Director’s Legend

After summarizing the film situation of the previous year, the company's meeting entered the work layout of the new year.

"January and February of this year are still mainly low-cost independent productions, as well as films purchased from major film festivals. "The Weakness" will be released in March..." David Joe Cole, Vice President of Summit Entertainment introduce.

"The Weakness" is adapted from the work "The Weakness: The Progress of the Game" by the writer Michael Orr. Shao Shuaijun bought the film and television copyright a long time ago. It was not until last year that the screenwriting department adapted it into a movie script and invited director John Lee Hankirk to direct.

The novel is based on the extraordinary experience of Michael Oher, a first-round draft pick of the 2009 NFL. He used to be an orphan. Before he engaged in sports, he became autistic and silent due to the influence of street gangs and drug-addicted mothers. Later, he felt the warmth of family in the adoptive family, and was recognized by the school and others through his own efforts. Recognized, ended up receiving a scholarship to the University of Mississippi and making it to the NFL after graduation.

This is a heartwarming and inspirational story. In his previous life, Shao Shuaijun liked this movie adapted from a true story, but he couldn't remember the box office of the movie, so he put it on the shelf and didn't start Hong Kong Fengyun Entertainment to read the full text. Now that Summit Entertainment has a lot of money, it needs this kind of positive movie to beautify the smell of copper. Besides, this movie has no investment of 30 million yuan, and the cost is very small. Even if it loses, it won't be much. "Weakness" was able to start.

April will see "Red 2," a sequel to last year's low-budget superhero flick "Red," a comic from Summit Entertainment and Warner Bros. They also signed a recycling contract, and the copyright will automatically return when the time limit is reached, so, take advantage of the fact that you can make money now, let's make money quickly.

Just as others hold the copyright of Marvel Comics and refuse to return it, it is rare for Summit Entertainment to hold other people's copyright. In fact, "Red Flame Battlefield 2" has not yet been released. The screenwriting department is already working on the script of "Red Flame Battlefield 3".

May is the highlight of the collaboration between Summit Entertainment and Marvel Comics. The fourth film "Thor" of the first part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Trio will begin to be released globally. "Thor" is directed by Kenneth Branagh and stars Jake Gyllenhaal, a general of the Shaw Brothers.

In June, based on the personal story of Channing Tatum, the star of "Dancing Out of My Life", the comedy film "Magic Mike" co-written by Shao Shuaijun will be released. The movie, based on Channing Tatum's experiences as a 19-year-old stripper in Tampa, Florida. He's also a producer on the film, and he's had a pretty good deal with Summit Entertainment. [

If "Magic Mike" is successful, the next sequel has been agreed and will be handed over to Channing Tatum to personally guide. I am very confident in the movie Channing, because the cost of "Magic Mike" is only 7 million US dollars, and if you get 20 million, you will make money.

In July, another highlight of Summit Entertainment. "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2," the final installment of the "Twilight Saga" series.

Since 2006, the first four films in this series have created a series of brilliant achievements, which are the cornerstone of the rise of Summit Entertainment, and are currently the third most popular in the world after the "Harry Potter" series and "Lord of the Rings" series. The film adaptation of the best-selling novel.

If possible, Summit Entertainment would never want the series to end, but the original author Mel Stephanie has already told all the stories that should be told.

August is another major event between Summit Entertainment and Marvel Comics. The fifth film "Captain America" ​​of the first part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Trio will begin to be released globally. Captain America is directed by Joe Johnston. Starring Chris Evans, it tells the story of Steve Roger, who was injected with super soldier serum during World War II, and dealt with the Nazi Hydra Legion.

In September, "The Expendables 2", the sequel to "The Expendables", set off again, still a large collection of action superstars.

In October, "The Warren Files" was finalized. This horror film directed by Chinese director James Wen is an attempt by Summit Entertainment, and the box office expectations are not high. but. Recently, producers Tony DeRosa Gulund and James Wen felt that the name "Warren Files" was not enough to show the horror essence of the film, and they planned to change the name of the film to "The Conjuring".

The story of the movie "The Conjuring" comes from the novel "True Story: House of Darkness and House of Light", which records the real experience of a family living in Rhode Island encountering supernatural events. It's basically a prequel to the 1979 horror classic Howl.

Except "The Conjuring". Another film has been reserved for the October schedule, which is the second-production version of "The Night Watchman" directed by Shao Shuaijun himself. Because the second filming of the film has not yet started, whether to adopt a new name or continue to use "Night Watchman" has not been determined for the time being.

In November, the second part of the "Hunger Games" series, "The Hunger Games 2: Catching Fire" will be released. "The Hunger Games" has set a number of local records, and the sequel is also widely expected. It is a box office hit in 2011.

