America is in control

Chapter 259 Harmony, Friendship and Huge Profits

Arriving in front of the stage, Liu Jiang casually struck a few poses, and the sound of shutters suddenly echoed throughout the press conference.

On the other hand, Bernard Hopkins wore a silver-gray striped suit with a white shirt and a leopard print tie.

The quirky dressing style, coupled with the dark skin, highlights a unique sense of fashion.

This black guy attracted only slightly less attention than General Liu.

As the two boxing champions took their seats, the host began to talk at length as usual, introducing the situation of this boxing champion unification fight.

Liu Jiang looked at Bernard Hopkins sitting next to the host from the corner of his eye.

This guy has a typical "Shen" face, wide in the middle and narrow at the ends, with no head or tail.

Thick eyebrows, slender eyes, with occasional flashes of light between opening and closing.

Pointed ears, thick nose, and two plump lips.

Carefully groomed stubble covered his lips and chin, and even spread to his temples.

This black guy is a shrewd and cunning guy at first glance! It’s not easy to deal with!
While Liu Jiang was quietly observing his opponent, Bernard Hopkins was also secretly sizing him up.

This boy has a handsome face, sharp eyebrows and starry eyes. He doesn't look like a vicious person!

On the contrary, he looks like a pretty boy who has been hanging around Hollywood all year round!

The opponent probably cares about his face, and maybe he can use it to set a trap in the boxing ring.

I heard that this kid has a bad temper and will often be cruel to those who don't respect him. This can be put to use later.

Thinking of this, Bernard Hopkins showed an extremely hypocritical smile to General Liu.

Upon seeing this, General Liu nodded slightly and responded with the same hypocritical smile.

At this time, the host has almost introduced the situation of this boxing championship unification fight, and the reporter's question session has officially begun.

"John, the public opinion during this period was very unfavorable to you and had a very bad impact. Why didn't you stand up and clarify it at that time?"

A white reporter was selected by the host. He quickly stood up and asked General Liu.

"I am a person who abides by the rules. Before the boxing championship unification fight is finalized, it is not easy for me to disclose information to the outside world."

"This public controversy did have a certain impact on my life, but fortunately it has passed!"

"I hope everyone will maintain independent thinking when facing the proliferation of false news in the future!"

Liu Jiang gave a wry smile, with a slightly heavy expression on his face, and responded to reporters with a fairly standard set of rhetoric.

Of course he did this on purpose, and the temporary weakness was to better launch a counterattack!

"Mr. Hopkins, the media previously broke the news that you privately said that John was running away from you. Is this true?"

The white reporter turned to Bernard Hopkins to verify his previous remarks.

"Fake News! Fake! Rumors! What unscrupulous media are making this up!"

"I've never said that to anyone and I have a lot of respect for Mr. John!"

"If you knew me as a person, you would know that I would never say something like that!"

Bernard Hopkins' attitude was extremely solemn and he denied it seriously.

Judging from his indignant look, it seemed that he was the victim of this public opinion storm, or at least one of them.

When General Liu saw this, he sneered in his heart. This black guy's acting skills were quite superb.

He didn't believe that the other party was some kind of white lotus that emerged from the mud and remained unstained.

May I ask which White Lotus has such outstanding edge technology? What a liar!
This black guy is indeed a cunning and cunning guy, and he must deal with it carefully.

Maybe the other party has colluded with Bob and wants to use this boxing championship unification fight to attack him.

Damn it! When we get to the ring, I have to let you know why the flowers are so red!

"John, what do you think of your opponent in this boxing championship unification fight?"

Another reporter stood up and asked General Liu a question.

"Mr. Hopkins is a very powerful boxing champion, and his combination punches are particularly sharp."

Liu Jiang didn't mean what he said, he praised his opponent mercilessly, and only chose the right words to say.

Isn't it just hypocrisy and coercion? It's as if no one can do it!

"Mr. Hopkins, how confident are you in this game? Are you confident you can beat John?"

The reporter was not very satisfied with General Liu's smooth remarks, so he turned to ask Bernard Hopkins.

His question was vaguely provocative. If no explosive news comes out, how will tomorrow's newspapers be sold?
"I don't think any middleweight boxer can guarantee that he can beat Mr. John easily!"

“I don’t have much confidence in this game, but I’m willing to give it a try!”

