Extracting skills from movies

Du Sheng leaned back in his chair calmly.

His eyes swept to the corner of the report that Theresa was holding, on which was clearly printed the MGM watermark.

"Did it break 10 million?"

Du Sheng tapped the sandalwood table rhythmically with his knuckles.

He asked in RMB, which was a subconscious habit.

After all, the number of screens provided by Columbia Pictures + MGM on the first day was only about 720.

The average ticket price in North America that year was less than $10, and even if the attendance rate exceeded 8%, it would be difficult to exceed $300 million.

What's more, it's Friday, and the number of moviegoers is bound to be much lower than on weekends.

There are also 3 Hollywood local hits released at the same time...

However, if the box office can break the 130 million mark (about million US dollars) on the first day, the minimum million will definitely be guaranteed over the three-day weekend.

Wu Jing, who was standing next to him, was drooling as he heard this.

He and his agent were still calculating this yesterday, and they would be lucky if they could get 6 million RMB.

If the weekend box office total hits 25 million, we'll have to pop the champagne.

You have to know that last year Jet Li's movie "Danny the Wolfdog" which cost 3 million to produce was screened on more than 2 screens in its first weekend, but it didn't even make back one-fifth of its profit.

This time, the cast of "Flash Point" is entirely Chinese, and it is claimed that the cost was only 5 million RMB.

If he could really make 60 million in North America, Wu Jing would be considered a big shot in Hollywood.

Theresa looked at Du Sheng's calm demeanor, then turned around and saw Wu Jing pulling at his haircut in a hurry. Finally, she couldn't help laughing:
"According to your exchange rate, it should be around 1280 million."

"what?!"

Wu Jing's mouth was opened so wide that an egg could be stuffed in it, and his whole body remained there for two seconds without moving.

This number was even more powerful than Big Brother Cheng Long's signature move, and it somersaulted upwards faster than he had expected.

Du Sheng also slowly sat up straight and said in surprise:
"It seems that our publicity these days has not been in vain."

If this movie can become a hit, it is largely due to the publicity from his own fans + streaming media + North American TV stations.

"The best is yet to come!"

Theresa showed the pre-sale data on her computer. The screen was filled with red-hot shows:

"The 4am shows at the IMAX theater on Saturday and Sunday were all sold out. At this rate, the total weekend box office is headed for million!"

Wu Jing was like someone who had received an electric shock. He jumped up three feet high and walked around the room waving his fists:
"Awesome! Holy crap! Incredible!"

He suddenly dived towards Du Sheng and said excitedly:
"Brother Sheng! It worked! It really worked!"

Wu Jing is a man who has seen a lot of ups and downs. He didn't even blink an eye when the Asian market exploded.

But this time he was fighting his way through Hollywood's territory. It felt like he was scoring a bicycle kick in someone else's home World Cup. He was so happy that the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

Du Sheng pulled Wu Jing's arm and reached for the wine cabinet:
"Calm down, calm down. I told you we can win this game."

Having said that, he actually felt relieved.

At least, these recent efforts have been quite effective.

It's just that Wu Jing's excitement made him look a little nonchalant.

The three goblets clinked together, and Wu Jing took a sip of 02 Lafite and suddenly realized:
"Brother Sheng, how high do you think the total box office can go this weekend?"

Du Sheng immediately turned the conversation to Theresa:
"Professional matters should be asked to professionals."

The blonde beauty swayed her wine glass and smiled:
“The minimum is 4000 million, and with luck we can reach 5000 million.

The main reason is that the Christmas season has passed and there are no big movies to be released this week."

At this point, she changed the subject:
"But Mr. Du, I, who comes from Wall Street, really don't understand your online and offline marketing methods. Can you explain it to me?"

This is true.

From the LME video challenge to the Chinatown private screening and free tickets, from Wu Jing teaching foreigners Tai Chi on CBS TV, to Du Sheng personally battling with film critics...

This combination of punches has left traditional publishers collectively confused.

The way Theresa looked at Du Sheng now was like Columbus discovering the New World.

“Fifty million in the first weekend!”

Du Sheng said this lightly, and the half-eaten hamburger in Wu Jing's hand fell onto the Persian carpet with a "pop".

Theresa was applying lipstick when her hand shook and the lipstick went directly onto her cheek.

Even if this box office data is converted back into US dollars, it is estimated that it can hit the top three in the weekly charts.

If the usual trend continues, the total North American box office will easily exceed 3 million US dollars.

If you're lucky, $5 million will be just a drop in the bucket.

What is the total cost of this film?

It’s less than 1 million US dollars!

Not to mention, it has already earned 3 million RMB in the Asian market so far!

This is simply the synonym of 'low-budget, big hit'.

It is foreseeable that the seven major Hollywood film studios will be jealous and even start competing for agency.

But Du Sheng immediately poured cold water on him:

"Don't be in a hurry to pop the champagne at halftime. We fans are like fireworks during Chinese New Year, they go off very quickly."

