The first month of every year is relatively a slow season for movies, and in January 2012, the largest release was "Lone Survivor," directed by Peter Berg, starring Mark Wahlberg, and based on a true story.
Although the film's production budget was only 40 million US dollars, Martin was the driving force behind the project, which received unanimous acclaim in several screenings, and Disney Studios provided substantial promotional and distribution resources.
Nearly 3,500 theaters in North Arica premiered the film.
On the day of the premiere, the crew invited many retired servicen to watch the movie, including the person who saved Marcus those years ago.
These naturally were necessary publicity tactics.
On the second floor of the theater, Ellen Horn invited Martin to the floor-to-ceiling window to enjoy the red carpet below.
Martin looked for a while and said, "This place has a commanding view, the perspective is quite special."
Ellen Horn laughed heartily, "Does it feel like everything is under control?"
Martin nodded, "Indeed, it's easy to have that illusion, but film is a complex comrcial art. Even if a screening gets good word-of-mouth and high professional ratings, sotis failure is hard to avoid."
These words made Ellen Horn think of her old employer, "I heard that at Warner Bros. premieres, Jon Berg really liked standing here."
Martin could tell that Ellen Horn still harbored so unresolved feelings towards Warner.
Like ex-wives and ex-husbands, once they beco enemies, the hatred often reaches an extre.
"At this year's nominees luncheon, Warner Bros.' 'Moneyball' was a complete defeat," Ellen Horn ntioned with a noticeably good mood, "but 'The Martian,' which we co-financed, was one of the winners."
Martin didn't mince his words, "Ellen, whether or not I can get the Best Actor award, Disney's support is key."
The statent was an exaggeration because Disney Studios actually did less than Martin himself, but Ellen Horn readily agreed, "Best Actor is the top priority for Disney Studios' Oscar campaign this ti."
An Oscar for Best Actor could an tens of millions of dollars more in revenue for the film, well worth it.
Ellen Horn had carefully studied the other nominees; Demian Bichir was relatively unknown, George Clooney's acting was never really accepted, Gary Oldman's film chose not to go with a North Arican distributor, and Joel Edgerton, like Demian Bichir, was clearly just there to make up the numbers.
Although "The Martian" did not have an advantage in terms of film genre, among this group of male actors, Martin was clearly a cut above.
The Oscars are not just about oneself, but also about the competition.
Ellen Horn asked, "How's that song and dance film project going?"
Martin replied, "I guess it'll be a while longer, I've invited Taylor Swift to write the songs."
When it ca to musicals, he rembered sothing he had planned to talk to Ellen Horn about when he had the ti, but seeing as there was nothing pressing now, he decided to bring it up: "I have another idea for a musical, and our two companies could collaborate on it."
Like gan Ellison and Jon Berg from Warner Bros., as well as various other miscellaneous figures, Ellen Horn also showed interest in Martin's projects.
Who would believe in the unsuccessful over the successful?
Ellen Horn enquired, "What project?"
Davis Studio and Disney Studios were in their honeymoon phase, and the project investnt was very high. A fairytale movie without Disney's endorsent inherently had a huge flaw.
Martin thought for a mont and said, "Live-action fairytales."
Ellen Horn said, "Hollywood has made quite a few live-action fairytale movies, and Disney Studios has 'Into the Woods.'
Martin had looked into it; it was a huge hodgepodge.
"I an the past animated movies of Disney." Martin said, knowing that even if he didn't ntion it, Disney Studios would soon put it into action: "Choose the suitable ones and make them into live-action films."
He listed a few examples, "Like 'Sleeping Beauty,' 'Cinderella,' 'Beauty and The Beast.'"
Ellen Horn burst into laughter, "I didn't expect we had the sa thought; I've considered this too. Which one do you think is the most suitable?"
Martin answered, "For live-action musicals, 'Beauty and The Beast.'
"Indeed a classic," Ellen Horn was slightly surprised, "Why don't you plan it alone? It wouldn't be difficult for you to secure an investnt of over 100 million dollars."
Martin half-jokingly said, "Because I've heard about the power of Disney's legal departnt. Even though these are in the public domain, I've heard that your legal experts will analyze other companies' movies with the sa na fra by fra and as soon as they find similarities, they imdiately take action."
Ellen Horn waved it off, "That's a bit exaggerated." He seed to joke, "Legal would analyze it second by second at most."
While saying this, Ellen Horn seriously considered that to adapt Disney's classic fairytales into live-action films, an investnt of more than 150 million dollars was hard to achieve without Disney being involved.
But these were not urgent matters.
