Chapter 202 200. Prepare for a rainy day

On December 17, "Transformers" was released for a full month and the fourth week box office results are released.

After earning $52.5 million in the third week, the North American box office closed at $27 million this week, a normal decline, and the total North American box office reached $364 million.

Although this number is not high, it still won the box office championship this week and remained the champion for the fourth consecutive week.

"Magic Cat", "The Last Samurai", "Hot Dance", "Kill Bill" and other films are no match for it.

Even Sony Columbia's new movie, the romantic comedy "Something's Gotta Give," which brought together veteran actors Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton and Keanu Reeves, flopped.

Jack Nicholson's acting skills are indeed superb, especially in The Shining and The Joker, which left a deep impression on people, but he is indeed old and not attractive enough to young people.

If he played a supporting role and Keanu Reeves played the leading role, the box office would definitely be higher.

In the end, "Something's Gotta Give" only earned more than 16 million U.S. dollars at the box office and ranked third.

"Sweet Hot Dance" was squeezed to fourth place, and "Magic Cat" dropped to fifth place due to its poor reputation.

On the contrary, "The Last Samurai" remains strong and still sits in second place, with a box office of 26.5 million US dollars this week, just a little bit away from taking the championship throne.

But this is its last chance. Failure this week means it won't get a weekly championship because "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" is about to be released.

It can be predicted that "Transformers" will step down from the throne gracefully and hand the crown to the Knights of Middle-earth.

The achievement of winning the championship for four consecutive weeks is already dazzling enough, and Eric and everyone at MGM are very satisfied.

In terms of overseas box office, the film was released in the last twenty or so countries this week and saw a relatively small drop in box office.

After earning $95 million in the third week, it took in $77 million this week, unsurprisingly becoming the weekly champion in these countries.

At present, the overseas box office of "Transformers" has earned 805 million US dollars, officially breaking the 800 million box office mark.

"The Matrix 2", which was standing in front of it last week, was defeated, and "Transformers" left the Savior behind with a huge gap of more than 60 million US dollars.

Now the only thing standing in the way is Finding Nemo, and Disney is still trembling because the difference between the two is less than $70 million.

Even though the boom period of "Transformers" has ended, with the final energy, it may not get $70 million in one week, but it will be stable in two weeks.

There is a high probability that Nemo the Clownfish and his son will not be able to withstand the impact of the Autobots and will have to give up the throne of the 2003 global box office champion.

But the Autobots shouldn't be too happy too soon, as the Middle-earth Knights have already secured the annual championship, and no one can change that.

The clownfish will sit on the championship throne for at least half a year, while the Transformers should have abdicated in a month.

But the good thing is that The Lord of the Rings trilogy has ended, and the market will have to recover for a few years before the next film. Transformers has just begun, and the sequel will be released next year or the year after.

At the premiere of "The Lord of the Rings 3", Eric and Gadot attended to help support the film, which immediately attracted cheers from fans. Many people liked both movies.

Peter Jackson put his arm around his shoulders and said, "Look at you, you are much more popular than me. If you don't know, you would think this is your home court."

Eric pushed back his beard. "You should lose some weight, Peter. That beard makes you look ten years older."

"Do you know why I am more popular than you? Because I am young and handsome!"

Cate Blanchett, who played the Elf Queen, and Liv Tyler, who played the Elf Princess, happened to pass by and couldn't help laughing when they heard the words.

Female celebrities in Europe and the United States have always been more unrestrained. Things like not showing teeth when smiling, maintaining a good appearance, and not wearing messy makeup do not exist.

Especially at evening parties and ceremonies that are not serious, people are often caught making emoticons and making all kinds of jokes. The jokes here are not derogatory.

This kind of performance does not actually lower their status in the hearts of fans, but instead makes them seem down-to-earth and attracts more fans.

Peter Jackson pointed at Gadot's back and said, "See? If you want to become really famous, you can't rely on me, you have to rely on this young person."

"Come on, beautiful ladies. I'm giving you the chance now. Maybe you can get the leading role in his next play."

As he said this, he pushed Eric into the arms of Cate Blanchett and Liv Tyler behind him, and left with his suit almost stretched out by his big belly. The two women stood on Eric's left and right and posed.