"Mr. John is an excellent boxer in all aspects, and his punches are terrifying."

Bernard Hopkins saw through the reporter's ploy and did not fall for it.

Instead, he acted quite modestly and also praised General Liu.

The following reporter's question session became a show where the two boxing champions praised each other, making all the reporters look at each other.

They even wondered if they were participating in a fake press conference.

You know, it’s rare to see a press conference with General Liu participating that can be so harmonious and friendly!

The event launching ceremony and press conference came to an end in a strange atmosphere.

In the next period of time, Liu Jiang began to actively prepare for the competition. At the same time, he did not let go of the new Caesars Entertainment Company and AuctionWeb Company.

After the North American box office of "Looking for the Midnight Kiss" successfully exceeded US$5000 million, Warner Bros. Entertainment and New Line Cinema finally relented and accelerated the progress of negotiations.

In the end, they bought out all overseas distribution rights from online to offline for "Searching for the Midnight Thing" for US$2800 million, and bought the sequel production rights for the film for US$560 million.

General Liu is quite satisfied with this price. Under normal circumstances, the price of overseas copyrights for Hollywood movies is 40%-50% of the total box office in North America.

The price for the rights to produce the sequel is about one-tenth of the total North American box office.

"Searching for the Midnight Thing" hasn't been released yet, but the film's North American box office target is already quite clear, roughly between $5500 million and $6000 million.

If it can be sold at such a price, the new Caesars Entertainment Company can be said to have made a fortune!
In addition, Liu will take advantage of Warner Bros. Entertainment and New Line Cinema's eagerness to reach negotiations, and successfully won the right to recommend the heroine for the film's sequel.

This can also be regarded as an explanation he gave to Cate Blanchett.

The sequel to "Looking for the Midnight Kiss" is co-produced by Warner Bros. Entertainment and New Line Cinema and has been announced. Because this project is aimed at next year's summer, the project progress is progressing very quickly.

The movie script is almost written, and actor auditions will begin.

After Cate Blanchett got the news, she made a special call to General Liu.

"John, how are you lately?"

"It's not bad! I've been busy preparing for the competition during this time. Kate, what do you want from me?"

"Thank you for your recommendation, which allowed me to go directly to the third round of auditions!"

"No need to say thank you, it's just a small thing. There's only so much I can do."

"I really didn't expect you to sell the sequel rights to "Searching for the Midnight Kiss." This is a business that is sure to make a profit."

"You also know that my energy is limited and I don't have much time to spend on movies. Besides, there is no business in this world that guarantees profit without loss!"

"John, how can I thank you?"

"Uh! Kate, do you know that kind of European lady dress? Your temperament is very suitable for that kind of dress!"

The game with Cate Blanchett is just a little change in Liu Jiang's hard life.

In addition to securing the overseas distribution rights and sequel production rights for "Looking for the Midnight Kiss," his negotiations with Pier also achieved a perfect result.

General Liu's new Caesar Investment Company and Pier jointly invested in AuctionWeb, with a capital injection ratio of 7 to 3, which is consistent with the shareholding ratio.

Pier took out $100 million, and New Caesars Investment Company transferred $235 million to AuctionWeb's account.

In addition, New Caesar Investment Company will also have to provide AuctionWeb with a low-interest loan of US$200 million.

At the same time, AuctionWeb will carry out AB share reform and establish an option pool to prepare for later financing.

At General Liu's strong request, Pier and Jeff Skoll transferred the management rights of AuctionWeb.

Pier will still be responsible for technical work, and Jeff Skoll will step down and take the deputy position after Harvey helps Liu find a new CEO candidate.

This negotiation also gave General Liu a surprise. Pier suggested that AuctionWeb change its company name to a new company name after the capital injection is completed.

After all, the name AuctionWeb is too straightforward and not very catchy.

General Liu didn't have any objections to this. It was just a matter of changing the company's name, which was not a big deal.

But when he heard the name of the new company proposed by Pier, he almost froze on the spot.

eBay! Pier actually wants to change the company name to eBay! Could this be a coincidence?
Liu Jiang suppressed the ecstasy in his heart and patiently asked the other party for the reason.

The explanation given by Pier is reasonable. He previously founded the eShop company with his friends. Although it was later acquired by Microsoft, he still wanted to continue this unique naming style.

