China Entertainment 1997.

Chapter 524 Stop pretending, I have a showdown, I am the richest man in Asia

The box office on the first day of the weekend was 2700 million.

The box office on Monday was 1200 million.

960 million at the box office on Tuesday.

……

The Friday and Saturday rest days ushered in an explosion, and the box office hit 5100 million in two days.

The first part of "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" won a box office of 1.14 million in the first week in the mainland, and it is also the third Chinese-language film in the mainland to break [-] million in the first week.

It surpassed Lao Mouzi's "Golden Flowers in the City", and only ranked second after "Painted Skin" which had 1.25 million in the first week.

China Film Group and a group of other companies laughed crookedly. Look at the momentum. Although "Three Kingdoms: Chibi" is not as good as "Painted Skin", it is still very promising to exceed 3 million.

Don’t think that with a 5 million+ "Painted Skin", the mainland film market will take off. The data of "Painted Skin" has a certain luck bonus, which is irreproducible and cannot be judged by common sense.

So far, although it is not uncommon for the domestic box office to exceed [-] million yuan, it is still a very good result.

In 2006, there were fewer than 2007 million movies in the mainland with a box office of over 10 million. In [-], there were only a few movies with a box office of over [-] million.

This is still in the case that Fanxing Movies and theaters are more active in promoting the market, and the data of the original time and space are even more "shabby".

As for the actual box office of more than 3 million, there are only records of "Titanic", "Painted Skin", "Curse of the Golden Armor" and "Transformers".

The latter two movies barely surpassed 3 million, and "Painted Skin" and "Titanic" really rushed to 3 million.

And since "Titanic" hadn't been reorganized when it was released, the film was actually screened for a very long time, but considering the ticket price and the size of the theater in 1997, the gold content was still very high.

In the mainland market in 2008, a movie worth 2 million yuan was considered a big hit, and a movie worth more than 3 million yuan was considered a ceiling-level movie in the industry.

"Three Kingdoms: Chibi" is expected to win a box office of more than 3 million yuan, which is definitely a success.

Of course, the investment in this movie is huge, and the estimated total investment is about 4.2 million yuan. If only the mainland takes 3 million at the box office, even if there are two films, there is still a certain gap between the return of the cost.

However, this movie does not only rely on mainland movies, advertising fees and various developments to make money, the most important thing is the box office in Japan and other Asia.

When they first started preparing for this project, Cao Xuan and others regarded the box office in Asia, especially Japan, as an important profit point.

To this end, Fanxing and Toho, which is in charge of distribution in Japan, have been negotiating for nearly a year, and finally won nearly 50% of the producer and some distribution revenues, which is more than most Hollywood revenues.

The reason is not complicated. Dongbao is indeed very optimistic about "Three Kingdoms: Chibi".

There is an exaggerated saying that the Japanese love the Three Kingdoms even more than their own country's Warring States Period.

There was a poll on the Japanese website. In the list of favorite historical figures (including Japan), Cao Cao ranked fourth and Zhuge Liang ninth.

Of course, it is difficult to distinguish the authenticity of these statements, but the Japanese love for the Three Kingdoms is beyond words, and various animation, game, literature, film and television works emerge in endlessly.

Characters from the Three Kingdoms such as Zhou Yu, Zhao Yun, Cao Cao, and Lu Bu are extremely popular in Japan.

Due to various reasons, Japan is not good at this kind of commercial historical blockbuster, so when China has such a super production of the Three Kingdoms theme, many Japanese audiences are very interested, not to mention that the leading actor is originally very famous in Japan. The popular Cao Xuan.

For these alone, there are not a few Japanese filmmakers who actually compete with Toho. In order to defeat Toho, they can make huge concessions.

But the extremely prominent market prospects and the pressure from these film studios, coupled with Dongbao's greed for the Chinese market, and its intention to build a good relationship with the two giants Fanxing and China Film, finally formed this generous contract.

Just a few days before its release in the mainland, "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" was released in Japan on July 7, and immediately attracted countless Japanese fans of the Three Kingdoms to go to the theater.

