Austin Hogan sat in front of his desk, tidied up his thoughts for a moment, then picked up the phone and connected the secretary's division line outside the office, "Help me dial the office of Chaos Film and find Lancelot Strello." After hanging up the phone, waiting for about a minute, the secretary pushed open the office door, "Lance is not in the company, I only found Ian Strello."

Austin let out a sigh of relief and nodded to the secretary, "Line 2." After the secretary finished speaking, he closed the door lightly.

If you have a choice, Austin still hopes to communicate with Lance. It’s not that Lance speaks better. In fact, Lance is even stronger than Ian and Theo in his heart, and he often doesn’t leave room for maneuver when talking. But Austin knows that Lance is a pure filmmaker, not a businessman, so he often doesn’t catch too tightly on some detailed and ending issues.

However, obviously he has no choice now.

After grabbing the receiver, Austin heard the relaxed and freehand voice on the other end of the phone, "Austin, what can I help?" Ian is always like this, hospitality, cheerful and bright, but unruly, and has a special charm in every move.

"Of course, after discussion on the cooperation of Sin City, we decided to expand the release scale of the movie from next week, so there are some details on the contract that need to be communicated." Austin's personality is still straightforward, without the courtesy of social occasions, but it also makes things more pure.

"Oh." Ian seemed to sound surprising, of course, Austin knew, Ian was not surprised at all, "This is good news, I think Lance will be very happy." Ian's gentle voice was filled with a hint of joy, which made people not hate at all, "So, I will fully cooperate with what needs to be changed."

"It was decided to expand to 900 theaters for screenings, and the number of screens will reach 2,938 yuan, for at least three weeks." Austin listed a simple series of numbers, but the most plain expression was like hitting a ball, smashing towards Ian quickly and fiercely, leaving Ian with almost no time to respond.

"Oh?" Ian was indeed a little surprised, this time it was true.

After the tug-of-war, "City of Sin" won the screening qualifications of 694 theaters, including 2,099 screens. Then, under the matchmaking, Royal Entertainment and other theaters also agreed to this plan. After adjusting according to their respective proportions, they ensured that the movie's premiere was released in 2,700 theaters on the weekend. On average, the screening screens of each theater were about three, but less than three.

Now, not only are more than 200 theaters added in one go, but each theater is guaranteed to have at least three screens on average.

With this detail alone, sincerity can be seen. What's more, this scale will be maintained for at least three weeks, which also means that the "City of Sin" can maintain such a large-scale screening in the next three weeks, winning a more favorable geographical location to defeat the "Saharan Cavalry".

From the perspective of a film company, this is indeed a very gratifying thing. But Ian was not overwhelmed by joy because he clearly realized that the increase in theater screenings in the next three weeks actually increased Chaos Film's revenue, which also meant that the revenue of theaters would increase more.

It can be said that this should be a strategic adjustment by theaters to win more benefits, not for friendship or something.

Now, the bait is actively throwing out, obviously hoping to express friendship and extending an olive branch. But in Ian's view, this means that if Chaos Pictures accepts this favor, does it mean that Chaos Pictures still need to give up some of the benefits when signing long-term contracts in the future? Sure enough, they have played a good game and won the benefits for themselves. They also want Chaos Pictures to be grateful. This is the rules of the game on Wall Street.

"I believe Lance will be very happy to know this news." Ian said politely, with a relaxed smile on his lips, "I said at the beginning, please believe Lance's ability, you will not regret it." Then, Ian hit the ball that Austin threw back: You are the one who gets the benefits, don't behave well if you get the cheap.

Austin knew that Ian was not so easy to fool. After only a few conversations, Ian had already launched a counterattack, but Austin was not willing to be outdone. "Of course, any money-making movie is welcomed warmly." This sentence is actually an hinting that Chaos Pictures is just a small company in Hollywood, and the output of works in a year cannot exceed one hand, so it is best not to be too greedy.

"That's for sure, no one will refuse to make money, right?" Ian also answered.

Although Chaos Pictures is not large in scale, Lance has already exceeded 200 million in two consecutive works. Now it seems that "City of Sin" also has such potential. Chaos Pictures is a money cow that can make sure to make money. Who would refuse? Ian believes that it will not.

