American Entertainment: Starting with playing the role of Little Beaver

Chapter 52 I'm going to kill the Lord of the Rings?
Ever since Anne Hathaway and Isabella became enemies, she has been keeping a close eye on Isabella's every move.

There's no way around it; while our own failure is certainly terrible, the enemy's success is even more worrying.

Under her watchful eye, everything that happened after the release of "The Secret Chamber" came into her view—

When she discovered that "The Secret Chamber" had encountered the same troubles as "SW," being plagued by the likes of "Die Another Day," to the point that major media outlets had lowered their box office expectations for "The Secret Chamber," revising the original target of over 10 to 9.83, 9.41, 8.91... and now even 8.65, her heart began to pound.

While 8.65 million is a figure that is difficult for ordinary people to reach, many people make movies their whole lives and their total box office never breaks 5 million, but Isabella has broken 8 million for two consecutive films? This is already a god-like achievement!
However, in the film industry, the decline in box office revenue for film series is different from the decline in revenue in other industries.

A decline in revenue in the catering industry may be due to poor food quality; having chefs improve their dishes might be the key to a turnaround.
The decline in revenue in the automotive industry may be due to the low quality of car owners; it would be better to simply clean up their messes on social media.
In the film industry, are film series experiencing a decline in box office revenue?
This is very difficult to save by human effort alone.

As for where this logic lies...

Very simple.

That is, the concept of a 'movie series' is not friendly to casual viewers.

When a series has seven parts and a story that lasts a full 1000 minutes, how many casual viewers will actually get hooked at the 500-minute mark?

People who haven't seen the previous films and then get hooked on the series often don't understand what's on screen!

Of course, you could say that people who want to get into the 'movie series' can catch up on the content just like they would with the 'TV series'.

Video rental services are very well-developed in Europe and America; renting a few discs is enough to catch up with the latest videos.

Okay, this line of thinking is correct, but the tutoring in the Western television industry and the tutoring in the film industry are two different concepts—

In the West, TV series are mostly based on radio subscriptions. If you subscribe to HBO, you can watch HBO; if you subscribe to Disney+, you can watch Disney+. Since most people don't have a specific target audience when subscribing to radio stations, what happens if you discover a good show that you want to rewatch during this period?
From your perspective, this behavior doesn't require incurring any extra costs.

Can we watch movies?
Before Netflix introduced its subscription model, videotapes in Europe and America were rented one by one.

Its cost is much higher than a radio subscription.

Even after Netflix introduced its subscription model, it was no longer able to obtain the videotapes of major intellectual property (IP) content immediately.

Because selling DVDs is very profitable, if the six major record labels were to directly supply Netflix, their revenue would plummet.

So even if Netflix wants to expand its film library, it still has to queue up offline.

This period usually lasts about six months.

This length of time makes it very difficult for non-IP movie fans to get into the fandom.

So——

The 'series curse' in Hollywood movies has emerged.

Whether a film series can succeed depends on whether its first two films achieve positive box office growth. If they do, it proves that the series has attracted casual fans.

What if it doesn't increase?
Instead, it fell?
That would be a huge problem.

When a series reaches its midpoint, the number of new fans decreases sharply, and the base of fans may also decline. This is because audiences have limited patience for the same story, and most people's interest will wane over time. As a result, the box office of the series will start to decline from the midpoint onwards.

This is also why Hollywood film series generally only go up to '3'.

There's only one company in the entire industry that can make a story up to '4' without rebooting, and that's SW.

That's why it's called an epic IP.

Other series tend to lose new fans as they continue filming, while SW series tend to attract more and more fans as they continue filming.

However, even so, SW still skirted the line, as it became a prequel starting from the fourth installment.

Therefore, if you're really looking for a project that's going to make more than three movies in the main series format, then right now in Hollywood—no, in the whole world—there's only the Harry Potter series that's currently in production.

Warner Bros. is really gambling with this kind of project!
Fortunately, they made the right bet; the feedback for Philosopher's Stone was absolutely phenomenal!
The fact that it almost broke the 10 billion mark made everyone in the industry feel that HP would break the sequel curse of the movie series!
Warner is likely to dominate the entire industry over the next decade!

Unfortunately, all of this beauty came to an abrupt end in the winter of 2002…

Because "The Locked Room" can't break 10.

HP's box office performance began to decline starting with the second film.

HP is very strong, but it still cannot transcend the Three Realms or be outside the Five Elements.

So……

"Mom! Isabella's influence doesn't seem to be as strong as we thought!"

After watching the news broadcast, Hathaway looked at her mother with excitement.

