Huayu started as a substitute director

Chapter 628 Behemoth
It is easy to find out the basic situation of Huayi. Many actions of listed companies are public, and we just need to wait for them to take action.

Given Huayi’s current situation, it is impossible not to take action. They need Feng Kuazi to make movies for them, and they need celebrities to create value for them.

Nowadays, many celebrities are starting their own studios, or are poached by other talent agencies.

In this era of capital invasion, and with film and television dramas being made now, Huayi is no longer the first choice.

For example, Zhao Xiaodao has recently become popular again because of "The Journey of Flower".

The drama's premiere ratings exceeded 1%, the average rating for the entire series was 2.123%, and the highest for a single episode exceeded 3%, ranking first in the country in the same period.

The total number of views exceeded 200 billion, setting a record for online views of domestic dramas.

"Bai Zihua" and "Sha Qianmo" frequently appeared on the hot search list on Weibo, and the line in the play "primordial power" also became a hot topic and was even quoted by official media.

This drama can be said to be a benchmark for fairy-tale dramas, and it also led to a fairy-tale craze. Fairy-tale dramas such as "Eternal Love" and "Ashes of Love" were launched one after another.

Zhao Xiaodao also has a surge in endorsements, becoming the spokesperson for more than 20 international brands including Dior, Longines, Dove, and has become synonymous with "national sweetheart."

In just one or two months, the Yutu Artist Department's net profit exceeded 85 million yuan, and she also made it onto the Forbes China Celebrity List, ranking th, just after Liu Tianxian. She went from being a small traffic flower to one of the top flowers.

Da Mi Mi and Da Baobei have a new strong rival. Of course, there are bound to be people who criticize her on the Internet, as fame brings trouble.

The male lead Zhang Zhiyao who co-starred with her in the same drama also became popular again, but his value was not as great as Zhao Xiaodao.

Since Zhao Xiaodao is very famous, she wants to open a studio and work on her own. She has been in Yutu for many years. Fang Hong has not expressed his opinion and this matter is still in the works.

The production cost of "The Journey of Flower" is about 1.7 million yuan, and the TV station's copyright fee is also around 1.5 million yuan.

Internet copyright is expensive, with an exclusive price of 3 million yuan, and the producer can also get 50% of the patch advertising fees, which is probably tens of millions.

That's not all. In addition, the revenue share from mobile game peripherals is about 20 million, and the copyrights from overseas Netflix, YouTube and other TV stations in Southeast Asian countries are probably also tens of millions.

The show conservatively earned a net profit of three to four hundred million!
It is even more eye-catching than a high-grossing movie. Including the production cost, a movie must have a box office of at least 15 billion to achieve such a profit.

It is conceivable that the value of TV series is now on par with that of movies.

No wonder those big movie stars go into TV dramas.

Not only "The Journey of Flower", but recently "Wuxin: The Monster Killer" and "Grave Robbers' Chronicles" were also very popular this summer, making new generation actors such as Han Dongjun, Chen Yao, Jin Chen, and Yang Yang famous.

Not only are domestic films flourishing, but domestic dramas are also flourishing.

Recently, the film market has continued its established box office trajectory, and there have been no special turnaround events.

In early August, "Monster Hunt" maintained its leading advantage, with a total box office of 20 billion in 18.51 days, ranking first in the summer season.

Now it is still making 20 to 30 million every day, and it can jump to 40 million on weekends. Fang Hong didn't mess with this movie, so it doesn't matter how much the box office is.

Jiang Zhiqiang also fulfilled his previous promise and allowed Yutu to come in and gave it a 20% stake as a joint venture. Of course, this cost money, and he injected about 1.5 million yuan.

There are few Enle Cinemas, but they are all located in bustling areas and have high configurations, and the box office potential is high now, so 1.5 million is enough!
In addition, "The Return of the Great Sage" has been released for 26 days and has a total box office of 12.9 billion yuan, which is more than million yuan more than its previous release.

Of course, it can’t surpass “Monster Hunt”. Right now “The Monkey King: Hero is Back” is very weak, with a box office of less than 10 million every day.

"Wushuang" has been released for about ten days, with a total box office of 7.4 million. It is now weak, with only to million box office every day. It was strong in the early stage.

During this period, "The Pancake Man" barely made over 1 billion, and now it still has a box office of around 10 million.

This movie is also quite strong. It seems that having wide publicity and distribution channels and strong strength still has advantages. However, Dapeng also worked very hard and visited almost every cinema in the country.