What the bearded man said is very right. If you ask who is the hottest female star in Hollywood right now, fans and the media will definitely tell you it is Gal Gadot.

With just two movies, MGM made her a global icon, and countless interviews and invitations came in, as well as fashion magazines and brand endorsements.

In the past, Eric could walk into Gadot's apartment openly and do whatever he wanted.

It’s not possible now. Since “Happy Death Day”, there have been more paparazzi, and now there are paparazzi who stake out places on a daily basis.

The two could only go out on dates secretly, and Eric thought it was time to give the last house to Gadot.

"For Frodo!"

"For Frodo!"

Amid roars for Frodo, the Middle-earth coalition forces launched a charge towards Mordor.

As the One Ring was dropped into the lava of Mount Doom by Gollum, Sauron's big eye collapsed instantly, the orc army fled, and the coalition forces won.

In the White City, at the coronation ceremony of Aragorn, the Emperor of Man, everyone knelt down to thank the four Hobbits.

Even though he has seen this scene many times, Eric still feels the heat rising. Classics are indeed timeless and can always move people no matter when they watch them.

There were many viewers who shared the same idea as him, as could be seen from the enthusiastic applause after the movie ended.

"Oh no! I have a bad feeling, honey," Gadot whispered.

"What's wrong?" Eric looked at her strangely.

"This movie, The Lord of the Rings, is unexpectedly good. My God, I don't like this kind of epic fantasy theme, but I was still attracted to it."

"Look at these crazy fans. Their shouting is about to lift the ceiling off. It's terrible."

"Uh what's wrong? Isn't this normal? I like it too."

"Why have you suddenly become stupid, Eric? I mean the box office. We might lose the box office of Transformers."

Eric slapped his forehead and thought, you are daydreaming, you actually want to beat others.

He quietly squeezed Gadot's palm and said, "It's okay if you lose. Don't worry about it. It's not shameful to lose to a masterpiece like The Lord of the Rings that is destined to go down in film history."

"You can think of it this way. We are qualified to compete with The Lord of the Rings for the first place, but are there other movies that are qualified to compete with The Lord of the Rings for the first place?"

"So we've succeeded. Doesn't that make you feel better?"

Gadot chuckled: "You know how to comfort people."

"Haha. Go talk to those people. I have something to talk to Peter Jackson about."

"Um."

After the premiere, Eric and Peter Jackson left together and found a quiet literary bar to sit down.

Coming here today to help out is just superficial, the real purpose is to make plans for the future.

Some time ago, John Adams wrote to me and the network issues were ready.

Five days ago, Facebook conducted a maintenance upgrade, which was actually a first step to connect the network to it for trial.

The results are great. Previously, it took users two or three seconds to open a homepage, but after the upgrade, it can be opened in almost seconds.

An online questionnaire survey with excellent user feedback.

If Facebook is fine, then YouTube and Lionheart are definitely fine too.

Howard Hughes and Robert Millen, with a team of more than 300 people, worked on an algorithm for half a year and finally came up with it.

After testing, it has preliminarily met the standards required by Eric, and the follow-up will be continuous updating and development.

The backend databases of the three software have been synchronized to the same format, and you can log in with one account once you go online.

It can be said that all preparations have been completed.

In less than a month, MGM will be listed again, and YouTube will be launched immediately after the listing.

After YouTube becomes stable, Lionheart.net is expected to go online in half a month.

If it were YouTube, it would definitely not alert other film and television companies, and might even be seen as a joke.

The Lionheart Network is different and will inevitably be encircled and suppressed.

According to Eric's memory of Netflix, many people in the industry knew about the open and covert struggles between the two sides at that time.

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

After Netflix emerged and started streaming media, it soon encountered hostility from several major companies and TV stations.

Several companies have joined forces to target Netflix and ban their own works from appearing on the platform.

In private, they used many shady tricks, including threatening special effects producers to choose between the two options: if they wanted to continue taking orders from us, they would not be allowed to take orders from Netflix.

The harsh environment forced Netflix to seek help from organizations in Europe, Asia and other places.

