America 1987

Chapter 39 Choosing a Script

After dealing with this matter, David threw himself back into his work.

The box office performance of "Ghost" in its opening weekend was actually not beyond his expectations.

The original version was not very confident because the director and producers did not have enough resources for pre-release publicity and screenings. It was only mediocre. The subsequent decline was entirely due to word-of-mouth and theaters urgently increasing the number of screenings.

This era lacks the internet, social media, Rotten Tomatoes, and Douban.

Word-of-mouth spreads very slowly; it usually takes two to three weeks for an excellent film to go from its release to being "known nationwide for its good reputation."

However, the cinema schedule is usually basically finalized after the first week, and there is limited room for adjustment in the second week.

The only way to boost box office revenue was through extended screenings, but by then pirated copies were everywhere, so who would go to the cinema to support the films?

This means the film itself will lose a lot of potential box office revenue. Even so, the original version still managed to gross $5.05 million thanks to word of mouth and a long run, which is nothing short of a miracle.

If you want to maximize the box office potential of a commercial film, large-scale release and high-intensity promotion are the default options.

This model was pioneered by the 1975 film "Jaws".

David certainly won't make the same mistake as the original timeline director. With 1800 theaters showing the film and TV promotions, it's no surprise that the opening weekend box office will break 2000 million.

However, some things were clearly not what he expected.

"Are you kidding me? How can there be so many?"

Arriving at his office in CAA, he immediately saw a thick stack of scripts on his desk.

He is currently an independent director and has not signed a long-term contract with a major studio. His usual office is his agent's office, and his agent is naturally his uncle.

"It's alright," Michael Ovitz said, pulling out one of the scripts and flipping through it. "I've already filtered out a lot of them; these are the best scripts I've selected for you."

If a new director suddenly emerges in Hollywood and his works become huge hits, production companies of all sizes will mail their undeveloped projects to his office to try their luck.

If the other party agrees to direct, the project will immediately upgrade from "under development" to "directed by a director," and the bargaining power in financing and distribution negotiations will increase exponentially.

Even if someone refuses to direct, as long as they are willing to be credited as a producer, their name itself serves as a form of endorsement.

Even if the producer is unwilling to be credited, simply offering some suggestions for script revisions can subtly boost the production company's confidence in the project and influence their decision to approve or disapprove it.

One interesting detail is that scripts were still delivered in the paper era in the late 80s.

The cost of copying is high, and the cover binding is exquisite. Some producers will also make color covers and custom folders, and send them by FedEx or overnight delivery to show their importance.

This subtle investment of resources and the expression of attitude are themselves sending a signal—whether the producer has enough confidence in the project itself.

Sure enough, when David came over and took a look, he saw that the remaining stack of scripts were all bound very meticulously and beautifully, which showed that the producer had a lot of confidence in the scripts.

"Even with a one-in-a-hundred chance, there are still so many?" David sat down opposite him and casually pulled out a script to flip through. "Do people in Hollywood value me that much?"

"It's not just Hollywood; many overseas companies, both large and small, have also sent over a lot of scripts in order to sell distribution rights."

Why do Hollywood movies dominate the global film market? Is it because their overall film quality is a cut above that of other countries?

Definitely not. While Hollywood certainly produces many excellent films, it also produces just as many bad and terrible movies each year as other countries.

So why has it become synonymous with a good movie? Because of its distribution channels.

Hollywood's major studios control key aspects of film production and distribution through vertical integration and global networks.

Note that this refers to the global network.

The specific way this network operates is to establish its own distribution offices in key film markets and to form non-competitive partnerships with other studios in smaller or less mature markets to reduce costs.

For example, Golden Harvest on Hong Kong Island, in addition to its Chinese-language film cinemas, also has a "Pan-Asia" cinema chain that specializes in importing and screening Western films. A few years later, "Jurassic Park" was released in the "Pan-Asia" cinema chain.

In return, in 1989, Golden Harvest co-produced "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" with the United States, which was distributed by a Hollywood film company.

This connection also played a role in Jackie Chan's later entry into Hollywood.

To illustrate how important distribution channels are to a film, let's take Jackie Chan as an example.

When it comes to which Jackie Chan movie is the most classic, everyone has their own opinion. Some say "Police Story", some say "Armour of God" and others say "Rumble in the Bronx".

But no one could possibly call it the "Rush Hour" series. The quality of this movie is at best only average among Jackie Chan's works.

However, the objective fact is that the Rush Hour series, whose quality can only be considered above average, has grossed more worldwide than all of Jackie Chan's other films combined.

Rush Hour 2 alone surpasses the total number of most of Jackie Chan's individual films combined.

This shows that if a movie wants to make money, it's not enough to make it well; you also need to distribute it well.

If the release is good, even if the film quality is just average, the cumulative box office revenue from various countries and regions will amount to a very considerable sum.

Before David's time travel, although the quality of Hollywood movies was declining year by year, they still managed to maintain their top position thanks to their global distribution network.

In 2024, Hollywood films accounted for approximately 69.5% of the global box office market, a significant decline from over 90% in 2010. However, they still shamelessly clung to their dominant position.

This demonstrates just how coveted the distribution channels of major Hollywood studios were in this era, with film companies in Europe, Southeast Asia, and even Australia extremely eager to secure their distribution contracts.

"Damn, I'd better take a good look." David thought to himself as he carefully selected and stacked the scripts mailed from overseas countries. "I never thought that just having my name on a script would be worth so much these days."

Yes, he didn't plan to direct it himself because he had another project, "The Rape of Pear Blossoms," to finish and simply couldn't find the time to direct a film from another country.

The Hollywood industrial process system of this era is already very sophisticated, and it is almost the limit for a person to direct one or two movies a year.

As for serving as a producer, there is no limit to the number of times one can lend their name to a production, but if one is personally in charge of a production, the limit is one or two films.

David's goal is to direct three films in two years; as for producing, that's something to consider later.