Chinese Entertainment: Starting from 1996

Chapter 579 Cinema and Win

At 2011 pm on November 11, 10, at the Xin Ao store in Tianhong Shopping Mall, Beijing Olympic Sports Center.

"Ex-Files" held its premiere at the Golden Harvest Cinemas which had just opened here.

This is the second luxury cinema of Golden Harvest Cinemas in Beijing, with a total of nine theaters, including a hall that can accommodate a thousand people.

The premiere was held in this hall that can accommodate thousands of people.

The Tianhong store in the Olympic Sports Center was only opened two months ago, although it is outside the Third Ring Road and far away from the CBD.

However, there are many residential areas, primary and secondary schools, and universities nearby, which have formed a new shopping and leisure center on the North Fourth Ring Road.

Moreover, there is only one Poly Cinema nearby, so it is very advantageous for Golden Harvest Cinema to be built here.

Currently, the second batch of four luxury international cinemas of Golden Harvest Cinemas Line, located in the four first-tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, have been put into use one after another.

Now with two luxury cinemas in each of the four first-tier cities, Golden Harvest Cinemas has finally gained a foothold in the cinema market in the top cities.

Not only that, as other preparations have been completed, Golden Harvest Cinemas Line started the construction of cinemas in several other major cities from the second half of last year.

Up to now, nearly 20 cinemas have completed renovation and will be officially incorporated into the Golden Harvest Cinema Line and put into use during this year's Lunar New Year holiday.

That is to say, by the end of this year, Golden Harvest Cinema Chain will have 38 cinemas with nearly screens.

However, compared with the more than 10,000 screens in the country, Golden Harvest Cinemas' market share is clearly not enough.

However, the construction of Golden Harvest Cinemas will be accelerated in the future. It is expected that the remaining nearly 100 cinemas will be completed in the next year and a half, and all will be put into use by the end of the year.

According to the plan, once all the previously purchased land is used to build cinemas, Golden Harvest Cinema Chain will have 136 cinemas and nearly 900 screens.

With the current annual growth rate of nearly 30% in the country, there will be more than 20,000 screens in the country next year.

Golden Harvest Cinemas’ share is less than 0.5 percent.

However, the cinemas in the Golden Harvest Cinema Chain are all luxurious cinemas with better facilities and good locations.

Coupled with Golden Harvest Group's strong production and distribution capabilities, Golden Harvest Cinemas' share of the box office market will not be less than 5%.

This market share is actually not low. So far, there are nearly 100 cinema chains in the country.

In addition to a few large cinema chains such as Wanda, Star Media and New Film Association, Golden Harvest Cinema Chain will be able to rank among the top ten in the country by then.

Compared with the size of Golden Harvest Group, this market share is definitely on the low side.

But there is no way around it, because Golden Harvest Cinemas is slow to develop its capabilities.

Speaking of which, Golden Harvest Cinemas has developed quite rapidly, but the objects of comparison it has always been compared with are the top cinema chains.

The top few cinema chains are either owned by state-owned film groups or have very good foundations.

Or they can expand rapidly like Wanda and Poly, relying on real estate development. Now Wanda Cinema Chain has become the largest cinema chain in China.

After Wanda began to invest heavily in the film and television industry, they also accelerated the construction of cinemas.

Finally, there is a type like Dadi Cinemas, which expands by joining a large number of cinemas.

Golden Harvest can only build one cinema at a time, so the expansion speed will inevitably be slower.

However, if you build your own cinema, it will be easier to manage. And because you own the land and don’t have to pay rent, the subsequent operating costs will be much lower than those of your peers.

It can greatly increase the cinema’s ability to resist risks.

If we encounter a mask incident in a few years, we don’t have to worry about being on the verge of collapse like Dadi Cinemas, and we can deal with it calmly.

Therefore, after all the cinemas under Golden Harvest Cinema Line are completed next year, a second round of expansion will be carried out.

By then, Golden Harvest Cinemas will go deep into third- and fourth-tier cities to build cinemas.

In a few years, the domestic box office market will no longer be dominated by big cities, but small third- and fourth-tier cities will contribute more than 50% of the box office.

Golden Harvest Cinema Line plans to build another 150 cinemas in third- and fourth-tier small cities, basically covering most cities in the country.

After this, Golden Harvest Cinemas will probably stop expanding, and even if it does expand, it will only be sporadic, not on the large scale it is now.

With nearly 300 cinemas, Golden Harvest can at least rank among the top five cinema chains in the country, and its market share should be able to reach 10%.

