America's Top Player

Chapter 158 Making money

The next day, Li Ang boarded a flight to Miami to start a week-long tour.

Because the North American weekly box office chart only calculates the total box office of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and the order is used to determine the weekly champion.

One day later, the opening performance of "Straight Outta Compton" will be officially announced.

According to what Lionsgate learned from the three major cinema chains, the film's performance exceeded everyone's expectations.

It is currently grappling with another R-rated film, "The Hangover Part II," and "X-Men: First Class."

"It looks like you're going to make a lot of money with your first movie." Phil sat in the back row, occasionally leaning over to talk to him.

"Why do you always have so many weird ideas in your head? It seems like you can succeed in anything you do."

Li Ang smiled and replied: "This is due to the accumulation of life"

"Fuck, I've lived 30 years longer than you, how come I don't have that much experience?"

"Because your accumulation is all in women and alcohol, you have your own talents."

Phil was so choked by this that he didn't know how to respond. He could only ask the flight attendant for a glass of whiskey in a bad mood.

After the film received rave reviews on the first day of its release, its reputation quickly reversed, with some critics smearing it on a small scale.

Finding faults in everything is a basic professional quality of a film critic.

Li Ang understood what he meant and immediately used his money ability to make this small amount of noise disappear completely.

On the Internet, many black fans initially criticized Li Ang for not doing his job properly by making movies.

But they all shut up after entering the cinema to watch the movie.

As far as musical biopics go, this film is undoubtedly a masterpiece.

Even so, some extreme fans still made threats such as "sending knives" and demanded that Li Ang release new songs as soon as possible.

At present, "Demons" has completed its six-month golden sales cycle, with a total of more than 160 million physical records sold.

It is estimated that the final sales volume will settle at around 200 million copies and then grow slowly.

There are two songs left that were inspired by the new music.

"Old town road" and "We don't talk anymore", these two excellent songs can be directly put into the second album.

Li Ang fiddled with his phone, refreshing social networks while chatting with Taylor.

"Where are you now? Don't you have any sense of time?" Taylor asked.

Li Ang was full of questions. He had the impression that the other party's concert was tomorrow night.

"Let me sort this out. Isn't your concert tomorrow night?" Li Ang replied.

"That's true, but the rehearsal is today, and you don't seem to take our cooperation seriously at all."

Seeing the other party's reply, Li Ang showed an unhappy expression.

Apparently this woman's arrogance was a bit too much.

As soon as the plane landed, he rushed to the live house to start his performance and had no time to take care of rehearsals.

He replied bluntly: "I am here to help you, not to be your slave!"

After the message was sent, there was no movement from Taylor.

Bonnie on the side said half-jokingly: "Why do I feel that Miss Taylor has different ideas about you?"

"What do you mean?" Li Ang sighed. "In her heart, I might be the most hateful scumbag in the world. She's totally playing me."

Taylor is a love-brained person and can't tolerate any sand in his eyes.

This matter is recognized in the circle.

She wrote a unique "breakup song" for each of her ex-boyfriends, and some of them received more than one.

Any trivial thing in a relationship may be written into a song by her and become evidence of the scumbag's crime.

"Don't you believe it? As a woman, I can see it clearly." Bonnie spread her hands. "Cooperation may just be an excuse. She just wants more opportunities to interact with you."

At first, Li Ang thought this interpretation was a bit ridiculous.

But if you think about it carefully, it seems to make sense.

Taylor's fan base is fundamentally different from his own, with most being teenagers from the middle class.

Not many people care about rappers' street fights.

It's pure nonsense to say that he's trying to ride on Taylor's popularity. If there's any talk of riding on someone's popularity between the two of them, it's only him riding on Taylor's.

"Didi's going crazy on Bluebird again. Looks like he didn't miss the movie." Bonnie changed Taylor's subject and fiddled with her laptop.

Didi's reaction was completely within Li Ang's expectations.

In the movie "Straight Outta Compton", Dee Dee is portrayed as a sissy who relies on selling his ass to get ahead.

She started her career by being the lover of Uptown Records founder Andre Harrell, and eventually rose to the position of an executive at Uptown Records.

During the days when NWA was booming, they were eager to lick Big E's ass in order to seek cooperation and exposure.

It is difficult to tell whether these contents are true or false, but Li Ang put all these exaggerated stories into the movie.

Let Diddy be embarrassed on the big screen.

Now he had a feeling that Didi's patience had reached its limit.

There will definitely be big moves in the next period of time.

After the plane landed in Miami, Li Ang rushed to the Live House to complete the tour.

