China Entertainment 1997

In North America, six new movies were released in theaters in early February. Including those that were not released in January, there were a total of more than a dozen movies competing during the same period.

Of course, most of the movies here are just make-up. Putting aside the movies with declining numbers in January, the ones that really support the market are "The Shuttle" and "Dance 2" as well as Cao Xuan's "The Rescue".

In the previous previews made by relevant media, "The Shuttler" is undoubtedly the most promising movie of this batch.

There are 3,428 theaters in North America that have been jointly released. You must know that the total number of theaters in North America is just over 4,000. The number of theaters where "The Shuttle" has been released is quite large.

In comparison, Disney's "So You Think You Can Dance 2" was also favored by theaters because its predecessor was a dark horse in last summer's summer release. It was released in almost 2,500 theaters.

Cao Xuan's "Hurricane Rescue" is weaker.

The King of Pop in the world is very powerful, but it is another matter in the movie market. Movie audiences and fans are the most realistic. They may look at the star cast, but the more important thing is the movie itself. No matter how good Cao Xuan sings, it does not mean that they will be allowed to sing. Pay for Cao Xuan's movie.

Domestically, Cao Xuan also started his career as a TV actor, then in small-budget movies, and then gradually transformed into a movie actor with the most box-office appeal.

There are indeed too few people in Europe and the United States who have seen his movies. Everyone's impression of him is still that of a singer. They may not hesitate to buy albums and concert tickets, but movies are another matter.

But then again, Cao Xuan is the world's pop king after all. His fame and popularity are there, and he has the signature of Chinese Kung Fu, as well as examples of success in the Chinese market.

North American theaters may not list "Taken" as the most important movie on schedule, but they will definitely not take it lightly.

To put it bluntly, they feel that Cao Xuan's movie can earn 18 million US dollars even if there is a wave of fans' money in the theater circle, which is better than those movies that make up the numbers.

There are also some theater managers who have watched the movie "Taken" and feel that the quality of the plot is good, but they are hesitant that the film is set in Asia and only Cao Xuan is responsible for the box office. The disadvantage is obvious, but they have also made certain adjustments.

Therefore, Cao Xuan and New Line have always insisted on releasing the film in February, which is relatively unpopular. Although the market is small, the competitors are relatively weak, so they can gain more convenience.

In the end, "Taken" was released in more than 2,000 North American theaters, and the scheduling rate of most theaters was second only to the above two movies.

I can’t say it was the best start, but it created extremely good favorable conditions.

What's even more beneficial is that "Shuttler", which was given high hopes, failed at a critical moment.

This movie is also called "The Teleporter". The male protagonist Hayden Christensen made his debut in the "Star Wars" series of movies and is not well-known among domestic audiences.

The only impression I have is that in the bad Sino-US co-production "Legend of the White Ghost", there was a kiss scene with Liu Tianxian who played the heroine.

The male protagonist is not well-known, but the director is good. It is Doug Liman, the director who directed "The Bourne Supremacy" and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith". This is why "The Shuttler" was able to get 85 million US dollars to produce. fees, and gained the attention of theaters and media.

But it turns out that famous directors sometimes overturn, and "Shuttlers" is exactly the overturning work of Doug Liman.

This movie tells the story of a young man with the superpower of teleporting to any corner of the world, fighting against a conspiracy organization. The formula is very old, and the filming is not outstanding.

The expert Rotten Tomatoes freshness rating is 15%, and the popular IMDB score is just over 6 points.

Word-of-mouth doesn't matter, there are many Hollywood popcorn movies that don't get high reviews, and the scary thing is that the box office of "The Shuttler" is not ideal either.

Different from the domestic box office statistics, in North America, more weekend box office statistics are counted, that is, the three days from Friday to Sunday.

This is because the North American weekday box office is very different from the peak season. The weekend box office can better reflect the popularity of the movie. There is also domestic box office data for the whole week, but not much.

