2001 Media Godfather

Chapter 108: Kill the donkey after it has done its job?
To be fair, the concept, depth, content, and production quality of "Honor of Kings" still fall short of those record-breaking super productions.

However, the saying "favorable timing, advantageous location, and harmonious relationships" is sometimes truly undeniable.

In Shen Jin's view, Chu An was clearly doing this intentionally, allowing Liang Guoliang and Tian Du to smear and suppress him.

There's also a sense of urgency among some people; they've deliberately avoided publicity, and haven't even released a trailer yet—they've been waiting for this moment.

The audience and public opinion formed a reverse wave in the extreme reversal, which pushed Glory to the peak of viewership.

Moreover, once this tidal effect begins to show signs, it becomes irreversible.

The discrepancy between a series and its expectations will generate a lot of buzz, which in turn will push the show's reputation beyond what it should have been, thus driving a surge in viewership.

In addition, there's the gimmick of Chu An's acting skills and Su Manqing's first TV series.

Shen Jin realized, damn it! He had unknowingly allowed Chu An to stack up all the buffs.

No one can stop the ratings from climbing for "You Are My Glory".

It's only been three days since it started airing, and it's already reached 17%. He can't even imagine how high "Honor of Kings" can go.

Most importantly, all the other dramas airing at the same time, regardless of who they are, will become cannon fodder.

Thinking of this, Shen Jin couldn't help but call Chu An and frantically bombard him with messages.

"You're even betraying your own people, huh?! You should have said so earlier! If you had, I would have given way to you, it wouldn't have been such a big deal!"

"Now look what's happened, I've become cannon fodder."

Chu An apologized for this, saying something that almost made Shen Jin furious: "I was busy with school and playing games, I forgot."

Shen Jin wanted to kill him to silence him.

Feigning pitifulness, she said, "You know how hard it was for me to climb up there and make a big-budget film? Now my reputation is completely ruined."

Before Chu An could react, he said, "I don't care, you already owe me a notebook, pay it back right now!"

Chu An, "."

After a moment of silence, someone said, "Just say you want to ask for the script directly, why beat around the bush like this?!"

"Hey!" Old Shen's expression changed faster than flipping through a book. "If I didn't say it like that, you wouldn't take it to heart!"

Chu An pondered for a moment seriously, "I really can't give it to you in the near future."

Shen Jin, "What do you mean?"

Chu An said, "I still owe two scripts, I need to finish those two first."

Upon hearing this, Shen Jin frowned curiously, "I can understand owing Lao Lu a script. Besides him, who else has commissioned you for a script?"

Chu An: "Old Lu? Old Lu's next project has already been decided. He will be the executive producer, and he will have very little directing role."

"Who is that? They're even ahead of me in line!?" Shen Jin exclaimed anxiously.

You should know that he had already agreed to write the script with Chu An last year.

Chu An replied apologetically, "It's about Su Manqing and Cage's next movie."

Well.
Old Shen paused, "Su Manqing, and Cage too."
Has Teacher Chu's approach become this unconventional?

Well, it's no wonder Shen Jin didn't know. Chu An didn't use his real name in the script for "Heart Fire," but rather an English pen name.

Well, the script was too mature and too retro. Western audiences would have to wonder how an 18-year-old Chinese boy could have written it.

Chu An didn't want to cause trouble, so he went into hiding.

Moreover, just as he had thought before, at this time, he still wanted to lay a solid foundation in China before making his way into Hollywood as a director. Screenwriting was not a selling point that he needed to promote.

Therefore, whether in China or abroad, most people only know that "Heart Fire" was written by a Chinese screenwriter.

However, no one knows who that Chinese playwright is.

The idea of ​​writing a script for a movie for Cage and Su Manqing actually originated from a joke.

The reason is that after its great success at Cannes, "Firelight" naturally wanted to strike while the iron was hot and release in North American and European theaters.

Currently, the North American release date is set for the Christmas season on December 22.

The actual box office performance will depend on whether American audiences are receptive to it.

However, the screening rights for Europe, East Asia, and South America were sold out entirely by Sofia through a buyout, without waiting for box office results.

In the end, European countries sold a total of $950 million, while Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, and Indonesia sold far less, only a little over $300 million.

South America has even fewer, just over 100 million.

In short, before even touching North America's largest box office market, "Firelight" had already grossed nearly $1400 million.

For a film with a total investment of less than $600 million, this is undoubtedly a very successful one.

Moreover, MGM, the North American distributor, predicted that the North American box office should not be less than $4000 million.

If the company wins a Golden Globe or an Oscar next year, the box office could rise even further.

The fact that MGM released it was yet another episode.

The matchmaker was Nicolas Cage.

