Easter in the West is the first Sunday after the full moon of the spring equinox each year. This year's Easter is April 3. American high schools and universities usually give students one to two weeks of spring break during this period. Young people as

The main force of movie watching, the Easter schedule has naturally become a schedule that Hollywood attaches great importance to every year.

After "When Harry Met Sally" accumulated word-of-mouth reviews for two consecutive weeks, the Easter schedule has officially arrived.

On March 25, "When Harry Met Sally" officially opened on a large scale with 1,077 screens.

At the same time, three films targeting young audiences during the Easter period were also released at the same time: Universal Pictures' "The Gifted," Orion Pictures' "Johnny" and Paramount Pictures' "One Man."

.

Among them, the star of "The Genius" happens to be Matthew Broderick, who has had conflicts with Simon before. This is actually not surprising. Matthew Broderick and relying on the "Back to the Future" series

The famous Michael J. Fox can be said to be the most popular teenage actor this year.

Moreover, compared to the previous two works with mediocre reviews, Matthew Broderick's new film "The Genius" has also received unanimous recognition from critics. If it hadn't been for the success of "When Harry Met Sally"

"Genius" is destined to become the most popular work this Easter.

Now, after two weeks of word-of-mouth brewing and speculation about Meg Ryan's restaurant scene, "When Harry Met Sally" has far surpassed other films just released this Easter in terms of word-of-mouth and media popularity.

Works. What's more, "When Harry Met Sally" is a classic film that is still talked about by movie fans decades later. Naturally, it is not "The Genius" that studios like "The Genius" specially tailor-made for the Easter schedule.

Nothing compares to teen movies.

Therefore, from March 25th to March 31st, the first week of large-scale production, "When Harry Met Sally" easily won 17.81 million U.S. dollars at the box office, completely showing a trend of unparalleled success.

In comparison, the first-week box office of the second-ranked "The Genius" dropped to less than 10 million U.S. dollars. With a screening scale of 1,239 screens, the first-week box office revenue was only 9.13 million U.S. dollars. Subsequently, "Johnny Goodman" and "A Single Man"

"There are many things to do" was thrown even further away.

Including previous screenings, in three weeks, the cumulative box office of "When Harry Met Sally" has easily exceeded 20 million US dollars, reaching 21.56 million US dollars.

When Daenerys Pictures promoted "When Harry Met Sally" last year, almost all studios were not optimistic about the project. In the end, they cooperated with independent production company Craft Pictures to raise US$15 million to produce.

funds.

In subsequent distribution negotiations, Daenerys also signed a very unequal distribution contract with Disney.

Although no parties have publicized these details, in Hollywood, where there are no secrets at all, these things have become a joke that is often mentioned in the circle. Even after Simon suddenly made a large amount of money in the stock index futures market,

, who have been "spending money" in Hollywood in the past few months, are also regarded by too many people as rookies, fat sheep and upstarts.

Now, with the release of "When Harry Met Sally", the entire Hollywood has suddenly calmed down, and many people have begun to re-examine Simon Westeros's series of actions.

After the large-scale opening in the first week, the box office performance directly exceeded 20 million U.S. dollars. Coupled with the overwhelming reputation, it is obvious that "When Harry Met Sally" has great hope of exceeding 100 million U.S. dollars at the North American box office. Or, more directly, as long as

Without any big surprises, this movie, which has a very high topic and reputation, is almost destined to exceed 100 million at the box office in North America.

Obviously, this will also be Hollywood's first North American box office movie in 1988 that is expected to exceed 100 million.

A domestic box office of over 100 million may seem like a simple concept, but it is a goal that too many Hollywood filmmakers pursue throughout their lives but may not be able to achieve.

You must know that in current Hollywood, the number of movies entering theaters every year reaches about four to five hundred. Not to mention, in the past 10 years, on average, no more than 5 movies were able to achieve a box office of over 100 million in North America each year.

Moreover, many of the works that can achieve a local box office of over 100 million, most of them have concentrated on the most outstanding filmmakers of this era in Hollywood and the studio's sparing investment in promotion and distribution. Like "When Harry Met Sally", it is purely

The number of works that break through the domestic box office as a dark horse and exceed 100 million yuan is even rarer.

However, for a young man who has only been in Hollywood for less than two years, the threshold of breaking 100 million in North American box office seems to be a very common thing in the works related to him.

Last year, Simon Westeros's three movies, one won the year and the other exceeded 100 million in box office. Even the movie with the "worst" box office performance has exceeded 70 million US dollars in local box office and entered the annual list.

The ninth position.

Now, in the new year, an anti-genre romance film that was originally not very optimistic in Hollywood suddenly once again showed its potential to exceed 100 million in North American box office.

Four movies, four consecutive hits.

Under such circumstances, anyone with a normal IQ would no longer think that this series of successes were just accidental.

"Meg Ryan is so beautiful, and that scene, haha, is really a classic. I will definitely buy the video for my collection in the future."

"..."

"Do you know if Meg Ryan has any other movies?"

"Have you forgotten the sacrificed pilot's wife in Tom Cruise's "Top Gun"? However, Meg Ryan's appearance in that movie was really bad, and her performance seemed a bit exaggerated, so I can't remember it.

It’s also normal. It seems that she is more suitable for a role like Sally.”

"..."