Austin heard Ian's implicit voice, and he also knew that this was a process of tug of war between the two sides. From the current point of view, Chaos Film has been imperative to establish a distribution department, and it has certain strength. The cooperation between major theaters and Chaos Film is not a problem, but there are many parts worth discussing in terms of cooperation details.

If the box office of "City of Sin" really exceeds the threshold of 200 million, then Chaos Pictures is indeed worth a gamble. After all, the current distribution dividend ratio of the entire Hollywood industry is almost at this level. The profit dividends of large distribution companies and small distribution companies are not much different. The real difference is in the thickness of resources, such as the number of screens, the geographical location of theaters, the location of posters in theaters, the degree of recommendation of theater employees, the schedule of screenings, the amount of movie promotion content inside theaters, and other publicity-related details.

But if the subsequent box office performance of "City of Sin" is weak, especially when theaters have added screening venues and their performance does not meet expectations, then they will never be ruthless.

So, now it is just the beginning, and both sides are just testing each other's bottom line.

"So, what new work plans do Lance have recently?" Austin changed the topic. Although it has no direct connection with the distribution, he is exploring the resources of Chaos Pictures. At present, Chaos Pictures relies entirely on Lance to create alone. Lance's creative inspiration directly determines Chaos Pictures' competitiveness.

Ian chuckled, "Why, have you heard the inside information?" A rebellious question made Austin stunned, "But the inside information is not credible at present. Lance has several projects to choose from, but he is not in a hurry for the time being. After all, the most important thing at the moment is not the new work plan, isn't it?"

Austin believes that with Lance's current reputation, there will definitely be no fewer projects to come to the door, but he was surprised that the information revealed from Ian's words showed that Lance was not willing to take on external projects and was more inclined to create a new project by himself. This is good news. Lance, who keeps creative inspiration, is currently the most concerned object of the entire North American market.

"Then let's wait and see." Austin didn't continue to inquire. He planned to listen to the rumors in the circle first. "Does the contract details need to be interviewed?"

"No need, you fax it directly to the office. Theo will sign it after reading it and then send it back." Ian agreed without any entanglement, because he knew that it was unnecessary to worry about these details now. When Chaos Film and theaters discuss long-term cooperation, the real battle will begin.

Austin obviously understood this. Ian was indeed a fox, so smart that he didn't want to let go of any details. "Very good, then that's it. If you have time next week, come out for lunch together." This is not politeness, but paving the way for the future cooperation negotiations between the two sides.

"Of course." Ian naturally would not refuse.

After hanging up the phone, Austin sat in the chair and thought for a while. A month ago, they did not pay much attention to Chaos Pictures' ideas. After all, the distribution department did not establish it just by saying it was established, but in the blink of an eye, their ideas were broken. It can be foreseeable that relying on the momentum of Lance, Chaos Pictures will be prosperous, just like the dream factory in the past.

However, this disadvantage is also huge. As one prospers and one loss, the entire Chaos Film is maintained on Lance alone. It is precisely this kind of adventure that makes Austin look forward to the future development of Chaos Film. What height can their distribution department reach?

Chaos Film is like a spring breeze, blowing into the dead Hollywood, but everyone will wait and see how it can change the situation and achieve the goal that DreamWorks has not achieved.

Immediately, Royal Entertainment, General Motors, Lianyi and other theaters contacted Chaos Film and discussed the expansion of the screening. The "City of Sin" that was released for only one week was on the road to expansion of the screening. The direct reaction of theaters is the most direct reflection of the prosperity of the entire market. Compared with media reports and the noisy Internet, this is unquestionable ironclad evidence.

After the release of many movies, they achieved excellent box office performance and excellent reputation feedback. The theater chain will arrange further expansion of the screenings and are fools who are rich but not profitable. But generally speaking, since the movie itself is released on a large scale, the expansion of the screenings fluctuates more within one or two hundred intervals. But this time, the "City of Sin" demonstrated its strength to sweep thousands of troops, which not only broke the media's expectations, but also refreshed the subjective judgments of major theater chains. Therefore, theater chains expressed their attitudes with practical actions: the huge expansion is in progress.

In the second week of April, "City of Sin" will be released in 3,300 theaters, with an expansion of 500 theaters, which is incredible. In contrast, "Saharan Cavalry" will be released in 3,150 theaters. To be continued.

...
Chapter completed!