"Shuttlers" was released on Thursday. It took in US$6.5 million at the North American box office on its first day. After that, it took in US$23 million at the weekend box office on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It performed well and won the box office championship of the week. .

But by next week, negative word-of-mouth began to ferment, and the box office was a bit like the Qidian APP last night - it crashed.

It was still $4.3 million on Monday, but dropped to $1.3 million on Tuesday.

Although there is a big difference between the peak season and the off-season in North America, if the movie trend is favorable and has sufficient stamina, the data will not decline so fast.

The performance of "Shuttler" cannot be directly called a complete collapse, but there are also faint signs of exhaustion of potential.

In comparison, the box office data of "Dancing 2" is not as good as "The Shuttler", but the cost is low.

There is no uniform standard for box office sharing in North America. Some major film companies are so powerful that they even dare to take away more than 60% of the box office revenue. Some film companies are begging theaters to join theater chains, and they must give profits to theater chains.

Moreover, some companies have weird contracts with theater chains. For example, the movie company gets 90% of the box office in the first week, and the theater gets 60% of the box office in the following weeks. There is also a standard box office line, and any excess goes to a certain party. .

Later, as the domestic film market prospered, Chinese film and television companies and theaters also liked to play this way. Many popular movies had related gambling contracts to maximize the interests of each other.

Therefore, due to the diversity of contracts, it is difficult to have an accurate statistical ratio. We can only make a rough estimate based on most normal contracts.

The producers generally take 40% to 55% of the box office of a movie in North America, and almost 40% of the overseas box office. However, due to exchange rate changes and government taxes, the income often fluctuates greatly. For most film companies, In other words, the domestic box office is more reliable.

The investment of US$85 million in "Shuttler", temporarily putting aside overseas and various copyright income, the North American box office must reach at least US$170 million to recover the investment.

Judging from the current box office trend, let alone US$170 million, it would be difficult for the North American box office to exceed US$100 million...

However, the investment in "How to Dance 2" was less than 20 million US dollars, and the North American box office made more than 40 million US dollars, and the rest was pure profit.

Not only is the return rate high, but the key point is that this kind of movie does not require much energy. Compared with those blockbusters that are time-consuming, labor-intensive and money-consuming, the money you make is so satisfying.

However, no matter how good it is, it can't be as good as "Taken".

The cost of shooting this movie is not high, even in Japan, it will only cost 50 million yuan.

Of course, this does not include Cao Xuan's salary. His own salary is almost the same as the production cost.

Since it was a joint investment with New Line, the remuneration should not be less. Cao Xuan took 50 million yuan, about 6 million US dollars, which was regarded as an internal friendly price, and he later used this as a bargaining chip during negotiations.

In other words, the actual shooting cost of "Rescue" was only about US$12 million.

Of course, this is calculated based on the exchange rate at the time of shooting. This year, due to the financial crisis, the exchange rate between the RMB and the US dollar has continued to fall.

At that time it was 8.2, and now it has dropped to 7.2. If calculated at today's exchange rate, the cost of "Taken" is nearly $14 million.

Boss Cao's overseas capital evaporated hundreds of millions of dollars out of thin air. Fortunately, he made arrangements beforehand, and his financial team also did a certain amount of work, which helped him recover a lot of blood.

However, no matter how the exchange rate is calculated, the cost of "Taken" is definitely the lowest among the movies of the same period, which also makes the profit rate of "Taken" particularly amazing.

"Taken" is released only two days apart from "The Shuttlers", and the first day is Saturday.

The theater chain has a very clear idea. If this movie fails, it will attract as many fans as possible during the peak season in the first two days.

But even so, the weekend box office of "Taken" was not very good, with only 3.25 million US dollars on the first day, and slightly more on the next Sunday, with only 3.51 million US dollars. It only ranked fourth at the box office in the first week.

Although considering the cost, this data is already good, and it is highly possible to make a small profit.