"Autumn in New York is so beautiful, Toby, how about we go to New York in the fall and stay at my aunt's house."

"..."

"If you include "Good Morning Vietnam," that's five times." In a cinema in Burbank, after the movie ended, CAA President Michael, who was still sitting still as the audience gradually left the theater while listening to the chatter around them.

Ovitz told Disney CEO Michael Eisner next to him: "When Simon Westeros was eager to sign Robin, it must have been because he discovered that "Good Morning Vietnam" would be a big success. This

I stopped the matter, and I had some issues with Westeros because of it. Now that the role has belonged to Robert De Niro, I started to doubt whether what I did was right or wrong."

As a film released by Disney, if you want to see "When Harry Met Sally", Michael Eisner can just tell him and someone will send him a copy. However, he and Michael Ove

Tzudu wanted to experience firsthand the response of this movie among the audience, so they took the time to come to the cinema together.

Michael Eisner also listened to the interesting discussions of many young people around him. With a thoughtful expression on his face, he heard the words: "Michael, can you tell me more about the works that De Niro is starring in?"

?”

"It's a feature film called "Dead Poets Society," Michael Ovitz said, "If you're interested, I'll have someone send you a script."

Michael Eisner nodded and suddenly said: "Michael, do you think it is possible for Disney to acquire Daenerys Pictures?"

"After "When Harry Met Sally", other companies will definitely have this idea," Michael Ovitz said with a smile: "However, if you think about that kid's net worth, how could he put himself

The film company sold it.”

"Simon Westeros' talent in movies is unquestionable, but running a movie company is a complete mess in my opinion. Just like "When Harry Met Sally," if I sat

In his position, he would never have signed the original contract with Disney."

In the contract signed between Daenerys Pictures and Disney last year, if the North American box office of "When Harry Met Sally" was within 40 million U.S. dollars, Daenerys Pictures would need to pay Disney a fixed share of 6 million U.S. dollars. The North American box office

Above $40 million, Disney will receive an 18% distribution commission.

This means that the higher the North American box office of "When Harry Met Sally" is, the more revenue Disney will receive as a distributor. But under normal circumstances, this kind of thing should be the opposite.

Now,

Even if "When Harry Met Sally" had a North American box office of US$100 million, Disney would have received US$18 million in commission income from this movie. Moreover, Disney would also have priority to obtain the right to distribute the film through other channels.

.

Since the two were good friends, Michael Ovitz generally knew about this matter.

Thinking of Simon Westeros's series of actions in Hollywood since he became rich, if you completely ignore the box office results, it seems like he is acting haphazardly.

but.

Pointing to the big screen in front of him, Michael Ovitz said: "Michael, if Simon Westeros had not signed such a seemingly loss-making contract, would Disney be willing to spare no effort to promote this movie?"

Michael Eisner paused for a moment, then shook his head and said: "No, and if it was a general agent distribution, I would never give this movie an Easter schedule and more than 1,000 screening screens."

Michael Ovitz shrugged and said: "So, do you still think that young man is completely different from running a company? In my opinion, he has done as much to Hollywood as you and me. Moreover, this is also a

A young man who knows how to make choices very well. He knows that only if he pays enough can he get what he wants. Now, look at "When Harry Met Sally". Even if the North American box office of this movie is calculated at 100 million US dollars

, the theater share ratio is calculated as 50%, then Disney can get 18 million U.S. dollars, which seems very generous, but Daenerys Pictures can recover 32 million U.S. dollars, relative to the production cost of 15 million U.S. dollars.

Said that they have already generated very considerable profits. Moreover, this is just the beginning."

The people in the screening room gradually dispersed, and the two of them got up and started walking out.

When Michael Eisner heard what Michael Ovitz said, he couldn't help but start making calculations in his heart.

really.

If it weren't for the conditions Simon Westeros offered, Disney would never have spent much energy on this movie.

It was Disney's own distribution channels, two consecutive months of TV trailer promotion, more than 1,000 screens at once, and the relatively popular Easter schedule. All these details ensured that "When Harry Met"

Sally's current box office results.

Without these prerequisites, "When Harry Met Sally" may still be a box office hit thanks to the excellent quality of the film, but the possibility of achieving over 100 million in North America is very low.

Now, for a film with a box office of over 100 million US dollars in North America, Disney only received US$18 million in remuneration, which is actually a loss.

After all, with the continuous expansion of overseas, TV broadcast and video tape markets, the North American box office is US$100 million, and the total revenue of the entire movie will be three to four times this figure. Since follow-up channels do not require much investment in publicity and distribution,

The profit margin will be even greater.

Normally, a studio would buy out all the distribution rights of an independent film studio's work in advance for operation. But now, although Disney has priority for subsequent distribution, when the film has proven successful, most of the follow-up channels

Profits will still only belong to Daenerys Films.

Simon Westeros only received a much more generous return than many shrewd businessmen through a contract that seemed to be very disadvantageous.

The two got into a car parked outside the theater together, and when the driver drove back to the Disney headquarters, Michael Eisner said again: "So, Michael, what do you think about Simon Westeros' project during this time?"

How do you watch those videos?”

"I have basically read the scripts, such as "Rain Man," which I personally promoted for more than a year, as well as "Dead Poets Society" and "Steel Magnolias." To be fair, I think these
To be continued...