The god of the world

Chapter 218
Xiao Lizi is a playboy in Hollywood, and Victoria's Secret is his harem group.

But this time he starred in a movie from the other side of the ocean, Xiao Lizi was warned early by his partner Jennifer Davidson.

Huaguo is different from the United States, especially the heroine who has a rivalry with him this time, so he must not be provoked.

At first, Xiao Lizi was not convinced.

As a Hollywood star, with nearly [-] million fans worldwide, which film and television company does not regard him as a guest of honor?
Although he didn't necessarily have an idea about the co-actors, he was instinctively upset when he heard Jennifer Davidson's serious warning.

Jennifer Davidson has worked with Xiao Lizi for many years, so she naturally understands how ridiculous this guy's private life is.

"Leonardo, you can imagine if there is a company with the largest theater chain in the country, Disney's distribution and production capabilities, and a promotional platform similar to Twitter, which is similar to long and short video platforms such as Netflix and Tik Tok. How terrifying would a huge user base at the level be?"

"And the behind-the-scenes owner of such a company is the rumored object of the actress who is cooperating with you."

"So, this woman, you must not offend in the slightest."

"Otherwise, it will be extremely difficult for the films we will produce in the future to enter Huaguo Cinemas."

Xiao Lizi was also dumbfounded: "OMG, this company has not been punished for monopoly?"

"Unfortunately, this company has been operating normally, and has been officially named and praised many times."

Jennifer Davidson shrugged helplessly, with an incredible expression on her face.

In the United States, it is impossible to have such a giant company.

From film and television production, to theater releases, as well as streaming media platforms and social publicity platforms, there is no business that it does not involve.

Think of the terrifying influence of the combination of Twitter + Disney + AMC + Netflix + Tik Tok.

An old fritter like Xiao Lizi couldn't help but tremble violently.

Even if he becomes famous, in the face of profit, he will be abandoned by those film companies without hesitation.

Although women are good, they must have that blessing to enjoy.

Xiao Lizi shrugged, pretty girl, he slept a lot.

He still has this bit of self-control.

"Thanks for the reminder, Jennifer."

Xiao Lizi is also a person who can understand clearly, just don't get distracted when filming this time.

"There will be filming in Hollywood first. I will inform you in advance when the time comes. Remember to study the script carefully. I have a hunch that this movie will get a very high box office."

Jennifer Davidson has known Xiao Lizi for many years, and knows that this guy will never mess up at critical times.

"To be honest, this book always gives me a feeling of deja vu. Maybe I have photographed it in a dream before?"

Xiao Lizi shrugged and made a joke.

"According to what I've heard, AMC is going to join forces with the other two major movie theaters to renegotiate the box office share ratio with the five major film companies headed by Disney. It is said that there is this Huaguo consortium behind this."

Jennifer Davidson's tone was also particularly emotional, "The Big Five is indeed rotten, but it is not something that AMC can shake, unless..."

"Unless they have a high percentage of the global ticket pool?"

Xiao Lizi understood what Jennifer Davidson meant, and secretly decided to deepen the relationship with this Huaguo consortium.

No one can tell what the future Hollywood pattern will look like.

Compared with local powerhouses like Disney, this Huaguo consortium is definitely a raptor.

Today's Xiao Lizi is not only an actor, but also a producer.

The company I co-founded with Jennifer Davidson has also worked with Sony Pictures a few times.

Companies like Disney are strong because they have mastered traditional cable TV and broadcast TV.

It is through cable TV and broadcast television that they have been able to cut into hundreds of millions of American households and develop income channels such as DVD and pay-per-view.

The reason why streaming media platforms make them panic is because Netflix is ​​bypassing TV stations and directly robbing these paying users.

Disney, Paramount, and Warner are all scrambling to develop their own streaming media platforms, in order not to fall behind in this competition and be controlled by others.

The reason why Netflix cannot fly is also related to the lack of self-control ability.

In the past, burning money to produce high-quality drama series has indeed brought considerable users.

But when the number of users grows to a certain level, it enters the bottleneck period.

It can only maintain high cost expenditures in a disguised form by increasing membership fees.

In this way, users will naturally be lost, which will give traditional film companies such as Disney, Paramount, and Warner a chance to catch up.

Xiao Lizi was taken aback suddenly, this company dared to challenge Disney and the others, it might not have ambitions in this regard.

