Made in Hollywood

Why do rich and famous people like to hire some former government special function departments as security consultants? The performance of Edward Newgate, a former senior FBI employee hired by Duke, speaks volumes.

In the following week, more information about Christopher Rockencourt was passed on to Tina Fey. After Duke read it, he had a heartfelt admiration for the producer who claimed to be the Count of France. In fact, it is not difficult to imagine that the other party can get to the point where he is now in Hollywood, which is enough to prove his IQ and ability.

Duke initially doubted him, not because he saw Christopher Rockencourt's true colors, but because of his character.

He never minds looking at North America, a highly commercialized and profit-oriented society with the worst eyes, and is always on guard against strangers. At critical moments, Nicholas mentioned by Sofia Coppola ?Cage's situation reminded him again that the experience of the later king of bad movies was widely circulated in the former country.

This is what comes next.

As in the past, things have happened, and Duke's first thought is how to use it to his advantage.

As for the real situation of Christopher Rockencourt, it really resembles the plot of the movie.

Of course, he is not a descendant of a French count or a European aristocrat. His background is very shabby. His mother is a prostitute and his father is an alcoholic. He was abandoned by his parents when he was young, and then he was taken in by his grandmother. I grew up alone in it, and when I was an adult, I went to Paris to start a career of cheating.

Like most scammers, Christopher Rockencourt had a rough start to his career and was even arrested by the French police. But he is good at summarizing and summarizing. After cheating more than 1 million francs from a French woman by using fake real estate certificates and good appearance conditions, he came to Hollywood, which is known as a lot of money fools...

Just like the information obtained earlier, he came to Hollywood to live in the top hotel suite and made a big deal. Soon, he made a group of celebrities through the French in the circle, and set foot on the road to success today.

And the deception he used is very simple to say, it is similar to the financial Ponzi scheme. Although the amount of investment extracted in the past was not too large, there were also some problems in the capital chain, so a super large project was created.

Of course, super big projects must have super directors or stars to be convincing.

In Duke's view, it was normal for Christopher Rockencourt to find him. Among the top directors in Hollywood today, he is the youngest, the most famous, and the least experienced. No matter how you look at it, he is easier to fool than those mature old foxes.

On the other side, Nancy kept getting news that Christopher Rockencourt, with the help of his girlfriend Jessica Alba and friends Mickey Rock and Jean-Claude Winton, among others. Continuing to expand the scale of investment, the number of people who have invested in his new project has reached 40, and there are dozens of potential investors.

In fact, the same as working hard in Hollywood, the hardest part is often the first step. When more people are willing to invest in a project, it is relatively easier to pull in the investment.

Not to mention. Christopher Rockencourt has been in this circle for years, and has built a white enough identity for himself, even if someone checks it out by conventional means, just like Duke did in the beginning. Can't find many problems at all.

Like a Hollywood star, Christopher Rockencourt has developed enough beautiful and moving packaging for himself.

Although he wants to use this incident to seek benefits for his future and has made a complete plan, Duke can't just focus on this aspect. He always knows that directing is his true career, and the film's performance is based on Hollywood fundamental.

The time has entered August. Since the beginning of August, the single-day box office of "The Fellowship of the Ring" has dropped to about 2 million US dollars. The screening boom in major overseas markets has also passed, although the North American box office and the global box office are heading towards 400 million. The $50 million is slowly approaching $1.1 billion, but it can only be accumulated through long screen time.

Fortunately, the film is not a fast-moving consumer goods popcorn, and the audience's reputation has always been strong. The North American Cinema Alliance has formulated a long-term screening plan. As long as the box office of the single hall does not fall below the bottom line of the cinema, "The Fellowship of the Ring" may be screened in North America for half a year or even more. longer.

Just as the popularity of the film faded, Duke and Warner Bros. were also harvesting the final box office potential through various means, and at the same time promoting the sales of subsequent releases through the box office market.

In early August, the original soundtrack of "The Fellowship of the Ring" was released simultaneously in North America, Latin America and Europe. Originally, Warner Bros. was preparing for the film's celebration party. Before the party, they specially held a grand soundtrack premiere, including Many crew members, including Duke, participated in this event.