Cage turned down a role in "Windtalkers" last year, but he has maintained a good personal relationship with Wu Yulin and MGM, the production company behind "Windtalkers".

As predicted by Chuan, "Windtalkers" was a box office flop at the beginning of the year. MGM suffered losses of over $100 million and was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Cage, always trying to play the good guy, acted as a go-between and handed over the distribution of "Firelight" to MGM.

Far away.

In short, "Heartfire" is bound to make money, and the final return on investment may be incredibly impressive.

Cage joked with Chu An privately, "Chu, you saved me from a terrible movie and even helped me invest in a great one. Tell me, how do you want me to thank you? How about I give you a complete dinosaur skeleton fossil?"

Chu An felt a headache coming on as soon as he heard that. "You should keep all those weird and wonderful collections to yourself!"

"If you really want to thank me, then bring Su to another film!"

Chu An made a casual remark, but Cage took it seriously. "Even without you saying anything, I'm planning to work with Su again. Didn't you notice? Our collaboration has been very pleasant."

"It's just that we haven't come across a good script yet."

Chu An: "Well, I do have a pretty good story for a commercial film."

What Chu An thought of was Cage's few high-quality commercial film series after 2000 – "National Treasure".

And so, Chu An owed Cage a copy of "National Treasure".

After explaining the situation to Shen Jin, Old Shen was stunned. "Huh? Nicolas Cage asked you to write a script?"

Chu An: "To be precise, it's a second collaboration. I also wrote 'Heart Fire'."

"Fuck your mother!!" Old Shen blurted out in his dialect, "So you're that [Harry Potter]!"

Ever since "Fire in My Heart" won the Cannes Film Festival award, people in China have been speculating about which screenwriter wrote the script.
"You've even made it into Hollywood, huh?"

Chu An replied modestly, "No, I just have a good relationship with Sophia and Cage, I just made it up."

"Oh," Shen Jin believed.

Many stars have gone to Hollywood to make movies in recent years, but none of them have been screenwriters. It seems that Chu An must have used his connections to get ahead.

"Whose notebook is that? Why is it listed ahead of mine?"

Chu An: "Nolan asked me to revise the Batman script."

Shen Jin, “.”

From now on, he would not believe a single word Chu An said.

They call this the "high-level approach"? They've already gotten involved in superhero adaptations, and they still say they haven't broken into Hollywood.

Suddenly feeling a little guilty, she asked, "Um... just wondering, what's your price range for a notebook you write these days? I think I can afford it?" Chu An smiled, "How about... I give you a 5% discount?"

Shen Jin: "Get lost! I even used Liehuo as a stepping stone for you, you owe me something!"

Chu An was also generous, "Alright! I'll arrange it for you as soon as possible."

It's not that President Chu doesn't like money anymore, it's just that he's in a good mood lately and really doesn't care about this little bit of money, okay?

With the premiere of "Honor of Kings," everyone is focused on its viewership ratings.

President Chu doesn't care about ratings at all; what does it have to do with me!
Just looking at the number of online players in the game "Honor of Kings" and the number of registered users on Weibo makes me smile every night.

Since the premiere of "Honor of Kings", the game has been a huge hit.

From a lackluster start to the public beta, with virtually no one paying attention, to explosive growth, with peak online activity being refreshed every hour.

Xiang Lintao is experiencing both pain and joy!

The good thing is that the gamble we took back then paid off.

A sponsorship of ten million yuan has yielded the current results. Before the first six episodes of "Honor of Kings" aired, the number of online players had already exceeded 50, and it is still growing rapidly.

It hurts.
Firstly, we are constantly worried about adding new servers; there simply aren't enough.

Secondly, players have been hurling insults at him and Chu An.

There's no way around it; everything has a cause and effect. Once Glory aired, even a fool could see that his previous online accusations were just a charade with Chu An!

These two shameless people, who else should we criticize if not them?
Fortunately, Chu An's fans stirred up trouble, convinced that "Xiang Gou" had been corrupted by "Chu Gou." They argued that only Chu Gou could come up with such a shameless move, as Xiang Gou didn't have the intelligence.

Go ahead and yell at me!

According to newly obtained data, the online version of the game "Honor of Kings" (priced at 88 yuan) has already sold 200 million copies. After deducting channel commissions, Green Field Company has netted 1.2 million yuan.

The next step is to take advantage of the domestic boom and expand international distribution channels.

At this rate, it's not impossible for it to surpass StarCraft and become the world's number one competitive game.

The only thing that really bothered Xiang Lin was that he'd been fooled by Chu Gou. Before the series even premiered, this guy and Lu Mingze had been trying to sell him shares in Green Field Company.