Maybe, they will broadcast it in theaters first, and then go directly to the streaming media platform, bypassing the traditional TV and radio platforms controlled by Disney.

hiss……

Xiao Lizi suddenly wanted to cry but had no tears.

He just got into the competition between the two powers so stupidly.

Is it too late to quit now?
Xiao Lizi looked at Jennifer Davidson with a somewhat bitter and expectant expression.

"Sorry, the liquidated damages are 8000 million US dollars, and we don't have the courage to refuse."

Jennifer Davidson and Xiao Lizi have worked together for many years, and naturally they have a tacit understanding, and they can directly guess Xiao Lizi's mind.

Xiao Lizi shook his head and laughed, but his mind quickly calmed down.

The five major film companies are not monolithic, and they are constantly dirty with each other.

Among other things, Sony is absolutely happy to see Disney eat and drink.

Sony itself was miserably tricked by Disney.

When Sony bought Columbia Pictures at a high price, it was taught a lesson by the local forces of Hollywood.

It has been losing money for more than ten years, thanks to Sony's deep pockets, and it has resisted the endless loss period.

Even for a few years, relying on the IP of the Spider-Man series to turn a profit.

But the good times didn't last long, and the early big money burned, and the failure of The Amazing Spider-Man at the box office completely made the parent company furious.

Since then, less and less support has been approved for Sony Pictures.

Even in the end, a group of executives were simply changed.

At this point, Sony Pictures has embarked on a self-financed path, obsessed with making "fool movies" with a medium cost and simple content.

Is Sony Pictures really willing to do this?

The parent company did not approve the budget, and Sony Pictures saw several other companies entering the streaming media track, so they could only be unwilling to serve as content providers for Netflix.

Even so, it does make a lot of money.

But looking at the other companies, they are developing vigorously on the streaming media track.

How could they be willing?

But who makes Sony Pictures the only company among the traditional six that does not have a national TV station or any strong binding relationship.

Even Paramount, which used to be a brother and brother with Sony, also has CBS (Columbia) radio station as its backer.

CBS's drainage for Paramount has led to a surge in users of the streaming media platform launched by Paramount.

Compared with several other film companies, Sony is an outsider.

If it weren't for 17, the Marvel movies became popular, and super IP became very popular.

At that time, Sony had already thought of selling the film business.

Holding the copyright of Spider-Man in hand, this is the confidence that Sony Pictures has always existed.

……

Negotiations with traditional film giants such as Disney were an exam question assigned by Lin Shen to Adam Aron, the current president of AMC Cinemas.

Good answer, continue to serve as president of AMC theaters.

The answer is not good, some people replace him.

Aaron is stressed out.

Fortunately, the theater chain has ample cash flow and no debts. Healthy ones cannot be healthier.

Once the second largest theater chain in North America, Movie World filed for bankruptcy before, and has not yet recovered.

Cimanke, the third largest theater chain, is also heavily in debt, and life is also very difficult.

Under the persuasion of Adam Aron, the three reached a consensus that they must force the five major film companies to make concessions.

In the past few years, the five major film companies have gone too far, frequently testing their bottom line.

In the past, everyone would follow the rules.

The movie is released in theaters for 90 days as a window period, and is not allowed to be played on other streaming media platforms until the movie is released.

But as the five major film companies have tasted the sweetness of streaming media, they gradually want to try to play it in theaters and streaming media platforms at the same time.

This time, it completely violated the bottom line of the theater.

AMC and Movie World announced the banning of Universal almost at the same time, which is a warning to the Big Five.

Afterwards, the Big Five did converge.

Universal, which was blocked, even took the initiative to give up 10% of the income from the PVOD home video-on-demand platform to AMC theaters.

In return, AMC Theaters agreed to shrink the decades-long window from 90 days to 17 days.

It seems that the income has been reduced, but in fact the loss is not large.

Anyone who is familiar with the North American market knows that the release time of new films will basically be on Friday.

In this case, the 17-day window period exactly includes the three days of the first weekend and the complete second and third weeks.

For most films, after 17 days, they have actually begun to face the problem of continuous suppression of film schedules.

It's normal to be on the verge of going offline.

The 17-day window period can actually be regarded as a market node.

The box office in these three weeks will account for about 80% of the total box office on average, or even higher.

