Time flies and it is August 22nd.
On this day, Kyle and Victor arrived at the scene half an hour before the preview officially started.
Well, the preview was held in the headquarters building of 20th Century Fox.
"Boss, it looks like 20th Century Fox and Paramount are in trouble. The production cost of Titanic alone is over 200 million US dollars!" Victor whispered.
Kyle immediately laughed and said, "Yes, with a production cost of over 200 million US dollars, even for the six major Hollywood studios, it would be difficult to recover the funds quickly if the production was delayed for several years."
The production cost of Titanic was as high as $200 million, surpassing the $170 million production cost of Universal Pictures' "Waterworld".
It is the highest peak in film history!
Of course, if you take inflation into account, then Gone with the Wind, released in 1940, would top the list. But even so, the production cost of the Titanic is enough to rank second in film history.
The massive production costs, plus the $100 million in publicity and promotional costs, totalled over $300 million. Even one of the six major Hollywood studios wouldn't dare invest such a huge amount of money, let alone a full four years of filming.
There is not enough working capital!
Fox, one of the Big Six, can't afford to be hurt!
Due to the lack of funds, Paramount was brought in.
But!
In the words of the president of Paramount Pictures: "I regret it, I regret it. Damn Cameron and Fox, we agreed that I only needed to invest $20 million, but during the filming process, we were forced to add funds again and again. Now we at Paramount have invested nearly $100 million!"
Paramount regrets it!
The one that regrets the most is 20th Century Fox.
"When you, Cameron, first approached us about cooperation, didn't you agree that it would be done for $110 million? And that included publicity and promotion costs? But why are the costs so high now?"
During the filming of Titanic, the producers met with Cameron more than once and told him to save costs.
But who is Cameron?
Looking around Hollywood, he is a well-known money-eating beast!
For example, the previous "Terminator 2" added $40 million; no matter how much production cost you set for it at the beginning, it will always be short of funds.
Now, the same is true of Titanic.
The repeated increase in costs forced Cameron to take the initiative to give up his $5 million director's salary and only receive the box office dividends of the movie.
The huge cost pressure and the shooting cycle of several years are enough to overwhelm any film company.
Of course, now that the film has been completed, the person under the greatest pressure, besides the investors, is director Cameron himself.
"Boss, have you seen the news these days?" Victor asked.
"Um!"
Kyle nodded. "I know the news you're talking about. It was the Titanic press conference a few days ago, right? Haha, Cameron went all out. He slammed a razor blade in front of the reporters at the press conference. He also threatened that if the movie lost money, he didn't need to be held accountable by the audience or investors, and would just kill himself."
In his previous life, Kyle had heard this interesting story.
I never expected that after travelling through time, I would once again see news about Cameron carrying a blade.
It didn't take long.
Kyle met Cameron who came late.
"Hi, Mr. Page, Mr. Jones, welcome." James Cameron and Kyle had met once before at a cocktail party.
"Cameron, you don't look very well?" Kyle sighed.
"Oh? It's not very good, and you know the reason. No, the whole of Hollywood is waiting to laugh at me." Cameron said self-deprecatingly.
Although Cameron was dressed very appropriately today, his sunken eye sockets and thin body were enough to prove that he looked very haggard.
"It's okay, my friend!"
Kyle looked at him and said solemnly, "If they want to laugh at you, then let them. I don't think you'll fail this time. Maybe the box office will exceed $1 billion and give them a good slap in the face!"
A billion dollars?!
"Dude, what did you say?!"
At this moment, Cameron himself was stunned, and even Victor was dumbfounded.
Victor thought to himself, "Boss, even if you want to help me in my time of need, there's no need to brag."
It has to be said that Cameron himself was also scared.
You know, back in the original time and space, Cameron once said in an interview: "If the movie fails, I'll either commit suicide or go back to being a truck driver." As for your box office prediction? Well, I originally thought that a global box office of over $600 million would be enough.
Kyle is very good at helping others in times of need.
The global box office of Titanic is $1.8 billion, are you kidding me?
Of course, some people also say that the release date of "Titanic" was well chosen and there were no strong competitors to block it.
This reason is valid.
This is part of the reason. Otherwise, how could it have won the weekly box office championship for more than ten weeks in a row?
However, it broke the North American box office record.
Wherever it goes, no matter which country it is, it breaks the country's box office record.
From this point of view, we have to say that Titanic is excellent!
....
Soon.
All the guests aauand audiencerived, and the film started on time.
During the movie viewing process, representatives from various theatre chains had to admire Cameron's directing skills and praised the excellence of the film.
But!
They are still not very optimistic about the results of "Titanic" after its release!
A representative of AMC Theatres said: "The movie is three hours long, which is too long. The audience will fall asleep."
A representative from the Imperial Entertainment Cinemas said, "The duration of a film significantly impacts daily box office revenue. The time it takes to screen one run of a film is enough for us to screen other films twice. From our perspective, this reduces profitability. Furthermore, in recent years, films involving water have not performed well at the box office."
It is true.
Universal Pictures' "Waterworld", Spielberg's "Captain Hook", etc., all flopped!
A representative from Cinemark Cinemas also said: "We can show this movie in our theatres, but we need to discuss how many screenings to schedule. After all, the ending of the movie is not the family-friendly film that people like."
Several invited theatre representatives and numerous film critics also expressed their pessimism about the film's final box office.
20th World Fox: "..."
Paramount: "…"
Cameron: "…"
Well, all three of them expressed being hurt!
However, Kyle smiled silently and whispered to Victor beside him, "Aren't they short of funds? Go talk to Paramount later and tell them that Page Pictures can provide the publicity funds and even co-distribute the film."
"Well?"
For a moment, Victor looked at Kyle in confusion.