Top of the big era

There was no response from Microsoft, and Zhou Buqi was not in a hurry. He called Ning Yameng, took his children Ning Ning and Zhou Zhou, and Ning Lu with him, and went to New York together.

After going there, I met Wanda’s boss Wang first.

Be beaming.

He has officially signed a contract and completed the acquisition of AMC Cinemas, the second largest theater chain in North America, for a total price of US$2.92 billion. Wanda’s overseas expansion journey has taken the first step to a good start.

Zhou Buqi is definitely a very important figure in the film and television industry. That night, a cocktail party was held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, and many top minds in the film and television industry were invited.

The center of Hollywood is Los Angeles.

But New York is an international center.

Hollywood's entertainment giants are engaged in transnational business, so the international department and distribution department are basically in New York, and the headquarters of major television stations are also basically in New York.

For example, the headquarters of Time Warner Group is actually in New York, but the center of its film and television production business is in Los Angeles.

Zhou Buqi has a lot of face.

Even on this day, the French president came to the United States for a state visit and stayed at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. When hosting such important diplomatic and state affairs, the hotel will always be more cautious in receiving foreign guests.

But Boss Zhou is different.

The status is high enough!

Except for the lack of diplomatic etiquette in terms of hospitality provided by the hotel, all aspects of treatment are basically the same as the highest standards for leaders visiting the United States from various countries.

Anyway, the hotel is used to this kind of thing. Sometimes they will receive leaders from several countries visiting the United States at the same time, and they have strong organizational skills.

There were many attendees, more than 40 people, and each one of them was a pivotal figure in the film and television industry.

Taking this opportunity, Zhou Buqi was introduced to Boss Wang.

Mr. Wang sighed.

As a foreigner, he was really touched to be able to enjoy such dignity in the United States. At the same time, he was deeply grateful to Boss Xiao Zhou in his heart.

When you are away from home, you can always rely on your own family!

As expected, he is a fellow from the Northeast, and he is really loyal.

During this period, Zhou Buqi met HBO's executive director and senior vice president, nicknamed "Big Tom." It seems that there are two Toms among the executives of HBO, so one is called Big Tom and the other is called Tom to distinguish them.

When the two met, they naturally talked about "Game of Thrones".

Big Tom said half-jokingly: "Everyone regrets it to death. If we could have gritted our teeth and completed the American TV series project "Game of Thrones" on our own, we wouldn't have had to distribute the streaming media rights."

Zhou Buqi said sternly: "If MGM's team hadn't been involved, maybe "Game of Thrones" wouldn't have been able to produce such outstanding results."

Big Tom didn’t think so, but there was no need to argue with him, and said with a smile: “There is good news. The current DVD sales of the first season of “Game of Thrones” have reached 1.2 million copies, with sales exceeding 120 million US dollars. "

"oh."

Zhou Buqi behaved relatively calmly.

At the beginning, "Game of Thrones" was a project that he personally negotiated with HBO. The cooperation plan was for Ziweixing Global to invest 40% in this American drama series and obtain 100% of the streaming rights and 25% of the DVDs. Sales profit share.

However, he had long forgotten the specific terms of this trivial matter.

It’s all small money anyway.

At the beginning, he didn't even want any profit sharing from the DVD, but someone rushed to deliver it to his door.

Seeing that his reaction was very dull, Big Tom was very embarrassed and asked somewhat flatteringly: "Mr. Zhou, um... I would like to consult with you on behalf of HBO about the "Lord of the Rings" project."

"how?"

A smile appeared on Zhou Buqi's face.

Big Tom complimented: "This may be the most watched American TV series ever!"

Zhou Buqi said: "It should be. The total investment is 1.5 billion US dollars, which is not wasted at all."

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, a subsidiary of Ziweixing Universal, has basically stopped its film projects. It mainly works on TV series projects, and the most important one is of course the drama version of "The Lord of the Rings".

MGM owns all television rights to "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit."

Another US$50 million was spent to buy the one-time limited TV adaptation rights to "The Silmarillion" and "The Children of Hurin" from Tolkien's descendants.

It spent another US$6 million to reach an agreement with Warner to buy the image rights of all the actors in the film trilogy "The Lord of the Rings".

This means that the TV series can continue to use the actors, costumes, props and styles of the movie version of "The Lord of the Rings" to a certain extent.

At a cost of US$25 million per season for a total of US$150 million, the great director Peter Jackson was invited to serve as the chief producer and chief director of the drama version of "The Lord of the Rings", and he will direct the most important episodes of each season. 2-3 episodes.

It is planned to shoot a total of 6 seasons.

The total budget is $1.5 billion!

The first season has basically been filmed, and the budget has reached an astonishing $200 million. From March to May next year, during this relatively off-season for movies, the drama version of "The Lord of the Rings" will be officially broadcast, starting with the plot of the novel "The Hobbit".