Next, we went straight to Playa Beach in South Miami, the Evil Angel brand store.

This is his first time here since the opening.

Because the products sold are quite special, the business hours here will last until three in the morning.

This is the time when workers in special industries have the greatest demand for products.

The store was filled with young women in bikinis of all colors.

The weather in Miami is hot in June. Compared to the last time I came here in winter, I can obviously notice that the girls are wearing less.

A bikini is just a thin string.

It's more about teasing than covering up.

"Sometimes I feel like this country has regressed to a primitive society." Phil cursed as he watched, feeling extremely hypocritical.

Li Ang took the laptop from the clerk on duty and glanced at the sales flow.

Currently, the daily sales of this store alone is over 10,000 US dollars, and hundreds of T-pants are sold every day.

After deducting rent, employee salaries and purchase costs, the profit margin is around 50 percent.

Excluding the share given to Cardi B, Leon earns more than $70,000 per month.

But that's all. This amount of money is nothing compared to his current worth.

"Your attitude is very improper." Li Ang first criticized the clerk on duty.

A mixed-race Latin girl with a curvy figure.

The huge taillights are particularly eye-catching, a talent that Latino girls are proud of.

"What? I'm so sorry." The clerk was shocked. She was nervous because she was criticized for the first time meeting such a big shot.

"Of course you have to wear your own brand of clothes while working." Phil smiled and brought out a set of hollow lace tights. "Your body is also an advertisement for the company!"

Seeing that Li Ang agreed without saying anything, the girl quickly changed her clothes on the spot.

“I’m losing confidence in this business.”

Just as the subprime mortgage crisis ended, the crisis in the retail industry came.

Internet shopping is constantly encroaching on the market share of traditional retail, and even industry leaders such as Victoria's Secret in the UK are inevitably falling into decline.

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which relied on a lot of money to attract publicity, did not bring in as much commercial benefits as expected.

The net profit is very small, and losses often occur.

"I've told you a long time ago that you can't be like an octopus and try to get involved in every industry." Phil said with a slightly sarcastic tone.

The current dilemma faced by Evil Angel is that it is difficult to continue expanding the brand's territory relying on the influence of Cardi B alone.

A black female rapper's ability to sell goods can never compare to that of top models.

"Why don't you think about it from another angle? Even Victoria's Secret is in trouble. Isn't this an opportunity for us?" Bonnie reminded.

Her business advice is increasingly valued by Li Ang.

After all, she is a girl who studied business at New York University, and she is also the person who knows the most about Internet marketing in the entire company.

She also handles Evil Angel's online marketing. Her YouTube videos of her trying on underwear have consistently high hit rates, with used T-panties selling for hundreds of dollars.

It's no exaggeration to say that no one knows lingerie better than Bonnie.

"Do you have any good ideas?" Li Ang asked with interest.

"The market share ceded by Victoria's Secret's decline is just the right opportunity for us to take over."

According to Bonnie's idea, Victoria's Secret's annual sales exceed 30 billion US dollars and it has 1200 stores worldwide.

On average, 600 pieces of underwear are sold every minute.

By comparison, the Evil Angel brand has yet to truly reach its potential.

Bonnie went on to say, "We need some new promoters to expand our visibility in the industry, those professional models."

"Just like you were thinking, have a big fashion show."

Li Ang often talked about this idea, but he never took action.

It costs a lot of money to hold such a large-scale fashion show.

Even if all the profits of Evil Angel so far were spent, the appearance fees of those supermodels alone would still be far from enough.

The risk of losing money is high.

"Aren't you on good terms with Miss Miranda?"

Bonnie reminded Leon of Miranda. According to media reports, this woman seemed to have just given birth to a child in secret.

Currently rarely seen on camera.

"Will Miranda agree?" Leon smiled bitterly.

Associating with Victoria's Secret and high-end, Evil Angel has been inseparable from vulgarity since its birth.

The same thing, when played by rich people, is high-end, but when played by poor people, it is vulgar.

Even if Miranda agrees, her husband Orlando Bloom may not agree.

"We need supermodels like Miranda to expand the influence of our fashion circle."

Bonnie talked about her business plan for more than ten minutes.

In order to save the cost of holding a fashion show, it is not necessary to invite big names to model every model.

Porn stars are also a good choice.

"Let Victoria's Secret supermodels and porn stars walk the runway together?"

This bold business plan shocked Li Ang and was too hype.

But after careful consideration, I feel that there is some feasibility in it.

The social atmosphere is becoming more open-minded and white left-wing thought is becoming prevalent.

