Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 223 Rushing towards the rich woman

"Rich Lady Liu, you really want to keep me as your mistress?"

Gu Bei gently pinched her nose and said with a smile.

"No way!"

Liu Yifei's eyes widened slightly, displaying a very tough demeanor.

Gu Bei smiled as he looked at her.
He knew it in his heart,
Given Liu Yifei's personality,

Right now, I'm definitely not thinking about projects that are guaranteed to make a fortune.

Instead, she felt she had made too much money and just wanted to use her funds to help Gu Bei share some of the risks, preferably by losing a little.

Just like the previous artist project, Gu Bei opened up investment to Rose Pictures, but Liu Yifei was only willing to invest 15%, because the project was basically risk-free.

But then again,

Gu Bei's projects in North America,
The Walking Dead, Starship, and the Twilight sequel are all adaptations, so they seem to be less risky.

The only one with a slightly higher risk is La La Land, whose script isn't even finished yet.

After thinking for a moment, Gu Bei smiled and said, "I'm not short of money right now. You should worry about how to spend this money yourself."

Remember not to spend it all.
Otherwise, we won't be able to fill such a huge hole next tax season.

"You've opened so many projects in North America, and your company in China is about to open. Aren't you facing any financial difficulties?"

Liu Yifei was somewhat puzzled.
She thought that with so many projects underway, Gu Bei had run out of money.

"I currently have nearly a hundred million US dollars in cash on hand."

Gu Bei joked, "Right now, I can't keep up with how fast I make money!"

Just as the awards season was ending
Gu Bei didn't have a single penny in his pocket; the artists' film crews all started operating on bank loans.

Unexpectedly, only two months later,

The box office revenue sharing has been received.
In addition, the DVD market for both films far exceeded his expectations.

The funding problem was solved immediately.

"One hundred million US dollars? Where did you get so much money?"

Liu Yifei was slightly startled.
But when she counted on her fingers, Gu Bei earned more than $70 million from the two movies combined, which was still a long way from $100 million!
"My world!"

"I know you invest in movies through Minecraft!"

Liu Yifei thought Gu Bei was referring to that company, "Rose Pictures' revenue sharing will also be allocated to that company for you."

But I didn't ask where the money was.

But no matter how you calculate it, it's still a long way from one hundred million dollars!

I'm referring to the game Minecraft.

Gu Bei opened the official Minecraft website and pointed to the user statistics, "Look, the beta version was officially released at this year's GDC Game Developers Conference."

In less than two months, we've already reached 150 million users. At $30 per user, that's $4500 million in net profit!

Liu Yifei felt her head was filled with questions.

On Christmas Day in 2006, she saw Gu Bei writing code for Minecraft.
I tried playing the game later, but I never really liked it.

But she never expected that such a small game could generate $4500 million in profit, becoming Gu Bei's most profitable project.

And the cost is almost zero!

"Hahaha!"

Seeing Liu Yifei's dazed expression, Gu Bei couldn't help but chuckle. He glanced at the website in front of him; the sales of Minecraft were actually lower than the original version from his previous life.
This is likely related to the fact that the release was three years ahead of schedule, which resulted in many people having insufficient computer configurations.

However, thanks to the WTO's "E-commerce Suspension Order"
Virtual goods like Minecraft, which are transferred across borders, are exempt from customs duties.
The game wasn't released on Steam; it was sold directly on the Minecraft website, meaning every penny earned was pure net profit.

Gu Bei's statement that "spending money can't keep up with the speed of making money" was indeed just a joke.

Don't say anything else,

This one hundred million US dollars is the budget for the cost of gravity.
If it were Inception, a hundred million dollars wouldn't even be enough to make a movie!
"Since you don't need it, then I'll use the money to buy a house!"

Liu Yifei thought about it,

Ultimately, I couldn't think of any place that could cost tens of millions of dollars.
She's going back to her old ways of buying houses.

"Buying a house is a good idea. You can even get a tax deduction for property tax, and house prices are still low right now."

Gu Bei said with a smile.

In North America, property taxes can be deducted from personal income tax through itemized deductions.

However, given Liu Yifei's income, she is considered a high-income taxpayer, which triggered the Pease restriction, resulting in a significant reduction in her property tax deduction.

But it was April 2008, and New Century Financial Corporation had just filed for bankruptcy at the beginning of the month. The subprime crisis had reached a point where it was unstoppable.

If Liu Yifei buys a house now, even if it's not the absolute lowest price, she definitely won't lose money.

"Okay, okay, let's go look at houses together then!"

Liu Yifei immediately became excited.

North Americans don't have the same special attachment to houses as the Chinese.
For Liu Yifei, owning her first house in North America would be an absolute psychological satisfaction.

"All right!"

Gu Bei agreed, but paused slightly in his voice.

Why does this conversation feel a bit off?
Shouldn't he be the one preparing to buy a house and then asking Liu Yifei for advice?
As a result, the roles are now reversed; Liu Yifei is buying a house, and he's helping her with her advice.

Liu Yifei is now really racing towards becoming a rich woman.

If we wait until after we buy the house...

Liu Yifei let me move in.
That makes it even more similar!

After breakfast,
Gu Bei went to the film set to continue filming the artist.
After resting for a while, Liu Yifei continued promoting Kung Fu King in North America.

The date was April 11th.

April slots,

North America is not yet fully developed.
Major film companies still prefer to release their films during the peak summer season.

While there are indeed more moviegoers during the summer season, there are also just as many movies available.
The film lineup includes blockbusters from major studios such as The Dark Knight, Indiana Jones 4, Hancock, WALL-E, and Kung Fu Panda.
It's really difficult to secure a large number of screenings amidst the competition from these blockbusters.

Gu Bei ultimately decided against releasing Twilight during the summer blockbuster season, opting instead for an April release.
This was also a release window that Marvel later favored, with Avengers: Endgame and Endgame, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier all being released during this period.

Although the release dates are slow, there's less competition.
It can secure more screenings in its first week than other release periods!

Like Marvel movies, Twilight...
These are all very typical IP adaptations, carrying the existing fanbase from the original works.

A large number of screenings can encourage readers to go to the cinema as much as possible, concentrating box office revenue in the first week and the first weekend.

Lionsgate chose this release date for "The Forbidden Kingdom" for this reason: to leverage the fame of the two "Kung Fu Kings" to secure more screenings.

Twilight, thanks to the immense popularity of its original novels, is a prime example.
In addition to the huge success of two consecutive films by Rose Pictures,
And then there's Gu Bei, the screenwriter who just won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
It successfully secured screenings in 4066 cinemas this weekend, becoming the film with the most screenings this weekend!

(End of this chapter)