It is worth noting that the Three Kingdoms are popular in Japan, but it does not mean that they understand the real history of the Three Kingdoms, at least most of them are smattering.

The Three Kingdoms they know are modified by Japanese magic, and most of them come from games and comics.

The Cao Cao in the impression of most fans of Japan's Three Kingdoms is a young/middle-aged man with a dark belly and a strong ambition.

Liu Bei is a Holy Mother, not a derogatory Holy Mother, but a true benevolent person. Guan Zhang and Zhao Zhuge Liang were all influenced by his benevolence and righteousness, so they followed him wholeheartedly.

Lu Bu is a big devil every day, and he is in true love with Diao Chan, a bit like a domineering president and his little wife.

Zhou Yu and Sun Ceji are very affectionate, and even Xiao Qiao is a bit like a light bulb.

Sima Yi is a feminine demon, Sun Quan is a hot-blooded young monarch, Zhang Jiao Zuo Ci is an old god with yin and yang, and Yuan Shao is a very proud nobleman.

In fact, these characteristics are not wrong, but they are too magnified, and it can be clearly felt that they have a strong second-hand color in comics.

For details, you can refer to the game "Three Kingdoms Warriors" series. The characters in the card game "Three Kingdoms" are also somewhat influenced by the Japanese Three Kingdoms game animation.

Under such circumstances, when they walked into the theater to watch "Three Kingdoms: Chibi", the impression they brought was subversive and shocking.

The climax of the whole movie is Zhao Yun's appearance, Cao Cao's army going south, Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang's battle of wits, and the last two land and water battles.

Whether it's some familiar but unfamiliar characters from the Three Kingdoms, or a full-fledged literary drama, or a huge and spectacular big scene, many Japanese audiences shouted "Si Guoyi".

If we say that "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" still has a lot of controversy in China, it is almost universally applauded in Japan, South Korea and other places.

Japan's "Asahi Shimbun" claimed: China has produced Hollywood-level commercial films, Japan should not be obsessed with "One Piece" and "Pokémon", we also want to produce Japanese commercial blockbusters.

There are also Japanese film critics who believe that: with extraordinary war scenes and historical shaping, the Chinese have found a successful film path.

The South Korean media exclaimed: One of the best historical movies in Asia!

Similar to Japan, South Korea is also particularly fond of the theme of the Three Kingdoms. A certain female president once claimed that her first love was Zhao Yun...

The reason why "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" has aroused heated discussions among the media and movie fans is that, in addition to the influence of the Three Kingdoms itself, it is more because these countries are almost blank in terms of historical commercial production of movies.

How should I put it, they have seen blockbuster movies, and the big scenes related to several Hollywood epic war blockbusters may even be more spectacular than "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff".

However, those films were all made by Westerners, which is completely different from this kind of history and historical figures that are very oriental and relatively familiar to them.

In addition to the media, Japanese and Korean netizens praised "Three Kingdoms: Chibi" on the Internet as nasty.

[Whether it's the scene or the acting, it's very touching, it's better than those Dahe dramas (historical dramas)]

[Shocking movie, when Cao Xuan...not Zhou Yu became the coach, and countless generals, officers and soldiers paid homage, I felt my blood boil]

[Can someone tell me the name of Zhao Yun's actor?So handsome]

[I don't like that part, so I should throw Ah Dou to death. He ruined Liu Bei's foundation, I hate him]

[I like Zhuge Liang's actor, he has a mature and gentle charm, but it's a pity that Cao Cao is a bit old]

[It is a bit different from the Three Kingdoms in my impression. After reading the comments on the Internet, it seems that this is the real history. I want to read the original book]

[The war scene is so spectacular, how much production fee does it cost, it seems to be Cao Xuan's company, he is so rich]

【You are not a fan of Cao Xuan, right? He is the richest artist in China, probably the richest artist in Asia】

[That's right, he donated nearly 150 billion yen by himself for the disaster in China some time ago]

[My God, he is so rich, the founder of Mixi (Japan's largest social network) Kenji Kasahara (known as a young rich man) is probably not as good as him]

[Authoritative financial media in Europe and the United States estimate that Cao Xuan’s assets are conservatively over 150 billion US dollars, richer than the boss of Japan’s richest man, Nintendo, and one of the richest post-70s in the world]

[I declare that he will be my male god from now on, mom, I want to marry him]

【…】

Although the follow-up comments are a bit crooked, the word-of-mouth popularity of "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" in Japan and South Korea is still high, and the box office is also very good.

