Chapter 868

The second season of "The Walking Dead" has been filmed, and Twain attended the wrap-up reception.

The first season of "The Walking Dead", with a total cost of up to 100 million US dollars, shocked the entire United States. Since it aired on Starz at the end of October last year, the market has responded very well.

In the past 6 months, in the first season of "The Walking Dead", more than 1 million sets of ordinary DVD discs have been sold worldwide. The main sales areas are North America and Europe, with a revenue of 130 million US dollars!

Hardcover high-definition HD-DVD disc sets are more expensive, retailing for as much as $199!

Mainly for North America, it sold 95,000 units and generated $19 million in revenue.

In the past six months, the sales of DVD and HD-DVD alone reached 150 million US dollars!

This kind of sales performance is second only to "Band of Brothers" in the history of TV dramas.

No way, the record for "Band of Brothers" will probably never be broken.

Since its broadcast in 2001, the global sales of videotapes and DVD sets of "Band of Brothers" have exceeded 560 million US dollars, and it is still growing.

It would take at least three seasons for "The Walking Dead" to reach the heights of "Band of Brothers."

However, it cannot be denied that the earning power of "The Walking Dead" is second only to "Band of Brothers" among TV dramas.

I don't know what effect the "Warcraft" broadcast at the end of this year and the "Rome" broadcast next year will have.

Compared with the $100 million production budget of "The Walking Dead" in the first season, the cost of the second season is much lower, only $50 million.

The main reason is that with the foundation of the first season, many scenes, clothing, geographical selection and house construction have been completed, and only need to be repaired, and there is no need to make drastic changes like the first season.

TV shows and movies are very different.

In today's Hollywood movies, especially computer-generated commercial blockbusters, the cost of special effects accounts for 60% of the total budget, and the cost of shooting is usually only about 15%.

Because of the length of the TV series, the cost of filming and post-production are the big expenses.

Of the $50 million budget for The Walking Dead's second season, $12 million went to producers, directors, cast and crew. The shooting cost was 13 million US dollars, the post-production cost was 12 million US dollars, the special effects expenditure was 6 million US dollars, and the design, costumes and props of various scenes cost 7 million US dollars.

The movie is a big screen, even an imax giant screen, and the production of special effects must be refined and exquisite. As long as there is a little roughness, it will be reflected on the big screen, which will bring a bad viewing experience to the audience.

TV is different, TV... is the small screen.

And limited by the resolution of the TV, 1K is already the limit.

Higher special effects requirements are completely wasteful. Even if the resolution of the film and television works is higher, it will not be able to play the ideal effect due to the limitation of the TV's projection equipment.

Therefore, even for TV series with large productions of special effects such as "Band of Brothers" and "Game of Thrones", the special effects expenditure of a season of TV series is between 5 million and 6 million US dollars.

The so-called 4K TVs in later generations are often just gimmicks hyped by merchants, which do not meet market demand at all.

In order for a TV to broadcast 4K images, three checkpoints need to be cleared: first, a video content source with 4K image quality; second, an optical fiber pipeline that can transmit 4K image quality;

Even if 4K TVs and signal providers can solve the last two problems, how can 4K quality video programs be solved?

Ordinary TV programs are all 1K quality.

2K quality is Blu-ray high-definition.

4K quality... only possible with movies!

It's 2004 now.

Ordinary digital copies of movies are only about 1.5K. How high a resolution can a TV set be? The latest Sony high-definition TV, that is, 1K picture quality.

For the same reason, the special effects expenditure of computer games is also very low.

For example, Blizzard Studios under New Universal spent four years building the online game World of Warcraft.

The research and development funds of this game are 40 million U.S. dollars, of which the special effects cost 8 million U.S. dollars.

$8 million...probably produces the highest-end special effects for a 10-second movie shot.

Compared with the special effects of movies, whether it is TV dramas, games, commercials, or MVs, all the special effects are scum.

Movies are the soul of the special effects industry.

At the wrap-up reception, Tang En saw Francis Lawrence, the assistant director of "The Walking Dead".

As a director who was born in the MV industry, Francis Lawrence has been feeling very anxious and anxious in recent days.

Go forward five years and he's no different than Zack Snyder or Gore Verbinski.

They are all directors who take commercial commercials and shoot MVs for singers.

However, time flies. After a few years, everything changed.

Zack Snyder made "Ghost Rider", which was well-received and well-received, and he seems to be the hottest director in Hollywood today.

Gore Verbinski is even more exaggerated.

He went so far as to shoot "Pirate Alliance 2: Dead Man's Chest"!

As a result, the film’s box office in North America was 139 million US dollars in the first week, and 143 million US dollars in the second week... In two weeks, the box office in North America was as high as 282 million US dollars!

Looking at the entire summer season, such box office results are second only to Dreamworks' cartoon "Shrek 2"!

