Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 324 335 [Scream is a big hit at the box office, New Century Venture Capital acquires Yahoo]

"Scream" was officially released on Friday, October 10th, North American time. Considering that the director Robert Rodriguez is just a little-known figure, apart from inviting some reporters to hold a not-so-grand premiere, Amy focused her main energy on publicity.

I have to say that the contract signed by Hisao Morishima before he left was really good. Columbia was very dedicated in publicity, and the promotional posters in newspapers, radio stations, and major theaters were all in place.

Everything that needs to be promoted has been promoted, and the rest depends on the quality of the movie.

In the United States, there are two best release dates for horror movies.

One is Halloween, which can be understood as America’s ghost festival, so it’s natural that horror movies are popular.

The second is Christmas.

Although Christmas is a holiday similar to the Chinese New Year in the West, in North America, Christmas has gradually become the main season for family movies and horror movies.

Family movies are mainly aimed at the whole family, while horror movies are aimed at young men and women. The former is a place for the whole family to have fun, while the latter is naturally a good place for couples to flirt.

So this year's Halloween schedule is still very lively.

In addition to "Scream" produced by Lee Yi-su's Golden Lion Films, there is also the comedy action science fiction film "Double Dragon" co-produced by the United States, France and Denmark.
"Interview with the Vampire" starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, and the American political film "1997".
As well as the war-themed movie "A Tree House of Innocence" and the New Zealand-American co-production on myths and legends "Turning Tide".

The first film to be released was "Scream", which grossed $300 million nationwide on its opening day, Friday. By Saturday and Sunday, the total box office for three days exceeded $1300 million.

After that, "Interview with the Vampire" was released on Halloween, November 11st. Brad Pitt was not yet famous at that time, but Tom Cruise was an international superstar known to every household in the United States.

On the day the new film was released, the premiere was extremely lively and the North American box office exceeded 500 million US dollars in a single day. That day was a Tuesday, and the fact that it had such a high box office only shows that Tom Cruise is really very appealing in North America now.

Moreover, the two male protagonists of this movie are both handsome young men, and with their feminine vampire looks, they instantly captured the hearts of a large number of young female fans.

In the next few days, the box office of "Interview with the Vampire" continued to rise, and the first week box office exceeded 3700 million US dollars.

If nothing unexpected happens, the North American box office will definitely exceed 100 million.

The box office of "Scream" was not particularly good at the beginning. It only earned 1300 million US dollars in the first three weeks, and there were still two days of weekend schedule.

However, thanks to its good reputation and the female-oriented visual style of "Interview with the Vampire", the box office began to explode on November 11th.

The box office on that day achieved a result of 600 million US dollars, which was definitely a reverse growth for "Scream" which had been released for more than a week. The box office on Saturday and Sunday reached 1500 million US dollars.

In just two weeks and ten days, the box office has reached 4600 million US dollars, and it seems to be unstoppable and has the momentum to break the million US dollar box office!
These two movies dominated the North American Halloween schedule, and basically all other movies became cannon fodder.

Japan.

Hokkaido.

The crew of "Fireworks".

While directing the staff to set up the scene, Li Yishu discussed with assistant director Takeshi Kitano about what to do next.

The plot of the movie "Fireworks" is actually quite simple. The male protagonist "Xi" is a policeman, but his son died early, his wife has leukemia, and several good colleagues also encountered problems during the operation. Some died and left their wives as widows, while others were seriously injured and paralyzed and abandoned by their families. In order to help his good friend and his wife, Xi robbed a bank.

After the successful robbery, Xi gave part of the money to his friend's widow, and gave another sum of money to another paralyzed colleague and friend. Under the pursuit of gangsters and police friends, he and his wife first went to the snow country and then to the seaside, embarking on a journey with no return.

It is unknown what the ending will be.

But just like the name of the movie "Fireworks", the life of a policeman surrounded by enemies, the moment of glory in his life, although short, was also brilliant, and it is called "Fireworks"!
To be honest, this story is very suitable to be filmed in Hong Kong Island. Judging from the plot, Hong Kong Island also has the soil for this kind of film.

When Takeshi Kitano was hospitalized, Li Yishu also had this plan, but after some thought, considering Takeshi Kitano's situation, he finally decided to continue with the Japanese version.

Apart from Takeshi Kitano, the main reason is box office considerations. Although the Japanese film market has been sluggish in recent years due to the bursting of the economic bubble, the overall market is still there and is much better than Hong Kong Island.

The box office data after the movie is released will be much better than that of Hong Kong Island. What's more, after experiencing the great terror between life and death, Takeshi Kitano can be said to have a different perspective on playing the role of "Xi".

The higher the quality of a film, the higher the chance of winning an award. Although Li Yishu is no longer considering the three major European film festivals, it would naturally be the best thing if she could win an award.

"Director Li!"

Just then, Li Jiaxin excitedly walked over with a weekly magazine in her hand, but her walking posture was a little awkward, but if you didn't look carefully, you wouldn't notice it.

The reason was very simple. On the first night in Japan, she took the initiative to let Li Yishu open up another path that had never been taken before.

It felt pretty ordinary, but the feeling of conquest still made Li Yishu feel good.

Li Yishu looked back at Li Jiaxin's excited expression and asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

"Director Li, the horror film your company invested in has sold 6000 million US dollars in North America!"

A flush of excitement appeared on Li Jiaxin's face.

Hearing this, Li Yishu raised his eyebrows.