In fact, in another ten years, there will be an oversupply of cinemas in the country, which means that the voice of theater chains will be greatly reduced.

By then, the cinema industry will gradually become a sunset industry like overseas.

However, for a large company like Golden Harvest Group, cinema chains are indispensable. Otherwise, it would be very dangerous if it were jointly targeted by its peers and cinema chains.

Although the possibility is small, any risk should be avoided.

Moreover, with the bonus from the cinema chain, it is also good news for Golden Harvest Group.

In particular, Golden Harvest Cinemas are self-owned, which can increase the trust of investment institutions and shareholders in Golden Harvest Group.

It will be much easier for Jiahe Group to obtain loans in the future, and it can be regarded as a way out for the company in case of any unexpected events.

In order to be consistent, the floor where Tianhong's Golden Harvest International Cinemas is located was also bought by Golden Harvest Cinemas Line.

Tianhong Shopping Mall needed traffic and Golden Harvest Cinemas needed to build cinemas, so the two parties hit it off immediately.

They also do not insist on owning all the properties in the shopping mall themselves, so the cooperation between them goes smoothly.

After all, this is the capital city, and it is indeed a bit extravagant to use a piece of land just to build a cinema.

Currently, Golden Harvest has eight luxury cinemas located in the four first-tier cities. Only the two earliest ones, located in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, were built by purchasing land, while the rest were built in cooperation with large shopping malls.

The Golden Harvest Cinemas in Tianhong was just opened not long ago, and in order to attract popularity, Golden Harvest also held the premiere of the currently highly anticipated "Ex-Files" here.

In recent times, the two movies "Ex-Files" and "Waiting for the Wind" have been very popular due to the promotion of Golden Harvest and Huayi.

Later, the two companies did not confront each other all the time. They cooperated tacitly to hype up the market and wanted to make the Double Eleven period this year very popular.

So doing business is not about fighting and killing, it is more about human relationships. Others think that the two companies are fighting to the death, but in fact both sides have a tacit understanding and want to make the pie bigger.

Of course, this is only true if both parties are equally strong and have not made any mistakes. Otherwise, the party that is stronger or has not made any mistakes will definitely want to kill you.

At the same time today, Huayi was also holding a premiere for "Waiting for the Wind".

Relying on its strong network of contacts, Jiahe invited a large number of guests. Huayi was no exception. With the background and influence of the Beijing circle, it also had many big stars supporting it.

On this day, most of the country's celebrities came to attend the premiere.

However, in addition to celebrity artists, Golden Harvest also invited CEOs from major film and television companies and cinema chains thanks to its strong network of contacts.

Wanda's Ye Ning, New Film Association's Huang Qun, China Film Star's Qin Hong and other general managers of the top five cinema chains in China all came.

The helmsmen of Berna, Guangxian, Xiaoma, Emperor Entertainment, Star Media and Wanda, such as Yu Dong, Wang Changtian, Boss Yang and Big Dog, were also present.

Of course, Han Shanping, who has close ties with Golden Harvest, and Ren Zhonglun, chairman of the Shanghai Film Group, who has been doing very well with Golden Harvest recently, had also arrived early.

Although Huayi has the support of Ali, in terms of industry influence, they are far less than the Golden Harvest Group. The attitudes of these industry leaders can well explain everything.

Of course, part of the reason these people came was because of Liu Zhou.

Now that he has returned from North America, he will of course attend the premiere of "Ex-Files".

"What's going on? When will that Hollywood movie be released?" Han Shanping asked as he sat next to Liu Zhou.

“It will be released on a small scale next month, and will be released on a large scale after the Oscars.”

“Are you confident about winning the Oscars next year?”

"I can only say that I will do everything I can, and whether I can win the award is up to fate."

Han Shanping sighed and said:

"It's so difficult for us Chinese to win an Oscar. Over the years, only Ang Lee has made it."

"I can't help it. The foreigners are very xenophobic. If the Oscars weren't taken so seriously in China, I wouldn't have wanted to apply for an Oscar."

"This is not something we can change, Hollywood is the center of world cinema, and the Oscars are the most watched film awards in the global film industry.

Even if they are xenophobic, we must fight for it, as this is the most effective way to promote the reputation of our Chinese-language films.”

"I understand that I can only take it step by step. Once I have figured out their rules of the game, I will take Chinese-language films to compete for the Oscars."

“You are probably the only director in China with this ability at the moment.

Zhang Yimou may still have some chances, but he has failed many times before and is not as confident as before."

"take it easy."