Shortening the window period to 17 days will not have a big impact on the economic benefits of traditional theaters.

The 17-day window agreement is designed to resist the impact of home theaters and streaming media platforms on traditional theaters.

But in terms of share ratio, the minimum requirement set by Lin Shen for Aaron is 65%.

Aaron has to talk about 17% of the box office share ratio within these 65 days to be considered qualified.

There is no doubt that Aaron collapsed directly for the first time.

65% of the box office share ratio, for the five major film companies, it is simply a peach.

If it weren't for the natural limitations of "shared accounts" on streaming media platforms, they would only further squeeze theaters, making them even more confident.

Aaron did not back down, and argued hard.

It is also the backer who moved out of the AMC theaters, the Guanhai Group from Huaguo.

For a moment, the five majors fell silent.

In recent years, although Huaguo has been played by a bunch of unscrupulous theaters, its box office growth has hit a peak.

However, its share in the global box office is not much worse than that in North America.

How can these Hollywood giants not know the situation in China.

The Xingyi Cinemas under the Guanhai Group accounted for at least 35% of the box office in China, and even approached 40%.

As long as their blockbuster movie wants to enter Huaguo, they must not offend this giant company that spans multiple industries.

But getting them to agree to 65% of the box office share is more uncomfortable than killing them.

As the boss of the five major film companies, Disney CEO Bob Chapek made concessions and agreed to give 55% of the box office share, which is the limit they can accept.

You know, when Disney was at its strongest, it even got the theaters to agree to cede 65%, up to 70% of the box office.

But now AMC has made it clear that it is going to die, and it has also brought in Movie World and Cinemark.

If it is not done well, it will easily cause an earthquake in the film and television industry.

Thinking of the partners, there is also Sony, the second devil.

Chapek also had a headache.

Sony itself and them have a lot of filth, and they have always been relatively close to theaters, and it is easy for the other party to use high-ranking films to win them over.

Although Sony has reached a contract with Netflix, and the latter has Sony's exclusive content playback rights, it is just a joint move between the two for self-protection.

If there is no AMC to take the lead, Movie World and Cinemark will not have the courage to stroke the five big beards.

But now, AMC is financially healthy.

It even promised to acquire a part of the two theaters to provide them with a cash flow to tide them over.

It is precisely because of this commitment that the two theaters have firmly followed AMC.

It really doesn't work if we don't advance or retreat together.

Earlier, Universal Pictures shocked the entire Hollywood with "Trolls 2".

Because Universal Pictures actually found a way to bypass the "Paramount Act" promulgated in 1948, avoiding the shackles it formed on the producers.

Under the Paramount Act, Hollywood studios must separate film production from distribution and exhibition operations.

In short, content producers are not allowed to be channel owners.

After that, the Big Five gave up the theater business and retained the discovery and production business.

But the "Paramount Act" at that time, who would have thought that "streaming media" would appear in the future.

The release of "Trolls 2" did not seem to violate the principles of the "Paramount Act", but it actually broke the monopoly of theaters.

In August of the same year, this act was completely repealed.

It has brought a brand-new accounting system to the five major film companies, that is, after deducting marketing expenses, all income from the streaming media end belongs to the film studio.

So far, the Big Five have continued to test the bottom line of the theater chain.

Under the condition that the guarantee sharing terms remain unchanged, the window period is continuously shortened.

Even, their ultimate ambition is to release simultaneously.

Aaron is also a smart person. In the past, Disney relied on constantly telling stories about streaming media platforms to convince investors that Disney has great potential to tap, and was favored by the capital market.

But as Netflix's growth has stagnated, capital is generally pessimistic about the streaming media market.

Disney+, the streaming media platform launched by Disney, has naturally been questioned.

In this case, the income of the theater will be lost.

Disney's stock price really doesn't know where it will fall.

The three major theater chains in North America are advancing and retreating together, and there is a Huaguo ticket warehouse behind them.

For a while, Disney and other five major film companies were in a dilemma.

It is definitely impossible to abandon the streaming media platform that has invested heavily in development.

Except for Sony Pictures, no one else is willing to do so.

Sony Pictures is the most difficult, without a streaming platform, it can only become a content producer for Netflix.

In addition, the parent company did not give money, so Sony Pictures convened a board meeting, and after seeking the approval of the parent company, it directly turned to AMC Cinemas.

