Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

"What happened?"

When Lin Yuan saw GAKKI-chan’s serious face, he knew that something big had happened.

"Look, as soon as the press conference ended, a petition appeared on the official website. In just half an hour, this petition received a total of 10 million views and more than 100,000 replies!" said GAKKI.

Lin Yuan took GAKKI's statistics and saw a big headline:

"Strongly request to start pre-sale of "Lord of Spy 2" and the documentary!"

This is a movie fan from Virginia, USA. He tearfully recorded that when Lin Yuan's movies were released in the past, it was extremely difficult to buy tickets even in the first five days, let alone watch the premiere.

Many times he had to pay extra to find scalpers to buy movie tickets.

But more often than not, he can’t buy the ticket even if he pays a higher price, unless he is willing to pay an exorbitant price.

Seeing this, Lin Yuan had to admit that this was indeed a problem.

More than two years ago, on the night of the premiere of "The King of Spy", he watched the premiere in Los Angeles with Liu Yufei.

Outside the cinema, they met a black scalper who blocked their way and was willing to buy tickets for the premiere for $250 each.

This is already 12 times the normal ticket price!

But the black scalpers are willing to buy the tickets for $250, and the price they sell to movie fans is probably at least $400, and it is not impossible that it will exceed $500.

This shows how hard it was to get tickets for "The King of Spy Wars" at that time.

This was certainly related to the fact that Lin Yuan's status in the film industry was not high enough at the time, and "The King of Spy Wars" was targeted and squeezed out of the screening schedule.

But the audience is willing to pay such a high premium to buy tickets to watch the movie, which shows how hard it is to get tickets for the premiere of Lin Yuan's movie and the early stages of its release.

This situation will indeed greatly affect the viewing experience, and it is also what Lin Yuan has always wanted to solve, but he can't find any effective means.

After all, this is determined by everyone's enthusiasm for watching movies. With so many movie fans rushing in at once, even if the cinema allocates all its screenings to his movie, tickets will still be hard to come by in the first few days of its release.

Lin Yuan continued to read the post. He wanted to know why this fan's initiative received so much support from fans and why GAKKI-chan called it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"I watched the latest press conference today. The information revealed in this conference is simply shocking!"

"First of all, I want to say that no matter what words I use to praise Lin Yuan, they are not excessive! Lin Yuan is not only a hero in the movie, he is also a well-deserved hero in real life.

If it was the previous rescue in Kalonos Cave, some people would say that the danger was not great enough and that Lin Yuan was just putting on a show.

In this deep-sea rescue, Lin Yuan completely disregarded his own life and death, just to find a way out for everyone.

I love Lin Yuan! I am proud to be a fan of Lin Yuan! I will be his most loyal fan for the rest of my life! "

Seeing the fan's flattery, Lin Yuan felt that although the words were a bit exaggerated, the sincerity of the feelings really touched him. Who can refuse a fan who truly loves you?

Lin Yuan continued to read.

"Secondly, I want to say that I am 2% certain that 'King of Spy ' is an excellent film that exceeds all of our imaginations. I even believe that this is the highest-quality film Lin Yuan has made since his debut.

I know that the evaluation of a movie is largely influenced by personal aesthetic preferences.

However, Lin Yuan's "King of Spy Wars 2" is definitely the most thrilling and exciting film he has ever made, the one he invested the most sincerity in, and the one he filmed at the greatest risk to his life.

From the information revealed so far, we know that Lin Yuan was seriously injured twice, which is unprecedented.

We also know that Lin Yuan climbed the ancient ice wall of Yala Snow Mountain and encountered an avalanche accident.

This information is enough to outline the excitement of "Lord of Spy Wars 2".

It's not just that "King of Spy 2" is exciting enough, the filming process is also exciting enough to be a documentary, otherwise Lin Yuan would never have packaged the behind-the-scenes footage for release."

The fan's post ended here, speculating from his perspective that the excitement of "Lord of Spy 2" and its trailer will far surpass any of Lin Yuan's previous films.

Lin Yuan nodded in agreement with his guess.

"Lord of Spy 2" is indeed the pinnacle of his filmmaking since he started his career.

He had never taken such a big risk in a movie before.

There has never been a movie that so realistically shows the infinite power of nature.

It was precisely because he had to face such a powerful force of nature that he had to dance with death many times.

Even from Lin Yuan's own perspective, he may not have the opportunity to shoot such a movie again in the future. It is indeed the worst in his career.

The quality of "Lord of Spy V: The Last Airbender" will far surpass all his previous films.

With the addition of a documentary that complements the main film and highlights it from outside the play, the box office will probably be unprecedented.

