The richest man

Chapter 183 Videotapes and Chain Stores
Suddenly, like a spring breeze overnight.

Many people are surprised to find that they wake up the next day surrounded by advertisements for "Star Wars".

After carefully looking at the promotional poster, I was immediately interested in this movie.

"It's another movie invested by Zhang Jun himself. Previously, "Jaws", "King Kong", "Spiderman" and "Space Invaders" he invested in have all sold well at the box office, and this one should be no exception. I'm looking forward to the movie's release! "

""Star Wars", I feel very hung up when I hear the name!"

"..."

After Disney and Warner launched the "Star Wars" promotional campaign, the major media in the United States rushed to report "Star Wars" involuntarily.

The films led by Zhang Jun have repeatedly broken records in film history, and it is difficult not to attract attention to "Star Wars".

The major media have speculated about the global box office of "Star Wars".

The news from the media is relatively well-informed. Disney and Warner spent 5000 million US dollars on publicity and distribution. Such a large publicity expense undoubtedly shows that Disney and Warner are optimistic about "Star Wars"!

"Star Wars" may indeed have the potential to break the world box office record again!

Under the frantic publicity campaign of "Star Wars", the rest of the upcoming movies have all been overshadowed.

Disney and Warner took the opportunity to ask the major theaters that in the first five days of the release of "Star Wars", the film schedule must exceed 70%.

Seeing that "Star Wars" is so popular, the theater companies thought that the box office results in the past five days must be very high. After thinking about it, they all agreed.Moreover, the release time of "Star Wars" is December 12, and it did not squeeze the Christmas file five days later.

With the efforts of Disney and Warner Bros., "Star Wars" accounted for 75% of the film schedule, which stunned the major Hollywood film companies.

However, such a big publicity, the effect is still leveraged.

It will soon be December 12th.

""Star Wars" has such a strong publicity, and the film schedule accounts for 75%, if the box office is not satisfactory, it will be interesting!" Independent filmmaker George Sand sneered.Their company's films were also released during this period, but they were reduced to cannon fodder, accounting for only 8% of the film schedule.

George Sand was rather angry and outraged.

Why is "Star Wars" accounting for 75% of the film schedule, but their movies are only 8%?

My heart is very unbalanced.

Hearing this, his companion nodded and said, "The screening rate has never been so high before the movie was released. I'm afraid that if the screening rate is high and the attendance rate is low, the cinema will lose money."

Another person said: "I heard that Disney and Warner signed a compensation agreement with the theater company. In the first five days, if the movie theater loses money, the loss will be theirs."

"Fuck, I'm speechless! Independent films are too difficult!" George Sand shook his head and said in great frustration.

"Don't panic, George, we still have a chance! "Star Wars" has such a high film schedule, and the attendance rate must be very low. The theater company should soon adjust the film schedule to increase the number of film schedules for our films. Our top priority It is to do a good job of publicity and make the film's reputation!"

"Hmm! That's right!!" George Sand nodded unconsciously upon hearing this.

At this time, not only George Sand and others paid great attention to "Star Wars", but major Hollywood film companies are also curious about whether the large-scale theater release model of "Star Wars" will be successful.

……

"Buy a Star Wars movie ticket!"

"I want two copies of Star Wars"

"..."

On the first day of the release of "Star Wars", the major movie theaters were crowded with people, all of whom came to see "Star Wars". With all the hype around Star Wars, people really got hooked.

But if you want to continue this hot situation, you have to watch the word-of-mouth of the movie.

Soon, the first batch of moviegoers came out of the cinema.

"Damn, "Star Wars" is so good, I want to watch it a second time!" A young man couldn't help but said, and immediately walked to the ticket office.

In the movie theater, a customer who was hesitant to buy a movie ticket for "Star Wars" couldn't help asking curiously: "Brother, is "Star Wars" really that good?"

"Of course, the art design, props, scenery, visual effects and sound effects of "Star Wars", each of which can be described as a special book, and there are also a lot of awesome action and fighting scenes, which makes people excited..."

While queuing up, the man talked about the plot of "Star Wars" incessantly.

He also introduced the lightsaber with hand gestures, and the two classic robot images of C-3P0 and R2D2...

After hearing this, everyone felt itchy.

Other viewers in the first batch also said that "Star Wars" is very good, and they will tell their relatives and friends to let them watch "Star Wars" too.

