Chapter 904: Twisted "Avatar"

Cameron started preparing for this film in 2005, but it took more than 2 years to develop 3D technology that can have a viewing experience.

In other words, more than 100 million US dollars were thrown into the film before and after the filming, but unlike everyone imagined that Fox was in charge of this project from beginning to end, Disney was the first to enter the game.

In fact, these are not secrets in the circle. Many people are watching and casting a trace of attention.

You know, Cameron was in charge of the three imax documentaries shot by Cameron and Weta Digital in order to experiment with technology, but when Cameron was satisfied with the effects of the technology, this product followed the Titanic template and asked the screenwriter they wrote a story

The most obvious is that they all adopted the structure of the literary drama in the first half and the continuous big scene in the second half;

There is an emotional line running through the whole film, and the male protagonist is named Jack.

The only difference is that Avatar burns more money than the Titanic and is more unreasonable.

Yes, it's unreasonable. Cameron's proposal for a filming of 500 million instantly made Disney executives indifferent.

Disney is actually ready to break the first investment share in film history, but they didn't expect that Cameron's request is so much higher than the 3.33 billion US dollars of Pirates of the Caribbean. The gap of 170 million can make Wolverine and Captain America , Transformers and other blockbusters, why don't you go to heaven?

What's more, Disney is willing to spend 330 million to shoot Pirates of the Caribbean 3 because this project can appreciate and increase other revenue.

And because Avatar is the first film to be filmed with 3D technology, the script is still original and has no mass basis; because the new technology is too expensive, Cameron has to continue to increase the budget for a superstar; Whether the audience is willing to spend the blessing of many risks such as "wasted money".

In other words, because it was Cameron and because of the miracle of the Titanic, Disney was willing to give it a shot. Anyway, it has developed well in recent years and has abundant funds, but the investment share proposed by this product is still far beyond expectations, making Disney No profit prospects in sight.

Imagine that once Avatar fails at the box office and lacks other foundations for monetization, even Disney is reluctant to see it, and no one can take responsibility.

Disney has so many shareholders, and many can enter the board of directors. How can the interests of so many people be easy to make big bets?

Therefore, Disney hesitated for a while and still refused the investment. Cameron also simply turned around and took the project to the old owner Universal.

Of course, Lehman is here, and he certainly won't miss the opportunity to join the bidding battle.

If it is an ordinary project with a certain profit potential, Lehman does not need to hold it all in his hands. He can build up his strength and slowly move towards the top by developing Marvel honestly and supplementing it with some originals. After all, his overseas business The layout of the distribution network is also coming to an end, and Rodriguez Perlman reported it not long ago, and the progress is gratifying. starter

But Avatar is really more critical, not to mention Fox's sleazy operation, just releasing goodwill to win over Cameron and the box office that broke the ceiling is enough to make people pay so much attention to him.

How did Fox win Avatar?

The parent company, News Corporation, was severely damaged, and because the stock market crash also had insufficient cash flow, their proportion of investment was surprisingly small, and the whole process was simply textbook-level borrowing.

The funds in Fox's hands come from many investment companies. Among them, the two largest private equity institutions, de and im, took up 150 million and accounted for 60% of the investment share. In addition, Cameron and Weta Digital spent 140 million on technology development. , it has to be returned to Disney and signed a technology licensing contract, which Fox also does not want to pay.

Isn't Sao Operation then coming to the cinema chain to innovate and promote the imax giant screen cinema, making the viewing effect better and retaining the audience that was lost due to other entertainment methods?

Therefore, they also signed an agreement with the theater chain, promising that after the filming is completed, these more mature technology patents can be licensed to other studios, reducing the difficulty of 3D production, increasing the source of films, and recovering some costs while promoting the industry. We communicated with Weta Digital again, and then squeezed out a fortune from special effects companies such as Industrial Light and Magic, and the burden was easily solved.

Even in terms of publicity, Fox's own financial report revealed that it spent 150 million yuan, which was also given to its own people by using the huge advertising resources of News Corporation.

In other words, Fox actually invested less than 200 million in exchange for a global box office of more than 2.7 billion, but at the same time making money, it gave up a lot of benefits to those private equity institutions, but the majority was still Fox.

"Give me an appointment with Jon Landau."

Lyman instructed Joseph.

Since we want to enter the game while Disney disembarks and the project is stranded, of course, Fox can no longer take over with a routine.

During this period, Fox was under great pressure. Of course, they could not make huge cash by relying on Avatar, and revitalize their assets faster.

In the future, Fox is also one of Mann Media's goals. How can you look at it if you can dig a big pillar As for why you asked Jon Landau? This guy is Cameron's right-hand man, and he is also Cameron's royal producer. The two also jointly opened a movie studio. Of course, they must be impressed at the same time to quickly enter the game and seize the opportunity.

......

"Universal is also very concerned, James, should we lower the conditions?"

Jon Landau frowned and looked at Cameron, who was still calm at the desk.

Just like the previous life, the old club Universal didn't dare to gamble. After all, a series of expenses was close to 500 million yuan, and it would take 1.5 billion yuan in the world to make a profit at the box office, and the ceiling was still very high.

You must know that the number one in film history is still Titanic’s 2.187 billion, but the second place 6 years ago The Lord of the Rings 3 is only 1.142 billion, the gap is more than 1 billion, and the industry generally regards the latter as the box office. The evaluation criteria revealed that the sequels are still on the box-office list at this time. Except for cartoons, 80% of them are adaptations of sequels. The trend is quite obvious. New 81 Chinese website updates the fastest computer: https://

As a qualified producer, he can't see the decline of the original project, but Cameron hopes that the original Avatar will carry the new technology that breaks the era, the preliminary preparation, and even the framing and modeling are all in this direction. Can't go back.

Thinking of this, as well as the successive abandonment of Disney and Universal, this made Jon Landau equally stressed. He was about to persuade him a few more words when the phone rang, and an olive branch was thrown from an unexpected but indeed abundant cash studio.. ....

: . : m.x
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