Shadow of Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 306 Box Office
"Mulan" grossed $7000 million in its opening weekend in North America, bringing its total opening weekend gross to $1.25 million. (PS: This includes the preview screenings on the 24th.)

The film received rave reviews from the media and audiences, who praised An Xiaoxi for perfectly portraying Mulan's resilience and tenderness.

In addition, the film's visuals, soundtrack, and delicate presentation of Eastern culture have also received high praise.

Driven by positive word-of-mouth, North American box office revenue, although down 40% week-over-week, still reached $0.75 million.

Many viewers were deeply captivated by the film, choosing to watch it two or three times. Many others spontaneously promoted it on social media, keeping the film's popularity high.

This week, a large number of families went to the cinema, and "Mulan" became a popular viewing choice, which also successfully boosted the sales of related products such as dolls, clothing, and the original soundtrack.

Mulan grossed $9000 million in its opening weekend in Europe.

The unique Eastern story, exquisite visuals, and An Xiaoxi's outstanding performance attracted many European viewers.

Especially in countries like the UK, France, and Germany, the film received high screening rates and enthusiastic audience response, with many screenings sold out.

Even so, by the second week, the European box office had dropped by 45% compared to the previous week, grossing $4950 million.

Thanks to pre-release publicity and An Xiaoxi's strong popularity, the film had a good start in the Chinese market, grossing over $1800 million in its opening week in mainland China.

Audiences are very interested in this reinterpretation of Mulan by An Xiaoxi, and cinemas are very cooperative in scheduling screenings, with many prime-time screenings in first-tier cities selling out early.

In the second week, box office revenue in China dropped by 40% compared to the previous week, barely reaching $1080 million.

As word-of-mouth spreads globally, Mulan maintained its momentum in its third week.

The North American box office grossed $0.6 billion (down 20% week-over-week), a decline from the second week, but the drop was still within a reasonable range.

This also demonstrates the strong staying power of "Mulan," which is much better than "The Bourne Ultimatum" last month.

Box office revenue in Europe fell 30% month-over-month, reaching $3465 million.

Box office revenue in China fell 30% month-on-month, earning $756 million. While box office revenue in other parts of the world declined, it has maintained steady growth.

In the fourth week, North American box office was only $0.4 million, down 33% from the previous week; European box office was $2425.5 million, down 30% from the previous week; and Chinese box office was $529 million, down 30% from the previous week.

At this time, the release of several new blockbusters had a certain impact on the screening and box office of "Mulan", but it still managed to maintain a place in the fierce market competition thanks to its stable reputation.

By the fifth week and beyond, Mulan had finished its run in theaters around the world, and its box office revenue, combined with total box office revenue from other regions, reached a total of $2.85 million.

Ultimately, this film, with an investment exceeding $100 million and a fusion of Eastern and Western cultures, became a global blockbuster in 2007, grossing $8.25 million. (PS: Actual investment was $70 million)
This allowed An Xiaoqian and Hu Xiaobei to successfully establish themselves in Hollywood, and there is a possibility of more collaborations with Hollywood in the future.

In the US film industry, theaters typically receive a 50%-60% cut of the revenue.

Assuming a 55% cut, the film's total box office would be $8.25 million, with $3.71 million remaining after deducting theater revenue share.

In addition, marketing and promotion expenses of approximately $5000 million need to be deducted.

Hu Xiaobei and An Xiaoqian account for 30% of the production company's total revenue, which means they will receive $0.96 billion, which is higher than the 10% of the total box office.

On the surface, this 30% return seems quite good, but if calculated based on the earlier investment, the 30% share is worth at least $3000 million.

In other words, we need to deduct the $3000 million investment cost.

Although their contributions are counted as shares in the capacity of directors and actors, it is still a form of investment.

Based on this calculation, the actual net profit of this 30% share should only be $6600 million.

However, don't forget that the contract at the time also included 10% of the revenue from Mulan merchandise.

This is a long-term, stable source of income, which is difficult to calculate directly.

However, in mature film markets like the United States, merchandise revenue typically accounts for around 70% of a film's total revenue. For giants like Disney, the revenue from merchandise related to their hit movies is even more substantial.

For example, in the Frozen series, merchandise sales account for more than 80% of total revenue. Note that this refers to total revenue, not the total box office revenue of the film, as the two are very different.

In other words, the merchandise for "Mulan" is likely to generate a guaranteed revenue of around $6 million.

Hu Xiaobei and An Xiaoqian can benefit from the surrounding area, which could amount to around $6000 million intermittently.

If all the revenue from "Mulan" is included, the two could earn a total of approximately $1.6 million.

In the US film industry, it typically takes 3-6 months for box office revenue to be distributed.

Needless to say, Disney's merchandise revenue is substantial, but it's a slow and steady process that can't be rushed.

At this time, Hu Xiaobei had already filmed three art films and one commercial film, for a total of four movies.

"Sissi's Dog" grossed 1.15 million RMB in China and over 0.625 million USD worldwide.

"Become Yourself" grossed 1.52 million RMB in China and 1.1 million USD worldwide.

"Youth" grossed 1.68 million RMB in China and 1.21 million USD worldwide. The three art-house films together grossed 2.575 million USD.

"Mulan" grossed 3.36 million RMB in China and 8.25 million USD worldwide, bringing the total global box office of the four films to 10.825 billion USD.

With these three art films, Hu Xiaobei and An Xiaoqian swept the three major European international film festivals, winning awards left and right.

With a commercial film, Hu Xiaobei and An Xiaoqian successfully established themselves in Hollywood, both entering the billion-dollar box office club.

It's worth noting that after so many years of hard work in Hollywood, Hendrik Willem Van Loon and Li Lianjie's combined box office revenue for all their films barely reached around one billion US dollars.

According to statistics, before 2008, Hendrik Willem Van Loon's total global box office in Hollywood was approximately $13.31 billion, while Lee's was approximately $9.36 million.

Of course, if we include the box office revenue of films shot in China, then before 2008, their total global box office revenue was approximately US$18.3 billion and US$11.3 billion, respectively.

This is an achievement they have worked hard for their entire lives, a stark contrast to the success of Hu Xiaobei and An Xiaoqian with a single commercial film.

Of course, many things cannot be calculated so simply; box office figures vary from era to era.

In a few years, any movie made in China could easily gross over 100 million RMB, or even over 1 billion RMB.

But are these directors and actors really better or stronger than actors from the past?

In today's Chinese film industry, directors and actors who can enter the 100 million yuan box office club are a strong guarantee of box office success.

In the future, how many of those directors and actors who make billions or tens of billions of dollars will actually be able to carry the box office?

Take the 2010 film "Lost on Journey" as an example. It had an investment of 700 million RMB and a total box office of about 5000 million RMB.

The sequel to this series, "Lost in Thailand," was released in 2012 with an investment of 7000 million RMB and a total box office of 12.7 billion RMB.

Ten times the investment, twenty-five times the box office.

But is there really such a big difference in quality between the two movies?
Not necessarily!

In addition, there are "Crazy Stone" and "Crazy Racer," which are also the same movies.

It's obvious that the former requires less investment and is of higher quality, while the latter requires more investment but doesn't reach the level of the former's ridiculousness.

But what about the box office?

The latter far surpasses the former!
(End of this chapter)