The AVN Awards, known as the Oscars of Adults, even takes up a full 90 minutes of airtime on Showtime.

And every year we invite well-known singers to perform.

The moral barriers of traditional values in the public mind are gradually collapsing.

"I will seriously consider your proposal."

The next day, the opening weekend box office figures for "Compton" were released.

In the restaurant of the InterContinental Hotel Miami, Li Ang was drinking coffee while refreshing the information on the Internet.

The smile spread all the way to the ears.

"Straight Outta Compton" grossed an astonishing $6400 million in its first weekend, surpassing the famous R-rated film "American Pie 2."

Even on the June 6th rankings, it topped the list, surpassing "X-Men: First Class" with $5 million.

Even the most daring film review organizations did not expect this result.

Last weekend, "The Hangover Part II" broke the R-rated film box office record set by "Austin Powers in Goldman Sachs" with its opening weekend of $2 million.

But the budget for this movie was four times that of Straight Outta Compton.

James Wan once again continued his myth of box office returns.

2011 unexpectedly became a big year for R-rated movies.

Li Ang's phone kept ringing, and almost everyone he knew in the film industry called to congratulate him.

Lionsgate regrets its poor decision.

"Congratulations, Leon, you have created a box office miracle. You are simply an evangelist for the black community." On the other end of the phone, Miles used all his skills to flatter him.

There is only one goal, which is to hope that Lionsgate will have a share in Leon's next movie.

The company's top management regretted their decision.

But they are clearly out of the competition.

There is no shortage of interested investors for Li Ang's films, with the wealthy Netflix being the first suitor.

"What a shame. If you were in New York, I would have planned to give you a big celebration party," said Scooper.

"I'm very sorry, we will have many opportunities in the future." Li Ang responded casually. His mind was now full of money.

Of the film's first-week box office revenue of $6400 million, the cinema chain took % and the distributor Lionsgate took %.

Add to that the 5% promised to James Wan and the box office share from the cooperating publicity agencies.

The amount that eventually went into Li Ang's pocket was around 50%.

Of course, this money will be distributed to investor Robinson at 30%.

A rough estimate shows that the actual amount received should be around 2000 million US dollars.

This is just the first week's figures.

Robinson began to have serious doubts about his nearly thirty-year criminal career. He realized that making money in the entertainment industry was much more efficient than drug trafficking.

Having received such a huge sum of money, he has begun to consider completely withdrawing from the black industry.

Li Ang lay on the sofa, his eyes blank.

This money is enough for him to do whatever he wants.

"It's incredible," said Phil, who always likes to pour cold water on movies. "This movie can actually surpass 'X-Men'."

A low-budget black film with a budget of $1000 million defeated the big IP "X-Men: First Class" with a budget of $1.6 million.

This result directly led to the distributor 20th Century Fox Film Corporation to quickly hold a meeting to hold the executives of this project accountable.

At the same time, it also sounded the alarm for the fanatical superhero movie market.

"It's not like it surpassed 'X-Men,'" Li Ang said. "Superhero movies have a huge overseas market, but unfortunately my movie's overseas box office is negligible."

Phil rolled his eyes at his Versailles-like remarks.

Professional film critics have raised their final box office forecast for "Straight Outta Compton" to $2 million.

If this movie can also benefit from the huge overseas market, it is hard to imagine how much money it can make in the end.

The changes brought about by money are enough to completely reverse Li Ang's situation regarding contract renewal.

Both JAY-Z and Leonard should be well aware that $3000 million is no longer an offer that is difficult for Leon to refuse.

Either pay more or let him go.

Apart from this, there is only the third option of resolving the issue through violent means.

A few minutes later, Taylor called.

Li Ang answered the call with great joy, thinking that the other party was also there to congratulate him.

Taylor's voice came from the other end of the phone: "You really have no sense of time, the concert will start in two hours!"

"I understand." Li Ang hung up the phone. "We should go."

The hotel doorman carried Li Ang's personal belongings and respectfully escorted the group to the business car.

Under the doorman's expectant eyes, he took out a $5 bill as a tip and put it into the other's shirt pocket.

"Shxt, your stinginess terrifies me." Phil couldn't bear to look at the scene and shook his head repeatedly.

"Stingy? This is all the result of my hard work." Li Ang said with a serious expression: "In order to create such a script, every frame of it cost me a lot of brain cells."

“No one succeeds easily.”

Phil rolled his eyes and secretly complained, "This kid was born in the wrong era. It's a pity that he didn't become a plantation owner."

(End of this chapter)