Huayu 05, our science fiction movie universe

Chapter 651 2019 is coming
The Martian swept the nation, and Wang Hao and the main creative team of the film crew split into two groups. He led Jing Tian, ​​while the assistant director led Liu Ye, and they began a nationwide promotional roadshow.

Both teams, especially Wang Hao's group, almost always create a sensation wherever they go.

Some netizens even joked that Wang Hao, the chairman of a conglomerate and a billionaire worth hundreds of billions, is truly a model of integrity in the industry to interact with moviegoers in a cinema.

Some netizens joked, "This might be the only opportunity in my life I'll ever have to get up close and personal with a billionaire."

Some netizens commented, "Director Wang is really down-to-earth."

Wang Hao also responded to this netizen on Douyin.

"Making money isn't shameful."

After touring a number of first-tier cities in China, the crew of "The Martian" also traveled abroad to Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Australia, and Europe and America.

Although there are some frictions between China and other countries due to trade issues, there are not many restrictions in terms of culture.

The Martian was released five days later overseas than in China, but its box office performance was just as good.

Excellent works can always transcend language and cultural limitations.

Moreover, the StarCraft cinematic universe has a large following overseas, and with the support of this core audience, The Martian achieved a respectable $1.71 million in box office revenue on its opening day overseas.

Of course, although the friction has not yet affected the cultural field, Wang Hao and Jing Tian still did not go on this overseas promotional trip.

After all, he is the CEO of the largest private cultural enterprise in China, so there are some things we have to be wary of.

Moreover, Douyin, owned by Galaxy Group, has been making great strides overseas in the past year and has now taken the top spot among overseas short video platforms.

Judging from the United States' subsequent targeting of TikTok, some individuals are not incapable of doing anything without any moral boundaries under the right conditions.

Moreover, after finishing the domestic promotional tour for "The Martian," Wang Hao really couldn't find the time.

At the beginning of the new year, there are still many things that Wang Hao, the big boss of a group company, needs to know and make decisions about.

"Chairman Wang, this is Xinghe Pictures' project schedule for this year."

The young secretary placed a document in front of Wang Hao, who picked it up and looked through it.

In 2019, Galaxy Pictures released five films belonging to the Galaxy Cinematic Universe series. In addition to the currently showing "The Martian", there were also "Detective Chinatown 1900", "Operation Red Sea", "Train to Busan 2", and "The Witch 2".

There are three films that do not belong to the [Galaxy Cinematic Universe]: The Captain, Looking Up, and Lanruo Temple from the [Zushan Cinematic Universe].

Of course, these are all works produced and distributed independently by Galaxy Pictures. As for the other film and television works invested by Galaxy Pictures, there is no need to say more.

In addition, Xinghe Pictures has several films that have been greenlit for production this year, such as the film "Sky Ladder". Director Guo Fan has officially joined the crew and is working on props and set design.

Wang Hao's new film, "Game Era 1," is currently in the very early stages of script polishing.

In addition, Zhang Yimou's "The Wallfacer 2" has also begun preparations.

Wang Hao spent the entire morning reviewing the plans for these film and television projects in detail, and made comments on some of the content, marking the parts that needed to be modified and noted.

After reviewing Galaxy Pictures' 2019 project plan in the morning, he held a meeting with the group's film and television department in the afternoon.

Next came Xingdou Culture's new artist selection and training program, Xingyou Entertainment's development of several AAA titles, Xingkong Video's web series projects, Xingcai Comics' key project achievements, and the future development of Xinghe Cinema and Xinghe Paradise.

In particular, Galaxy Park will be a key focus for Galaxy Group in the coming year, in addition to the Galaxy Cinematic Universe project.

However, Wang Hao's instructions were to first ensure the successful operation of the first phase of [Xinghe Paradise], develop more business and profit points, and improve the professional skills of the park's staff. As for the commencement of the second phase project, there was no rush.

In contrast, the expansion of Douyin and its overseas version was the core focus that the company truly prioritized during its business restructuring in 2019.

It can be said that 2019 was still a busy year for Xinghe Group, which was in a period of growth.

The only good news is that the group's overall framework is well-established and its internal management is orderly, so Wang Hao doesn't have to worry too much and can balance his personal creative work, family, and career.

And the key point is that he also has a good wife who doesn't cause trouble or make a fuss, and has a cheerful and generous personality. She truly embodies the perfect example of a virtuous wife.