But it can still be clearly seen that even though New Line has done a lot of publicity, the King of Pop is not popular in the North American film market.

Basically, more than 85% of the box office in the first two days was provided by Cao Xuan's fans. In fact, this is understandable, as action movies rely heavily on the appeal of the lead actor.

Cao Xuan is a singer in the eyes of most Americans. Even if Chinese Kung Fu is added as a selling point, Americans are more willing to look at Jack Cheng and Jet Lee.

Even Cheng Long and Jet Li are now semi-obsolete. Americans are now more willing to watch Will Smith (Happiness Comes Knocking on People), Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible), Hugh Jackman (The Wolverine), and Jetenstein Sen (Guo Da) and other Hollywood action star movies.

Even Cao Xuan himself did not expect that American movie fans would be so hard to swindle their ticket prices.

Fortunately, the two cards of World King and Chinese Kung Fu are not easy to play, but fortunately, the movie quality of "Taken" is guaranteed.

Moreover, relying on Cao Xuan's fame, the film gained a certain amount of exposure and was seen by a large number of professional fans and film critics, who then gave good reviews.

The negative reviews of "Shuttler" began to ferment on Monday, and the results showed on Tuesday. "Taken" is almost the same step as it, or even one step faster.

On the Monday after the weekend, the box office of many movies was cut in half, but "Taken" had 2.32 million U.S. dollars, a very limited decline.

On the following Tuesday, it still had 1.74 million US dollars, ranking first at the North American box office that day.

Compared with "The Shuttle" and "Dance", which fell several times compared to the weekend, it can be said that they are very resilient, and it indicates that the film's box office potential is still to be explored.

………

New Line Cinema, Office of the President, International Division

Camila Galano clapped her hands excitedly. He is the person in charge of the company's international business. In the past two years, he has also had certain powers to intervene in the North American business. He was the one who advocated cooperation with Fanxing in "The Rescue".

Here I want to talk about New Line Cinema, an independent film company established in 1967. The boss is Robert Shea. He is very capable. He started with distribution and then began to produce small-budget films.

In 1984, it emerged with "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and gradually became a medium-to-large production company with complete channels.

It changed hands twice after that, but Robert Shea always maintained a certain share and control of New Line and always kept New Line Cinema independent.

However, due to investment mistakes, he was once suppressed by the parent company Warner. With an investment of more than 50 million US dollars, Robert Shea had no decision-making power.

Under such circumstances, Robert Shea chose to go all out and spend hundreds of millions of dollars to invest in an epic blockbuster.

Under the circumstances at that time, if it failed, it was hard to say whether New Line would be there or not, and Robert Shea would definitely be kicked out by Warner.

But he won the bet because the epic blockbuster was called "The Lord of the Rings."

However, both the successful "Lord of the Rings" and the failed "Lord of the Rings" were sued by relevant stakeholders because New Line concealed a large amount of box office data. In the end, they lost a lot of money one after another and their reputation was ruined.

You're hiding your box office report. If you don't find out, it's fine. Who would dare to cooperate with you if you find out?

Cao Xuan also hesitated several times at the time, and finally chose to cooperate with New Line after comprehensive comparison. For this purpose, he even sent a team to follow up and supervise.

It doesn't look good, but New Line itself has a dark history. Cao Xuan's family is not the only one to guard against them.

The reputation was damaged, a large amount of money was paid out, and several subsequent film investments were not successful. Last year's desperate $180 million production "The Golden Compass" failed again. Coupled with the financial crisis, New Line's current situation is not good.

In particular, parent company Warner has long been dissatisfied with New Line's greater independence and has always wanted to completely annex the company.

Taking advantage of this situation, they continue to put pressure on New Line and want to turn New Line into a subsidiary of Warner.

Recently, Warner has made outstanding progress, and the countdown to a complete merger with New Line has begun. It is even possible that "Taken" will become New Line Cinema's last film as an independent film company.

