Los Angeles, Brentwood community, at the entrance of Scarlett's house.
In the car, Scarlett and Charles separated their tightly pressed lips, then got out and waved, "Bye bye!"
It was Monday, Charles and Scarlett Johansson had spent the entire weekend together at home, and today Charles was going to the company and dropping her off.
"Goodbye!" Closing the car door, he pressed the accelerator and the car sped away.
Upon arriving at Capet Pictures, Charles glanced at the current North America box office chart for the year:
Spider-Man ranked first, with a North America box office of 400 million US dollars;
star wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones ranked second, with a North America box office of 300 million US dollars;
my big fat greek wedding ranked third, with a North America box office of 240 million US dollars;
Mel Gibson's Signs was fourth, with a North America box office of 227 million US dollars.
After that came Austin Powers in Goldmember with 213 million US dollars in North America, Men in Black II with 190 million US dollars in North America, and Blue Sky Studios' first 3D animated feature film, ice age, with 176 million US dollars in North America.
However, next month there was harry potter and the Chamber of Secrets to be released; in December, the lord of the rings: The Two Towers was also to be released, both highly anticipated sequel films. Aside from Spider-Man's 400 million US dollar North America box office being unbeatable, 300 million was still achievable.
After lingering on ice age for a moment, Charles was helpless; Blue Sky Studios was 20th Century Fox's animation production label!
DreamWorks Animation, Pixar, and now Blue Sky Studios had joined the fray. The two-way rivalry had turned into a romance of the three kingdoms.
There were also Sony Pictures Animation and Warner Animation, but the big cake of the animation market was something Charles could only look at, not eat.
"Boss, the adaptation rights for Sophie Kinsella's bestselling novel The Secret History of the Shopaholic, published two years ago, are with Disney. If we want to develop it, we'll need to collaborate with Disney," Donna Williams reported in Charles's office.
Charles had previously checked with the Writers Guild about the script status of Isla Fisher's two high-grossing films.
wedding crashers wasn't available yet, but Confessions of a Shopaholic had registered copyright. Since it was with Disney, Charles didn't bother to care anymore.
"Producers, directors, and film companies, who knows how many people are eyeing novels on the market. Adaptation rights still need to be secured early," Charles estimated that his mother Evelyn would need to pay more attention to this aspect.
Agent companies help writers find publishers, and many novels lose their film and television adaptation rights even before publication.
"By the way, has the brokeback mountain script been given to Director Ang Lee?" Charles inquired. This type of film required careful preparation.
"Director Ang Lee's Agent said that he is currently busy with the post-production of hulk, so he probably won't be able to start preparations until next year!"
Charles nodded. Not long after getting the brokeback mountain script, he gave it to Ang Lee's Agent, intending for him to direct it.
"Director Ang Lee is quite interested in this same-sex love novel!" Donna continued.
"After the post-production of hulk is finished, I'll talk to him again about the film's preparations," Universal Pictures' hulk, tsk tsk.
The development of Spider-Man and x-men has significantly expanded Marvel Comics' influence; otherwise, how could it compare to DC, which owns Superman and batman!
the ring opened in 1980 theaters in North America with a first weekend box office of 15 million US dollars, making it the weekly box office champion.
The reviews were mixed; those who liked it said the film offered audiences a novel horror journey, while those who disliked it said the film only piled on plot points and pursued special effects, doing nothing to build a terrifying atmosphere and lacking all detail.
However, in its second weekend, the ring again took in 18 million US dollars, bringing its cumulative North America box office to 40 million US dollars in ten days.
At night, Inglewood, at Naomi Watts's home.
"I heard you're going to Japan to promote the movie?"
Charles came into the kitchen from the living room, took out a bottle of water, took a sip, and asked Naomi, who was frying eggs.
Wearing a loose, semi-transparent nightgown, Naomi, who was frying eggs, nodded and smiled, "We're leaving for Japan tomorrow night for a premiere."
"Japan is a big market, the second largest outside of the United States, so it definitely needs attention," Charles agreed, as many Hollywood films conduct large-scale promotions in Japan.
"This movie won't be released in Mainland China, will it?"
Naomi shook her head and said, "I haven't heard anything about promoting it there, but it will be released in Hong Kong, China."
China joined the WTO last year, and this year there's a new film import agreement, bringing the number of overseas revenue-sharing films to 20.
However, currently, the production side of imported revenue-sharing films in China only gets 13% of the box office, and the Mainland China film market is too small. There isn't a single film that has grossed over 100 million RMB yet, and the total annual box office is less than 1 billion RMB.
What about Japan now? Approximately a 2 billion US dollar market. The United States is a 9 billion US dollar market.
The Mainland China film market is indeed not highly valued by Hollywood at the moment, but its huge population base and growing economic market represent the future.
It won't be until after 2012, when China's economy takes off and the market expands, and a new Sino-US film import agreement is signed, that Hollywood will truly pay attention to the Mainland China film market. Coupled with the outflow of Chinese capital, the number of Hollywood stars flying to China will increase.
Charles walked behind Naomi, wrapped his arms around the Lady from behind, and smiled, "If I get the chance, I definitely want to visit Mainland China!"
"Alright, it's almost done. Weren't you hungry just now?" Naomi ignored Charles's actions and focused on frying the eggs.
"You probably won't be able to eat it all," Charles teased, hugging Naomi.
"It's all protein; you ate quite a bit just now!"
Naomi Watts gently bumped Charles, looking somewhat surprised, and said, "It's all you, you get to enjoy it all!"
"Go out first. There's wine in the cabinet over there; grab a bottle. the ring's box office is good, predicted to exceed 100 million US dollars in North America."
Charles nodded, released the Lady, and prepared to go get the wine.
DreamWorks has been truly impressive these past few years. Several of its films have achieved both awards and high box office, and three consecutive Oscar for Best Pictures are no small feat.
American Beauty in 2000, gladiator in 2001, plus this year's Oscar for Best Picture, A Beautiful Mind.
The capabilities of the three founders, David Griffin, Steven Spielberg, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, are indeed considerable.
If managed well, DreamWorks could truly challenge The Big Six Hollywood film companies!