He originally planned to change his company name and website name to eBuy, but unfortunately this name is already used by a company.

There was no other way, so Pier simply changed one of the letters and named it eBay!

General Liu could hardly conceal the ecstasy in his heart. He waited for a while before agreeing to Pier's proposal with a smile.

That’s right! This AuctionWeb website is the predecessor of the famous American e-commerce giant eBay!
Not only did he find a treasure, he also became eBay's major shareholder, owning 63% of the company's shares, all of which are B shares with extremely high voting weights.

Perfect! How perfect!
Of course, this is not the only good news. Not long after the negotiation between General Liu and Pier ended.

Warner Bros. Entertainment and New Line Cinema transferred the cost of purchasing the overseas full rights and sequel production rights of "Searching for the Midnight Kiss" to the account of New Caesars Entertainment in three installments, totaling US$3360 million.

With such a huge amount of income recorded, Liu Jiang's cash flow will be extremely abundant in a short period of time, and he can fully cope with any emergencies.

After almost six weeks of screening, the North American box office potential of "Searching for the Midnight Kiss" has been basically exhausted, and it was successively released in major theaters in early December.

The six-week screening time is neither long nor short. It is not much different from the release period of "Evita".

In the end, the North American box office of "Looking for the Midnight Kiss" reached an astonishing US$5830 million, which was almost US$200 million more than "Evita" released in the same period.

Compared to its production cost of US$300 million, this romantic comedy was a box office hit.

As soon as the movie was finished, General Liu asked Jonathan to urge New Line Cinema to complete the offline distribution of "Looking for the Midnight Kiss" as soon as possible. At the same time, he also sent employees from New Caesars Entertainment to participate.

New Line Cinema has its own video tape and DVD distribution channels in North America, and Shea certainly won't give up this piece of fat to others.

After a series of brief negotiations, Caesars Entertainment licensed the video and DVD rights to "Searching for the Midnight Kiss" to New Line Cinema.

New Line Cinema will pay a base transfer fee of US$550 million plus a 20% share of rental sales.

As for other offline income, New Line Cinema also has fixed partners.

The ten-year TV broadcast rights sold for a total of US$500 million (different TV stations), and the derivative license sold for US$200 million.

Offline revenue is just a side dish, and the real bulk comes from the North American box office share.

The North American box office of "Searching for the Midnight Kiss" was US$5830 million. After deducting theater shares and various taxes and fees, New Line Cinema only received US$2900 million.

According to the distribution agreement signed between Caesars Entertainment and New Line Cinema, New Line Cinema will take 25% of the film's total North American box office.

The commission is approximately US$1458 million, which of course includes New Line Cinema’s publicity expenses.

In other words, New Caesars Entertainment and New Line Cinema will have to split the North American box office share of US$2900 million in half.

New Line Cinema's revenue is more than this. It takes 210% of the total revenue from video tapes, DVDs, and all TV copyrights, which adds up to $ million (rental sales are not included in the calculation for the time being).

The commission on derivatives income is 100%, which is $ million.

After all, New Line Cinema made more than $10 million in profit from the movie "Looking for the Midnight Kiss" without investing much in publicity.

The gross revenue of the new Caesars Entertainment Company in the North American market was only US$2382 million.

At first glance, New Line Cinema's revenue may not seem comparable to that of New Caesars Entertainment, but the risks they take are vastly different.

New Line Cinema, which owns distribution channels in North America, can be said to be able to guarantee revenue despite droughts and floods. Basically, it does not need to take any risks, and it will not lose much even if the movie fails on the market.

As a producer, the new Caesars Entertainment is different, with big risks and big rewards!

In order to prevent New Line Cinema from doing anything with this huge revenue, Liu will spend a lot of money to entrust an accounting firm familiar with various hidden rules of Hollywood to be responsible for the audit.

In addition, he also sent professionals from New Caesars Entertainment Company and elite soldiers from Li Chengxiong Accounting Company to participate.

Be wary of villains but not gentlemen. General Liu couldn't believe what kind of contract spirit these Hollywood people would abide by.

I don’t know whether it’s because General Liu’s battle was too big or because of other considerations, but New Line Cinema generally didn’t make any mistakes.

As various revenues began to arrive, New Line Cinema began to deliver profits to the new Caesars Entertainment Company.

(End of this chapter)