"Star Wars" exploded in word-of-mouth, and attendance soared in the evening.

The next day, the first-day box office of "Star Wars" was released.

Everyone was shocked when they saw it! !
"My God! The first-day box office of "Star Wars" is as high as 4250 million U.S. dollars!" "Hollywood Reporter" reporter Jordan Adolf was dumbfounded, feeling unbelievable.

How is such a high box office possible?

Jordan Adolph stunned!

"This...will definitely be the headline news of the day!"

The major Hollywood film companies also learned of the first-day box office of "Star Wars", and they were all shocked.

At this time, the executives of Disney and Warner couldn't help being extremely excited.

The box office on the first day was so shocking, and the reputation was excellent, wouldn't the box office of "Star Wars" be against the sky!
The crowd was so excited that they couldn't help themselves and cheered loudly.

The media and film companies in Hong Kong also got the news quickly.

"It can't be a rumor, right? The first day's box office was as high as 4250 million US dollars, how is it possible?" Zou Wenhuai was startled and doubtful.

He Guanchong smiled wryly, and said, "I've confirmed with them several times that the first-day box office of "Star Wars" was indeed 4250 million US dollars!"

Whoa, whoa, whoa! ! !
When Zou Huaiwen heard this, he suddenly "coughed" a few times.

The first-day box office in the United States alone is so high, how exaggerated is the global box office of "Star Wars"?The money earned from this movie alone can buy several Golden Harvests.

Zou Wenhuai looked at He Guanchong, and the two looked at each other, speechless for a while.

tvb.

After Shao Daheng received the news, he sighed: "Young people are awesome. Zhang Jun invested in movies with such a precise vision. Almost every one of them is a hit. It's a miracle to pass it on."

Brothers Cheng Long and Hong Jinbao were also discussing this matter at this time.

Hong Jinbao looked at Cheng Long and said, "The box office of Zhang Jun's favorite movie is so high! By the way, Yuan Lou, didn't you participate in "Jurassic Park"? If this movie is also similar to "Planet Great War" is as popular, aren't you also popular in Hollywood?!"

Hearing this, Cheng Long nodded excitedly, "Well, the boss is very optimistic about "Jurassic Park", and the publicity resources will not be less than "Star Wars"!"

Although he only played a supporting role as a park security guard in "Jurassic Park", he has a lot of roles.

"Congratulations, Yuanlou, it seems that you are going to gain a firm foothold in Hollywood." Hong Jinbao said enviously.

Cheng Long said: "Brother, you also have a chance. The boss will support a large number of Hong Kong artists to enter Hollywood. I am just taking a step first."

"Well! Come on, let's have a toast, I wish the Yuanlou flag a victory, and wish everyone a bright future!"

"cheers!!!"

……

……

Due to word-of-mouth, on the second day after the release of "Star Wars", the major movie theaters were overcrowded, and even some movie theaters with a relatively high flow of people found it hard to get a ticket.

The average attendance rate of the major movie theaters reached an astonishing 70% or more, which stunned the major theater companies and Hollywood studios for a while.

One day later, "Star Wars" took in a whopping $5100 million the next day.

The president of Disney looked at the report and sighed slightly: "The first day was 4250 million US dollars, and the next day was 5150 million US dollars. The difference is more than [-] million. It's a pity!"

The same is true for the President of Warner, and he said with emotion: "If the promotional efforts in the past two days were stronger, maybe the box office of "Star Wars" in these two days would exceed [-] million. Dollar."

"Ah."

At this moment, the jaws of the entire American media are about to drop.

The film was released for two days, and the box office has almost exceeded [-] million, which is outrageous!
By day three, "Star Wars" was down slightly, but still had $4500 million.

On its fourth day in theaters, it grossed $3900 million.

On its fifth day of release, it grossed $2800 million.

At this time, the box office of "Star Wars" in the United States reached as high as 2.06 million US dollars, which immediately caused a sensation in the whole world.

Even Zhang Jun was taken aback.

He couldn't help summarizing the reasons for the explosion of "Star Wars". Not only is this movie better than the one in his previous life, but the promotion and filming are far superior.In addition, while the peripheral products are selling wildly, they also play a certain role in publicity and promotion of the movie's box office.

In these five days, peripheral revenue reached 10 billion U.S. dollars, and 165 million lightsabers alone were sold.

