Violence supervision in Conan

Chapter 473 Acquiring IMAX, Laying the Foundation for the Future
His past life experience told Oni Takeshi that IMAX technology represents the future of the film industry, or at least one of the futures.

Avatar is the best example.

Some believe that the first film shot using this technology was Avatar.

This statement is actually incorrect.

Leaving aside Hollywood, the first 3D movie imported to mainland China was "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in 08.

At the time, with only 86 3D screens in mainland China, it grossed 6800 million yuan at the box office, which was already a very impressive figure.

The 09 film "Up" was also a 3D movie, and it grossed over 9000 million at the box office.

This shows the level of acceptance and acceptance of 3D movies in the mainland market at that time!

This is true both in mainland China and abroad; after all, nobody is a fool, and better audiovisual effects naturally attract people.

of course.

Undeniably, the creation of Avatar spurred and accelerated the explosion of 3D screens and movies, making more people aware of 3D films.

Before Avatar, very few people knew about this technology; at the time, it was something only seasoned movie fans cared about.

However, this is not a new term in the industry; otherwise, IMAX would not have been able to go public.

However, its prospects are not optimistic, because its advantages and disadvantages are equally prominent.

In the end, it all comes down to this: It's too expensive!
Firstly, in terms of filming, an IMAX movie camera costs as much as $500 million. This is not because IMAX is greedy and deliberately sets the price of the camera so high.

Rather, an IMAX movie camera does indeed require such a high cost. Even the price of 500 million is the cost price, a low price that the official had to offer in order to promote IMAX photography technology. Otherwise, no film company would invest such a huge sum of money to buy such a camera.

After all, this is a camera that requires eight people to operate, and shooting an IMAX movie requires at least four such cameras.

Therefore, the investment cost in cameras alone has reached a staggering $2000 million.

Not to mention that this $2000 million camera also requires 32 professional technicians, whose salaries alone would amount to at least several hundred thousand dollars.

The high cost of cameras is only part of the problem; the post-production costs after filming are also enormous.

Firstly, because IMAX cameras use different shooting techniques and produce a completely different final result compared to traditional movie footage, they require specialized technicians for post-production.

In addition to visuals, the demands for sound, light, and electricity are also entirely new.

Not only would it require more than three times the post-production manpower, but these people would also need to undergo IMAX technology training in advance, otherwise they wouldn't even be able to figure out how to operate the specialized software.

Ultimately, even if the production company is willing to spend a huge sum of money to resolve these two issues, IMAX movies still cannot be released, because there are simply no cinemas in the world capable of supporting the screening of IMAX movies.

Even ten years later in 2004, there was only one cinema in the world that could show IMAX movies. This cinema was located at the headquarters of IMAX Corporation and was built by the latter itself.

Even by 2009, when Avatar was released, there were still fewer than 100 true IMAX theaters worldwide.

If a movie can only be shown in 100 theaters, then even if all the Oscar-winning directors in the world came together to make a movie, the box office would only be a few million at most, not even enough to break even.

Some might argue that this doesn't make sense, since we already saw Avatar in the theater, wasn't that an IMAX movie?
That's right, it wasn't an IMAX movie at all.

When the film was released in 2009, there were only three cinemas in all of China that truly showed IMAX movies: two in Beijing and one in Shanghai. That was all.

Anyone who thinks they've seen the IMAX version of Avatar has actually only seen the 3D version.

Basically, it's like wearing 3D glasses to give you a slight feel for the effect of the subtitles appearing, and that's about it. 98% of Avatar viewers are just watching the IMAX version, which they think is superior.

It is precisely because of these many insurmountable reasons that investors have no confidence in IMAX.

No matter how advanced your film technology is, if there are only a handful of cinemas in the world that can screen your film, then no director will be willing to use such film technology.

This means that your company is a worthless company.

Even though IMAX was actually founded as early as 1967 and has released more than 10 early versions of experimental IMAX films, the company has always been losing money.

The company went through one boss after another, losing over 10 billion US dollars without ever making a profit.

How can a company destined to lose money attract investment in the capital market?

Therefore, IMAX's stock performance today can only be described as absolutely terrible.

No investors have any confidence in it at all.

And this is Ono Takeshi's chance!

Knowing that he would not think of IMAX technology as merely a flashy but impractical thing, unlike people of this era, he was different.

Ono Takeshi has high hopes for its future.

