumulative box office of $161.33 million.

Although it was released a week in advance, Teddy Bear was able to get the same box office as Mission Impossible 3 at this time, which also surprised many people.

After all, the production budget of Teddy Bear is only 50 million US dollars, and the North American box office receipt of more than 160 million US dollars in just two and a half weeks is enough for Firefly to recover all the production and publicity budget costs. The overseas box office and various peripheral releases in the future will bring almost all net profits to Firefly.

Relatively speaking, the production cost of Mission Impossible 3 is 150 million US dollars, and the two sides are even more different in terms of the overall publicity scale.

Although comprehensively calculated,

In the future, the profit scale of Mission: Impossible 3 will definitely be much higher than that of Teddy Bear, but counting the countless invisible resources invested by the entire MGM in Mission: Impossible 3, the film will definitely not be like Teddy. Bear makes easy money like that.

The three walked through the villa and came to the backyard of the mansion. Eric smiled and said, It's okay to do one or two movies occasionally. If there are too many, the audience will quickly become disgusted. I'm thinking about it now. Is there a sequel to Teddy Bear in the short term?

Bernard Weinraub jokingly said: Such an interesting film, the audience must be very much looking forward to seeing the sequel as soon as possible.

Having said that, the three of them have already come to the backyard.

The backyard, which covers an area of ​​more than 1,000 square meters, is brightly lit, but the atmosphere is a little quiet. About 40 or 50 guests are scattered here and there, chatting together in groups of three or five.

Although Eric's arrival attracted everyone's attention, in this very formal reception, everyone did not swarm over to say hello, but some guests inevitably moved their steps, hoping to appear on Eric's path. Come on, let's have a face-to-face chat.

Entering the backyard, Bernard Weinraub and Eric greeted softly and left to entertain other guests.

Amy and Eric took two drinks together and began to help him introduce some guests.

Eric, this is Kevin, Kevin Williamson, Amy introduced eagerly to a middle-aged man in his thirties wearing a dark plaid suit: Kevin Just told me about his latest script idea, maybe you can listen to it too.

Kevin Williamson, the screenwriter of the Scream series. Speaking of which, the surname gap between Williamson and Williams is similar to that of Hansen and Hans. Eric has become accustomed to seeing various surnames for so many years.

Although he became famous with the Scream series, Kevin Williamson also understood the energy and status of the youth in front of him in Hollywood. He respectfully shook hands with Eric, and then he talked about himself. The latest screenplay idea: Mr. Williams, here's the story: Ann lives in a lifeless old-fashioned town, and her greatest wish is to get a full scholarship to college and get away from the place. Only, about to graduate. When she had to face the censure of her history teacher who was very harsh on her, on an exam, her history teacher Ms. Tingle suspected her of cheating, so she held on to the matter. If she was accused of cheating Ann’s scholarship will undoubtedly be in vain, so she finds Ms. Tingle in private and tries to seek reconciliation, but the contradiction between the two sides intensifies during the exchange. Teacher, then things got out of hand, and for a while, Ann had to cover up as much as possible in front of family, friends, and the police officers who came to ask...

Eric patiently listened to Kevin Williamson's rough outline of the script before he asked, Kevin, what is your position on the subject matter of this movie?

Kevin Williamson thought for a while and said, This is a thriller and suspense film with some teenage horror elements.

Eric showed a slight smile on his face and said, So, Kevin, you obviously know your strengths well, but this seems to be a constraint on you. I have to admit, this is a very good idea, Accidental kidnapping, and an elaborate cover-up. But when you think about it, such an idea would be more suitable for an absurd black comedy, and just imagine some of the plots, and it's full of funny enough drama.

Seeing Kevin Williamson's thoughtful look, Eric also stopped.

Being able to call Kevin Williamson a few words is also due to the fact that he brought the Scream series to MGM. As for whether the other party can change further, or whether he is willing to go further, it is not in Airi. grams are considered.

After the Scream series, except for I Know What You Did Last Summer, which was barely at the box office in the previous summer, Kevin Williamson no longer has any representative works.

The film High School, which was released at the same time as Teddy Bear in the first two weeks, cost 30 million US dollars to make, which is the main hit of Columbia Pictures at the end of the year, but so far, the box office has only been more than 26 million US dollars. The 160 million of Teddy Bear is completely different.

