Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Chapter 666 After the cinema chain layout, the financial layout follows! Dan Chen, the elegant little cat

Two blockbusters team up to fight against a single super blockbuster?
Regardless of whether this matter succeeds or not, Ma Xun's rallying cry today is a testament to his courage.

I wouldn't dare say I'll be remembered in history, but I've certainly made a name for myself in the entertainment industry.

Of course, Ma Xun was originally a top figure in the entertainment industry, so he also had reasons to take responsibility for doing this.

Lead our domestic films to fight against foreign enemies!
This situation, happening right now, bears some resemblance to Haha's old master's confrontation with French capital.

However, there is a difference. Ma Xun has not yet shouted out that he is fighting for the country or something like that... Well, that makes sense. His movie "Inception" was originally a Sino-US co-production, so it had American capital.

He couldn't shout it out!
So, in the end, it all comes down to profit.

Thinking of this, Jia Yueting's expression softened slightly, but the scene he had just witnessed still made him extremely jealous!
Yes, this is genuine jealousy, because what Ma Xun is doing now, and many of his actions, are things that Jia Yueting really wants to do, and even fantasizes that Ma Xun's position should be replaced by his.

It's obvious that Jia Yueting can't do that at all; all she can do is feel jealous.

Let's focus on the performance of the two Zhangs.

Coincidentally, Zhang Weiping, the owner of New Pictures, also set his sights on Jia Yueting.

The two looked at each other.

Jia Yueting immediately understood what this meant. It was very simple, because he had a very good relationship with Qin Hong from Xingmei.

Stellar Cinemas is not a very large cinema chain, but it's not small either.

In fact, the potential of the film market is now fully revealed, and the rise of Chinese films is first and foremost reflected in the market.

A lot of capital has already entered the market and made strategic moves; even the big brother Long has Yaolai.

However, Stellar Cinemas entered the market earlier and currently holds a fairly good market position.

So, the current situation is... it all depends on your attitude, Mr. Jia?
Jia Yueting felt something was very strange about this matter... He suddenly looked at Ma Xun again.

Hey! This guy is definitely looking at him too!

I understand now, I completely understand!
It's highly likely that Ma Xun's plan was a spur-of-the-moment decision; he only said these things after seeing that Jia Yueting had also arrived.

Ma Xun, you did this on purpose!
But condemning him now won't do any good; let's make a decision.

not good!

Jia Yueting suddenly realized that she simply couldn't say no!

Given the current situation, if he were to say no... wouldn't that be sabotage?
This has ruined our plan to unite our two films in the fight against Hollywood blockbusters!

Hey! Ma Xun, you bastard...

Having no other choice, Jia Yueting could only nod at Zhang Weiping.

The meaning is very clear: I'll take care of things with Xingmei for you.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Weiping immediately burst into laughter, then stood up and also picked up a glass.

"Brother Ma! There's no question about this! We men can't back down!"

After saying that, let's toast!
Without hesitation, Ma Xun immediately joined in the toast!

This scene... Great!

The entire VIP box was filled with applause and cheers.

But to be honest, Martin Scorsese and Satoshi Kon are still completely baffled.

They genuinely didn't understand what was going on. Language was one aspect, but the key issue was that their translators were completely bewildered and forgot to translate.

But if we wait until we've calmed down before translating... then we can only say that we've accomplished something significant!
That's good, let's clap and drink!

Thus, the atmosphere of the banquet reached its climax.

Everyone settled into a normal conversation mode. Of course, Zhang Yimou, Martin, and Satoshi Kon started discussing movies, and their topics were easy to find.

Akira Kurosawa, you know.

Zhang Yimou is a fan of Akira Kurosawa, as is Martin, and Satoshi Kon is even more so.

Martin Scorsese, the great director, once said after he became famous: "I would be willing to be Mr. Kurosawa's assistant."

That's extremely high praise, almost to the point of being sycophantic.

But since that's the case, they naturally got along very well.

This roast duck was delicious!
The key point is that we have indeed formed an offensive and defensive alliance.

And what about Ma Xun, who led this great battle?
He could barely contain his laughter.

……

The Light Building.

"Boss, why do we have to team up with them?"

"It's always better to have more allies than more enemies."

"Yes, that makes sense."

"The key point is, don't you know the true colors of our domestic cinemas?"

"This... oh, I understand!"

As soon as Ma Xun returned from Quanjude, he started chatting with Wang Changtian in the office.

As for Wang Changtian's opinion, is it that he genuinely doesn't understand it, or that he understands it but pretends not to?

Ma Xun didn't dwell on this detail.

In fact, the collaboration with Quanjude was essentially an attempt to gain 'power' from our domestic cinema chains.

In fact, many movie fans in China are unaware of some of these details.

For example, people might wonder why Hollywood movies have such high box office returns in China.

Admittedly, in this day and age, Hollywood movies are indeed of very high quality, especially the blockbusters imported to China.

Hollywood makes a lot of movies every year, and most of them are actually pretty bad, but the movies we import are basically all carefully selected.

It's difficult for anything that isn't a big-budget production or a blockbuster to officially enter our domestic market.

That naturally makes Hollywood movies seem of higher quality.

Its high box office is therefore a logical consequence.

Another reason is that domestic cinemas really love to screen Hollywood movies!
The percentage of screenings they get is always very high!

Whenever the topic of film scheduling comes up, someone will inevitably mention that so-called "domestic film protection month."

Let's not even talk about how this is the Lunar New Year film season, not the summer season anymore, so there's no such thing as a "protection month" anymore.

