Chapter 283: invest

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"American Pie 2" grossed $16.47 million on Friday, $15.16 million on Saturday and $13.47 million on Sunday.

A very dazzling achievement.

Not surprisingly, this year Orion Films is the third North American box office film to exceed 100 million, besides "Rush Hour" and "Ice Age".

In one year, four films were released independently, one of which had a global box office of over 100 million, and three of which had a box office of over 100 million in North America.

Orion Films' achievements in film production and distribution are enough to make any Hollywood film company envious.

What's more, the next focus of Orion Films is "Blade Warrior" and "Inception", which will be released next year, as well as many films that are currently being filmed.

As time entered December, the traditional hand-painted animation feature film "Prince of Egypt" produced by DreamWorks Animation Studio was officially released in North America.

On the first day of opening, the scale exceeded 3,200 movie theaters, with a box office of US$4.31 million on Friday, US$5.61 million on Saturday, and US$4.58 million on Sunday.

In the three days of the first weekend, only $14.52 million was earned at the box office, and the average revenue per movie theater was only $4,658 at the box office.

For an animated feature film with a production cost of up to 60 million US dollars, the box office of 14.52 million US dollars in the first weekend is far from ideal.

Fortunately, the box office trend of "Prince of Egypt" was very stable next week, with a box office of 15.1 million US dollars in three days in the next weekend, which made Jeffrey Katzenberg and DreamWorks Animation Studio breathe a sigh of relief.

The overseas distribution of "Prince of Egypt" is handled by Orion Pictures.

Originally, according to the agreement signed by the two parties, Orion Films negotiated with a group of overseas theater companies and distribution companies when the film's first weekend box office data came out.

However, the box office results of "Prince of Egypt" in the first weekend were not very satisfactory. Orion Films could only temporarily delay the overseas release of the film for a while.

"Hand-drawn animated feature film!"

Jeffrey Katzenberg shook his head helplessly, "The North American box office performance of "Prince of Egypt" is not satisfactory, and it is far inferior to "A Bug's Life" produced by Pixar."

"A Bug's Life" was released on November 25th, and "The Prince of Egypt" was released on December 18th. The release times of the two films are very close.

"A Bug's Life" is a 3D animated feature film produced by Pixar Animation Studios, while "Prince of Egypt" is just a traditional hand-painted animated feature film, which obviously needs to face "A Bug's Life" and 3D animation computer production technology. shock.

Jeffrey Katzenberg looked at Ryan who was sitting opposite, and said with a little helplessness, "Last time did you propose to invest in "Shrek"?"

"Little Ants", which was released on October 2, is also a hand-painted animation feature film produced by DreamWorks Animation Studio. It only earned 17.19 million US dollars in the box office in the first three days of the weekend, which did not meet the expectations of DreamWorks Animation Studio.

The box office of two consecutive hand-painted animated feature films failed to meet expectations. DreamWorks internally raised some doubts about the plan to spend huge sums of money to continue producing multiple animated feature films, and planned to reduce the scale of investment in the future.

In desperation, he could only come to Orion Films to seek investment.

"Shrek"!

Ryan was overjoyed, but said with a calm expression on his face: "Orion Pictures and I are very interested in investing in 3D animation feature films. As long as DreamWorks Animation Studio agrees, Orion Pictures can bear half of the investment and be responsible for the investment. The film is distributed overseas, and DreamWorks is responsible for the North American distribution of the film."

Last time Jeffrey Katzenberg rejected Orion Films' request to invest in "Shrek". Unexpectedly, he would take the initiative to deliver it to his door this time, and Ryan would naturally not miss it.

"Thank you." Jeffrey Katzenberg heaved a sigh of relief. With the investment from Orion Films, the filming plan of "Shrek" can definitely continue.

In the future, 3D animated feature films will be the mainstream of Hollywood, and it is impossible for DreamWorks Animation Studio to give up the production of "Shrek".

After talking for a while about the overseas distribution plan of "Prince of Egypt", Jeffrey Katzenberg got up and left Orion Pictures.

"The situation of DreamWorks Animation Studio does not seem to be as good as outsiders imagined."

Helen walked in with a cup of coffee and stirred it lightly, "When do you plan to release "Prince of Egypt"!"

What she asked was naturally overseas.

Orion Pictures is not responsible for the North American distribution of the film.