Kate understood what her daughter meant. When Harry Potter didn't have the same dramatic appeal to ordinary moviegoers as industry insiders imagined, how popular was Isabella really? Nobody could say for sure.

Because Isabella's popularity stems entirely from Hermione Granger, and since Isabella's core fanbase is primarily Harry Potter fans, her fanbase, even if not decreasing, certainly won't increase after Harry Potter's box office declines. Therefore, even if she continues to dominate the Young Adult film genre, she can't monopolize that market share.

"You still want to take on 'The Princess Diaries 2'?"

Kate sighed softly and looked at her daughter.

"Ah."

Hathaway nodded solemnly and said, "Although I may never be a Disney princess, I still want to keep my franchise. Mom, you know, not every actor gets to have a franchise."

Any film series that can be made into a franchise is a money-maker, and a very money-maker at that.

According to Hollywood's hierarchy of fame, actors with a franchise are at least a B+ in the industry.

With a little effort and a bit of luck, you can be an A-list student.

That's the allure of business.

So, Hathaway was unwilling to give up "The Princess Diaries," but her mother's thoughts...

"Embracing business would naturally be the best option."

Kate thought for a moment and said, "But if we can't embrace business, we can't force it."

"Therefore, my suggestion is to continue communicating with Joe, while securing 'The Phantom of the Opera' and waiting for Isabella's new movie to be released. If her new movie is a hit, then we will decisively give up on 'The Princess Diaries,' but if it doesn't..."

"How about I talk to Disney again for you?"

"Oh! Mom! I love you!" Hathaway beamed.

I opened my arms and gave my mom a big hug.

In the entertainment industry, it's quite common to be greedy and want more than you have.

There are only so many good projects in this industry, why aren't you competing? What are you pretending for?
Meanwhile, Lindsay Lohan was just as happy as Hathaway.

She is currently filming "Freaky Friday" and will be able to finish filming in a week at most.

Frankly, Lindsay Lohan was quite upset when the filming of this downgraded project coincided so closely with the release of *The Chamber of Secrets*. Every day, there were reports of *The Chamber of Secrets*'s success: breaking UK preview records one day, and achieving the second-highest opening weekend box office in history, even surpassing *Sorcerer's Stone*…

How can anyone work if they hear this kind of thing too often?
However, with the appearance of "Choose the Day" and the poor performance of "The Secret Chamber", the repeated announcements of "Second, Second, Second" made her smile every day. She even felt that her acting skills had suddenly improved.

No matter what kind of camera angle she's in, she can handle it with ease!
That fluid and graceful performance... Wow~ I'm an Oscar winner!
"Okay!"

"Cut, good!"

When Mark Waters, the director of "Freaky Friday," yelled "Good!" again, Lindsay, who had finished her day's filming, went to her mother's side, coughed lightly twice, and Dana, who was flipping through the newspaper, immediately snapped out of her reverie.

I looked up, got up, and accompanied my daughter back to the hotel.

On the way, Dina said, "The Secret Room is about to drop to third place at the North American box office."

"Because Warner Bros.' new movie 'Analyze That 2' is about to be released."

"This is a Robert De Niro film, the previous one grossed $1.76 million."

“Oh—” Lindsay responded softly.

Then there is no more.

On the surface, she seemed indifferent to the news, but in reality...

Diana glanced at the rearview mirror.

My daughter, sitting in the back, was looking out the window. She seemed calm, but a faint smile played on her lips.

This made Diana swallow hard, and she continued, "Paramount called again today."

"They said that as long as you are willing to go, the Queen Bee project will definitely be reserved for you."

The appearance of "Queen Bee" made Lindsay instinctively frown.

She hates this project.

She's not a bitch!
But at the same time, she also knew that this was probably the best project she could get right now.

Because Disney has abandoned her.

That being the case...

Let's not respond for now.

"Why?"

"Let's see how Isabella's new project performs first."

Lin Saidao: "If Isabella's new project flops, it proves she's not capable of dominating the Young Adult film market, and we can then ask Paramount for a higher price..."

In Hollywood, actor salaries are determined by both the individual and the market.

The former refers to the actor's own commercial value.

The latter refers to the current state of the industry.

When Hollywood studios all felt that Isabella could monopolize the Young Adult film genre, they stopped investing in that category. Simply put, at that point, even if investors discovered a great Young Adult project and wanted to pursue it, they would use the pretext of industry monopolies to pressure the creative team to lower their asking price.

Well, when it comes to being inhuman, capital has never been human.

Why give more money to the main creators if you can reduce costs?