Tony Vikra, CEO of Sony Pictures, took the lead in an interview with reporters.

"Sony Pictures has always firmly followed the traditional theater route, and theaters such as AMC are also our loyal partners. We resolutely resist the simultaneous playback of movies on streaming media platforms and theaters."

On AMC's side, Aaron responded immediately: "Sony Pictures is one of the most influential production and distribution companies in Hollywood. We are also very happy to reach a consensus with Sony Pictures. There will be opportunities to reach a deeper cooperation in the future." cooperate."

When Disney CEO Chapek heard the news, he was so angry that he smashed a carefully collected vase.

Although it is not worth much money, it can also be seen that he is angry.

"Damn the islanders, I knew they were unreliable!"

Chapek cursed angrily, but there was nothing he could do.

The situation of Sony Pictures, they all know, is indeed being squeezed by the parent company on the island country, and they are completely left to fend for themselves.

Otherwise, why did Sony Pictures make films for Netflix?
It's not that there is no money to make trouble.

If you have money, who is willing to be a grandson for others.

Soon, Chapek found out.

AMC here, give Sony Pictures a promise.

If the window period after the movie is released is 17 days, AMC will only take 60% of the box office.

If the window period is extended to 30 days, they only get 55%.

And so on.

The window period is 60 days, and the theater chain only needs 50%.

The most is the window period of 90 days, and the cinema share is only 45%.

This kind of treatment naturally caused the unsteady will of the Sony Pictures executives to quickly collapse.

If you want them to fight among themselves, it is natural to let the defectors get the sweetness first.

A loyal supporter of theaters in the Hollywood circle, Nolan immediately supported Sony Pictures, saying that he would consider cooperating with Sony Pictures for his new film, which instantly made Warner Bros. unable to sit still.

Although Nolan has a close relationship with Warner, he has always been a "free agent" and has never signed any preferential competition agreement.

If Warner didn't want to lose Nolan, a box-office hit director, he would have to make concessions.

Warner Bros. announced that it will ensure that theaters are their first choice for distributing movies, followed by their own streaming platforms.

As the second defector, Warner Bros. received 1% less than Sony Pictures.

Even 1% is not a small number.

Among the top five, only Paramount, Disney, and Universal Pictures remain.

Among the three, Paramount is the least confident.

In the past, it was a difficult brother and sister with Sony, and it ranked last in the top six box office statistics every year.

Although Paramount+ is developing well, traditional box office revenue still accounts for the majority.

Therefore, Paramount also obediently announced that it will take the issue of the window period seriously, so as not to let the traditional viewing mode disappear completely, and provide audiences with a richer viewing experience.

It sounds like a scene, but insiders know that Paramount is also courting AMC.

In the end, only Disney and Universal Pictures remained silent.

Disney is the industry leader, how easy is it to convince them?
As for Universal Pictures, it is also struggling.

In the end, I chose to be soft.

Streaming media platforms have limited income and require long-term high investment.

At least in the short term, the income of traditional cinemas must not be lost.

In the end, only the Disney family was left to die.

Disney is betting!
Chapek didn't believe it. The other two theaters were so heavily in debt, could they really survive?

But before he could hold on for long, AMC announced the acquisition of all the movie theaters in North America at a price of 45 billion US dollars.

The film world, which was heavily in debt, agreed directly without any hesitation.

After completing this acquisition, the number of theaters owned by AMC increased sharply by 570 theaters and 7420 screens.

Immediately afterwards, Cinemark, the third largest theater chain in North America, announced that some of its theaters were ceded to AMC Theaters for a sale price of US$10 billion, which is almost 140 theaters and 1822 fast screens.

Almost non-stop, AMC announced the acquisition of the Canadian Cineplex cinema chain with an offer of 25 billion US dollars.

Cineplex Cinemas is the largest cinema chain in Canada, with 165 cinemas, 1705 screens and 10 entertainment centers.

These three acquisitions directly scared Disney into a fool.

The AMC theater chain, which is already strong at the global box office, has 2 screens in North America and Europe, not counting Huaguo.

Including the number of screens in China, the proportion of global screens has reached more than 15%.

What's more, these screens are concentrated in North America and Europe, big cities and prime locations in China.

The box office yield rate is far higher than those corners where few people go.