He counted the two people on his fingers:

"Of the 1280 million viewers yesterday, % were old fans of SPL, % were die-hard fans of ours, and the remaining % were passers-by who just joined in the fun.

If we don’t expand the audience, the box office will fall like a roller coaster next week.”

Wu Jing stared at the red and green graphs on the screen, his back teeth grinding.

Theresa suddenly laughed while applying the crooked lipstick:
"So now we are just like completing a game. We have defeated the first level BOSS, but there are more difficult dungeons waiting for us later?"

"That's exactly what it is."

Du Sheng shrugged and said calmly:

“It seems that we need to step up our promotion and publicity, such as the LME Talent Challenge…”

Then he suddenly raised his eyebrows at Theresa:

"By the way, isn't it time to release the press release for the top three box office charts?"

The blonde beauty clinked her wine glass with his:
"Hearst's newspapers have already made arrangements. There should be quite a few media bigwigs following up and forwarding the article at six o'clock tomorrow morning."

The title of being in the top three of the weekly box office chart is well-deserved. Cinemas can grab 8% more screenings, and passers-by passing by the cinema will also buy tickets based on this sign.

It is also more attractive when promoted.

As expected, the queue for the IMAX theater on Saturday started at 8 a.m.

By Sunday evening, after Du Sheng finished reading the attendance report, he felt relieved.

Even the corner seats in the first row of the AMC Theater in Los Angeles have been sold out!
It can be seen that it is not just the Chinese who support this.

At least more than half are other people of color.

When the final box office figures came out, Theresa just brought out the champagne:

"A Chinese-language niche film, 4918 million!
I've been working at MGM for three years and I've never seen such wild data!"

Wu Jing was calm now, squatting in the corner and counting the hairs on the carpet.

I was so excited about breaking the record yesterday that I couldn't sleep. I'm feeling sleepy now.

Hollywood film critics were furious.

Because "Flash Point" is not a typical Hollywood blockbuster, but a movie that tells Chinese stories!

As the world's first superpower, the film market of the beacon country has always been very exclusive to foreign films, and the audience's acceptance of subtitles is extremely low. Although "Flash Point" was dubbed in English by Du Sheng and Wu Jing, it is still essentially a foreign language film.

Normally, even the top ten foreign-language films may not perform as well as local blockbusters in a single weekend in the North American market.

It is very difficult for any film or television work from a non-English speaking country to enter this market.

However, this time, "Flash Point" completely subverts this traditional concept.

The big V Heige who originally said that this movie "can only make 50 million RMB" now has his Twitter comment section flooded with "Does it hurt?" emojis.

Otherwise, people would say that the Americans have double standards.

When Jackie Chan's "Rush Hour" broke the record, it was called "cultural inclusiveness", but when it was the turn of the Chinese team to break the record, it became "this audience is not good enough."

Du Sheng let the Hester sisters rub his whole body while reading the comments and laughing:

"Good scolding! The more angry you are now, the more stable your position on the trending search list will be."

He even asked Amanda, who was busy cleaning her gun, to hang a banner that read "Top 3 Foreign Language Films in First Week in North American Film History" on the LME homepage.

Theresa was stunned when she saw the skyrocketing pre-sale data in the backstage. The number of private bookings for next week's weekdays was 30% more than that of the first weekend!

"Don't rest, brothers!"

An hour later, Du Sheng put the Hearst sisters, whose legs were trembling with exhaustion, on the bed, got dressed and went to the office of the general manager of MGM.

“The #FuseSecondaryCreationContest# in the LME video needs to be upgraded, and some martial arts UP hosts should be found to collaborate with them.

Wu Jing, you must go to Times Square to practice Bajiquan tomorrow. Remember to wear the three-piece suits from “SPL” and “Flash Point” in turn!
Theresa, please contact AMC to organize an Asian-themed week, and replace all the popcorn buckets with blue and white porcelain patterns..."

Wu Jing muttered as he took notes:

"My goodness, are you trying to drain the wallets of North American audiences?"

Du Sheng smiled slightly:
"We're just getting started. Once the general public develops the habit of watching movies, we'll work hard to extend the run. If we don't make 1 million RMB, how can we justify the hamburger crumbs on the carpet?"

Outside the window, the neon lights of Hollywood flickered, and the exclamations of surprise from fans in the screening room could be heard from time to time.

Several cups clinked together, and the sound of the sloshing ice cubes was accompanied by the crisp sound of banknotes.

As expected, with the good attendance and reputation of "Flash Point", theaters automatically increased the number of screenings, second only to Hollywood's "Paths of Glory" and "Dancing with the Stars".

In addition, the number of screens has increased from 800 at the beginning to about 1300.

Don’t underestimate this change. After being released in North America for less than two weeks, it has already broken the box office record of “SPL” and successfully earned the title of breaking 100 million RMB.

In the past, "Red River" and "Hot and Spicy" grossed billions in the domestic box office. That's pretty awesome.

The former only grossed $897028 in North America, which is less than 700 million.

