Chapter 724: Captain America Starts Filming and Summer Slot (2) |
The story is about a client agent who accidentally discovers that the more he earns, the poorer he becomes. His savings drastically deplete, and upon investigation, he finds out that his identity has been stolen by an overweight woman. A woman resembling 'The Hobbit' has squandered all his hard-earned money. To recover his losses, the protagonist embarks on a pursuit.
The film was produced on a budget of only 35 million US Dollars. In 22 days after its release, it broke the 100 million mark in the North American box office and reached 134 million US Dollars after a month. However, due to regional reasons, the performance overseas was mediocre, earning only 38.48 million US Dollars in one month.
The total box office reached 170 million.
Although not considered a box office dark horse, it's still quite a decent movie. It is also the second film from Lionsgate Films this year to break 100 million in the North American box office.
Not yet summer, and Lionsgate Films already had two movies breaking the 100 million mark, which depressed many competitors who were pessimistic about Lionsgate's prospects.
This also led to an increase in media criticism of Lionsgate's movies, with many professional critics claiming that despite being one of Hollywood's 'Big Seven', Lionsgate still follows the path of a small independent production company, primarily producing low-budget horror and comedy movies, reluctant to invest in big films or artistically explorative movies.
Prominent film critic Sean O'Connell, in an article in "Complete Movie" magazine, remarked that Lionsgate's current production model appears conservative and somewhat parochial. He believes that Lionsgate should aspire to match the Big Six Studios, producing more blockbuster films in order to sustain robust growth and become a true big Hollywood movie company.
Additionally, the news about Lionsgate refusing to fund the production of "Ender's Game" which caused its delay, was leaked to the media, suggesting big issues during the merger with Summit Entertainment, where cooperation was unpleasant.
There are also rumors that Lionsgate might sell off Summit Entertainment.
In mid-April, the second installment "Battlefield Earth 2" was released.
This movie, jointly produced by Summit Entertainment, DC Entertainment, and other companies, was completed last year with a production cost of 84 million US Dollars.
Starring Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, among others, it's also an action movie where the combined age of the main actors exceeds 400 years.
Continuing the recent bad luck of action movies, this film achieved mediocre box office results. In two weeks, it only made 40 million in the North American box office, and slightly better overseas at 72.32 million, but still limited.
The global box office for this movie is projected to be around 150 million US Dollars, roughly just breaking even.
Seeing that "Battlefield Earth 2" did not continue to explode at the box office, competitors breathed a sigh of relief. If Lionsgate movies continued to dominate the North American box office and chew through the market share, executives of the Big Six Studios would be living in fear.
In January, Time Warner Group appointed Kevin Tsujihara as the new CEO of Warner Bros. Pictures, resulting in the direct departure of former president Jeff Robinov.
It is said that the reason was Time Warner Group's dissatisfaction with Warner Bros. Pictures being slightly defeated by Lionsgate at last year's box office, leading to the decision to change leadership.
Robinov's departure also made top executives at several other major film companies uneasy. On one hand, they strengthened their companies' movie production and distribution to achieve better box office results; on the other hand, they sought ways to suppress the performance of Lionsgate films, praying that Lionsgate's box office wouldn't go too high.
If Lionsgate still manages to enter the top three in this year's box office share, executives at Universal, Paramount, and 20th Century Fox might also face the risk of being fired.
The "Hollywood Reporter" states that the rise of Lionsgate directly intensified competition in the movie industry, invisibly adding a lot of pressure and anxiety to the top executives of the Big Six Studios, forcing them to invest more effort and capital to produce better movies to reclaim the 'cake' that originally belonged to the Big Six.
The report labeled Lionsgate as the 'Hollywood catfish'.
"What's the plan for Summit Entertainment to solve their funding shortage?"
Lionsgate Films office, Link flipped through the newspaper and asked.
"The Battlefield Earth 2" is a movie invested by Summit Entertainment, if this movie does well at the box office, President Robert Friedman applying again for funding from Lionsgate Films to shoot "Ender's Game" would leave Link and Ivanka with little room to refuse.
If "Red Flame 2" does not perform well at the box office, Summit Entertainment should reconsider the shooting plan for "Ender's Game".
"Boss, I have discussed with Robert, 'Ender's Game' being the first part, needs cost control. If the first part sells well, it is more appropriate to increase the budget to over 100 million for the second part. After considering, Robert accepted my suggestion and is ready to revise the shooting plan to control the budget to around 80 million."
Lionsgate Films' CEO, Steven Biggs, said.
Link nodded, thought for a moment, and said: "Currently, Lionsgate Films and Summit Entertainment overlap on many projects, it's possible to hand over Summit's projects to Lionsgate for production and vice versa, but I don't think that's a good idea.
We should follow the lead of Sony Columbia Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures, where major product divisions produce blockbuster and commercial films, and smaller independent labels produce low-budget films.
Lionsgate Films and Summit Entertainment can also be arranged in this way, with Lionsgate responsible for major productions and horror films, successful series, and Summit responsible for producing low-budget genre films, just like Palm Beach Films.
The three companies, with Lionsgate as the main and the other two supporting, closely cooperating, is how the company can develop better."
"Boss, we had this consideration originally, but Summit Entertainment has just joined Lionsgate, and merging takes a process. However, since you mentioned it, boss, I will bring it up at the next work meeting to accelerate the collaboration process between the two companies."
Steven Biggs said.
Link nodded slightly. He was only making a suggestion; the specifics would need to be executed by Steven and others. It is definitely harder to do than say, and he would not be overly urging.
"Additionally, boss, I've found out that this year's Cannes Film Festival jury president is Mr. Spielberg, and the jury members include director Ang Lee, Christoph Waltz, Ms. Jennifer Lawrence, and seven others. Should we make contact in advance for public relations regarding the awards?"
President Biggs said.
"Jennifer is a jury member?"
Link raised an eyebrow.
The Cannes Film Festival was approaching, and "Rust and Bone" would also participate in this festival. Link had thought about winning an award with this movie, but he hadn't expected Jennifer Lawrence to be a jury member.
Given their relationship, if he really won the Cannes Film Emperor, there would likely be whispers of foul play.
"Yes, the jury member list was just announced in the media."
President Biggs said.
Link thought about it and rejected Biggs' suggestion. If he wanted to win the Cannes Film Emperor, it would be by genuine merit. Using public relations for awards was not a good choice. If exposed, the drawbacks would be numerous.
Moreover, with his current status and numerous accolades, having one more or one less Cannes Film Emperor title didn't make much difference.
"Just leave this matter, if they recognize my performance, then award it to me, and if not, it's okay, I'll continue to work hard and strive to make more good movies."
Link said.