But just looking at that "protection month"... the truth is, the document does exist, but a simple data check makes it clear. In other words, Hollywood films still have a significant advantage in summer movie releases!
This isn't something Ma Xun made up.

The logic is actually very clear, and anyone can understand it.

People will do business that could cost them their lives, but nobody wants to do business that loses money!

It's all about profit, about making money.

Moreover, that protection month document didn't actually mention any penalties. In other words, once you thoroughly understood it, you would feel completely at ease.

Even if I don't screen domestic films, there's nothing you can do about it! ...The cinema's inner monologue.

It was just a suggestion, not a punishment, and that's exactly the result.

Returning to the film "2012," Ma Xun had a public argument with someone because of it back then.

This film is also a representative of high screening rates; when it was released, it received more than 6% of screenings worldwide!
This number of screenings completely surpasses all the movies listed before it.

But actually, that wasn't the end of it. What followed was even more outrageous: Avengers: Endgame received over 90% of the screenings, and for several consecutive days!
At the time, an old actor who had just won Best Actor at an A-list overseas film festival expressed his dissatisfaction with the matter, saying that other films should be given a chance to survive.

Unexpectedly, this statement was met with a barrage of criticism from Marvel fans.

These things... never mind, let's get back to the present.

Ma Xun is currently focused on securing screen time in China, while also targeting overseas markets, particularly North America.

The scheduling issue is manageable, because to cater to the US market, "2012" was released in mid-November, which was a simultaneous global release.

Ma Xun's "Inception" will also be released globally simultaneously in early December.

However, it's worth noting that the novelty of a North American film usually wears off in about two weeks.

In China, however, a major Hollywood blockbuster would likely take a very long time to film.

In other words, Ma Xun, together with Zhang Weiping and Zhang Yimou, put pressure on the cinemas in order to get "2012" to decline in screenings as soon as possible. Otherwise, who knows how the domestic cinemas would have handled it.

If they keep letting this film dominate the top screening slots, then no matter who comes, it won't matter, they'll all lose!
Therefore, Ma Xun has already achieved a certain level of success so far.

However, he certainly wouldn't just do that little bit.

This thing has other tricks up its sleeve.

After Wang Changtian left, Ma Xun was left alone in the office. At this moment, he opened his laptop and connected to the internet.

Before long, the figure of a beautiful woman appeared on the screen.

Wang Xuxian!
"Hey, my big boss, what else do you need me to do?"

"Haven't I already assigned you the tasks?"

"Okay, okay, you're the best. I've done as you said."

Huh? What did Wang Xunxian do?
She showed me several reports and signed contracts.

The above shows that she has sold the box office revenue of the movie "Inception" to Columbia Pictures for $8000 million.

Huh? What kind of operation is this?
It's actually quite simple. They estimated how much money the movie might make in the future and then sold it ahead of time.

This is very common in the film market, especially in the American film market.

For example, 20th Century Fox sold the distribution rights to Paramount for $70 million just before the release of "Titanic".

That's right, this is a classic case study in film finance.

Countless business schools have covered this topic.

Especially after this movie, the capital market learned its lesson and stopped investing in the film itself, instead investing in the person who invested in it.

James Cameron, well, he became the most commercially successful director in human history.

It's crucial to understand the true meaning of this title: it means that countless investors are eager to invest in James Cameron.

That said, selling North American box office revenue ahead of time is definitely a risky move.

But for Ma Xun, there is actually no risk.

Because he remembers very clearly that the movie "Inception" received a very good reputation in China, but in the United States, it did not achieve the super good results that Chinese movie fans had expected.

It's important to note here what constitutes a "superb" result... that is, breaking $3 million in box office revenue in the North American market. That's what we call a "superb" result.

If it surpasses $3 million, it has a chance to become the year's box office champion, you get it?

However, Inception did not break 300 million in the original timeline, so now it has sold its box office revenue share for 80 million US dollars.

Ma Xun definitely won't lose out!

In fact, he even made money ahead of time.

Is that all?
Ma Xun smiled and said to Xu Xian, "Now, with the money you have, and other readily available funds, use it to buy Columbia Company stock!"

"Huh?!" Wang Xuxian was truly surprised that there was a sequel to this story. "Why?"

"Don't you understand?" Ma Xun didn't want to explain further and said bluntly, "Just throw it when I tell you to."

Actually, Soo-hyun already understood.

"Yes, ma'am." She even obediently stuck out her tongue, and then showed Ma Xun their baby again.

That's really interesting.

And Ma Xun's move... that's exactly how it should be done!

Once Inception becomes a huge hit, Columbia Pictures' stock is bound to rise!

When the time comes to settle the accounts and leave, hehe, I'll make more than 8000 million; one or two hundred million US dollars is possible.

With such a track record, the plan to list in the United States will be much easier.

At that time, even David Ellison, a top-tier rich second-generation, will find it difficult to truly shake Ma Xun's power!
Once the company goes public, plus the billion from David's side, plus other... conservatively, the profit will be $20 billion!

Thinking of this, Ma Xun felt incredibly happy!
After his call with Yu-hyun ended, someone suddenly entered his office.

"Brother Ma, you didn't bring anyone with you when you went out to eat today."

Why aren't you happy?

Wait a minute, what right does she have to be unhappy?
To be honest, she does have some qualifications, because the one who came here now is the most beautiful Chang'e, and also an important actress in "Inception".

Yan Danchen!
When she arrived and started complaining, Ma Xun's response was...

He simply beckoned with his finger.

Seeing this, Dan Chen simply smiled, biting her lip, then knelt down and slowly crawled towards Ma Xun... even licking her little hands, like an elegant kitten...

(End of this chapter)