As times progress, technology will only become more advanced, and there will be more and more true IMAX cinemas. The key lies in seizing the opportunity!
Therefore, IMAX's current situation presents a perfect opportunity to buy at the bottom!
So Takeshi Ono went to the other party's headquarters in New York.

IMAX Corporation warmly welcomed Takeshi Ono's arrival.

Although IMAX is a long-established publicly traded company, it is still no match for Takeshi Ono, who is a true Hollywood mogul. How could a small company like IMAX, whose existence is still uncertain, compare to him?
Therefore, when facing Takeshi Ono, IMAX executives unconsciously placed themselves in a subordinate position.

Without wasting any words, Ono Takeshi directly expressed his intention to acquire the company.

Upon hearing this, IMAX's top executives were initially taken aback, not expecting that Takeshi Ono would come to acquire their company. They were then caught in a dilemma of mixed feelings.

They certainly didn't want to sell the company, after all, it was everyone's hard work, but the realities they faced forced them to consider it carefully.

Although IMAX successfully went public, the outcome was far beyond the expectations of all the top executives and greatly undermined their confidence.

IMAX Corporation simply cannot gain the recognition of the capital market. Forget about raising money, it has almost lost everything!

In addition to expenses on technology research and development and equipment procurement, we are losing money almost every month, and the losses are huge.

Even the top executives couldn't see any hope, feeling that the company's future was bleak and wondering how long it could hold on.

Oni Takeshi's appearance gave them another option.

It's not that no one has proposed selling equity to bring in capital before, but unfortunately, no one is willing to invest. Nobody is stupid; it's obvious that IMAX is a huge pit, so who would want to jump in?

Oni Takeshi was the only sucker!
However, he proposed a full acquisition, and once the acquisition was successful, he would privatize and delist IMAX, making it his complete private property.

Some of these high-ranking officials opposed it, some hesitated, but most tended to agree.

IMAX's current situation is really dire; they are simply struggling to stay afloat.

Oni Takeshi's suggestion made these people want to escape.

IMAX itself has undergone several rounds of equity changes, and now most of its shareholders are not technical personnel, but speculators trying to make a quick buck.

Now that the situation is about to break, they naturally want to get out as soon as possible.

This gave Ono Takeshi the opportunity to defeat them one by one.

Ultimately, through his lobbying, IMAX executives held a vote and won with a 72% majority.

The minority submits to the majority; no matter how unwilling others are, they have no recourse.

Finally, the two parties reached an agreement, and Takeshi Ono acquired a total of 90% of the shares from the top management and the stock market for US$5 million, becoming the unshakable controlling shareholder of IMAX Corporation!
After the two parties signed the contract, IMAX officially became Takeshi Ono's possession!

Next, Takeshi Ono assigned someone to handle the privatization and delisting, completely turning IMAX into his private property.

Such an important company deserves to be firmly in my own hands to feel at ease.

Following that, Takeshi Ono invested another 200 million US dollars as research and development funds, and the previously stagnant technology research and development was restarted.

They also stated that they would fully support IMAX's technological development.

Seeing how generous Oni no Takeshi was, those who stayed behind felt relieved, and the anxiety caused by the change of ownership subsided.

With Takeshi Ono's financial support, IMAX quickly got on the right track.

Future development will be even faster than in the past, and perhaps in the near future, true IMAX movies will be born in this world!

It's no secret that Takeshi Ono acquired IMAX, because the plan to privatize and delist the company couldn't be kept from those who were interested.

Upon learning that Ono Takeshi had actually acquired such a sinkhole, many people were taken aback but immediately burst into gloating laughter.

Everyone can see the potential of IMAX technology, but why is nobody interested? It's because it's a trap!
Unexpectedly, Ono Takeshi jumped down!

Even Lao Dong made a special trip over there, intending to persuade Oni Takeshi not to invite trouble upon himself.

However, Ono Takeshi was determined and stubbornly insisted on his own opinion, ignoring Lao Dong's advice.

Old Dong had no choice but to accept it.

Looking at Old Dong's regretful expression, which seemed to say "you'll definitely regret this," Ono Takeshi smiled faintly and offered no explanation.

The future will prove who is right.

Although IMAX may seem like a trap, who knows what a huge gold mine lies beneath it?
Takeshi Onino is determined to be the one who digs the last shovelful!
Having sown the seeds for the future, Ono Takeshi has nothing urgent to deal with for the time being.

But perhaps even fate couldn't bear to see him have it easy, because not long after, a phone call suddenly came through on his cell phone—

"Huh? You said you've already finished writing Harry Potter?"

(End of this chapter)