It was not until he broke through the siege with "House of Cards" and a series of high-quality film and television dramas followed that he broke through the blockade and completed the survival of the enemy.

But the siege did not end there. The film sources could not be blocked, and major companies put pressure on film festivals and award ceremonies such as Cannes, Berlin and the Oscars.

It is claimed that a movie that is released simultaneously online cannot be called a movie and is not worthy of competing for awards with other normal theater movies.

Even the three major film festivals had to succumb to this force and had to reject Netflix's participation.

If they can't stop your development, then they will stop your honor.

This blockade was not broken until Eric crossed over.

Netflix has gone through so many disgusting things, and Lionheart is bound to be no exception.

All Eric could do was plan ahead and make some arrangements in advance to prepare.

Peter Jackson is just one of the people he is looking for. Eric will also contact second-rate independent film and television companies such as DreamWorks, Lionsgate, and New Line.

If you can find an ally, that's a good thing. What if they are willing to cooperate? They each opened a bottle of beer.

"Eric, congratulations to Transformers for being the runner-up. It will soon beat Finding Nemo!"

"Haha. Are you kidding me? The quality of The Lord of the Rings 3 is very high. I admit defeat in advance. Okay?"

The two of them laughed and drank from the bottle first. The bearded man had a generous and arrogant personality, not like Spielberg who drank red wine from a glass.

Hiccup! "Tell me, what do you want from me?"

"Can't I have a drink with you if I'm fine?"

"If I were a beautiful woman, this reason would be somewhat credible. Eric, what do you want to do?"

"I want to send you money, lots of it."

Hearing this, Jackson frowned, with doubt in his eyes.

"We had a very pleasant cooperation on Transformers. I am very satisfied with Weta Digital's technical level and efficiency, so I plan to continue to cooperate with you."

"In the next two years, all the special effects for all MGM movies will be done by you. How about that? Is that a good thing?"

Peter Jackson did not look happy, as he thought there must be something wrong when things were abnormal.

"I don't understand why you do this? You should know that Weta Digital's level is top-notch in the industry, but its fee standard is also the highest in the industry."

"Many special effects in movies don't actually require our help, and any small company can do it."

"You're wasting your money, it's going to cost you tens of millions of dollars more every year, it's totally unconscionable Eric Cooper."

"I'm not a fool. I don't believe that someone would voluntarily give money to others."

Eric didn't intend to hide the fact from him that Peter Jackson was not the owner of a film and television company and there was no competition between him and him.

After listening to him, the bearded man opened his mouth in surprise.

"OMG! Do you know what you are doing?"

Eric nodded slightly.

After a moment's silence, Peter Jackson stared at him and suddenly laughed.

"Eric, I just had a feeling in my heart, a very complicated feeling."

"This feeling is mixed with surprise, admiration, arrogance, contempt, respect and other indescribable things. That's how I feel about you."

"You want to challenge the entire Hollywood on your own. Your courage is admirable."

"I'm already 42 years old, and I suddenly have the urge to have a big fight with you. It's like the feeling of my youth has returned."

Eric raised his mouth and said, "Peter, as long as the contract is signed, if someone gives you trouble, you can just say that you were deceived by me."

"After all, there's money to be made, so who would object? Right?"

"Hahaha, it seems you've even thought of a way out for me."

"Of course, I am always open and honest with my friends. If you don't want to, I won't force you."

Bang! The bearded man slapped the table and said, "I'll join. I can make money and disgust some people. I'll definitely join."

"Anyway, the Lord of the Rings trilogy is over, and I want to take a break for a while. I won't be working on any big productions for at least a year."

"Tell me, how many plays do you plan to open next year?"

Eric thought about it and realized that Marvel alone will have at least two films scheduled for next year, as well as "The Hunger Games", "Inception", "Transformers", etc.

He spread out his five fingers: "At least five big productions, plus the others, I am a little worried whether Weta Digital can complete them."

Peter Jackson patted his chest and said: "I can do as much as you have. It's nothing more than adding machines and manpower."

"Well, we can sign a contract and temporarily agree on 30 movies."

“30 films in two years?”

"No more, no less!"

(End of this chapter)