Leaving Kevin Williamson and a few others, Amy slowed down, stopped by the pool, and said, Kevin just mentioned to me that he really hopes to direct this movie himself.

You should have watched High School, right? Eric shook his head slightly and said: He has completely lost his way now. If he can't settle down and let himself get rid of the influence of Scream, he will go further. After his popularity runs out, he'll be eliminated from Hollywood very quickly.

Amy's expression was a little hesitant, and she said, Then, this movie?

Eric smiled and said: You decide for yourself, such a small production will not affect anything. However, if Kevin continues like this, there is no need to cooperate in the future.

From Kevin Williamson's narration, Eric understands that the cost of this film will not be too high, and it can still be easily controlled within 15 million US dollars. The production budget for a low-budget horror film was bumped to $30 million.

Coupled with the fact that Kevin Williamson, who created the Scream series, personally directed this stunt, the possibility of the film losing money is not high, but if Kevin Williamson shoots in the style of the script he just described, An alternative teen school drama that is neither scary nor bloody nor funny, the possibility of a big box office hit is almost zero.

Amy nodded and said, By the way, Jenna is here too. We are currently discussing whether to prepare The Wife of New York or Manhattan Girl first. Come and help us.

Eric was about to walk with Amy to Kris Jenner not far away when Penelope Cruz in a burgundy low-cut dress walked over: Hi, Eric.

Both of them were holding wine glasses. Eric just shook hands with Penelope and said, Good evening, Penny, oh, are you the only one here?

Penelope's eyes were slightly resentful: Kate and Charlize have their own affairs.

You misunderstood me, I mean, Eric raised his arm with a smile: I happened to be here alone.

Penelope immediately understood, and wrapped around like a cat, holding Eric's arm affectionately.

Seeing Eric and Penelope chatting, Amy gestured to Kris Jenner, then left and walked over.

The two continued to chat in a low voice while standing by the swimming pool, feeling the softness of the girl next to him, Eric suddenly remembered another thing and said, By the way, what is your sister doing recently? I met you in New York last year. She also had a few chats.

At a New York Fashion Week party last year, Eric met Monica Cruz and promised the girl to introduce her to a few movies, but Eric quickly forgot about it afterwards. Now that I suddenly think about it, I'm still a little embarrassed. I don't know if the girl will be a villain and stab herself in private.

When Penelope heard Eric mention his sister, he obviously misunderstood something, his expression became more resentful, but he still said: She got a resident role in the new season of Black Angel this year.

Eric nodded and said, Oh, that sci-fi film supervised by Jim, the ratings seem to be very good.

Penelope responded in a low voice, and saw that Eric did not continue, and was relieved a little.

After a few chats, Eric took Penelope to Amy and Kris Jenner, and talked for a while about the development of the new spinoffs of the two series of reality shows, and then socialized in the crowd for a while. In the circle, Eric temporarily dismissed the Latin girl beside him, and stood in a no-man's place with Amy to continue the original topic of Mission Impossible 3.

From the current situation, the North American box office potential of Mission Impossible 3 should be between 260 million and 280 million US dollars, which is about 40 million US dollars lower than that of Charlie's Angels 3 in the summer. Overseas, probably The box office potential will also be around $600 million to $700 million, which is also lower than Charlie's Angels 3 and last year's 007 Casino Royale. The global box office will probably be within $900 million.

Amy's tone was a bit regretful, although if other Hollywood studio executives heard that Amy was sorry for a movie that grossed close to $900 million worldwide, there would definitely be an urge to cry. But it is undeniable that the Mission Impossible series, which was originally the most popular among the three series, has been overtaken by the 007 series and Charlie's Angels series.

After listening to Amy, Eric said: I have also read the analysis report made by the distribution department. This sequel is a practice of Ethan Hunt and Bond. The audience's joint reaction to the two top agents is obviously not the same as that of the previous men and women. The combination is so popular. Maybe we can adjust that in the future, but I didn't see Kevin Costner tonight, he should be in L.A. right now?

Kevin flew to Japan to promote it, Amy said. However, he should be watching now, so he deliberately avoided us.

Eric was a little puzzled: Wait and see?

Amy nodded and said, Kevin's agent has been delaying negotiations with us about the remuneration of the next sequel. They should be waiting for the box office of the Fast and Furious series.