"The Fellowship of the Ring" has over $400 million at the North American box office and over $1 billion worldwide, all of which have created Duke's best box office performance since he was filmed. He naturally became the focus of the media's pursuit at the premiere.

Duke has never rejected interviews for promotional films.

As a tacit reporter, Sarah of the entertainment page of the Los Angeles Times started touting the film again in her column the next day.

"The Fellowship of the Ring touches on the eternal theme of human beings. The structure of the film is more precise than the original novel, the lines are more rhythmic, more scrutinized, and more profound than the original novel, and the characters are more refined than the original novel. Vivid and powerful. With rich and ingenious artistic texts, director Duke Rosenberg elevates the spirit of freedom between heaven and earth..."

Such hype is only part of Warner Bros.' media launch, of course, to coincide with the launch of the original soundtrack.

Not all films will be released with soundtrack albums. Like the movie, the soundtrack of The Fellowship of the Ring has been well received. The soundtrack sold 520,000 copies in North America in its first week, and its weekly global sales exceeded 17 million US dollars. , it can be said that it is another great tool for collecting money in the surrounding area.

The soundtrack is not just on the original soundtrack. The Lord of the Rings Studio is negotiating with the Los Angeles Philharmonic to strive for the Lord of the Rings concert to kick off before and after the film's release in North America, and the concert is not only touring in North America, It will also land in many countries and regions including Europe, Latin America and Asia through authorization and many other methods.

The concert may not bring much revenue, but it can maintain the popularity of "The Lord of the Rings", and then let the audience welcome the release of "The Two Towers" with enthusiasm.

In short, now that "The Fellowship of the Ring" has been a great success, one of the main tasks of the Lord of the Rings studio is to keep the popularity of the series sustainable, which can save a lot of publicity expenses for "The Two Towers".

Compared to The Fellowship of the Ring's $80 million promotional budget, The Two Towers was only $40 million.

In addition, comics and animated series related to the film have also been put on the agenda by The Lord of the Rings Studio. These are all promotions and supplements to the film. Duke and Warner will definitely squeeze the last drop of oil in this series.

Duke's main event after the soundtrack's premiere was the grand celebration party that Warner Bros. prepared for The Fellowship of the Ring.

This is not just as simple as a celebration party, but also shoulders the mission of publicity and marketing. Many celebrities and representative figures from the theater and media have received invitations from The Lord of the Rings Studio. The crew members and their families are of course The meeting will be one of the central points of the party. Not only the members of the Fellowship of the Ring will bring their family members to the party, but also the crew members will show up at the party with their family members.

The party will continue to build momentum for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as promote other films from Duke and Warner.

For example, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", which has been confirmed to be released on Christmas, will also appear at the party, from the author Joanna Rowling to the actors led by Chris Columbus.

And Zach Snyder is filming the second two episodes of The Matrix, and Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron, who are already A-list stars, will also be in attendance.

In addition to private carnival parties, public parties in Hollywood have never been more than just parties.

"You have reached the age when you should be fat, but you are thinner than before."

In the dressing room of the villa, the costume designer who has been serving Duke is measuring his latest body data. "Those stars will be very envious of you, Duke."

"When they see my work, they won't be envious..."

Just after saying a word, Tina Fey pushed the door and walked in, handing the phone to Duke, "Evie's phone."

The costume designer was very smart, wrote down the last data, quickly packed up his tools, and said goodbye, "I'll call you when the dress is ready."

Duke nodded at him and said into the phone, "Hey Evie, why are you calling now?"

As shareholders of the same company, the two have an agreed time to talk on the phone every week. Under normal circumstances, Ivanka rarely disturbs his work.

"I heard that Warner Bros. is planning a grand party?" Ivanka said with a hint of imperceptible grievance, "I used to be a member of the crew, why didn't I receive an invitation?"

"Honey, there's still time for the party, and I don't think they've informed you yet."

There's no need to check, Duke also knew that The Lord of the Rings had ignored the temporary worker, and simply said, "Evie, you can come over whenever you have time."

"Okay!" Ivanka said immediately, "I will definitely go to your celebration party! This is your most successful moment so far..."

"Remember to call before you come."

After chatting a few more things about website construction, Duke hung up the phone and told Tina Fey to arrange a car to pick up Ivanka Trump at the airport. (To be continued ~^~)

PS:   Ask for monthly and recommended tickets~~