He just keeps running and doing roadshows. Few people work as hard as he does.

But he is under a lot of pressure. For a movie star of Fang Hong's level, a loss of one or two films is not a big deal, but for him, it is fatal.

Losing money is a small matter, but if no one invests or believes in it in the future, it will be a big matter.

Judging from the current box office performance, if this trend continues, "Monster Hunt" will become the box office champion of this summer.

It depends on how much they brush and to what extent.

Although the authorities now require box office transparency, it is still possible to swipe the ticket. Buying a real ticket and getting a real seat only requires money, but the threshold is high.

That day, Fang Hong invited Jiang Zhiqiang and Wu Kebo to his home to meet the CEO of Orange Sky Golden Harvest.

This meeting was for business and also as a visit.

Before, Fang Hong asked Jiang Zhiqiang to lobby Wu Kebo to buy his cinema.

It just so happened that Liu Tianxian, Liu Xiaoli and others were there. Liu Xiaoli came to play and met them.

The four of them sat in a pavilion. The tables and chairs were all made of bamboo. They were surrounded by flowers and green plants, which were arranged neatly and looked very ornamental.

The scenery is beautiful and the sunshine is warm and pleasant.

"The scenery here is pretty good." Jiang Zhiqiang looked around and saw the green grass, which was very beautiful.

"Xixi put a lot of thought into it." Fang Hong said.

"Oh, really?" Jiang Zhiqiang looked at Liu Tianxian in surprise.

This made Liu Tianxian very happy, and she smiled and said, "No, it's just that I don't have anything to do, so I just tidied it up casually."

"That's good. It seems that Yifei is a person who knows how to live and enjoy life." Jiang Zhiqiang praised.

Wu Kebo nodded in agreement. The man was wearing a pair of glasses, looked middle-aged, and had a small tuft of beard on his chin, which was quite stylish.

It was also his first time meeting the principal, and he felt quite emotional.

Looking back ten years ago, they were also competing with Huayi and poached a large number of Huayi's artists, but their production capabilities were poor and they had no outstanding works, so they had no choice but to be defeated.

Now the situation has reversed, with the up-and-coming Yutu competing with Huayi and defeating the other side.

These are also works that the other party has nothing to show off. In this industry, competition still depends on the works.

"Actually, I was quite satisfied when I first started to organize it. But after looking at it for a long time, I wanted to move it again." Liu Tianxian chuckled.

"It's like this. If you look at something for too long, you will get tired of it. Just don't do that to the principal. It's not good." Jiang Zhiqiang said with a smile.

"No, he's still quite good-looking." Liu Tianxian said, and put her little face in front of him.

Fang Hong smiled and pushed her forehead! The others all smiled. It was so joyful to have her here, and she could adjust the atmosphere.

If it was just the principal, it would be very monotonous.

Jiang Zhiqiang turned to Liu Xiaoli who was silent at the side and said, "We haven't seen each other for many years."

"It's been a few years, and yet so many years have passed in a flash. Time has passed so quickly." Liu Xiaoli sighed.

"Yes!" Jiang Zhiqiang nodded.

The two seemed speechless for a moment. At this moment, Xu Liyun brought a plate of fruits and placed it on the bamboo table, motioning for them to enjoy it slowly.

"Mom, are you going to watch TV?" Liu Tianxian said.

"I haven't finished reading 'The Journey of Flower' yet. I need to catch up." Xu Liyun said.

"Now that you've finished watching it, tell me about the plot." Liu Tianxian said.

Now "The Journey of Flower" has aired to episodes 37 to 38.

"Okay, you guys chat." Xu Liyun gestured.

After she left, Liu Tianxian said, "My mother-in-law loves watching TV series, especially idol dramas, and now she's obsessed with fairy tales."

"Then your mother-in-law must be an emotional and gentle person." Wu Kebo saw that this girl had a good personality, so he started talking to her.

"Yes, I usually cry when I see touching things, but I will cry along with others." Liu Tianxian laughed.

Several people were chatting and laughing here, and the atmosphere was lively. Fang Hong didn't say much, waiting to get down to business.

Liu Xiaoli usually only says a few words when people talk about her, and hardly talks much.

"Principal, Mr. Wu has talked to me about his plan to withdraw from the mainland market and shift his business focus to the Hong Kong and Southeast Asian markets. If you want to acquire their cinema chain, you still need to negotiate on your own." Jiang Zhiqiang said.