As for whether the main creators will refuse the role because the pay is too low?
Ah--

An actor's career can indeed be very long, but a person's golden age is only so long. When no one in the industry is making Young Adult films anymore, the most anxious ones are the actors in that genre.

What else should young people make if not movies about young adults?

If you try to get roles at a higher level, can you compete with those B-list and A-list actors?

So, right now, Paramount is calling Lindsay a little bitch? Oh! No wonder she's getting paid more! And if Lindsay wants to get paid more, she has to let Isabella's work see the light of day first.

"But what if her project succeeds?"

Diana looked at her daughter in the rearview mirror.

"She won't succeed."

Lindsay Lohan, leaning back in her car seat, smiled broadly, revealing her eight teeth.

"Mom, Warner Bros. is already fighting so fiercely internally, what makes her think she can win?"

"My enemy is indeed her, but her enemy is not me..."

As Lindsay Lohan said.

In this hierarchical world, all rankings are determined by rank.

Harry Potter certainly propelled Isabella to stardom, but at the same time, standing alongside Warner Bros. meant she was no longer facing her peers. Whoever Warner Bros.' enemies were, were her enemies, whether she liked it or not.

Therefore, at this moment, the person watching her is Xinxian...

"Boss, judging from the current situation, The Chamber of Secrets will only gross a maximum of 2.3 million in its opening month in North America, while The Sorcerer's Stone grossed a whopping 2.5 million. This 2000 million difference means that The Chamber of Secrets will definitely not be able to surpass The Sorcerer's Stone at the box office, at least in North America. Therefore, we might actually be able to take the top spot at the box office this year with The Lord of the Rings."

The headquarters of the new line is in New York.

So, at this moment, New Line founder Robert Shea is in his Fifth Avenue office listening to his subordinates' reports.

The possibility of reaching the summit excited him greatly.

Because Ted Turner had promised him that if he could run New Line Cinema well and outperform Warner Bros., Ted Turner would promote him to head of the film division at AOL Time Warner.

What kind of position is this?

To put it more abstractly—if Barry Mayer was still in Warner Bros. when he became king, then this guy would have to bend down, kiss the back of his hand, and respectfully call him Godfather.

The thought of soon kicking Barry Mayer’s ass hard with his brand-new pointed leather shoes filled Robert Shea with uncontrollable excitement. Well, they were all in the same industry, and who didn’t have a grudge against whom?

Back then, before Ted Turner acquired New Line Cinema, New Line Cinema had been severely damaged by Warner Bros.

Because they owned intellectual property such as "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," they were targeted by Steve Ross, who wanted to build theme parks. Since they were unwilling to sell, their distribution and video businesses were all subjected to fierce attacks from Ross.

If it weren't for Ted Turner, they might have been crushed by Warner Bros. long ago. Not only that, after they merged with Warner Bros. along with Turner Broadcasting Network, internal strife within the group led to Warner Bros. seizing a large portion of New Line's copyright business. Castle Rock Entertainment, the company that made "The Shawshank Redemption," was originally under New Line's control, but Warner Bros.' entire film library ended up in their hands.

In the past, revenge might have been a pipe dream.

but now?
hehe--

Revenge is just around the corner!

"If The Lord of the Rings tops the list, our results this year will be very impressive, right?"

After listening to his secretary's report, Robert Shea, who was lounging on the desk with his feet up like Ge You, said, "If I remember correctly, after The Lord of the Rings tops the box office, we'll have two movies in the top ten at the North American box office this year?"

"Correct."

The secretary nodded and said, "Besides 'The Lord of the Rings,' we also have 'Austin Powers'..."

"Ace vs Ace 3" was released this summer.

The investment of 6300 million yuan yielded a box office of 2.96 million yuan, and the return on investment of 4.7% is already very high.

Furthermore, the soundtrack for this movie sold incredibly well.

The female lead in "Ace vs Ace 3" is Beyoncé from Destiny's Child, and she lent her voice to the movie.

This situation led to the soundtrack reaching number one in the UK immediately after its release, and also making it into number 27 on the North American Billboard charts. The Billboard rankings are already quite high; those that make the list are all phenomenal, and anything in the top 50 can be considered a massive hit.

With the support of various industries, the "Ace vs Ace 3" project has brought New Line Cinema a net profit of over 1 million yuan.

Then, when "The Lord of the Rings" is released, it will thoroughly crush "The Chamber of Secrets"...

'Hahahaha~~~~~'

Robert Shea stuck out his tongue and laughed silently.

"Okay, I understand. You may leave now."

After a long pause, Robert Shea waved to his secretary.

He wanted to be alone for a while.