The latter is only 200 million US dollars, and it is said that half of it is water.

It can be seen that this achievement is quite dazzling among all the Chinese-language films released in North America.

Even many domestic media have noticed this matter and have taken the initiative to follow up with reports.

As the Spring Festival was approaching and the company's annual meeting and Spring Festival Gala were approaching, the group finished their promotion and returned early.

This is the third time the company's annual meeting has been held. Although the company's staff has increased by thousands this year, with Zhong Zhen and Ye Jingzhi around, there will naturally be no major problems.

On the contrary, the publicity for this annual meeting can be said to be very successful.

"This wave of annual meeting marketing is like dropping a depth bomb on both the entertainment and financial circles!"

Chen Tao squatted outside the recording studio, eating a pancake and checking the news. He was amazed to see that there were three Du Sheng-related entries in the top ten of the hot search list.

That’s right. Which boss would give away three river view apartments as raffles at the annual meeting?
Not to mention giving gold bars to outstanding employees like giving out chocolates.

This move directly coated the Star Media sign with a layer of 24K gold.

How could the workers in 2006 have ever seen such a scene?
The girls who were slacking off in the tea room were all green-eyed, and their friend circles were filled with videos of the interstellar annual meeting.

As soon as Zhou Huimin finished singing "Promise", Jia Jingwen came on stage to present the award with a diamond-encrusted house model.

Financial Weekly worked overnight to analyze the salary structure of Star Media. The entertainment reporter squatted under the office building and caught the employees and asked:

"Is your company still hiring cleaners?"

The Golden Horse Awards organizing committee must be regretting this decision now.

Originally, he wanted to take advantage of the popularity of Du Sheng, the new best actor, but before his own red carpet was even removed, the hot searches were all dominated by the video of the helicopter distributing red envelopes at the Star Conference.

What's even more amazing is that when Du Sheng received the award, he said, "This Best Actor trophy will add a touch of luxury to the company's annual meeting." This directly boosted the sales of the award-winning "SPL" Blu-ray disc to a new high.

This wave of popularity is simply explosive.

Not to mention anything else, the reputation points that were cleared not long ago have now accumulated hundreds of thousands.

"Reputation value 69? Not bad,"

Du Sheng glanced at the system panel and his fingertips slid out a series of arpeggios on the piano keys.

After attending the annual meeting and the Golden Horse Awards, Du Sheng's life has been very fulfilling.

Chen Tao looked out of the recording studio, holding a newly composed music score:
"Ah Sheng, the third album is just missing your voice!"

He has completed all the arrangement work for his third Chinese album.

Du Sheng spends most of his daytime time recording albums.

At night, I also had to revise the script of "The Man from Nowhere".

For example, the background of the Korean country and the motivations of the protagonists were modified to adapt to local characteristics.

At the midnight show, he also has to serve as an emotional consultant for all his female confidantes. Even Newton would be impressed by this time management technique.

"You've been waiting for a long time. Stop here today and join me for a dinner party tonight."

After recording two songs, Du Sheng returned to the company and met Tong Liya, whom he hadn't seen for a long time.

This time the invitation came from the general manager of Xifeng Liquor.

Although Du Sheng was no longer an endorser, he still had many artists under his management to work with, so he agreed because he couldn't refuse.

When Tong Liya saw Du Sheng appear, she did not show any impatience, but was instead filled with joy.

The girl is wearing a haze gray cashmere coat today. The waistline created by the belt is more winding than the Pearl River. When she stands there with her long legs wrapped in jeans, she looks like a cover girl from a fashion magazine.

"Brother Sheng, do you think I look good in this outfit?"

Tong Liya turned around in a circle, and when the hem of her coat was lifted up, she revealed the thin gold chain on her ankle:

"I heard you're going to meet the CEO of Xifeng Liquor. Do you want to change into something more formal?"

Du Sheng reached out to wipe off the lipstick marks on her cheek, the scent of peaches lingering on his fingertips:

"It's good like this. It's more attractive than the labels on their wine bottles."

The people at Xifeng Liquor are really persistent. Since his contract expired, they have sent customized wine cabinets to the company during every festival.

This time, we directly booked the River View Hall of the White Swan Hotel, and the ceremony was as grand as a state banquet.

The Pearl River was shimmering with golden waves in the twilight. Tong Liya followed Du Sheng closely in her high heels, the small purse in her hand swaying from side to side.

"Brother Sheng, where are you putting your hands?"

Tong Liya pouted, but she moved half an inch closer to Du Sheng's arms.

Du Sheng pecked her nose under the neon lights outside the car window:

"We are better than Diao Chan in a sack. We will blind those old antiques later."

At this point, he chuckled and said:

"But it's still early now. I'll take you for a ride first. There's an observation deck over here with a nice view."

Tong Liya understood Du Sheng’s meaning immediately and agreed with a blushing face.

Du Sheng said this as he turned the steering wheel to the right, and the black Maybach turned onto the quiet road with its taillights swung.

………(End of chapter)