Lin Yuan continued to read the post, he knew that the most crucial information was coming.

"I am very happy that Lin Yuan will present his best work that will break through the peak of his film career with great sincerity.

But I can't help but have a worry:
I couldn’t buy movie tickets in the past, so wouldn’t it be even harder to buy tickets for “Lord of Spy 2” this time?

I'm not a rich man, so I don't dare to think about going to the premiere.

Even though I was eager to see the movie first, I could only hope to buy tickets for the regular show.

To my dismay, I was certain I wouldn’t be able to buy a ticket and the only way to get the precious movie tickets was to turn to scalpers.

I'm willing to pay a high price to scalper the tickets, but I have to make a living and I can't afford to pay more than $200 when there are five people in my family who want to see it.

When I think about this, I feel very sad because I will have to wait in agony for who knows how long."

Seeing this, Lin Yuan said that he could fully understand.

The vast majority of North American families have little savings, so if they have to spend an extra $1000, it will undoubtedly be a heavy burden.

“I don’t blame Lin Yuan, it’s not his fault that he made such a great movie and made all of us crazy about it.

It's not his fault that he is so charming that fans all over the world love him and are willing to spend a fortune on him.

But I would like to propose a suggestion. Can movie tickets be sold in advance?
Movie tickets like "The King of Spy V: Cop Shop 2" that are bound to be sold out should not be sold in cinemas.

In this way, a lot of tickets will inevitably be privately hoarded and embezzled by theaters, and will also inevitably be snatched away by professional ticket sellers and scalpers who have better information and means.

We deeply hope that there will be a fairer pre-sale method.

Drawing lots? Lottery? Or any other method.

I call on Lin Yuan to see this post and help us movie fans get movie tickets more fairly and promptly.

If you support my initiative, please push me up and leave positive comments.

Let the staff of Linyuan Pictures hear our voices."

Having seen this, you have basically finished reading the post.

Further down, there are countless fans who expressed their support by replying to the post:

"Great! I couldn't agree more! Over the years, in order to buy tickets for Lin Yuan's films three days before they were released, I almost always had to pay several times the price to scalpers."

"You're absolutely right! 'King of Spy 2' is definitely Lin Yuan's best film yet. I can't imagine how popular the tickets will be when it's released!"

"I've been looking forward to The King of Spy 2 for months. After watching today's press conference, I can't wait to see the movie tonight! I can't wait even a moment longer!

I must buy tickets to the premiere, even if it costs $500 each!
It’s not because I’m rich, it’s because I’m tired.”

"I agree! I am also willing to pay a high price for movie tickets, but what makes me angry is that the extra money we paid for the movie tickets did not reach Lin Yuan.

If Lin Yuan had taken all this money, I wouldn't have said a word. But when I think about it being taken away by those vampire-like guys, I feel heartbroken."

"The scalpers always get the tickets, but we can never buy any because the cinema chain and the scalpers are colluding. They give more tickets to the scalpers and together they are embezzling our love for Lin Yuan!"

A large number of replies began to target theaters and scalpers, complaining about the unreasonableness of this ticket purchasing mechanism.

These replies were like sparks thrown into a powder keg, immediately igniting the anger of countless movie fans.

Everyone took to the comment section to complain and denounce cinema scalpers.

Then, the calls for Lin Yuan to pre-sell movie tickets became louder and louder.

"See? We have to face the demands of the fans." said GAKKI.

At this time, the door of the study opened and Charlize, who had just slipped out, came back.

GAKKI said, "Charlize and I have made a rough plan. Please take a look at it first. If you have any specific questions, Charlize will answer you."

Starting from "Lord of Spy 2", will we pilot the reform of movie ticket pre-sale plan?
Lin Yuan was also stunned by the title.

It seems that GAKKI and Charlize have really come up with a new pre-sale plan?
But how do we do this?

Normally, we have to wait until a movie is finished.

The film's producers, distributors and theaters sat down to discuss the release date, screening rate, ticket prices and other specific details.

Then the pre-sale of movie tickets will begin.

"Lord of Spy 2" has not been completed yet, and theaters have no release date or screening plan. How can pre-sales be made?

There has never been such a precedent before.

Lin Yuan took a look at the plan. In such a short time, they only had time to make a brief plan, which was less than two pages long.

But even these two thin pages of paper made Lin Yuan feel a tremendous weight.

GAKKI doesn’t have a deep understanding of the film industry, but she has experience in coordinating and hosting many large-scale events.

Charlize has many years of experience in the film and television industry, and has a deep understanding of the various tricks in the film distribution process.

