Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 469 is quite chaotic (24)

After arriving at the company…

Ji Xiang is not optimistic about the Mekong River project.

The reason is simple: "Audiences don't like patriotic films!"

"Who said that? 'The Birth of a Warrior' grossed over 100 million at the box office!"

"...The box office of 'The Birth of a Nation' didn't even reach 3...Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

Shen Yan was taken aback for a moment: "I remember there was a patriotic movie in 2000 that was a huge box office success...it grossed over 100 million!"

Ji Xiang was speechless: "That's 'Life and Death Choice'...and it's not even a patriotic film, it's an anti-corruption movie!"

The story of "Life and Death Choice" unfolds in a similar way to "In the Name of the People." In "In the Name of the People," a large state-owned textile enterprise called Dafeng Factory becomes the source of many people and events. In "Life and Death Choice," all the corruption is brought to the forefront by a large state-owned enterprise called Zhongyang Textile Factory.

There was even a man among them who had amassed a huge fortune—a patient with a history of corruption confessed to Li Gaocheng before going into surgery that he had "amassed hundreds of thousands of yuan over the years, but it's all kept at home, and I haven't dared to touch a single penny!"

In 2000, several hundred thousand was truly a huge sum of money…

The ultimate solution is always the same old "upright official" approach—whoever wants to fight corruption must have more power than the corrupt officials!

Shen Yan was a little shocked and quickly searched it up... Good heavens, the box office of "The Birth of a Nation" was really less than 3!
"...No, such an amazing movie as 'The Birth of a Nation' only made 3?"

"That's why I said patriotic films don't do well at the box office!"

"That's because the film was made too formulaically, focusing too much on political propaganda while neglecting artistry and commercial appeal, resulting in a dogmatic and unentertaining film... We can package it with a commercial approach... Take inspiration from 'The Rock' and 'Black Hawk Down'..."

Ji Xiang didn't understand: "Why did we take on this project?"

Shen Yan explained, "On the one hand, we need to maintain a good relationship with Golden Shield Company, since we're going to make a police and crime film, and without Golden Shield Company's support, there are many things we can't do; on the other hand... we need to train the team!"

"Training the team?"

"For this film, I plan to have Dante Lam, the director of 'The Viral Factor,' direct it... and arrange for a few young directors to assist..."

"...How much does it cost?"

"Two hundred million... a large-scale commercial film format..."

Shen Yan was about to talk about the concept behind "Operation Mekong" when Ji Xiang interrupted him: "Then... why don't you direct it yourself?"

"I...I don't have time..."

"You only have one film and one TV series this year...and you don't have any plans for next year either!"

"...Who said there aren't any plans? I have a film called 'Burning' to shoot next year..."

"I don't understand... If you're not a director yourself, why did you do this project? Don't you dislike Hong Kong filmmakers?"

"Didn't I already say, with Golden Shield Company..."

"Sigh!" Ji Xiang sighed, "Forget it, do whatever you want. You've already made a 400 million yuan sci-fi film, what's another 200 million?"

“Exactly,” Shen Yan smiled, “We’ve made so much money, we definitely need to keep making movies, the kind that others wouldn’t dare to make… What’s the point of keeping so much money? To switch to real estate?”

Ji Xiang clearly understood what he meant...

Real estate development – ​​Film and television companies have a huge advantage in real estate: cultural companies can acquire land!
Shanghai Jiading Huayi Brothers Cultural City, Hainan Film Commune, and three plots of land in Pingshan, Shenzhen…

Cultural real estate!
In the original timeline, Huayi Brothers acquired land through various bidding processes, accumulating a land reserve of nearly 14000 mu…

This figure, when placed among real estate companies, undoubtedly places it among the top 100 real estate companies.

At Huayi Brothers' 20th anniversary celebration, Feng Xiaogang jokingly said, "Then I'm going to move away from filmmaking, I'm going to quit directing and go into real estate with Zhongjun."

However, this is their company's strategic plan, and purely from an economic perspective, real estate is indeed a major trend...

Wanda earned 200 billion in a year!
It's higher than the entire film market's box office!
Therefore, Ji Xiang said, "...Huayi is diversifying beyond just movies; developing theme parks is also for the company's revenue..."

"...I just find it quite unbelievable..."

Why do you hold this view?

"Look, there are at least several hundred real estate companies in China, they don't need another one... but in the film industry, there are only a handful that succeed..."

Ji Xiang: "Maybe...they feel that movie revenue isn't stable enough...so they're learning from Disney and developing theme parks to increase peripheral revenue?" "Who cares..."

Shen Yan waved his hand: "You take charge of the Mekong River project, I'll be the producer, and the screenwriters will be Feng Ji, Liu Yi, and Dong Qun... The total investment will exceed 200 million!"

"Okay, don't worry..."

Shen Yan nodded, preparing to go see Han Shanping…

He plans to collaborate with China Film Group on the film "Mekong River".

Ji Xiang suddenly remembered something: "Hey, have you heard? 'The Purge 2' made $7200 million in North America!"

"I know... I've already invested 15% in this movie... I have priority investment rights!"

Is there a sequel?

"Yes...it's a series...I also invested in 'Dallas Buyers Club'...what's up?"

Is there any possibility of releasing it domestically?

Shen Yan rolled her eyes: "...What do you think?"

"But Sohu bought the online streaming rights!"

"It'll have to be taken off the shelves soon... Goodbye!"

……

During this period, major video websites have begun to focus on American dramas.

Since Sohu Video first ventured into American dramas in 2010 with "Lost," it has consistently focused on the concept of exclusive dramas…

For American TV series fans, such as the must-watch shows like "The Big Bang Theory" and "Gossip Girl," this is an exclusive content from Sohu!

With classic works such as Breaking Bad, Friends, Modern Family, Homeland, and Nikita, Sohu has made "Watch American TV series on Sohu" an undisputed brand label.

Recently, they even invested heavily to import "House of Cards".

Youku also recognized the influence of "The Walking Dead" in China and launched it online halfway through its run on February 11 this year.

However, Youku mainly features British dramas, such as "Black Mirror," "Sherlock," "Downton Abbey," and even "The Best of Friends," "Broadchurch," and "Skins"...

Tencent is also making a strong push, sparing no expense to create an American drama platform.

Announced a strategic partnership with Hollywood's HBO and Warner Bros., becoming the exclusive official streaming platform for HBO in mainland China, exclusively broadcasting films and television series including *Band of Brothers*, *The Newsroom*, and *Game of Thrones*.

There was once a saying online: Only fools watch Chinese dramas!

Consequently, many R-rated movies have also been released online…

The Purge, The Cabin in the Woods, and even the Saw series…

It's very confusing...

However, this chaos soon came to an end.

Foreign-related dramas were immediately removed from the platform.

Oh, everyone's been talking about "So Young" lately.

This movie is a huge hit, grossing 2.91 million yuan in just five days!
Rumors are circulating online: In order for "So Young" to dominate the May Day holiday box office, Zhao Yanzi went to the Film Bureau in tears, demanding that "Iron Man 3" be pulled back from its release date by a week...

The reason is that Iron Man 3 will be released in South Korea on April 25th…

We don't know if this is true or not.

However, Iron Man 3 is not a co-production, and DMG withdrew its application for co-production.

In fact, Iron Man 3 was an imported film, and it was even a buy-out film!

It is said that it cost $3000 million to buy out.

(End of this chapter)