In the first week of its release in Japan, it won more than 20 billion yen, or 1.34 million yuan.

In the same period, it was second only to the anime movie "Ponyo on the Cliff", also known as "Ponyo on the Cliff".

This anime film directed by Hayao Miyazaki is very important in Japanese film history. At its peak, it has been ranked among the top ten in Japanese film history. In 2022, it will still be in the top [-] in film history.

In Japan, the three words Hayao Miyazaki are equivalent to the "king of the box office", even if it is a Hollywood blockbuster, it is difficult to compete with his movies.

"Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" also didn't want to compete with Hayao Miyazaki. There is a certain schedule space between the two parties, and the genres are different. One is a business history masterpiece and the other is an animation. The mutual influence is relatively limited.

South Korea's box office is also good, with 450 million US dollars in the first week, which is almost 3000 million RMB in conversion.

It is estimated that the box office is expected to reach 1500 million US dollars, or more than 1 million yuan.

It seems that it is far inferior to Japan and the mainland, and the total box office is not as good as the first week's box office of the two places.

However, considering that the Korean domestic market is relatively small and has been heavily invaded by Hollywood, the data of "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" can basically rank among the top [-] of the year and point to the top [-].

In Japan, with the current performance of "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff", the champion is enough to beat Hayao Miyazaki, but there is absolutely no problem in the top three of the year.

On July 7, "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" was released in Japan for two weeks, with a total hit of 28 billion yen, a total of almost 44.2 million yuan.

This result also officially surpassed Lao Mouzi's "Hero" and "Shaolin Temple" with doubtful data, becoming the highest-grossing Chinese-language film in Japan.

It didn't take long for "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" to surpass the box office of "Hero" at US$1077 million in South Korea, becoming the highest-grossing Chinese-language film in South Korea.

At the same time, it became the highest-grossing Chinese film in Japan and South Korea, and the news spread back to China, which also increased the box office of "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" in the second week.

In fact, Cao Xuan's "Taken" performed very well in Japan and South Korea before, but the limelight was basically overwhelmed by North America.

And it's just good, just like the previous North American films, Cao Xuan's appeal is still inferior to Cheng Long and the others in modern kung fu movies.

In fact, it is not bad. Li Lianjie's "Huo Yuanjia" has a box office of only 240 million US dollars in Japan, and 183 million US dollars in South Korea. Cheng Long's "Baby Project" will add up to 300 million US dollars in Japan and South Korea.

In April, "The King of Kung Fu", which they collaborated with, had a combined box office of about 4 million US dollars in Japan and South Korea, which is almost the same as Cao Xuan's "Taken".

Even if it's because of the old brothers' passing and the poor quality of the film, it can be seen that Cao Xuan has clearly replaced the two in Asia and has become the spokesperson of the new generation of Chinese film circles.

And the appearance of "Three Kingdoms: Chibi" has completely turned this seedling into a towering tree.

The two teamed up with "The King of Kung Fu" and failed to enter Hollywood. Compared with Cao Xuan's success in Hollywood this year + the Asian box office explosion, many people have reached a consensus.

Cheng Li is old, and Cao Xuan is in power.

When you are in Wuzi, Chinese is auspicious!
Even Cheng Long, who had been avoiding these things before, admitted for the first time that Cao Xuan's film influence in Asia has surpassed him.