The two of them came up with this plan based on today's extremely popular petition. It has to be said that this plan is quite subversive, and it can even be said to have overturned the entire film industry to some extent.

In simple terms, the plan consists of only three parts:
The first part is to immediately open the pre-sale channel for "Lord of Spy 2" and the accompanying trailer on the official website of Linyuan Pictures.

The second part is for fans who fill in their information and pay to enter the pre-sale pool, where they will be drawn by lottery and tickets will be distributed in batches. When the movie is released, they will be given priority in receiving movie tickets.

The third part is a detailed lottery plan, as well as a publicity and notarization plan to ensure a transparent and fair process.

Lin Yuan quickly finished reading the plan, but he did not express his opinion immediately.

Instead, he remained silent, weighing the pros and cons and gains and losses in his mind.

According to this plan, audiences can now pre-purchase movie tickets, and after paying the ticket price, they will be eligible for the lottery and get priority in obtaining movie tickets.

How can this be a pre-sale?

This is clearly crowdfunding!
The movie hasn't even finished filming, and you're already collecting ticket money.

This means that the crew of "King of Spy Wars 2" can even use the funds of Linyuan Pictures during the filming process, and can use the audience's prepaid movie ticket money to make the movie.

Isn’t this the crowdfunding of Internet products in later generations?
Lin Yuan was sure that if he agreed to implement this plan, all his film colleagues around him would be envious and cry.

Others have to work hard to raise funds for filming, fearing that their investment will be lost.

However, Lin Yuan was able to recover the funds before the film was finished, using the audience's movie ticket money to make the film.

This gap is so sad that it makes people cry.

But if that's all, it can't be called an industry disruptor.

The really terrible impact is that if this is done, the recipient of the payment will change from the cinema to the film company!
This will be a huge change that will completely reverse the industry's business logic!
In the previous commercial chain, all audiences bought tickets from movie theaters.

The ticket purchase money first goes into the account of the cinema chain company, and then the cinema chain shares the box office revenue with the film company according to the agreement.

In this link, movie theaters are undoubtedly in a more advantageous position.

Movie theater chains are in a higher ecological position and can often even strangle film companies.

Although in the specific case of each movie, there is a dynamic game between theater chains and cinemas. For example, large film companies with large productions have stronger bargaining power and can even put pressure on theater chains.

But no matter what, at least theaters can take advantage of cash flow.

This is determined by the basic business model. No matter how strong a film is, or how much it can force theaters to make concessions, audiences can only buy tickets from theaters, so the funds must first go to the theaters' accounts.

But now, according to the plan, everything is different.

This means that all the ticket purchase money from movie fans will first go into Linyuan Pictures’ account.

After receiving the payment, Linyuan Pictures will split the profits with the cinema chains.

If you play it this way, the control of the purse will be completely changed.

This is definitely a good thing for Linyuan Pictures. Without mentioning anything else, just the fact that they received this huge amount of pre-sale money in advance and the interest on the books is a huge sum of money, not to mention that it will completely reverse the status relationship between them and the theaters.

But for theaters, this is definitely a bad thing.

Lin Yuan could imagine that this would definitely cause a strong backlash from theaters.

In this plan, the last two parts are just execution-level designs, and the first part is the decisive content. Should I agree to it?
In other words, is there any way to convince the theaters to accept this reversal of their status?
On this issue, even if Lin Yuan had lived two lives, he would not be able to gain any foresight.

Because even in 2024, before the rebirth, such a thing had never happened!
No film company or filmmaker can gain such trust from movie fans, and make movie tickets so easy to sell that they are impossible to get even in big rushes.

Therefore, even before the movie is finished, movie fans are willing to pay a large advance payment to lock in a movie ticket in advance.

Taking advantage of the popularity of "Lord of Spy 2", Lin Yuan achieved a grand occasion that had never happened in his previous life.

This made Lin Yuan completely confused when making decisions, and he could only rely on his own cognition.

After thinking it over again and again, Lin Yuan decided to give it a try.

As a filmmaker, he has reached heights that others want to but dare not imagine. If he is still hesitant and timid at this time, it would be too hopeless.

The backlash in cinemas is inevitable, but it is not unsolvable.

If Lin Yuan simply asks to reverse this link but cannot provide any additional incremental cake, it means that in a zero-sum game, he has slapped the cinema chain in the face and snatched away the cake that belongs to the cinema chain.

Even if the theaters bow their heads temporarily, they will inevitably be filled with resentment, which will inevitably lay many hidden dangers for future cooperation.

But if this pre-sale reform can bring more benefits to theaters, then taking away control of the purse strings with this excuse is like giving a slap in the face and feeding a jujube at the same time.