After the merger, New Line may have to lay off a large number of employees, and the top management may also need to be replaced. Now the whole New Line company is in panic.

However, this has nothing to do with Camila Galano, because she is originally from Warner, which is why he, the president of the international department, can intervene in North America.

Before that, he was a thorn in Warner's side at New Line Cinema, causing trouble for boss Robert Shea.

The contradictory attitude of "Taken" being valued but not taken seriously by New Line and others is actually a confrontation between two forces within New Line.

But now the confrontation is basically over. New Line is about to usher in the era of Warner, and Camila Galano will naturally be reused. She will not be the head of the reorganized company, but also an important senior executive.

That's why Camila Galano is so happy to see the extraordinary performance of "Taken".

New Line is now in panic, and all major projects are in a mess. When Warner's head office and the new boss are in place, looking at the reports during this period, the most interesting project is "Taken", and he Camila Galano He is the person in charge of this project.

My God, is there any better time than this to make a contribution?

Thinking of this, Galano even felt that the blood all over his body began to get hot.

While it was getting hot, Galano also kept calm. Although "Taken" is obviously gaining momentum, how popular it will be depends on the box office data of the next weekend.

If it passes this level, "Hurricane Rescue" can also be expected to succeed. If it fails, it will be a joy in vain.

Galano immediately called his confidants, and he wanted to add pounds to "Taken".

"Go and talk to the theater chain, negotiate at least 3,000 theaters, and increase publicity. Go and contact Fanxing and spend an additional 5 million US dollars in publicity and marketing expenses. Forget it, I will personally call Cao."

"But the most important thing now is not to wait for the reception..."

My confidant was a little hesitant. The company was about to be reorganized and everything was in a mess. Is it necessary to work on a movie?

"The most important thing now is to let the superiors see the results of our work and let them know who is the real indispensable core of the company."

"I understand, I'll do it right away."

The confidant is also a smart person, and he can tell the truth immediately. He hurriedly contacted, and Galano contacted several elite employees.

Now that reorganization is imminent, according to normal rules, it is normal for employees of old companies to be laid off on a large scale.

Capitalists will not tell you about the interests of workers, nor will they think about the outcome of hundreds of employees being kicked out. Everything will follow the process, and a shady company will even cheat some of its employees.

Galano clearly told these employees that he had received news that of the more than 600 employees at New Line Cinema, only about 50 could be retained. The elimination rate was nearly 92%. It was difficult to keep a job.

But now there is an opportunity to complete the "Hurricane Rescue" project, and he will help intercede.

Regardless of whether what Galano said is true or not, it is hard to find jobs now due to the financial crisis. His words were a life-saving straw for several employees.

At least give it a try!

After recruiting strong reinforcements, Galano used the same words to appease the original team responsible for "Hurricane Rescue" and stabilize the morale of the army.

In professional sports clubs, whenever a player approaches the contract renewal period, under the pressure of personal future, there will always be a big explosion.

In the same way, seeing that their jobs were on the line, the North American team of "Hurricane Rescue" developed strong cohesion and work ability.

Especially when "Shuttlers" was too hip and "So You Think You Can Dance 2" was inherently deficient, "Taken" itself was favored by theaters and the market.

The New Line team negotiated for 3,500+ theaters in one go. After the joint promotion funds from Stars and New Line were in place, they tried their best to promote accurately.

Thanks to their efforts, the box office of "Taken" not only did not drop during the off-season, but began to rebound.

It was US$1.7 million on Wednesday, US$2.1 million on Thursday, and on Friday of the weekend, it reached US$3.21 million in one go.

And on Saturday and Sunday, after a week of word-of-mouth fermentation and half a week of increased publicity, "Hurricane Rescue" ushered in a wave of peaks.

$17.87 million!

Including Friday's 3.21 million, it is exactly 21.08 million U.S. dollars, beating "The Shuttle" to win the North American box office championship that week, and the total North American box office reached 35.7 million U.S. dollars.