You must know that although Cheng Long has a very good relationship with Cao Xuan, he only said something like "Young people are awesome" or that Chinese-language movies will be Cao Xuan in the future, and he acknowledged Cao Xuan's achievements and popularity in the international music scene.

But in the film industry, Cheng Long refused to accept his old age, and he never said that he was inferior to Cao Xuan.

As for Li Lianjie, this one did not respond, he is currently busy filming "The Mummy 3" and becoming a Singaporean citizen...

Although the outside world and movie fans have been arguing about the achievements of new and old superstars, in the eyes of China Film and other companies, the box office is the most important.

The mainland box office is expected to be 3-3.5 million yuan.

The box office in Japan is also running at 4.5-5 million yuan.

According to the current trend in South Korea, it is not difficult to break through [-] million.

Coupled with the box office of other places, it is estimated that tens of millions or even over [-] million yuan can be collected.

It is estimated that the total box office of the upper part of "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" can exceed 10 billion yuan, plus other miscellaneous income, even if it cannot directly return the cost, it will not be far behind.

The most important thing is that they still hold the lower part of "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" in their hands.

With the popularity and influence accumulated in the first part, they are extremely optimistic about the box office of the second part of "Three Kingdoms: Chibi". Not to mention surpassing, as long as it is equal, this project will make a lot of money.

Han Sanye almost jumped up and down to find Cao Xuan, hoping to start the next movie in the "Three Kingdoms" series.

Cao Xuan did not refuse, although he felt that "Three Kingdoms: Chibi" relied on his own fame and the wide popularity of the Chibi War, and it would be difficult to achieve this level with other themes of the Three Kingdoms.

But even if it doesn't reach the level of "Three Kingdoms: Chibi", as long as the investment is controlled, there is still hope for a small profit.

With such a promising project, Cao Xuan couldn't think of a reason to give up.

But just in case, the next Fanxing may not hold such a large shareholding, and if it fails, other people will share it.

Although Cao Xuan poured cold water on him, Han Sanye, who had been completely blinded by the popularity of "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff", did not listen too much.

Fan Xing waited and watched cautiously, and China Film Group took the lead. The two joined forces to occupy 60% of the new film's share, with a total investment of 2 million yuan.

Among them, China Film has 40%, Fanxing has 20%, and the remaining 40% has been given to other companies, which has caused a frantic rush by major companies. In the end, Huayi, SMI, and Media Asia won the bulk.

The new movie of the Three Kingdoms chooses two themes from Hulao Pass or the Battle of Guandu, but no matter which theme it is, Cao Cao is one of the core characters.

And all the company bosses and project leaders unanimously hope that Cao Xuan will play their ancestor.

However, he was declined by Cao Xuan. After playing Zhou Yu, it felt too awkward to play Cao Cao again, and he didn't want to limit himself to the theme of the Three Kingdoms.

Cao Xuan can choose not to act, but other actors in the entertainment industry will not regard this movie as nothing.

The popularity of "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" is obvious to all. Even if the new movie can reach two-thirds of the point, it can be regarded as a blockbuster masterpiece. If it can lead the role, it will definitely be a highlight of its career.

After China Film Group decided to position the theme of the new Three Kingdoms movie "Three Kingdoms: Guandu", more than [-]% of the male actors in the Chinese film circle competed for the role of Cao Cao, and there were many top stars among them.

In the version Cao Xuan saw, there are Liu Tianwang, Fa Ge, Chen Daoming, Liang Yingdi and many other film stars.

This also gave Cao Xuan a lot of peace of mind, no matter what, the lineup should still be able to withstand it, and the prospect of the project is naturally good, at least the possibility of losing money is not high.

.........

Since the main energy is still on the Olympic side, Cao Xuan's contribution to the promotion of the upper part of "Three Kingdoms: Chibi" is extremely limited.

Basically, I went around around Gyeonggi, accepted a few interviews, and recorded some videos. The specific publicity was run by other people.

Many people felt sorry for it, thinking that if Cao Xuan personally led the team to run the promotion, the box office of "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" should still increase.

But there is no way, the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games is more important than anything else.