As a substitute for the "Twilight" series, the first part of "The Hunger Games" has made a very good start. It can be expected that the box office of this series will surpass the Twilight series.

December is still to be determined, because Marvel Comics Movie Studio, and Summit Entertainment's screenwriter department, are writing the script of The Punisher, and it's hard to say whether the Punisher will join the Marvel Cinematic Universe trio. If it is confirmed and the production goes well, this superhero movie tentatively named "The Punisher: Fallen" will be released in December.

Throughout 2011, Summit Entertainment's schedule was full again, and many films were scheduled to be released in 2012, and even many sequels were not produced in time. For example, the third part of the "Sherlock Holmes" series, the screenwriter department is starting to create, but I don't know when the meeting will take place, because the lead actor Robert Downey Jr.'s schedule is scheduled after 2013, and the only cooperation with Summit Entertainment is There are two big productions, "The Avengers" and "Iron Man 3", and it was too late to shoot Daifuku 3.

For example, "Teddy Bear 2" and "Rise of the Planet of the Apes 2" have created scripts, but they can't arrange the release schedule, so they have been put on hold for a long time.

While other companies are worrying about which movies to make money from, Summit Entertainment is worried that there are too many movies making money, worrying about happiness. [

"Basically, we have made an approximate film schedule, which can already fill 2015." David Joe Cole sighed, "A large part of these film plans come from sequels. They are movies that are guaranteed to make money, and with these movies, our demand for new works is greatly reduced. I think this is a disadvantageous situation. The scale of Summit Entertainment has reached a bottleneck, and we urgently need to expand to accommodate more production capacity. Innovative companies are not good companies."

Shao Shuaijun took over the conversation: "So this is what I said, we have to take a step forward. With the support of these excellent movies, we can definitely take a bigger step forward."

Li Xiuxiu's husband and wife said: "For the time being, it seems that the acquisition of Lionsgate Films and the establishment of the animation department are necessary expansions. We cannot let Summit Entertainment become a sequel company. We need enough fresh film blood to supplement the vitality of the company. With our current distribution And the scale of production, the demand for special effects will inevitably increase greatly, and the acquisition of Digital Domain and Lucasfilm will also be a matter of course."

Mitchell Bruce nodded: "Lionsgate Films is already in the process of negotiating as soon as possible. As for the establishment of an animation studio, my opinion is that we might as well acquire a listed company. Walt Disney has already recruited Pixar, a company in the animation industry. Dominance. Twentieth Century Fox has Blue Sky Animation, Universal Films has Illumination Entertainment, Columbia has Sony Animation, and even Paramount is cooperating with DreamWorks. With our own strength, it is difficult to fight in a short time. The best way It's an acquisition."

"We shouldn't be bad. With the strength of Marvel Comics, it is not difficult for us to set up our own animation studio." An executive suggested.

"Marvel comics are the same as comics. The strategy is from comics to live-action film production. Maybe 2D comics are strong, but 3D comics are weak. So Warner Bros. has not been able to develop an animation department over the years. What we need is not 'have ’, but to be able to fight. I propose that DreamWorks can be acquired, and if the acquisition fails, the British Armand Animation Company will be acquired.” Another executive suggested.

There are three major studios in the animation film industry, the oldest is Disney Animation, followed by Pixar Animation. Although the DreamWorks established by the great director Spielberg was the newest one, it came from behind and became the overlord of animated films. However, after Disney acquired Pixar, DreamWorks also struggled to compete.

In addition to these three major studios, there are well-known studios such as Blue Sky Animation, Illumination Entertainment, Sony Animation, Nick Cartoon, and Armand Animation.

Currently single and unmarried, the only independent companies are DreamWorks, Nickelodeon and Armand Animation. Nick Cartoon mainly operates a TV channel, so it can be ignored. The only good targets that can be acquired are DreamWorks and Armand.

"Contact DreamWorks first. We are not short of money. If you want to choose, choose the best." Shao Shuaijun immediately made a decision, "And you must do it quickly. I heard that the contract between DreamWorks and Paramount has expired, and DreamWorks is ready to cooperate with Disney. The signing of the production and sales contract shows that Disney has a lot of plans for DreamWorks. If this is swallowed up again, animated films really can't restrain Disney."

DreamWorks Animation Studio is a pure animation production company and is not responsible for market distribution. First, the cooperation with Paramount expired, and then it cooperated with Disney for distribution. Now DreamWorks is looking for a new distributor, and it is likely that Disney will go a step further. Overall acquisition.

Now Summit Entertainment can't afford enough money, and the executives have gradually become richer and richer, and quickly passed the acquisition plan of DreamWorks.

Horror films from Lionsgate, cartoons from DreamWorks, and Summit Entertainment are piece by piece piece by piece to piece together the territory of the movie kingdom!