"When the box office of the film exceeds 70 million US dollars, let the overseas distribution company negotiate with a number of theater companies and distribution companies."

Ryan put down the document in his hand, and looked up at Helen, "Otherwise it will be difficult to get a good release scale, and it can be staggered with the release time of "A Bug's Life."

It's not that DreamWorks Animation Studio is not strong enough, but that Pixar Animation Studio is too strong, it's just a bunch of gangsters.

"A very sensible decision."

Helen took a sip of coffee, sat down, and talked about another matter, "Orion Films is not a member of the Film Association. Even with the support of Warner Bros., it still encounters troubles in film ratings."

The rating of "American Pie 2" encountered a little bit of trouble.

Fortunately, the content and plot of "American Pie 2" itself is very unhealthy, and underage children will definitely be prohibited from watching it.

So nothing was lost.

"Helen, you have to be clear, becoming a member of the Film Association is almost impossible."

Ryan also has no good way, "The seven major film companies will not add new members unless Orion Films can acquire one of them."

It is very simple to become a member of the Film Association, as long as more than half of the seven film companies including 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Sony Pictures, MGM, Universal Pictures, Disney, and Warner Brothers vote for it, Orion The film industry is eligible to become a member of the Film Association.

However, the seven major film companies have been merging and acquiring second-tier film companies everywhere, and continue to monopolize the Hollywood film market. How could it be possible to support Orion Films to become a member of the Film Association.

As for buying one of the film companies!

Ryan has no such plan at all for the time being, not because he doesn't want to, but because he has no money.

Even if it is to acquire MGM, it will cost at least billions of dollars in acquisition funds, and MGM is still a mess, and if it is not done well, it may drag down Orion Pictures.

"That's why there are only seven major film companies in Hollywood." Helen said calmly: "Only by becoming a member of the Hollywood Film Association can you avoid being restricted in terms of ratings."

"In addition, if I were you, in addition to continuing to expand the business scope of Orion Films, I would also strive to acquire a complete film library."

"In order to improve and strengthen Orion Films itself, in addition to the members of the Film Association, the film library is also very important."

Ryan is naturally aware of the importance of the film library to a film company, but there has been no suitable object.

Almost all of Hollywood's film libraries of any size have been acquired by the seven major film companies.

"Do you have any good recommendations!" He looked directly at Helen and asked.

Based on his understanding of Helen, the other party would not talk about the film library for no reason.

"The best choice is naturally MGM." Helen said very directly: "MGM is not only a member of the American Motion Picture Association, but also has the largest film library in Hollywood."

Ryan was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously asked: "MGM's film library, isn't it in the hands of Turner Broadcasting!"

"Who told you that!" Helen gave him a weird look, and said, "Turner Broadcasting only has MGM's film library before May 1986, and it's not a permanent license. It will expire in 2003."

"Otherwise, Sony Pictures and Warner Times would not have been planning to buy MGM."

2003 will expire!

Ryan took a deep breath, lost in thought.

MGM has the largest film library in Hollywood, including MGM's own film library, and also owns the United Artists film library, one of the eight major Hollywood film companies in the past, with more than 4,000 movies, 17,000 hours of TV programs and many TV series.

In terms of quantity, it exceeds any of the film companies such as 20th Century Fox, Paramount, and Sony Pictures.

Although dilapidated, MGM is still the largest film company in Hollywood.

If MGM can be acquired, Orion Pictures can not only become a member of the Film Association, but also have the largest film library in Hollywood.

"Helen, you have presented me with a problem."

After a while, Ryan gave a wry smile and looked at the calm Helen, "The acquisition of MGM will bring as much risk to Orion Films as the benefits."

"I'm just making a suggestion, and the specific decision-making power rests with you." Helen said lightlyI will seriously consider it. Ryan nodded heavily.

With just a few years left until its 2003 expiration date, Orion Pictures could well afford to wait.

What's more, as time approached 2000, Ryan had asked Swift to continue to collect funds from the stock market. Except for a few Internet company shares, all other shares and stocks had to be sold before 2000, including Yahoo's shares.

It is expected that a very staggering sum of money will be obtained, enough to buy MGM.

The only thing Ryan worries about is whether Orion Pictures will get into a quagmire when it acquires MGM in a snake-like way.

As we all know, MGM's performance has not only been losing money, but also bears a large amount of debt.

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