Chapter 818: Confident capital

Ronan certainly understood the meaning of this, and said: "Jesse thinks you are the most suitable director for this project."

Sophia Coppola said: "I like the script of Juno very much. So, after Jesse found me, I immediately ended my vacation."

Ronan smiled: "I hope you can bring a masterpiece like "Lost in Tokyo"."

Sophia Coppola also laughed: "I have confidence in myself and in the script of Juno."

Female directors directing female themes naturally have an advantage, and Sofia Coppola has also filmed a somewhat similar "Death of the Virgin".

Ronan said directly: "The goal of this film is still the awards season and Oscars."

"It's a pity that I am a woman." Sophia Coppola sighed, "It is difficult for those stubborn old men to give me the Oscar figurines I want most."

Ronan nodded: "It's really difficult, but there is always hope." He deliberately said, "Don't forget, you are Sophia Coppola."

Sophia Coppola laughed at herself: "Yes, if I'm not Sophia Coppola, there is no hope at all."

Ronan couldn’t help but think of James Cameron’s ex-wife who is stronger than most men. It seems that she won the Oscar for Best Director, which is the same class as "Avatar."

Even if there are such cases, it is still very, very difficult for female directors to gain something in the best directorship where men dominate.

To put it bluntly, Catherine Bigelow is just an example, not universal.

Sophia Coppola has hope, but the possibility of getting the best director with a theme like "Juneo" is very low.

While "Madagascar" has not yet been screened, Ronan and Sofia Coppola talked about some things about "Juneo".

Jessica Felton has negotiated with Sofia Coppola on a related director contract, which was officially signed a week ago.

The production budget of this project is only 7 million U.S. dollars. Among the production projects of Shahai Entertainment today, it also belongs to the lower investment.

The North American box office of "Lost in Tokyo" is as high as 72.15 million US dollars. Sophia Coppola only asked for a basic salary of 500,000 US dollars in the negotiation, and the focus of the remuneration was on the later split.

Cooperating with famous directors will definitely have to pay higher remuneration. In the final agreement, Sophia Coppola, in addition to the $500,000 basic remuneration, also enjoys 10% of the film’s North American box office profit.

Ronan and Jessica Felton agree on inviting Sofia Coppola, and both agree that Sofia Coppola is conducive to the success of the film.

The topic of the two also turned to Jessica Felton, Sofia Coppola said: "The female producer you found is very good. Successful female producers are rarer than successful female directors. "

Ronan smiled, and said, "Jesse is based on skill and ability."

Sophia Coppola took a look at Ronan, but held back some words.

The lights on the ceiling went out at this time, the big screen came on, the theater became quiet, and the premiere of "Madagascar" began.

This movie about African animals, because of the needs of the North American market, of course, starts in the United States, so the protagonists become the animal stars in New York Central Park.

Lions, zebras, hippos and giraffes used to live very comfortably in Central Park. Later, whether passively or actively, they ran out of the park, yearning for freedom, and their experience became more colorful.

Of course, DreamWorks Animation Studio has also learned a lot of successful experience from the success of "Shrek".

Such as the nonsensical funny in the whole process.

The style of DreamWorks Animation Studio has always been the truth, the good and the beauty in the funny.

"Madagascar" is very funny, and like the anti-fairy tale classic of "Shrek", it has a lot of classic elements.

For example, the appearance of the lion's signature is simply to turn the Peugeot logo away. The soundtrack of the hungry lion chasing the zebra is the classic music of Marlboro Cowboys, and the ball played by the lion is Tom Hanks’ partner Will Sen, the roses flying all over the sky in "" are steaks here...

When the evil penguins returned to their hometown, Antarctica, where they thought day and night, and cursed "what the **** is this place", the spoof atmosphere was reached.

This group of penguins who tried to follow the laws of nature to return to Antarctica, they really arrived in Antarctica but couldn't stand the harsh environment of Antarctica. They turned around to Madagascar with sunscreen.

There was joy in the whole theater.

Since "Shrek", DreamWorks Animation Studio's successful animation feature film, almost all the prerequisites for success are based on making the audience laugh crazy.

"Madagascar" is no exception.

This is a movie that makes people laugh and feel very comfortable.

As for the deep theme or irony, it doesn’t matter to the market.

Makes people laugh and make people feel comfortable. The film can guarantee commercial success. It also allows Embassy Pictures and DreamWorks Animation Studios to invest every dollar in it, get its due return.