While Wang Hao enjoys a happy family and a thriving career, his peers in the entertainment industry are having a much tougher time.

Take Huayi Brothers, for example. This company was once a partner of Xinghe Group and later a competitor. Last year alone, it lost 7 to 8 million yuan.

The main reason for this is that after Huayi Brothers went public, it tasted the sweetness of capital operation and gradually shifted its focus to capital.

In 17 and 18, when the domestic film and television culture market was developing rapidly and the number of screens and box office revenue per film were rising steadily, Huayi Brothers, as a listed company, only invested in and produced a handful of films.

而他们在2015年11月，却是能够用10.5亿元，收购刚成立仅2个月的东阳美拉70%的股权。

The reason Huayi Brothers paid such a high premium to acquire this company was to deeply bind itself to Feng Xiaogang, but the core reason was to use positive news to boost the company's stock price.

However, although Huayi Brothers and Feng Xiaogang signed a five-year performance-based agreement, Dongyang Meila promised that its after-tax net profit would be no less than 100 million yuan annually from 2016 to 2020, with an annual growth rate of 15%.

However, in reality, during the five years of the bet, the number of films produced by Feng Xiaogang gradually decreased. He only directed and released three films: "I Am Not Madame Bovary," "Youth," and "Only Cloud Knows," which grossed 4.83 million yuan, 14.22 billion yuan, and 1.59 million yuan respectively.

It can be said that Feng Xiaogang's Dongyang Meila failed to meet the figures agreed upon in the performance-based agreement twice, which led to a drop in the market value of Huayi Brothers' stock.

It can only be said that Huayi Brothers, once the "top film and television company" in China, with a peak market value of nearly 900 billion yuan in 2015, is now like Wang Xiaoer celebrating the New Year—getting worse year by year.

Not long ago, there were rumors in the industry that Alibaba Pictures provided Huayi Brothers with a loan of 7 million yuan, with a loan term of 5 years.

Money is easy to borrow, but it's not so easy to fake company performance.

Nowadays, Huayi Brothers no longer has the star power that once made up half of the entertainment industry. Its signed director, Feng Xiaogang, has become a has-been in the entertainment circle.

Compared to the abundance of talent at Galaxy Pictures, including Wang Hao, Zhang Yang, Li Kui, Lu Yang, Guo Fan, and Zhang Yimou…

Any one of these people could make a movie that would far surpass Huayi Brothers' productions.

Not to mention Xinghe Film City, the largest film and television production base in China, which surpasses Hengdian in terms of technological sophistication.

And then there's Xinghe Paradise, the largest film and television theme park in the country. It's safe to say that in just four or five years, Xinghe Group has left Huayi Brothers in the dust.

When Huayi Brothers felt the pressure from the rise of Xinghe Group, they even considered suppressing it and proactively cutting off contact, which now seems like a joke.

As they continued to suppress them, they became marginalized and were overtaken by smaller, emerging forces within the industry.

Compared to Huayi Brothers, it has another unfortunate sibling, Wanda Pictures.

However, unlike Huayi Brothers, it did not lose out because of a feud with Xinghe Pictures.

In fact, over the years, Wanda Pictures has benefited from Jing Tian's connections and has hitched a ride on the rapid rise of Xinghe Group.

However, the film and television culture industry is not one of Wanda's main businesses.

In the past few years, Wanda Group's cultural tourism, real estate, and investment businesses have been plagued by defaults.

In June 2017, it was named by the China Banking Regulatory Commission and its overseas asset investment was restricted.

In 2018, the company faced multiple turmoil and operational challenges, including a surge in the risk of default on performance-based agreements and pressure to go public, high debt due to the downturn in the real estate market and the need to sell assets, in addition to the growing pains of transitioning to an asset-light model.

The most typical example is that Wang Jianlin, the head of Wanda Group, has dropped from fourth place on the Forbes China Rich List to outside the top ten.

On the contrary, Wang Hao's ranking on the rich list has risen again thanks to the rise of Douyin, the establishment of the "Galaxy Paradise" brand, and the commercial valuation of the huge IP "Galaxy Cinema Universe".

According to Forbes' estimates, Wang Hao's current net worth is $261 billion, ranking sixth on the list. He is also the youngest male billionaire among the top ten on the Forbes China Rich List.