Fortunately, there is also the second part of "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff", whether it is scheduled to be released in the Lunar New Year file this year or the summer file next year, Cao Xuan can spare a certain amount of time to make up for it.

But even so, Fanxing, China Film and even Dongbao still hope to take advantage of Cao Xuan's popularity as much as possible and boost the box office.

Especially for Dongbao, Cao Xuan is still in the country. Although he can't participate in the promotion in person, he can still enjoy the glory, but Japan is beyond his reach.

Seeing that the box office of "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" has reached 80 billion yen at the box office, it is almost one of the top-grossing movies in Japan this year.

Dongbao definitely wants to tap the potential as much as possible to make the movie's box office go further.

After much deliberation, Dongbao simply joined forces with Fuji TV to send a recording team to film Cao Xuan's day in a documentary-style follow-up interview, and by the way, add some private goods from "Three Kingdoms: Chibi" to promote the movie.

Originally, Cao Xuan was supposed to cooperate with Japan's publicity, but he didn't go because of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

Considering that his own side was at a disadvantage, it was not too much for others to make this request. Cao Xuan thought about it and agreed.

Dongbao is also sensible, and the host he sent happened to be Masami Nagasawa, a famous fan of Cao Xuan in Japan.

On the one hand, Nagasawa Masami is a beautiful woman with a good photogenic effect, and on the other hand, she is also familiar with Cao Xuan, chatting better than ordinary hosts, and can also gain a wave of popularity.

When Nagasawa Masami heard about the interview with Cao Xuan, she also went there with pleasure. The two sides exchanged the process, and the filming officially started on the morning of August 8th.

A courtyard, the door

Masami Nagasawa stood in front of the camera with a sweet smile on her face: "Today we are going to interview an idol that I personally like very much. He is the pride of the Asian music scene, a world-class superstar, and also a very good actor. He starred in " Three Kingdoms: Chibi" is currently being screened in Japan, with a box office of more than 65 billion yen..."

After the opening remarks, Nagasawa Masami slammed the gate of the courtyard, and Cao Xuan opened the door from the inside.

"Onisan, Nihao, have you had breakfast (in Chinese)?"

"That's right, the sesame sauce is pretty standard (in English)."

"Thank you (in Chinese)."

Cao Xuan can't speak Japanese, but fortunately, Nagasawa Masami also understands English. Although he has a bit of an accent, communication is no problem, not to mention that the team is equipped with a special translator.

However, according to Masami Nagasawa, she can understand some Chinese, but she is not very good at speaking. Cao Xuan has reservations about her accent.

"Onisan, what a beautiful house?"

Open the door to let people in, walk past the screen wall, red tiles and green walls, with pools and trees, and a corridor next to it. Classical and elegant, it is quite new to the Japanese.

"Onisan, do you usually live here? I'm so envious."

Cao Xuan shook his head, and said truthfully, "I rarely live here, but because it's close to the Bird's Nest, I only live here these days."

Another reason is that Cao Xuan didn't want to reveal whether it was his parents' home, Cao's Hutong, Changping Villa, etc., so he was interviewed in this courtyard house where he lived for a few days.

"We checked and found that this is called a courtyard house, and it is a very historic house in the capital."

Nagasawa Masami, under the guidance of the director of the film crew, pronounced these three words awkwardly, and then hit the hall with great interest.

"With the liberty to ask, can Onisan tell us, is this house yours? How much is it worth?"

Cao Xuan pondered for a while, but didn't hide it: "It's my house. I really don't know the exact value, probably hundreds of millions of yen."

It wasn't that he was hiding it. Cao Xuan really didn't know the specific price of this courtyard house. After all, it was a small courtyard house and he didn't think about selling it. Who would pay attention to the price of the courtyard all the time.

However, considering that it is a three-entry courtyard house within the Fourth Ring Road of Beijing and near the Bird's Nest, it is worth tens of millions now.

At present, 1 million yen is about 670 million yuan. It is not wrong to say that it is several hundred million yen.