However, the secretary said, "Boss, there is something else I would like to report."

"what's up?"

The secretary said, "I know we are doing very well right now, and I know we are likely to surpass Warner Bros. this year, but I still want to say that Warner Bros. still has one movie that hasn't been released yet, which is Chris and Isabella's 'The Voice'."

Although "The Escape Room" flopped... well, for a highly anticipated project to fall short of market expectations is a flop.

However, Warner Bros. still did the promotion and distribution for "The Voice of China".

After The Room Where It Was Grown grossed $150 million at the North American box office, Warner Bros. released a trailer for The Voice on November 26.

With HP's backing and Warner Bros.' strong promotion, the trailer quickly spread around the world.

The response has been quite positive.

The predictions from third-party organizations even guarantee at least 1 million in North America and 2 million globally.

This figure is indeed significantly different from that of "The Ace vs. the Ace" 3. However, when Warner Bros. reported a production cost of only $2000 million, the apparent return on investment of 10 times would overshadow the success of "The Ace vs. the Ace" 3.

Because Hollywood film projects are essentially a financial game in the eyes of shareholders.

Shareholders don't understand production or operations; they only look at profits, returns, and risk premiums.

Therefore, a 10x return rate is definitely greater in their eyes than a 4.7x return rate.

This……

“Don’t worry about The Voice.” Robert Shea waved his hand and said, “If I remember correctly, The Voice is released on December 25th, right? That’s Christmas Day, isn’t it?”

"Although Warner Bros. is smart to know that children are on holiday for Christmas and have plenty of time to go to the cinema to support their idols, our Lord of the Rings movie is scheduled for release on the 18th, and the 25th is the second week of our movie."

"When 'The Voice' is about to face off against our Lord of the Rings, you can't exactly tell me that 'The Voice' can achieve high box office returns despite the dominance of 'The Lord of the Rings,' can you? If Hermione Granger could take on Gandalf the White one-on-one..."

At this point, Robert Shea suddenly stopped talking.

Because the scene where Hermione beats Gandalf looks kind of funny no matter how you look at it.

He pursed his lips, revealing a constipated smile, and said, "If Hermione could beat Gandalf, then The Chamber of Secrets wouldn't have done such a terrible job at the box office, would it?"

Robert Shea exchanged glances with his secretary. "If Hermione could beat Gandalf, she alone could bring in an extra $100 million for The Chamber of Secrets. So, are you saying that the decline in The Chamber of Secrets' box office is J.K. Rowling's fault?"

"Is it because Hermione was petrified by the Basilisk in 'The Chamber of Secrets' that Isabella didn't get much screen time?"

As the saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated."

Shay also watched the movie "The Locked Room".

He admitted that Columbus's film was quite good.

He thought Isabella's performance was excellent.

The two highlights were very enjoyable to watch, and Hermione in the movie is truly a highly educated and independent woman. As long as Hermione's character can be maintained, Shay even believes that once Hermione's fans have financial strength, Isabella's commercial value may even surpass that of Julia Roberts, because Hermione's image in the movie can become a dream template for many girls.

But, well, HP fans are still young.

I admit you might become very strong in the future. But before you grow up, I'll give you a big slap on the wrist so you can experience the cruelty of society and the ruthlessness of the adult world. Is that alright?
The secretary nodded in agreement with the boss's words, and then he left...

Well, Warner is in a lot of pain right now!
Previously, when planning the release schedule, they thought that "The Chamber of Secrets" would be a box office hit. Later, even if the release time of "The Voice" overlapped with that of "The Lord of the Rings", Isabella could still gain box office revenue by leveraging HP's huge popularity.

But now?
When the magic of "The Secret Chamber" is gone, what kind of results will "The Voice of China" achieve when it goes up against "The Lord of the Rings"?
To be honest, any normal person would have predicted that Isabella was about to hit the jackpot.

Even Harry Potter might not be able to beat The Lord of the Rings!

It would be a miracle if Hermione Granger wasn't crushed into a paper doll by The Lord of the Rings!
In accordance with standard Hollywood practice, withdrawing the film from release would be the most correct decision.

But their marketing campaign has already failed, so withdrawing the film at this point would be a huge loss.

Not to mention, The Voice can't be pulled from its release date now: firstly, Warner Bros. doesn't have any other films in the top ten at the global box office this year besides The Chamber, not even in the top ten in North America, while New Line has The Ace; secondly, it's a film without HP next year, and The Voice can't be pulled back to the year after to ride on the popularity of Azkaban, right? That's ridiculous!
That's why, gritting their teeth and going ahead was Warner's only option, and that...