Even more than "Ghost Rider" with $220 million, "The Day After Tomorrow" with $160 million, "Bourne Shadow 2" with $150 million, "Mad Max: Fury Road" with $140 million...

The explosive box office success shocked the entire United States.

Who is Gore Verbinski?

Before that, everyone didn't know each other at all.

Then, he met Tang En.

Then, it was like he was on a rocket, and his name spread throughout Hollywood overnight.

For such an encounter in life, Francis Lawrence would inevitably not be envious and jealous.

He had known Tang En earlier.

However, he has filmed two seasons of "The Walking Dead", and he is also an assistant director...

Walking in front of Francis Lawrence, Tang En saw his unnatural expression, realized something, and couldn't help laughing: "Why, are you in a hurry?"

Francis Lawrence was slightly embarrassed, and said embarrassingly: "I know, my ability is not enough, I still need to learn..."

Tang En said: "Universal Pictures is preparing a movie "Wanted Warrant", and it will be launched next month. The director is Abrams. I plan to ask you to help. According to the plan, "Wanted Warrant" will be filmed in two , Abrams will only make one, and if possible, the opportunity for a sequel will be given to you."

"Huh? Really?"

Francis Lawrence was instantly agitated.

Tang En nodded, "However, there are some things that need to be clarified in advance. Both "Wanted" will be supervised by Abrams. This time, you will serve as a production assistant and assistant director to assist He made this movie well. If he is satisfied with your ability, you will naturally be the director, and if he treats you...you know what I mean."

Francis Lawrence is only 34 years old this year, which can be regarded as becoming famous at a young age.

In his previous life, he was selected by Warner's producers and successively made two blockbuster films, "Hell Detective" and "I Am Legend".

The effect can only be said to be unsatisfactory.

It didn't make Warner lose money, but it didn't make money either.

He was born as an MV director, and his film visual style is very characteristic. However, the ability to tell stories is slightly lacking, and the grasp of the rhythm of the movie is always uncertain.

He was subsequently dropped by Warner.

Later, he was selected by Ninaja Kobsen to take over the filming of the "Hunger Games" series. The box office was a big hit, but the word of mouth was so bad.

In the final analysis, the story is still not smooth enough.

Tang En intends to cultivate Francis Lawrence.

First, let him spend two years with Frank Darabont and film two seasons of "The Walking Dead". Next, he will be sent to J.J. Abrams to study for one year and participate in the filming and production of "Wanted".

The main reason is to hope that he can follow the two of them and learn more about the control of the rhythm of the movie and the content of the story.

Once he returns from his studies, he will be another great assistant of Tang En!

The ability will not be worse than Zach Schneider!

If he didn't succeed...then there was nothing he could do, and Tang En would not give him another chance.

No matter how rich Tang En was, he would never make fun of big commercial productions.

While Tang En was chatting with Francis Lawrence, Isla Fisher, who was attending the reception with him, suddenly walked over and whispered something in his ear.

Tang En's eyes lit up immediately, he was quite excited, "Really?"

"It's true, Mr. Parry notified you as soon as the documents came out." Isla Fisher pursed her lips and added, "You know, it's because of the jet lag."

"Okay!" Tang En couldn't care less about the wrap-up reception, and wished he could leave right away, "Book a flight immediately, and fly to England!"

Really good news!

The merger and acquisition transaction of Liverpool Football Club has gone through layers of review, and finally completed!

From now on, Liverpool will be Twain's private team!

Although it is expensive, it is very cost-effective whether it is from an entertainment point of view or an investment point of view.

Now, it is mid-July.

The transfer market in European football has been open for more than a month, and heavy deals are coming out frequently.

The most important one is Manchester United!

They spent 30 million pounds to buy Wayne Rooney, an 18-year-old England kid who shined in the European Cup!

In addition, because of poor performance in the European Cup, the Italian national team recruited "Silver Fox" Lippi from Juventus to take over in an attempt to revitalize Italian football. And then a wave of turmoil in Italian football was blown.

Juventus has dug out big-name coach Fabio Capello from Rome.

Roma was not a wealthy family. After losing Capello's cohesion, the stars began to leave one after another, including Emerson, Samuel, Totti, De Rossi, Cassano and other Roma soul players, all fell into the trap. Transfer rumors.

Not only that, last season's Champions League champion Porto, because of the loss of coach Mourinho, the cohesion has also disappeared, including Deco, Carvalho, Pereira, Alberto and other stars have entered the transfer market.

It's time to act!

As Abramovich said.

Buying a team, isn't the greatest joy to be making waves in the transfer market, and then watching the players you have selected become invincible on the field?

Twain must hurry up and order Rick Parry, the CEO of Liverpool, to grab all those outstanding players as quickly as possible!

Time is ticking!