With the complete decline of traditional hand-drawn animation, computer animation has ushered in its best era.

With the rapid advancement of computer technology in recent years, computer animation has become a unique show in the field of animation. "Madagascar" can be called another ambition of DreamWorks Animation Studio.

In the early stage of publicity, DreamWorks Animation Studios also repeatedly promoted the use of many new brainstorming animation production techniques in "Madagascar" and made major breakthroughs.

Such as the fur of Alex the lion.

Compared with the relatively rough picture of "Shrek", "Madagascar", which has a production budget of only 75 million US dollars, has indeed made great progress in technology and graphics.

However, the difference between Alex's hair and Sullivan, the fur monster at Pixar Studios a few years ago, is still very obvious.

But there is no denying the progress of DreamWorks Animation Studios. After leading DreamWorks Animation Studios out of trouble, Jeff Kasenberg is catching up with Pixar Studios.

No one wants to be the second in the millennium, everyone has to be the leader of the industry.

Therefore, DreamWorks Animation Studio changed its previous diligent and thrifty producer style, and began to invest more than US$150 million in a single animated feature film project, like Pixar’s cousins.

This is also a manifestation of the ambitions of Jeff Katzenberg and DreamWorks Animation Studios.

It is hard to say that the three major investment animation feature films in the future are difficult, but "Madagascar" is at least commercially successful.

"A movie that makes people laugh wildly."

"Smart home entertainment."

The media's evaluation of "Madagascar" also tends to be positive.

The "Hollywood Reporter" comment is perhaps the most representative.

""Madagascar" didn't do much, just made you laugh. This kind of minimalism brings pure family joy!"

In the eyes of film critics, movies like "Madagascar" are boring typical and clumsy representatives.

The audience doesn’t care about these things, and they don’t care about continuous thinking. When watching this movie, most audiences are immersed in endless jokes.

The most popular movie is not the protagonists, but the evil penguins.

Like the "Ice Age" series, the supporting actors have robbed the protagonists of the limelight.

Many viewers have been fanned by the penguin circle.

Ronan can guess after watching the film, DreamWorks Animation Studio will definitely develop independent animated films of Penguins in the future.

Hollywood will make full use of every resource of successful films.

Not to mention that it is a popular movie like Madagascar. It suffered a serious loss that year and almost ended the career of director Ridley Scott. After more than 20 years of offline operation and word-of-mouth fermentation, "Blade Runner" After that, it also attracted the attention of Warner Bros.

It is said that Warner Bros. is discussing whether to shoot a sequel to "Blade Runner".

The discussion and popularity of "Blade Runner" from a loss-making movie to a classic movie over time has brought a steady stream of income to the offline market, which seems to have made Warner Bros. forget that the cost of time is also a cost.

After the release of "Madagascar", the audience responded well. The publicity and distribution capabilities of Embassy Pictures were guaranteed, and the expected box office results were also achieved.

Three days after the opening of North America, "Madagascar" was sold in 4288 theaters, with a box office of 57.22 million US dollars.

This result is enough to ensure that the film sits on the top of the North American box office charts.

Due to the good reputation of the film audience, it is predicted that the North American box office of "Madagascar" will be more than 200 million US dollars.

There is no doubt that this animated feature film has been a success.

"Madagascar" also made DreamWorks Animation Studio's already bursting confidence stronger.

Although less successful animated feature films such as "My Little Pony King" and "The Legend of the Seven Seas of Sinbad" appeared in the past two years, after the release of "Shrek 2", the "Shark Gang" was counted. "And "Madagascar", DreamWorks Animation Studios has achieved a dazzling three-game winning streak.

Jeff Katzenberg and DreamWorks Animation Studios do have confident capital.

As the weekend passed and the working day approached, Spielberg gave Ronan a clear answer. The team jointly formed by DreamWorks and DreamWorks Animation Studios also came to the Theory of Relativity Building as agreed to discuss the termination of the contract with the Embassy Pictures.

At the same time, Spielberg's agent is also discussing director cooperation with Shahai Entertainment.

Spielberg’s director cooperation is a future plan and will not be implemented in the short term.

The negotiations between DreamWorks and Embassy Pictures went smoothly. After all, Ronan and Spielberg have agreed on the main terms.

The two parties also agreed that after the release of "Shrek 3" next year, the two parties will cancel the distribution contract, but all films released by Embassy Pictures for DreamWorks Animation Studios must be available online and offline after the original contract expires in 2008 The distribution rights will be returned to DreamWorks.