"OMG..."

California.

Los Angeles.

Warner headquarters.

Barry Mayer, who was chairing the meeting in the conference room, read aloud the enemies Isabella would face next—

"I only just realized how terrifying this year's Christmas season is."

"Besides 'The Lord of the Rings,' what other films are coming out for Christmas this year? Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio's 'Gangs of New York'? Jennifer Lopez's 'Cinderella in Manhattan'? Renée Zellweger's 'Chicago'? Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman's 'The Hours'?"

"And... Star Trek?"

"What...do you take Isabella for?"

"Such a... crazy schedule... are you letting her do it all by herself?"

Barry Mayer put down the film schedule in his hand.

At that moment, a bitter smile appeared on his face.

Because I can't help but laugh!
You can't just cry!
He originally thought that The Voice of China was only facing The Lord of the Rings!
But now?

Leonardo DiCaprio and Renée Zellweger are both there?
Damn——

He really didn't know until he saw it! He was shocked when he did!

He truly hadn't expected that his subordinates would treat Isabella as a Japanese person!
"Uh... Boss... we had no choice but to arrange it this way..."

"When Isabella needed to capitalize on HP's promotional benefits, The Voice's release date could only be scheduled for the end of December. Furthermore, when HP dominated the market, no one could compete with Isabella, but..."

The others in the meeting room shrugged.

Barry Mayer understood what he meant.

Although this year's Christmas season is crazy, for example, Renée Zellweger has "Bridget Jones's Diary" and has tremendous commercial appeal, apart from Leonardo DiCaprio and "The Lord of the Rings," no one else's commercial value can compare to HP's invincible presence. Therefore, it's perfectly fine to put "The Voice" in the Christmas season.

But that was the situation before. Now...

"Okay, I don't want to hear about the past."

"Tell me, do you have any way to save 'The Voice' right now?"

Barry Mayer waved his hand.

This suggests that we should let bygones be bygones.

His new question left everyone present looking at each other in bewilderment.

When HP is no longer invincible, no one knows how to fight the next battle.

The silence in the meeting room made Barry Mayer sigh softly.

In his view, Warner Music's year is over.

He can apologize to the Ross family in advance.

However, just as he was about to slam his fist on the table and stand up, leaving everything to fate, Nathan Bailey, sitting at the back, suddenly raised his hand and said, "Boss, I think I have a way..."

"Ok?"

Everyone present turned their heads and focused their attention on him.

To be honest, Nathan Bailey's appearance made things a bit difficult for Barry Mayer.

Barry Mayer has already witnessed this guy's bad luck twice.

Yes, he remembered last year's scapegoating and this year's reports. He knew this guy wanted to climb the ladder and was indeed working, but he was just unlucky. So, when this guy said he had a way...

Barry Mayer really wanted to say, "You unlucky guy, don't talk at a time like this."

But this guy raised his hand in the meeting room!
So……

"Nathan, do you have any good ideas? Just tell me."

Barry Mayer had no hope for his idea.

But as the other person continued speaking, everyone's expression changed.

Because everyone could hear the madness in it—

"Are you sure your idea will work? Are you sure Isabella can beat The Lord of the Rings?"

As soon as Nathan Bailey finished speaking, the group's COO, who was sitting next to Barry Mayer, asked a question.

"I'm not sure, but we have no way out now, do we?"

"So you want to take a gamble?" The group's vice president, who was at the front, frowned slightly.

"Whether or not to gamble is not a decision I can make, but a decision Isabella and Chris make."

Silence fell over the room.

After staring at him for a moment, Barry Mayer slammed his hand on the table and said, "Nathan, go to London."

"I'm leaving this matter to you."

“If you do it well, you’ll come back as my secretary. If you don’t… I won’t punish you, because if Isabella and the others don’t cooperate after you tell them this idea, you won’t be coming back…”

Barry Mayer's words prompted Nathan Bay to nod vigorously.

Yes, he has a way of making "The Voice" a box office hit right now.

Or perhaps, when he discovered that the operations department's box office prediction for "The Chamber of Secrets" was wildly wrong and that he might be held accountable by Barry Mayer, he frantically began to save himself, and all his current actions reflect his determination to stay with Warner Bros.

He wanted to show Barry Mayer that he wasn't a piece of trash!
Everything before was an accident!
And after he flew to London and met Isabella and Columbus...

"what?"

Isabella was completely stunned when she heard his purpose!
"You want me to kill 'The Lord of the Rings'???"

“Oh——Sxxt——”

"Are you Warner Bros. crazy???"

　Thank you Ye Tan for the donation.
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(End of this chapter)