The two of them didn't chat for long before many other industry leaders came to show their support and he also needed to greet them.

At 7 o'clock in the evening, the premiere ceremony officially began. Neither Liu Zhou nor Zhang Zhao went on stage. Chen Guofu represented the company and brought the film's main creators on stage.

After some established procedures, the movie started at about 7:.

This film was still completed by Tian Yusheng himself. Golden Harvest only invested and inserted a female lead in it, but did not interfere with the production of the film.

In fact, although the name "Ex-Files" sounds like a cheesy web drama, it is actually a very good movie.

The only thing that was criticized was the heroine of the movie, which is why Golden Harvest stuffed people in it. The male lead Han Geng and Huayi's artist Zheng Kai were not replaced.

The movie's heroine was replaced by Wang Likun, an artist newly signed by Zeng Jia's company earlier this year.

The movie was good to begin with, and it got even better after the much-criticized heroine was replaced by Wang Likun.

The opening scene brought together the exes of the bride and groom, creating a tense and funny wedding atmosphere.

The plot has both sad and happy moments, and it can arouse the audience's emotions at any time. After all, it is a film that is very close to people's lives. Who doesn't have a few exes?

Although there are many dirty jokes in the plot, they are very down-to-earth and the combination is not too awkward.

The actors themselves are quite suitable for the roles. Although there is no breakthrough in their acting skills and the two male protagonists' acting skills are not as good as Wang Likun's, it is good enough.

The 105-minute movie ended quickly, ending with Han Geng and Wang Likun meeting on the street.

"Hello ex-husband."

"Hello ex-wife."

The premiere ended with applause and occasional sobs from the audience. Judging from the audience's reaction, it was a relatively successful outcome.

At the celebration banquet that followed, Liu Zhou also congratulated the film’s main creators.

"Director Tian, ​​thank you for your hard work. The movie is good and the audience response is also very good. You have completed a good work."

"I have to thank Mr. Liu and Jiahe for giving me this opportunity."

“That’s because your script is good and your ability has been recognized by Golden Harvest. I think the box office of “Ex-Files” should be good.

Director Tian can continue to cooperate with Golden Harvest if he has good scripts in the future."

Hearing Liu Zhou's words, Tian Yusheng was immediately delighted.

It's not just Liu Zhou's attitude of continuing the cooperation, but also his optimism about the movie "Ex-Files".

To be honest, he was under a lot of pressure during this period. It was his first time as a director, and he suddenly faced off against Teng Huatao.

Last year, his movie "Love Is Not Blind" became a huge hit, grossing over 400 million yuan at the box office with a cost of 20 to 30 million yuan. Except for those big directors, anyone who meets him again will feel unsure.

What's more, this time he brought a love-themed movie, which is in the same vein as "33 Days of Broken Love".

This time he is competing on behalf of Jiahe, and it would be a shame if he loses.

After all, all the new directors that Golden Harvest had favored in the past have achieved success.

If I fail, not only will Golden Harvest's vision be questioned, but it may also end my career as a director.

If even Golden Harvest can't lead you, other film and television companies will not trust you either.

Liu Zhou's vision is not only famous within Jiahe, but also well-known in the circle.

Now he is optimistic about "Ex-Files", which instantly boosts his confidence.

Maybe he can really defeat Teng Huatao this time, and maybe the next lucky person to become famous in the circle will be him, Tian Yusheng.

After saying a few words, Liu Zhou left.

He just came over to give a few words of encouragement, and seeing that the others didn't dare to breathe, he also understood that staying there would be a hindrance and they couldn't let go.

Afterwards, he had a few drinks with the CEOs of various companies, and when the celebration banquet was about to end, Liu Zhou left first.

After the premiere, the two films immediately launched their final wave of large-scale publicity.

The two most discussed movies in various film and television sections on the Internet are "Ex-Files" and "Waiting for the Wind".

At midnight on November 11, the two films, "Ex-Files" and "Waiting for the Wind", were officially released in the domestic film market.

The target audiences of both movies are young people, and the box office of the midnight shows is also quite high.

On the 12th, the first-day box office figures of the two movies came out one after another.

"Ex-Files" earned 16 million yuan at the box office on the first day.

"Waiting for the Wind", relying on the reputation of being the sequel to "Love Is Not Blind", coupled with effective publicity and deliberately hyped scandals, earned 1600 million on the first day.

The two movies are almost identical, with "Ex-Files" earning slightly more than $200,000 at the box office.

However, although "Ex-Files" seems to have won, when you consider the screening schedule of the two films, it actually lost.

(End of this chapter)