Chapter 303

"Summer vacation, there is no peace for a moment."

Putting down the newspaper in his hand, William Morris' agent Martin Miller looked at the long-faced man opposite, "However, it is good news for us."

This long-faced man is the most promising director under his name. He has the titles of "Little Boom Demon" and "Duke Rosenberg Second" in Hollywood. The explosive shots and fast-paced switching are also proficient. He is a well-known commercial film director.

"Look at it, Michael." He handed the newspaper to Michael Bay. "Want to be an excellent director like Duke Rosenberg, it's more than just a good film."

"I know."

Now Michael Bay does not have much capital, and he nodded humbly and said, "Hollywood competition is everywhere!"

With that said, he opened the newspaper and easily found the good news Martin Miller said.

"Guns off the screen, violence in The Matrix!"

Just seeing the title is eye-catching and shocking enough, and it must be bad news for The Matrix.

"Since North America entered the summer vacation, "The Matrix" has become the first big hit film. It has set off an upsurge of watching movies among teenagers. The media and audiences are all talking about the film. The plot, setting, and screen have been discussed, but ignored. The serious violent side of the film. Just last Sunday, a shooting occurred in the San Francisco area. Josh Cook, only 19 years old, bought a gun similar to Keanu Reeves's Neo and used it. This gun killed the landlord couple who rented his house."

"According to the information provided by witnesses around him, Josh Cook believes that he lives in the'mother' and firmly believes that he is the savior, and the landlord and his wife are agents sent by the'mother' to persecute him. He must kill them. Restore the real world..."

The next content. There is no need for Michael Bay to read it anymore. The news should be the truth. It is reported at this time, and it must be aimed at the current hot momentum of The Matrix.

"This is just one of the newspapers covering the incident." Martin Miller pointed to the thick pile in front of him. "They are all hyping the shooting, if I am not mistaken. It should be. Sony Entertainment wants to suppress "The Matrix."

"I think so too." Michael Bay nodded.

He knew that Martin Miller would not mention these for no reason, and frowned and asked, "Do you think we are also involved?"

"Michael, your new film "Peerless Tribulation" will be released the weekend before Memorial Day."

Reaching out and pushing the newspaper aside, Martin Miller said slowly, "That was the next weekend of Godzilla, and the third weekend of The Matrix!"

Hollywood competition is everywhere!

In the past few years from the advertising industry to Hollywood, Michael Bay has a deep understanding of this point, "Warner Bros. will not sit and watch. There must be explanations or targeted measures. What are we going to do? Target "Godzilla"? "

"No!" Martin Miller shook his head without hesitation. "Although Michael Ovitz is standing behind "Godzilla", I don't think he will be a huge success. "The Matrix" is " The real threat of "Peerless Tribulation"!"

Originally, Martin Miller believed that "Clash between Heaven and Earth" would have the greatest possible impact on "Peerless Tribulation". After all, the themes of the two are similar. Once the former is a huge success. Under the preconceived notion, "Peerless Tribulation" will become an imitator...

Who knew DreamWorks was vulnerable under the siege of the six major companies. The enthusiasm of "Clash between Heaven and Earth" has not been dissipated, it was almost dissipated by the impact of "The Matrix", and the impact on "Peerless Tribulation" was almost minimized.

In this respect, Martin Miller feels that Duke should be thanked for his film, but the strong audience reputation and workday box office performance of "The Matrix" poses a serious threat to "Peerless Tribulation", which is released every other week. There is already a competitive relationship between the two parties.

Fighting against competitors is an inevitable choice.

"Michael, have you seen the box office statistics for yesterday, which is Monday?"

Seeing Michael Bay shaking his head, Martin Miller said. "The box office of "Clash of Heaven and Earth" has dropped by $3 million in a single day! And "The Matrix" benefited from the overwhelming audience reputation and the ever-expanding scale of screenings. Monday's box office was only less than a hundred lower than last Sunday. Ten per cent, got 14.51 million US dollars!"

"This... how is this possible?" Michael Bay couldn't believe what he heard. "This is simply the trend of "Titanic"!"

Martin Miller raised his voice, "It won't make "Titanic", but it threatens us more than "Godzilla."

"What can I do?" Michael Bay asked.

"Together with me, put pressure on Walt Disney, the producer and distributor of "Peerless Divine Tribulation"!" Martin Miller had obviously thought about it a long time ago, "Let Walt Disney join the ranks of suppressing "The Matrix." "

The production cost of "Peerless Tribulation" is as high as 140 million U.S. dollars, produced by Walt Disney's Touchstone Pictures, and the publisher is also from Disney's Bowei Pictures!