Many schools can see students learning the movements of Jedi knights with lightsabers, and they have fencing skills!

"Star Wars" is likely to top $4.5 million domestically.

This time, I really want to make a lot of money.

Zhang Jun couldn't help but be filled with emotion. A movie has created billions of dollars in value and a profit of up to 10 billion dollars, which is more profitable than the hard work of developing products.

"Boss, the president of Japan Victory Company came to seek cooperation!!!" Assistant Zhou Liang walked up to Zhang Jun at this moment, and said, "Now, he is waiting in the reception room below."

"Japan Victory Company?" Zhang Jun thought about it carefully, and suddenly realized that this company is most familiar with displaying Japan's first TV set and inventing the VHS system.

What is the VHS system?Simply put, it is a video recorder standard!

As early as the 50s, the laboratory developed a video recorder.But these video recorders are too bulky and expensive to be commercialized.With the advancement of technology, especially the invention of cassette tapes in the early 60s, the practical use of video recorders became possible.

Sony is the overlord of the video recorder industry, as early as 1975, it launched the Betamax video recorder.

The Japanese Victory Company subsequently launched a VHS video recorder in April 1976.

Today, Sony and Victory are competing for the VCR standard.

Sony's strength is stronger, and Japan's Victory Company urgently needs to find a strong ally. In addition to looking for powerful manufacturers, such as Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Sharp, Sampo, and Hitachi, it is best to get the support of Hollywood film giants.Therefore, the president of Japan Victory Company personally came to the door, wanting to seek cooperation.

Zhang Jun quickly asked Zhou Liang to invite the president of Japan Victory Company to come up.

Betamax VCRs are no match for VHS VCRs, this has been proven in previous lives.

The Betamax system is a little more advanced than the VHS system, and the picture definition is higher than that of VHS, but it is not overwhelming.Technically speaking, the biggest flaw of the Betamax system is that the playback time is only 1 hour, while the VHS can be as long as two or three hours.

The profits of video recorders and video tapes are very high. If they can obtain the patent authorization from Japan Victory Corporation, Legend Technology can also produce and sell video recorders.At the same time, it can also sell video tapes and establish a video tape rental chain company.

Zhang Jun was a little excited, looking forward to the arrival of the president of Japan Victory Company.

After a while, Zhou Liang brought a middle-aged man to his office.

"Hello, Mr. Zhang, I am Kunihiko Sato, the president of Japan Victory Corporation!"

"Hello, Mr. Sato, please sit down! I don't know what kind of cooperation Mr. Sato wants to cooperate with me?" Zhang Jun asked knowingly, and he couldn't be too active.

Sato Kunihiko said straight to the point: "Japan Victory has developed VHS video recorders. Now, we need more partners to promote this standard together! I think Mr. Zhang will be a very suitable strategic partner! Zhang Not only does Mr. have the world's largest film company under his name, but Legend Technology is also powerful in the technology industry. In addition, there are a large number of franchised stores on the sales network."

Zhang Jun deliberately said: "As far as I know, Sony has launched a Betamax video recorder, and Betamax has a higher market share than VHS. If I cooperate with you, I will definitely offend Sony!"

"Mr. Zhang, feel free to mention any conditions you have. I think it can be discussed! In addition, I think VHS will eventually defeat Betamax." Sato Kunihiko smiled. With Zhang Jun's strength, he is not afraid of offending Sony. The reason for saying this is definitely It is to make certain demands.Kunihiko Sato could also guess that a business tycoon like Zhang Jun must also be interested in the interests of the video recorder.

as predicted.

Zhang Jun said: "As far as I know, Panasonic, Hitachi and other companies have obtained VHS patent authorization. My request is very simple, and I must be the same as them. Only in this way, I will join the VHS camp."

After a pause, Zhang Jun said confidently, "I think, once I join the vhs camp, the competition between Betamax and vhs will become no suspense! I have the confidence to help vhs defeat Betamax!!!"

Kunihiko Sato couldn't help being slightly taken aback when he heard this.

Is this tone too loud?

Zhang Jun said indifferently at this time: "Don't you believe it? What if all the films produced and distributed by Disney only support the VHS standard? Why do consumers buy video recorders, isn't it just to watch movies? Disney is confident to create the world's most popular video recorder. Movies! Mr. Sato, you might as well recall first what are the top five movies at the global box office in the past two years..."