This box office also surpassed "Red Zone" and "Fearless", becoming the third highest-grossing Chinese film in North America.

Well, although "Taken" was filmed in Japan and was released in English in North America, considering the main production company, it can also be regarded as a Chinese-language film.

Of course, it doesn't matter. Cao Xuan doesn't care about this ranking. He is more concerned about how big the box office of "The Rescue" can be.

Cao Xuan, who was originally producing new songs and promoting movies in China, gave up promoting in the mainland and flew to the United States with Liu Tianxian to promote "Hurricane Rescue".

Galano came to the airport to welcome them warmly: "Cao, your movie has made America crazy again."

This bald American with Jewish ancestry had a bright smile, and he spread flattery for free. Cao Xuan and him were in vain.

He has not forgotten that when Fanxing cooperated with him before, the guy's arrogant attitude seemed as if the two parties were not cooperating, but Cao Xuan was begging him to enter Hollywood.

Now that I have seen Qian Tu in "Hurricane Rescue", my arrogance disappeared instantly, and my attitude changed 180 degrees. Those who didn't know better thought that he and Cao Xuan had been friends for many years.

Galano also didn't forget about Liu Tianxian next to him. Having watched the movie, of course he knew she was the heroine, but he really didn't pay attention to her name.

After hesitating for a moment, Liu Tianxian was confused and Cao Xuan reminded him before introducing himself.

"Hello Mr. Galano, you can call me Crystal or Liu."

Cao Xuan glanced at Liu Tianxian. This was the first time he knew her English name. It was similar to his own Chris. It was a coincidence.

Galano felt the same way, so he just called him "Liu" for fear of being difficult to distinguish.

Gaggiano has already contacted several programs and interviews. The relevant media are also very interested in Cao Xuan and have received many invitations.

It’s just that Cao Tianwang switched to movies. There are not many similar artists. But if he successfully switches to movies, then there are two other things.

In the past two days, the American media has begun to discuss whether Cao Xuan will become "the next Bruce Lee" and "the next Jack Cheng". When the box office is higher, the question may become an affirmative.

During the interview program, the media asked Cao Xuan this question only once, and Cao Xuan was very calm.

"The two of them are well-deserved action superstars and the pride of the Chinese people. I will learn from them and bring more Chinese culture to the world in the future."

As for why it is Chinese culture and not Chinese Kung Fu.

The main reason is that Cao Xuan is a half-way monk from Yehu Zen. He is really embarrassed to represent Chinese Kung Fu. His action style is also more modern and practical, so there is no need to put a high hat on himself.

Chinese culture is all-encompassing, including kung fu, history, thought, folk customs, crafts, skills, and art, and the pattern is larger.

Cao Xuan has dealt with this group of American media once or twice, and he is very comfortable with it. However, although Liu Tianxian has lived in the United States for several years, this is the first time he has dealt with this group of media.

However, with the help of Cao Xuan, there was no danger. Instead, he followed Cao Xuan and made a wave of faces in the United States.

Many people have left a good impression on this Asian girl with a pure, beautiful appearance and fluent English.

Looking at the North American news reprinted in China, Liu Tianxian followed Cao Xuan to be active in major American programs, and the eyes of the domestic big Mimi were red with anger.

Wu Wen was furious for a while, and Da Mimi could only comfort herself.

She is also a participating actor in "The Rescue". Regardless of the duration of her appearance, according to the ratio of actresses, she can also be regarded as the second female lead.

Although this behavior is a bit like Adou's claim that he and Zhao Zilong killed seven in and seven out in Cao's army.

But then again, don't worry about whether Adou moves or not, just tell him whether he is here or not.

So Da Mimi also has something to say. Although I only appeared for a few minutes, I was a pure and innocent best friend, and my death was tragic, but I was still the second female lead in "Hurricane Rescue", and I was just the same as the heroine Liu Tianxian. Then a little bit of "billion"......