Martin's starring films had the confidence of all Hollywood, but for the ones where Martin was not cast...
Davis Studio had two films coming up where Martin was involved as a producer but not as a leading actor.
Ellen Horn planned to see how both "Lone Survivor" and "Napoleon's Aphrodite" perford at the box office before making any decisions.
He smiled, "Let's find a specific ti to talk about this in detail."
Martin wasn't in a hurry, "You can call anyti."
Both arrived at the theater just before the premiere began and took their seats in the third row.
During the early preparations and post-production editing of the movie, Martin had several discussions with producer Aziva Gosman, removing many of the film's sensitive content, diluting the political implications, and focusing the plot on the courage of Marcus and his fellow soldiers and their bond of brotherhood.
Under the direction of Peter Berg, Marcus and his four Arican soldiers were absolutely moral exemplars.
As for reality, it was of no consequence in the face of substantial comrcial interests.
In a way, this was also a mainstream Arican film that t the needs of the mainstream society.
After the premiere, "Lone Survivor" was released widely in North Arica and the overall response was fairly positive.
Marcus's moir had already been published and provided a solid audience base for the movie.
Though it primarily attracted male viewers over 30, it grossed $16.87 million on the first day.
In its opening weekend in North Arica, "Lone Survivor" earned $41.25 million, exceeding the production cost in the first weekend alone.
This almost guaranteed the film's comrcial success.
Of course, there were many critical voices in the dia and online, such as the endless rumors targeting Marcus himself.
But during the preparation of the movie, Martin had already discussed these matters with Marcus, who had been involved in the production of the "John Wick" series over the years and was sowhat psychologically prepared, so it did not cause much trouble.
The production investnt for "Lone Survivor" mainly ca from South Korea.
With the film's success, the South Korean dia went ecstatic, touting it as a classic example of South Korean investnt in Hollywood.
So South Korean journalists based in Los Angeles also proactively reached out to Davis Studio, wanting to interview Martin and ask why his cooperation with South Korea was so successful.
This ti, the Koreans didn't co up with any drama like claiming Martin Davis had Korean ancestry.
Considering the substantial financial backing from the Korean conglorates, Martin accepted a joint interview with a few Korean dia outlets, where he casually praised their film industry and even expressed his willingness for more cinematic cooperation with Korea on the spot.
Translated, that ant I'm planning to use your chickens to lay eggs for my own ho.
The Hollywood of today spans the globe for investnts, and in the budgets of those films with production costs running into hundreds of millions of dollars, there is always international capital involved.
"Lone Survivor" was fairly popular among the North Arican male audience over 30 years old, which also ensured a relatively stable box office trend. After bringing in $23.56 million on the second weekend, the film's cumulative North Arican box office reached $88.98 million.
Reaching $100 million at the North Arican box office was a piece of cake.
......
Glendale, DreamWorks Animation.
The post-production departnt of this company was wholly booked by the rich Anna Purna Pictures for the post-production of three blockbuster movies.
"The Seventh Son," "Transcendental Hacker," and "Lone Ranger" were all in the midst of intense post-production.
Coming out of the editing rooms for "Transcendental Hacker" and "Lone Ranger," gan Ellison was again pissed off.
Wilson ca up from behind and said, "President, Depp's refusal to participate in post-production is to our advantage. The post-production is going smoothly. So of the shots that need his dubbing are not critical. I've discussed it with Jerry, and rather than using Depp, we would give up those shots. Otherwise, he would tornt both crews..."
gan Ellison raised her hand to stop him, "I understand." She directly asked, "Are there any difficulties?"
Wilson replied, "They still want to increase the budget for 'The Seventh Son,' but I turned it down."
gan Ellison asked, "Why?"
Wilson thought for a mont and said, "The production has spent too much money, and the risk is too high..."
"All I ask is that the movies are produced with enough quality. Money is not an issue," gan Ellison once again displayed her wealth, "My confidence in these three movies is growing stronger and stronger."
Wilson didn't quite understand what she ant.
gan Ellison simply stated, "All three projects were snatched from Martin Davis's hands; he had a high opinion of them. There was a movie he favored but did not star in that failed at the box office, which made waver at one point."
She went to the magazine rack, picked up a copy of the Hollywood Reporter, and handed it to Wilson, "Take a look at the box office rankings. 'Lone Survivor,' initiated by Martin Davis but in which he didn't star, has been a great success."
Wilson glanced at the box office rankings, where "Lone Survivor" had already passed $100 million in North Arica.
The production cost of the movie was only $40 million.
gan Ellison said, ", you, and Jerry Bruckheir, can we not match Martin Davis and Aziva Gosman?"
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