That is to say, Wang Hao is already married and has children; otherwise, wouldn't all those young women and wives be eager to get close to him?

Of course, even if he were married, with his status as an internationally renowned director and sixth on the rich list, there are still quite a few beautiful female celebrities who see him as a tempting target.

In response, Wang Hao can only say that he is not a gentleman. In the entertainment industry, he occasionally slacks off, but at most he just plays around and would never bring people home.

Of course, there's no need to elaborate on this kind of scandalous affair; it's just a minor embellishment in Wang Hao's daily life.

He focuses more of his energy on the company and his work.

Unlike Huayi Brothers, which has moved away from film production, Xinghe Group has long since evolved beyond just his personal Xinghe Group. Behind the entire group are countless families, as well as the future and hope of China's film and television culture industry.

Although the top leader of the cultural department did not explicitly state this point at the industry development conference organized by the cultural and broadcasting departments after the Spring Festival, he also highly praised Wang Hao's "The Martian" for achieving a box office of 60 billion yuan during the Spring Festival season.

The top leader spoke about the rapid development of the domestic film market in the past few years, affirming the achievements of the domestic cultural and film industry.

On the other hand, he also highlighted Xinghe Group's innovation in the domestic film industry, its deep cultivation of the film industrialization system, its construction of the film and television peripheral industry chain, and its expansion into overseas markets.

It can be said that Xinghe Group and Wang Hao were almost the absolute protagonists at this cultural department meeting.

Unfortunately, throughout 2018, Xinghe Group was indeed the most outstanding player in the domestic film and television culture market, presenting a situation of dominance.

In terms of works, Galaxy Group led the investment, production and release of seven films in 2018, namely "Hello Mr. Billionaire", "Sheep Without a Shepherd", "The Legend of Zu", "Wolf Warrior 3", "Speed ​​Chase 2", "The Wallfacer" and "Mechanic 2".

The seven films have grossed a total of over 180 billion RMB in China.

What was the total box office revenue in China in 2018? It was only 610 billion RMB.

It can be said that Xinghe Group's box office revenue accounts for almost 30% of the total annual box office revenue in mainland China, not even counting Xinghe Group's other scattered film and television investments.

Its very existence is a major achievement for the cultural department.

Wang Hao also spoke on behalf of private film and television companies at the meeting.

"Thank you for the concern of the leaders, the support of my colleagues, and the love of the audience."

I feel very honored to be standing here today, representing domestic film and television companies to make this speech.

Over the past year, we have achieved considerable success in the film and television cultural industry. Compared to the past millennium, we have seen tremendous growth in the number of screens, the number of moviegoers, the number of films, and box office revenue…

The official speeches and meetings lasted for almost half a day.

In the afternoon, it's time to discuss things behind closed doors.

In this regard, there are only a handful of representatives from private film and television companies who are able to participate in internal meetings of the cultural department.

Wang Hao was undoubtedly among these people, and he was the most central figure.

In contrast to his eloquent speech and eulogies at the conference in the morning, Wang Hao mainly talked about some industry pain points and problems that the leaders were unaware of, as well as the challenges they would face in the future, at this internal meeting.

These pain points and problems include both the industry's own deep-seated contradictions and the impact of drastic changes in the external environment.

Wang Hao spoke candidly at the internal meeting, genuinely with the intention of contributing to the industry's development, and shared a great deal of information.

First, there is the slowdown in the growth rate of the domestic film and television market and the prominence of structural contradictions.

This is mainly reflected in the weakening growth momentum of the mainland box office, as well as the intensification of the head effect and the predicament of small and medium-sized budgets.

As the old saying goes, prosperity inevitably leads to decline.

China's film and television culture industry has maintained a high growth rate in recent years.

Whether it's film and television works, or cinemas and big screens, their numbers are increasing year by year, and the number of moviegoers is also increasing every year.

However, the actual growth rate of the domestic population is not that high, and the number of newborns is even declining year by year.

Under these circumstances, the domestic film viewing potential has been almost completely exhausted, and the mainland film and television culture industry will soon shift from an incremental market to a stock market.

Despite the fact that the total box office revenue of the domestic film market in 2018 increased significantly compared to the previous year.

However, according to Wang Hao and the information and data departments and strategy departments within Xinghe Group, the total box office data of the domestic film market this year should enter a period of stagnation.

(End of this chapter)