As long as the benefits are sufficient, theaters will most likely tolerate this change.

After all, no one has trouble with money.

Therefore, the key to the whole thing becomes:
If the pre-sale system is adopted, how much pre-sale amount can be generated?
After thinking this through, Lin Yuan said, "I agree to open the pre-sale channel on the company's official website, but I have one requirement: the pre-sale amount of movie tickets must reach the target amount, otherwise the pre-sale will be cancelled and the pre-sale amount will be refunded."

This is crucial to this change.

In the previous business chain, movie theater chains also had to bear the risk of losses.

Cinemas have to schedule films based on the quality of the films and sales expectations. If the film does not sell well, the cinemas will have to bear the risk of insufficient attendance and resulting in losses.

Even though it is almost impossible to lose money by cooperating with Lin Yuan, Lin Yuan's premium ability is too strong, and their profit margins will be greatly squeezed.

But now it’s completely different. Lin Yuan is using a sufficiently attractive pre-sale amount to convince various theaters.

As long as the pre-sale amount can reach Lin Yuan’s goal after the pre-sale is opened, it means that Lin Yuan Pictures has a full bag of money.

Whichever cinema chain he assigns the film to, as long as it schedules the films according to the plan, will 100% guarantee to get box office revenue exceeding expectations.

During this process, theaters can make money without any risk and still make a lot of money.

Who can refuse such a good thing?
As long as the amount allocated by Lin Yuan is large enough, it is not unacceptable to reverse the order of collection.

Therefore, the key to the key is how much pre-sale amount can be achieved.

If the pre-sale amount is large enough, there is a high probability that all theaters will kneel down and sing "Conquer".

If the pre-sale amount is insufficient and you want to change the current order, I can only say sorry.

When Lin Yuan made this additional request, GAKKI and Charlize immediately understood the considerations.

GAKKI-chan said, "That's a very good suggestion. We hadn't considered it before. What do you think is a suitable amount for pre-sale?"

"$30 billion!"

"..."*2
After hearing the pre-sale target set by Lin Yuan, GAKKI and Charlize were both stunned.

$30 million?
Did I hear this wrongly?
This is the pre-sale target!

Movie fans pay for pre-sale tickets. Although they will know the approximate release time before paying, the film has not been completed after all. It is still unknown whether the quality will be as good as imagined when it is finally released.

In this case, you want to achieve the pre-sale target of $30 billion?

Crazy, simply crazy!

You should know that the number one movie on the world box office list today is "The Legend of Tang Dynasty" with a box office of 40.16 billion US dollars.

In second place was the unexpected surprise "The Jungle Book," with a total box office of $33.34 billion.

Now Lin Yuan plans to achieve $30 billion in pre-sales, so won’t the total box office exceed $60 billion?
This is simply a fantasy!
There is a limit to the box office market for movies!

Even if all the box office revenue from the whole world was given to you, could it reach such a high level?

Lin Yuan saw the doubts in Gakki-chan and Charlize's eyes, and he said seriously, "Believe me, I can do it!"

If someone else said this, GAKKI and Charlize would think it was just empty talk and would not believe it at all.

But when Lin Yuan said this, they believed it immediately because he had been performing miracles.

If you doubt Lin Yuan's goals, it only means that your vision is too narrow.

Lin Yuan knew that this result was difficult to achieve, but he had to use the temptation that the theaters absolutely could not resist to break their will to resist in one fell swoop, and make them lie down obediently and sign the "unequal treaty."

With a pre-sale amount of 30 billion U.S. dollars, the final total box office may really exceed 60 billion U.S. dollars.

Not to mention that such box office results are unimaginable in 2005, even in 2024 it would be an unattainable goal.

But Lin Yuan was sure that he could achieve this goal.

Because no one has ever been able to make a movie like his, either in the past or in this life.

The quality of "Lord of Spy Wars 2" is overwhelming.

Not only did it crush other peers, but it also crushed his own past works.

Of course, the quality of the work is only one factor in achieving the goal.

More importantly, the fans have absolute trust in him!
This is Lin Yuan’s ultimate move.

Since his debut, Lin Yuan has released so many movies in the past few years, and none of them has disappointed his fans.

No, it can be said that the fans were not disappointed.

Instead, each one exceeded the expectations of movie fans, and each one achieved a level that they never dared to imagine.

Therefore, Lin Yuan was sure that even if the movie was not finished and had not yet had the word-of-mouth effect after its release, movie fans would still pay for it.

Not only will they not hesitate, they will also be afraid that if they pay too slowly, they will not be able to get the ticket.

So Lin Yuan said, "Let's execute according to this goal." (End of this chapter)