Chapek was no longer calm, and hurriedly convened a board meeting.

Disney is clearly in a crisis of dire straits.

No matter how attractive Marvel is, streaming media platforms alone cannot make back the cost.

Facing the real AMC theater group, Disney must give an accurate answer as soon as possible.

While researching on Disney's side, AMC also stopped the acquisition.

The expansion of 875 theaters in one go is also a great pressure on AMC's management system, which has nearly doubled in size.

The funds for the acquisition of the two theaters came from the Guanhai Group's capital injection.

It's only 70 billion US dollars, and AMC itself really doesn't have this profitability.

In the conference call, Lin Shen focused on the importance of snatching paying users.

Soon, AMC had something to do.

A $19.99 monthly card service is launched for all theaters in North America and even Europe.

Users who have opened a monthly card can watch movies unlimited times this month (limited to one movie per day).

In the most extreme case, a user only needs to spend less than 0.7 US dollars per day to watch a newly released movie.

This can include 3D blockbusters, rather than the 2D movies provided by some small-scale cinemas.

And, the annual membership is only $199.99.

In addition, there are family bucket packages.

For a family of a couple and two children, for only $399.99 a year, the whole family can come to watch a movie every day throughout the year.

In Lao America, where the average fare is more than US$9, in some metropolises such as Los Angeles and New York, the fare even reaches US$16-18.

For only $199.99 a year, you can watch a new movie released every day.

It has to be said that AMC's move is true and has firmly grasped the users of Laomei.

It is human nature to take advantage, regardless of skin color.

For those who need to watch movies, they will naturally open an annual card without hesitation.

It only costs 200 US dollars a year, and on average, it is less than 0.6 US dollars per day, which is not too cost-effective.

From now on, the cinema is my home!
Many fans in North America and Europe couldn't help being excited to tweet about the monthly and annual card services launched by Amway AMC Cinemas.

A large number of users whose demand for watching movies has declined due to income problems also choose to try to open a monthly card service for a try.

All of a sudden, the popularity of AMC theaters in North America exploded.

Popcorn and beverages, as well as revenue from sales of peripheral supplies, are all on the rise.

Generally speaking, the box office revenue of theaters in North America will not reach 70%.

Only when super blockbuster movies are released will the income of the popcorn and beverage business increase significantly.

This is also the confidence that Hollywood blockbusters dare to ask for a high share.

But now?

AMC has more than [-] million paid monthly card members, which in turn can manipulate the five major film companies, forcing them to make concessions, and even cooperate with increasing the window period.

After all, in such a model, the longer the playing time, the more money they will naturally make.

Even the box office market in North America will be activated and reach a new height.

To the amazement of many investment institutions, this model of AMC has obtained a huge cash flow invisibly.

The opening of monthly and annual memberships has increased the capital reserves of AMC theaters.

A movie, from its broadcast to its release, naturally has a settlement turnover period.

Think about tens of billions of dollars lying on the AMC account every year, even if you buy and sell wealth management casually, there will be a lot of money in the account.

According to AMC’s gameplay, the capital pool is almost 200 billion U.S. dollars or more.

With funds and a large audience of movie viewers, it even snatched some paying users from streaming media platforms such as Netflix in disguise.

It is conceivable that users who have a strong demand for watching movies will naturally lose interest in episodes on platforms such as Netflix.

Disney, who was still holding on to a glimmer of hope, was completely subdued.

Chapek also publicly stated that Disney will rethink the setting of the window period and try to find a balance between traditional theaters and emerging streaming media platforms.

The ruthless person who can make Disney and other big five subdue, also makes Xiao Lizi, who is filming in Los Angeles, feel a chill in his neck.

At this time, I looked at Reba, who was very outstanding in European aesthetics.

Xiao Lizi kept shaking his head, this woman must not be provoked.

No matter how crazy he is, he is still an insignificant little person in front of such a giant force that spans Asia, Europe and North America.

Ok……

The filming is pretty good, maybe he can act well, and he can be nominated for a wave of Oscars.

Women are not as good as filming.

Besides, isn't there Kaitlyn Dever in the crew?

He didn't have the guts to hook up with that Chinese woman.

But Caitlin Dever knelt down under his suit pants every minute.

　Haha, Master Nolan's Inception is really amazing, I recommend it.

　　


(End of this chapter)