Kunihiko Sato was stunned.

Then do you need to think about it carefully, aren’t they all movies that you decide to invest in?
Kunihiko Sato acted decisively and immediately stated that he agreed to authorize the VHS patent of the legendary technology company at a low price.

Anyway, there are too many lice and it doesn't itch.

Several manufacturers in Japan have obtained VHS patent authorization, and it is not a big deal to have one more legendary technology company.On the contrary, the Japanese Victory Company has made a lot of money through patent licensing.

If Sony wants to eat alone, it will fail.

The next day, Zhang Jun signed an agreement with Sato Kunihiko.

Legend Technology Company has obtained the VHS technology patent of Japan Victory Company, and can develop the VHC video recorder of the Legend brand.

All Disney movies only support VHS video recorders.

After signing the contract, Zhang Jun and Kunihiko Sato held a press conference to announce the matter.

The more companies that join the vhc camp, the better, so the cooperation between Zhang Jun and Japan Victory Company must be spread.

As soon as the news came out, it quickly caused a sensation in the entertainment and technology circles, and triggered heated discussions among major Hollywood film companies.

The income of videotapes is increasing every year, and Hollywood studios are betting on both sides, and no matter who wins, it will have no effect on them.Instead, the attitude of Hollywood studios had a huge impact on videotape manufacturers.For example, Disney is now more supportive of Sony's Betamax, which will inevitably lead to a sharp drop in Betamax sales.Many people want to watch Disney's programs, so they can only buy VHS video recorders.

Sony was furious at this time, and Zhang Jun directly offended Sony badly.

But so what?

Sony can't bring benefits to Zhang Jun.

The major video tape manufacturers and dealers, seeing that Zhang Jun was clearly on the side of VHS, and even Disney directly announced that it only supported VHS, all felt that the balance of victory was tilted towards VHS.

At this time, Sony held an emergency meeting to discuss countermeasures.

Immediately someone said: "Japan Victory wins over Disney, and we can also win over other Hollywood film companies. As long as there are more film companies that support us, consumers will only buy our VCRs!"

"That's right, but I'm afraid it's more difficult to do this, right? What benefits can we offer to Hollywood studios?" someone asked.

Isn't it good that Hollywood studios have both sides?
Everyone frowned, feeling too difficult.

Or buy a Hollywood studio?

It was raised.

It's a pity that without the Walkman as a gold-absorbing tool, Sony's income has dropped a lot.Although Sony still has strong financial resources, it is of course no problem to acquire a Hollywood film company, but it is difficult to raise so much money in a short period of time. In addition, it will take time to negotiate the acquisition. Maybe by the time he buys the film company, VHS has already taken over After entering the market, the day lily is cold.

Sony was in a cloud of gloom.

The legendary technology company is very excited.

After Shangguan Muye learned of the vhs technology, he immediately formed a development team to develop video recorders.

At the same time, Zhang Jun ordered Alibaba Group to start preparing for the establishment of a video tape rental chain company. Although it is a rental chain company, it can actually sell video recorders and video tapes.

At present, home video recorders have not been popularized in the United States. The reason may be that the cost of buying video tapes is too high. Many people think that they will stop watching a movie after watching it once. It is not worthwhile to spend so much money on video recorders and video tapes.

However, if there are video rental chains all over the United States, then every family has the urge to buy a VCR.

Zhang Jun approved $15 billion to Alibaba Group. On the one hand, he established a videotape production factory. On the other hand, taking advantage of the fact that Hollywood film companies and TV stations cannot see the true potential value of videotapes in the future, he purchased film and television copyrights at a low price and hoarded copyrights.

"It only takes about half a year for Legendary Technology to develop its own VCR brand. Prior to this, video rental chain companies had to acquire a large number of video copyrights at low prices. At the same time, they also had to establish chain stores. Small There must be at least one chain store in a town, and at least 50 chain stores in a big city, such as New York. Except for a few chain stores that need to be larger, most chain stores only need [-] to [-] square meters. not tall!"

"Yeah!" Alibaba Group President Wayne Webb nodded in understanding.

Zhang Jun glanced at Patek Philippe. It was almost noon, and Legendary Technology Company had another press conference to be held later. The Hongmeng computer was about to be launched. This matter was very important, so he said goodbye to Wayne Webb.

(End of this chapter)