When it comes to such a huge investment, how can Walt Disney's media stand by?

After Michael Bay left, Martin Miller hung up a call to Walt Disney's management, and the two sides hit it off.

When some group forces want to promote an otherwise attractive event, relevant news can always spread to North America and the entire Western world at the fastest speed. The popularity of "The Matrix" in North America affects more than just In the North American market, there is a wider overseas market for competition.

"Crazy directors are doing some terrible things. When such things happen, we really need to think about what information we are sending. The violence and fantasy of certain movies have caused this tragedy. Hollywood movies People must be more responsible as much as possible. "The Matrix" cannot escape the blame in this social violence. When certain film violence becomes a real interpretation, should the film be responsible for it?"

Not only was the print media working hard to report the shooting, Duke later saw relevant reports from the prime time of Walt Disney's abc TV station. Although the reports were not explicitly named, they were quite inflammatory, and You don't need to guess that it is a shooting.

Under the good situation that "The Matrix" won 14.51 million U.S. dollars and 12.78 million U.S. dollars at the box office on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, and the North American box office totaled 81.47 million U.S. dollars, the report of the shooting undoubtedly brought a shadow to the film's prospects.

Having lived on this land for such a long time, Duke knows very well that such things as going online are not a patent of a certain country, and the media in North America are not at all ambiguous.

Squeezing his still red nose, Duke looked at the dark night sky outside the window where he fell again, and his eyes turned to Penny Kellys, Nancy Josephus and Jamie Johnson.

The deliberations of the three have ended.

In fact, Duke and Warner Bros. have started crisis public relations since the large-scale publication of the newspaper yesterday, but it takes time to understand the truth of the matter, investigate the background of the shooting criminals, and develop effective targeted strategies. .

The only one who made a quick response was Pani Kellys' Internet Public Relations Department. They spread a lot of targeted propaganda on the Internet to guide those "The Matrix" fans to spontaneously maintain this film on the Internet.

However, traditional media still has an absolute advantage today.

"Duke, leave the PR to us."

Nancy Josephson said, "Combined with your opinion and the actual situation of the criminal, we have formulated a complete strategy to direct the focus of public opinion to the family as much as possible."

"I have always had confidence in you."

Just after saying something, Duke couldn't help coughing. Tina Fei quickly brought a glass of water, handed it to him, and said, "Your first priority now is to get sick."

Duke nodded. This kind of thing is at best as an opinion. When it comes to actual operation, he is certainly not as good as a professional.

Cold and fever are only minor illnesses, but it is very troublesome to get better. After Nancy Josephson and the three people left, Duke took medicine and told Tina Fei to pay attention to the progress of the incident and go back upstairs to rest. Restoring health is more important than anything else.

In fact, public relations are not complicated. Just like John Hinckley who assassinated Reagan under the influence of "Taxi Driver", some things are definitely not caused by one reason.

Early the next morning, the "Today Show" of nbc TV focused on this incident.

A well-known psychiatrist from across the United States conducted an analysis based on the cases that Josh Cook had received from a psychologist.

"Josh Cook's shooting cannot be simply attributed to any aspect. The occurrence of such a tragedy has a lot to do with the suspect's unhealthy personality. Anything he may encounter will become an emotional spark. So, he can't distinguish between virtual and reality. According to the information we have, Josh Cook himself has severe depression and people with mental illness..."

The "New York Times" and "Los Angeles Times" that day focused on Josh Cook's family and some accidents that occurred during the renting period.

"Josh Cook is a mixed race of Asian and Latino. Since his childhood, his family broke down. He was fostered in several families and was abused to a certain extent. Later he found a job and rented in San Francisco. He was often affected by the landlord's couple. Ridicule... This once again exposes the harm of broken families to minors. Josh Cook is just a victim of broken families..."

Warner's media and those leaning towards Warner used various reasons to guide the cause of the shooting to other places, and they are also facts like Josh Cook, who speculates about him as living in the mother's body.

In fact, the discussion about movie violence has not only happened in North America this time, and Warner's crisis public relations have also been recognized by many people.

However, once such an incident occurs, it is impossible to have no negative impact on the film, and the most direct manifestation is the box office.

(The shooting is a real incident, but after the second movie was released.) (To be continued.)