Nagasawa Masami showed a surprised expression in cooperation, even in Tokyo, where every inch of land is expensive, a few hundred million yen can be called a luxury house.

Although it's not enough to make Masami Nagasawa lose her composure, but for a show, it's necessary to cooperate.

"Onisan, do you know how much your net worth is now a hot topic in Japan? Everyone says you have 150 billion US dollars."

"Haha, I saw the report, but unfortunately, I'm really not that rich."

Cao Xuan has always disliked revealing his wealth, but various business operations can't hide it, even fools know that he is rich.

Especially the astronomical donations in the past few months, which brought huge prestige, also made Cao Xuan's assets a hot topic.

Under the lure of the heat, the major financial media and some professional organizations conducted an in-depth investigation of Cao Xuan.

Even though Cao Xuan took precautions in many aspects, but there are too many experts, so he still revealed a lot of cruelty——

Fanxing Group, which obviously holds less than 30% of the shares, Cao Xuan most likely owns 80% or even 100% of the shares.

The Box Game, which had been widely rumored by the outside world, also killed Cao Xuan as the largest shareholder. It is conservatively estimated that the shareholding is more than 65%.

There is also Penguin, which is known to many people in Cao Xuan, and it is expected to have 20% of the shares after penetration through layers.

There is no need to delve into the others. For these three companies alone, the valuation of Cao Xuan's shares is impressive.

At present, the total market value of Penguin is about 200 billion US dollars, and the box game is slightly lower because it is not listed and low-key, but it is still about 120-150 billion US dollars.

Fanxing Group includes many industries such as Fanxing Cinemas and Film and Television City. It is the largest film and television entertainment company in China and is also very optimistic by the outside world.

If these real hammers are true, Cao Xuan's assets will reach a terrifying 300 billion US dollars, making him the richest man in Asia in an absolute sense, and even entering the top ten in the world.

At present, there are only 400 billion to 500 billion yuan, the richest man in the mainland, and his net worth is only a fraction of that of Cao Xuan.

Seeing that so much information has been picked up, Cao Xuan is ready to stop pretending, and the showdown is over, I am the richest man in Asia.

As a result, because this data is too exaggerated, people do not believe it, but they agree with some media's 150 billion US dollars, which is probably the top [-] data in Asia.

This time Cao Xuan was speechless.

You don’t believe me when I say I’m not rich, but you don’t believe me when I find out that I’m too rich, and you all rely on wild guesses, so why ask me?
But there is one thing to say, most of these market values ​​are indeed water, especially those that are not listed, and can basically ignore outside estimates.

Cao Xuan himself estimates that the actual assets are between 150 billion and 200 billion US dollars. Because of the current economic crisis, and because some of them are Internet companies, the fluctuation is relatively large.

Anyway, it doesn't matter how much money you have. Cao Xuan always said that the outside world estimated it wrong. I don't have that much. If I asked him how much, he didn't know.

But no matter what, he donated hundreds of millions of yuan in one breath, sitting on the shares of several large companies, countless real estate, and private jets.

No matter how Cao Xuan quibbles, the outside world recognizes that this guy is not just an ordinary rich man, at least he is also the richest man in the mainland like Huang Guangyu from Gome, Wang Chuanfu from BYD, and Zong Qinghou from Wahaha.

At the same time, [Third-rate businessman Cao's richest man] has also become a popular new meme after [Second-rate singer Cao Tianwang], and even has the potential to surpass it.

After all, no matter how many singers are in Versailles, there is no excitement from the richest man.

For example, Jay Chou said that his musical talent is mediocre, there is absolutely no Jack Ma and Xiao Ma who said that he does not like money and ordinary families, which made the public break their defenses and gnash their teeth.

A second-rate singer, a second-rate singer, a world king.

A third-rate businessman, a third-rate businessman who has a net worth of at least tens of billions.

Many people on the Internet couldn't help complaining, it's a good thing that there is no fourth-rate, otherwise the surname Cao would not be able to go to heaven...

(End of this chapter)