dognovel Chapter 45 Big Ship
Chapter 45 Big Ship
Has the movie's release date been set?
"There's Something About Mary" is a film MGM prepared for the summer season, and it can be released in any summer season.
"I'm leaning towards mid-June. Universal's 'Jurassic Park 2' is confirmed to open on May 23rd. Everyone has to make way for this giant dinosaur."
Since the preparation of "Jurassic Park 2", it has been the focus of attention from the media and movie fans. The publicity has never stopped, and everyone is looking forward to this big guy landing in North America in the hot summer.
Other Hollywood studios are also watching closely, but they all want to avoid any conflict with it.
"In early July, Columbia Pictures' big-budget film 'Men in Black' will be released, and at the end of the month, 'Air Force One' will also be released."
Since acquiring Columbia, Sony has been ambitious and has made huge investments.
With two blockbusters vying for attention around the beginning and end of July, it seems they're aiming to dominate the latter half of the summer movie season.
"In June, the only films that can compete with us are Disney's 'Mulan,' Julia Roberts' 'My Best Friend's Wedding,' and Paramount's 'Face/Off.'"
"Mulan and Face/Off are completely different in subject matter from There Is Mary. Our main competitor is My Best Friend's Wedding. Compared to Jurassic Park and the two big films from Columbia Pictures in July, I think June is the best release date."
"What about Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox? Why aren't there any of their films?"
This is a highly competitive summer movie season, and it's also the main battleground for the seven Hollywood studios. How could any of them not want to participate?
"Warner Bros. is now saying that Batman and Robin will be released this summer, but the specific release date has not been set."
"As for 20th Century Fox," Iger grinned mischievously, "let's avoid bankruptcy first, shall we?"
Seeing Ernst's confusion, Iger explained, "20th Century Fox has given all its funds to that truck driver to film 'Titanic,' and now the production costs are seriously over budget. It's uncertain whether the film can be released smoothly, so where would they get the funds to make other movies?"
"If Paramount's 'Face/Off' hadn't finished filming so early, Paramount would probably have faced the same predicament as 20th Century Fox this summer."
"I heard that Bill McNichols, the president of 20th Century Fox, is cursing every day, and Paramount is even selling off a stake in the project."
"What idiot would take over this project? According to some rumors, 20th Century Fox and Paramount invited a number of industry experts to watch the rough cut that has been shot so far."
"Most experts believe this is just a romance disguised as a disaster movie, with a poor guy falling in love with a rich girl. It's such a cliché plot that most experts think it won't gross more than $400 million worldwide."
"A big ship!" Ernst's eyes lit up.
Experts were skeptical, but Cameron shocked the world with a clichéd story. That's the difference between a great director and an expert.
In 1995, when Cameron approached 20th Century Fox to film a large ship, he indicated that he only needed $80 million in production costs.
But 20th Century Fox knew his nature and knew that the other party would definitely overspend, so they secretly prepared an extra 20 million US dollars, thinking that there shouldn't be any problems this time.
Little did anyone know that before filming even began, Cameron spent $200 million diving to examine the Titanic wreck and then spent another $2000 million to buy a piece of land off the coast of Mexico.
Then, the set construction cost another 20 million US dollars, and a 40 million US dollar replica of the real Titanic was made. The props and costumes also cost 8 million US dollars.
The movie hasn't even had a single scene yet, but $90 million has already been spent on pre-production.
Twentieth Century Fox had no choice but to inject another $3500 in funding.
But just halfway through filming, the crew ran out of money.
Left with no other option, Colombia had to find a sucker, and Paramount successfully took the bait, injecting another $6500 million into the project.
The film is now basically finished shooting, but post-production and promotion will require money, estimated at around 60 million US dollars, bringing the total investment to a staggering 260 million US dollars.
Paramount is now unwilling to invest under any circumstances, leaving 20th Century Fox in a dilemma.
Historically, 20th Century Fox was initially relieved that someone was taking the fall, but little did they know that the big ship would go on a rampage, raking in an astonishing $18 billion at the box office.
Fox went crazy looking at the financial report. Not only did they have to share a portion of the revenue with Paramount, but Paramount also owned a portion of the Titanic copyrights.
It joined later, just contributed money, and did nothing else.
However, neither of the two giants knows what kind of miracle this big ship will cause, and they both want to get rid of this helpless yam as soon as possible.
For both giants, losing money is inevitable; they're just hoping to minimize their losses.
"I'd like to get in touch with Paramount and Fox; I'm quite interested in this movie."
The sound in the meeting room abruptly stopped, and it fell completely silent.
"You mean Titanic?" Iger asked uncertainly, his face showing signs of auditory hallucination.
"certainly".
Robert Iger opened his mouth wide, as if a fishbone was stuck in his throat, and he couldn't make a sound.
I was just saying that no fool would take on this project, but it turns out I was the fool.
Robert Iger could imagine how the American media would ridicule him if he actually took over the project.
Although the decision was made by Ernst, who would dare to let the boss take the blame?
"Ernst, I think you should seriously consider this: perhaps you've been overworking your brain while writing your novel lately?"
Ernst rolled his eyes. "Just say whatever you want. You think I won't hear it if you try to be subtle?"
"I've thought it through very clearly, and I'm optimistic about this movie. Most importantly, I'm optimistic about director Cameron."
Leaving aside the profitability of the large ship, if it were to be acquired by MGM, MGM would become a unique entity in terms of both influence and media attention for the next two years.
And then there's Cameron; through this incident, it's not impossible to bring this truck driver into MGM's camp.
Geniuses are often arrogant, and Fox's distrust of him made it easy for MGM to win him over.
"But we don't have the money. The profits from 'The Man from Earth' will be invested in the production of '007' and two other movies."
Robert Iger tried to use funding issues to discourage Ernst, but Ernst wasn't so easily fooled.
"No Hollywood company can pay such a large sum of money all at once, and I think they are well aware of that. So, as long as the payment period isn't too long, Fox and Paramount will definitely accept it."
"Not counting publicity, the two companies have invested around $200 million so far. They will agree to take over the entire investment share of the project in installments over four years for $180 million."
Egger wanted to persist, but Ernst interrupted him, taking a forceful stance.
"Listen to me on this. First, contact Paramount. If Fox is interested after they find out, then take over the entire project."