The others quieted down after hearing the serious talk, and Liu Tianxian peeled fruit for everyone.

"Oh, the mainland film market is booming now. It's a pity that Mr. Wu wants to withdraw." Fang Hong tentatively said.

“To be honest, although the film market is booming right now, the competition is also fierce. The annual rental of labor, especially in first-tier cities, is a considerable expense. In addition, equipment upgrades also require continuous investment.

Recently, the authorities have cracked down on box office theft, which has squeezed the survival space of theaters like us.”

Wu Kebo did not hide the fact that he sincerely wanted to sell the company. His Orange Sky Golden Harvest was heavily in debt, but there was nothing he could do about it as he urgently needed funds to repay the debt.

It is true that Orange Sky Golden Harvest lacks content advantages, and given the transparency of box office sales, it is impossible for them to make any profit from it.

In the past, the rebates and fake box office revenues allowed theaters to make a profit on both ends, but now it is becoming increasingly difficult.

Moreover, many of Golden Harvest’s cinemas were built more than ten years ago. Although they are located in good locations, they are very old and require a huge amount of money to upgrade and maintain.

Nowadays, there are all kinds of IMAX, 3D, laser and other things. They sound expensive.

"That's true. How many cinemas do you have in mainland China?" Fang Hong asked.

"76 cinemas, 531 screens!" said Wu Kebo.

There are quite a lot of screens, no wonder they can’t afford it. Previously, Jade Rabbit and Gabonna had 93 cinemas with only 651 screens.

If the acquisition is completed, Yutu will have 169 cinemas and 1182 screens, which will exceed the thousand mark.

The tenth-ranked cinema chain brand, China United, has only 134 theaters and 752 screens.

Ninth is Xingfu Blue Ocean with 128 cinemas and 798 screens; eighth is Zhejiang Times with 185 cinemas and 1037 screens.

If it is acquired, it will be around the eighth level.

The ranking of cinema chains is based on market share. Wanda Cinema Line has 292 cinemas and 2557 screens; Dadi Cinema Line has 596 cinemas and 2932 screens.

Wanda Cinema Line holds more than 13% of the market share, making it the largest cinema chain brand in the country. That’s because Wanda is located in first- and second-tier cities, where many people go to the movies and it holds a larger market share.

The market will decline, but that will happen in the next few years.

The next few years will be a period of cinema mergers and acquisitions. Many small and medium-sized cinemas will be acquired and reshuffled.

This year there were 6200 cinemas and more than screens across the country, many of which were small and medium-sized cinemas.

"Are you guys packing for overseas cinemas?" Fang Hong asked again. Orange Sky Golden Harvest has many cinemas overseas.

"Not for now. If I want to sell it, we'll talk about it later." Wu Kebo waved his hand and said he would sell the overseas cinema assets if the business could no longer continue.

If the business is good, keep running it.

In its previous life, it was Orange Sky Golden Harvest Overseas Cinemas, which Dadi took over in 2020 and cost 5.3 million US dollars, which was not cheap.

However, after the purchase, the company encountered a financial crisis and had to mortgage the property to creditors.

Orange Sky Golden Harvest has cinema assets not only in mainland China, but also in many parts of Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, etc., with several, even dozens or even twenty cinemas in each place.

It goes without saying how glorious Golden Harvest was back then. Hong Kong films at that time could be sold throughout Asia, so they opened cinemas in many places.

Just like Yutu, Huayi and Bona all have their own cinema chains.

Orange Sky is the company that took over the entire cinema assets of Golden Harvest at that time, and the mainland was only a part of Golden Harvest.

In other words, what Fang Hong wanted to buy was only a part of Golden Harvest at that time, and Chengtian only took over a part of Golden Harvest at that time.

The movies were not taken over. The copyrights of about 600 Golden Harvest movies, including classic movies by Bruce Lee and Van Loon, were split among companies and individuals such as Celestial Pictures, Media Asia, Emperor Entertainment Group, and Van Loon.

It has also been distributed to overseas Warner, Netflix, Amazon, etc.

This is just a part of it. There are many other properties. Golden Harvest Building was sold to Gaw Capital Partners, and the Hong Kong Mong Kok Cinema property is still being sold.

It is conceivable how huge Golden Harvest was back then. By selling these things, Golden Harvest cashed in nearly 10 billion Hong Kong dollars.

The Hong Kong dollar was equivalent to a one-to-one exchange rate at that time, and this does not include the separate sales of film copyrights, which cannot be taken into account.

(End of this chapter)