Currently holding 25% of the shares, he is the second largest shareholder of Green Field Company after Xiang Lintao himself.

In other words, no matter how much "Honor of Kings" earns, Chu Gou and Lao Lu will take a quarter of it.

Xiang Lintao didn't have any malicious intentions; he just felt frustrated just thinking about it.

I'm the real business tycoon, the gaming genius, okay?!
As a result, people are using his money to make movies and profit from his games. Where can he go to seek justice?
After thinking it over, he privately approached Chu An and asked, "Teacher Chu, do you think I can buy back the shares?"

Chu An readily agreed, "Sure!"

Upon hearing this, Xiang Lintao exclaimed, "Don't worry, I won't let you suffer! The current market price will be increased by 20%!"

Chu An: "Whatever you say, that's what it is!"

Xiang Lintao, “.”

Feeling a little uneasy? Wasn't it too exhilarating?

As for Chu An, he said, "After all, Green Field Company is yours. We outsiders are in there. Whether it's you or your shareholders, it's normal that we're uncomfortable. I completely understand."

Xiang Lintao: "Actually, I'm not feeling unwell."

Chu An said, "Stop talking! Here's what we'll do before we split up: I'll give you one last killer move that will sweep through competitive games!"

Xiang Lintao: "What special move?"

Chu An: "Green Field Company is organizing an international invitational tournament for 'Glory'."

Xiang Lintao was disappointed. He had thought it was some kind of magic trick, but it turned out to be just organizing a competition. He replied, "It's already being planned."

Chu An: "You're planning my ass! A prize of thirty to fifty thousand dollars isn't even enough to keep you busy!"

Xiang Lintao protested, "Everyone does it this way!"

Chu An, "You'd follow someone else to their death?"

Xiang Lintao: "Then what do you suggest we do?!"

Chuan, “Introducing an international invitational tournament to commemorate members, creating exclusive trinkets and commemorative achievements.”

“Link the prize money to membership and accessory sales, so that no matter how much money players spend, half of it goes into the invitational tournament prize pool.”

Xiang Lintao was dumbfounded. What kind of approach was this? He had no idea what was going on. After thinking for a long time, he was suddenly startled.

"As you suggested, we've already made several million RMB selling game chat emoticons."

"If there were commemorative memberships and exclusive skins, how much would that cost?! The prize pool would be insane?!"

Chu An: "Exactly! What's the point of a prize of thirty or fifty thousand US dollars?!"

"But what if you tried three or five million US dollars?! What if it was more than the prize money of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments?!"

"What StarCraft and all that? Even if Glory isn't fun, a lot of professional players still flock to it, just for the prize money."

"And they are the best promotional channels for 'Honor of Kings,' so it's hard for you not to become a hit."

Xiang Lintao, “.”

My head is buzzing.
After a moment of confusion, he suddenly blurted out, "Um...Teacher Chu, just pretend I just farted. Let's make money together!"

Chu An replied calmly, "No way, didn't we agree that you'd make the acquisition?"

Xiang Lintao: "Let's forget it! I'm afraid if I really accept it, you'll ruin me."

Someone like Chu An is incredibly shrewd and calculating. President Xiang thinks it's better to keep him close as a friend.

Otherwise, if things go wrong, he might create another Glory, and then he'll be left with nothing but tears.

Chu An, "Aren't you going to accept it?"

Xiang Lintao: "I won't accept it!"

Chu An said, "Then let's talk about the detailed planning of the invitational tournament later."

Just before hanging up, she coldly said, "I thought you were really going to discard me after I've served my purpose. What a waste of your excitement."

Xiang Lintao, “.”

That bastard was definitely up to no good; luckily he was quick-witted.

Having dealt with Xiang Lintao, Chu An was actually relieved. He had seen far too many cases of people being discarded after their usefulness was over.

Humans are just like that; when they're going through thick and thin together, they can tolerate each other and cooperate perfectly.

Once they achieve something, they start to get arrogant and think everything is unfair.

In front of Lin Wanchen, he shelved a game plan called "Honor of Kings," saying, "We don't need it for now!"

The copied version of Dota is indeed fun, but being fun doesn't mean you can't lose.

Ultimately, DOTA still suffers from inherent commercial flaws such as excessively long game times and a high learning curve.

Moreover, Green Field Company has a major drawback: it lacks long-term traffic generation methods.

None of these changes were made when Chu An proposed the idea of ​​creating DOTA in this time and space.

The reason for this is to prevent Xiang Lintao from turning his back on us.

"What a pity," Lin Wanchen said with a pout. "Weibo currently has tens of millions of active users, and that number is still growing rapidly."

"How much money would we make if we made a similar game ourselves?"

.

(End of this chapter)