During the development of the story, many people explained the plots of the two books "The Silmarillion" and "The Children of Hurin" clearly through narration or recall.

Ziweixing Global has invested so much in this project, so it cannot just authorize Netflix for streaming.

With Netflix’s current strength, it cannot afford such a large project.

There has to be some distribution.

Get it to the TV station to show it first.

After the TV station has finished showing it, I will hook it up to Netflix.

When Zhou Buqi discussed "Game of Thrones" with HBO before, it was already agreed that HBO would have priority in the first round of TV broadcasts of the drama version of "The Lord of the Rings".

Although there is priority, the price still has to be negotiated.

HBO is a little trepidatious here.

If you want to broadcast the drama version of "The Lord of the Rings", it will definitely be a sky-high price!

You know, Boss Zhou even gave up the development of the film project of the "Hobbit" trilogy in order to develop the drama version of "The Lord of the Rings", and wanted to show the plot of the movie in the TV series.

"This..." Big Tom hesitated and said with embarrassment, "MGM and HBO have had a very pleasant experience cooperating on "Game of Thrones", and the best is the same for "Lord of the Rings". I I thought... there is no need to operate it publicly, both parties can just sign a cooperation clause."

It would be a disaster if there was an open bidding process.

If both parties sit down and talk in private without involving other TV stations, the price can be lowered.

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "Talk privately? That's fine. But HBO has to take responsibility and bear the risk together. Just like "Game of Thrones", MGM invested 40%, which is not a low risk. ."

Big Tom was very happy and said, "Yes, we can talk about it."

Zhou Buqi said: "Go back and contact MGM."

With any project, there is a risk of failure.

The same goes for the TV show version of "The Lord of the Rings."

The momentum is so great, if it fails, it will be a huge loss.

If HBO can participate and take certain risks, then it would be natural for them to get the first-round TV broadcast rights at a low price.

However, the manner in which risk is taken is open to question.

Let them participate and invest together. This model will definitely not work. You have to make a fuss about the TV broadcast rights.

…

Been busy all night.

It is really tiring to engage in this kind of entertainment. Every guest has a status and needs to cover everything.

The next day, Zhou Buqi went to Changyou's temporary headquarters in New York and met Don Mattrick, mainly talking about the process of acquiring take-two.

"It's okay. I think there will be progress soon."

Mattrick gave some good news.

Zhou Buqi asked: "How long?"

Mattrick said: "We should be able to give a more accurate news next month at the latest."

Zhou Buqi nodded, "Not bad."

Mattrick said with a smile: "Chanyou's stock price has been rising recently, which is the only shining light in the trough gaming industry. Take-two's executives may have other ideas, but for them For our shareholders, selling take-two to Changyou and exchanging it for Changyou’s stock will be a rare investment opportunity.”

Zhou Buqi said: "A large part of the reason for the recent rise in Changyou's stock price is Ren Yuxin's success in the Japanese game market in the past few months."

Mattrick deeply agrees, "It is true. Japan's game market is very closed. In the past few years, many American game companies have tried to get a share of the pie, but they have not been very successful. Ren Yuxin's trip to Japan Okay, it’s like opening Japan’s door.”

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "This is the difference in thinking. Ren Yuxin did not open the door to Japan, but entered the Japanese game industry first and opened the door from the inside."

Mattrick nodded, "Cooperation is mutual, and we should indeed learn from it."

In the past, it was difficult for American game companies to enter the Japanese game industry. From a conceptual level, it was not right. What Americans wanted was to sell American games to Japan and then make a lot of money.

How can it be that easy?

Zhou Buqi and Ren Yuxin's strategies are different. They go in the opposite direction and help Japanese game manufacturers sell their games all over the world to make a lot of money.

Both are about making money, which is completely the opposite business strategy.

Of course the latter is more acceptable.

And once the cooperation is established.

The next development will be easier. Like Americans, Ren Yuxin also wants to sell his games to Japan to make a lot of money. He even almost hollowed out NetEase's Dahua Studio just to let them develop a game. A mobile game targeting the Japanese market... First of all, you need to enter the Japanese game industry. After entering, open the door from the inside, which is very easy.

After taking Japan, South Korea will be next.

This is relatively easy.

Ren Yuxin was previously the president of Penguin's game business and had many years of cooperation and friendship with Korean game companies, so he had to adopt a similar model.

The two parties discussed Changyou's next development strategy.

It still needs to focus on the mobile terminal.

Most of the current mobile apps are operating at a loss, and it is difficult to find a profit model, except for games.

99% of apps that make money on mobile phones are games.

Mattrick suddenly made a suggestion and said with a smile: "Zhou, your ideas are always so clear, your creativity is so good, and your imagination is so full. Why don't you come up with a framework of ideas and let's develop a mobile game? "