After he arrived in Japan, Amy sent a fax to Ichiro Tanaka. It was from Ichiro Tanaka that he learned that "Scream" was a huge hit at the North American box office. At that time, the box office was only 5000 million US dollars. Unexpectedly, it broke 6000 million US dollars in just a few days.

I took the weekly magazine from him and saw on the cover: "Asia's movie godfather invests in movie industry and earns 6000 million dollars"

Although it is mostly in Japanese, you can still make out the specific content by combining it with some Chinese characters.

"Congratulations, Supervisor Li!"

Kitano Takeshi quickly congratulated him, "According to this trend, I think it will be easy to break the billion-dollar box office mark."

"Haha, it's best if you can break it."

Li Yishu smiled. Although this movie was not shot by him, he invested in it alone. If the box office can exceed 100 million, after deducting the share of distribution and theaters, he will have at least 30 to 40 million in profit.

"It will definitely be cracked!" Li Jiaxin's eyes were filled with passion and admiration at this moment, as well as a little bit of ambition.

In the past, Li Jiaxin might have just been attracted by Li Yishu's identity as a big director and the fact that she owns a film company. But now, she is simply attracted by Li Yishu's wealth.

Although she didn't know how much money Li Yishu had now, a low-cost horror film could have grossed $6000 million in North America, and there was hope that it would break through the hundreds of millions of dollars.

If Li Yishu's company can make several movies like this a year, wouldn't it be able to make at least hundreds of millions of dollars?

No, I must win over Li Yishu and become Mrs. Li!
Li Jiaxin is still very confident about her beauty. Is it true that she got the title of the most beautiful Miss Hong Kong for nothing?
But the next second, Li Jiaxin fell into sorrow, because apart from her pretty face, there was nothing else that could attract Li Yishu.

A few days ago, the last route was conquered by Li Yishu, and now all three routes were conquered, which made Li Jiaxin regret it. She should have resisted appropriately and not been conquered so early. In fact, Li Jiaxin was still a little too conservative.

"Scream" is a series of movies. Even if the box office of each film declines gradually in the future, the copyright of this movie series alone will definitely earn the group more than one billion dollars in the future!

The reason why American filmmakers are so keen on making film series is because of the generous returns.

As long as one movie is successful, the subsequent series of movies will be pure money. Who wouldn’t like this rate of return?

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Kitano, go tell everyone to film well this afternoon. I'll treat everyone to a good meal and drink at the hot springs in the evening."

"No problem, Director Li!"

Kitano Takeshi hurriedly contacted the crew. He was not only the leading actor but also the deputy director, so naturally he was responsible for these trivial tasks.

Li Yishu looked at Li Jiaxin with a smile: "Jiaxin, thank you for bringing this good news. I will agree to any gift you want."

"I……"

Li Jiaxin was about to blurt out something, but immediately held it back: "No, no need, Director Li, I didn't do anything. Even if I don't say it, you will know it after work."

In fact, she wanted Li Yishu to buy her a luxury house in Hokkaido.

After traveling around Hokkaido during this period, Li Jiaxin found that this place is quite good. Although it is very cold in winter, the ski resorts and snow scenery here are something that Hong Kong Island has never seen before.

If she could have a mansion here, she could bring a few friends to Hokkaido to enjoy the snow and play in the winter. At the same time, she could show off her mansion.

If it were an ordinary person, they might not be able to tell, but Li Yishu knew what kind of person she was from the beginning. She just looked at her playfully and smiled without saying anything.

He is not a fan of Liu.

Pick up girls and get a mansion as a gift.

If Li Jiaxin acted coquettishly, Li Yishu wouldn't mind paying some money, but since the other party didn't say anything, he couldn't just give it to her, right?

At this time, Kitano Takeshi ran over and said, "Director Li, the photography team said that it's almost done and the road has been cleared."

"Well, let's get ready to start the machine."

Li Yishu waved her hand and prepared to start filming.

Seeing this, Li Jiaxin didn't say anything. After saying something to Li Yishu, she returned to the RV to rest.

The winter in Hokkaido is very cold, and they are now shooting an outdoor scene with a howling wind and snow all over the ground. She will not stand outside like an idiot.

While Lee Ye-seo continues to direct "Fireworks".

In the United States, Monica Bellucci took some effort to register a capital venture capital company called "New Century" offshore.

The first experimental investment project was Yahoo.

Yahoo Navigation Guide website was established in April this year.

The founder, Jerry Yang, is from Taiwan. He was admitted to Stanford University in 1990 and founded this website with his good friend David Filo while still studying.

I didn’t think about making money at first, I just wanted to complete my graduation thesis.

But no one expected that the Yahoo website would quickly gain favor among North American netizens after it went online.

At this time when information on various websites is underdeveloped, the emergence of a comprehensive website navigation has greatly facilitated Internet users.

This is the same as the 114 telephone enquiry service that was once very popular in China. Today, netizens do not have a deep understanding of the Internet, and many companies have a variety of URLs. In the absence of search engines, if you want to log in to a website, you have to enter it letter by letter.

It is extremely inconvenient and many netizens forget the URL of a web page they are interested in the next day.

The emergence of Yahoo website has greatly facilitated Internet users. As long as they remember the Yahoo website, they can find countless websites through it.

Stanford University.

In a small conference room.

The team brought by Monica is talking with Jerry Yang and David Filo.

In fact, this is not the first time that Jerry Yang has come into contact with venture capital companies. As early as the second month after the website was founded, an investment company noticed this impressive website.

However, Jerry Yang had some business acumen and knew that it was not appropriate to introduce a venture capital company so early, so he did not agree.

However, as more and more Internet users logged into Yahoo, the huge server expenses caused Jerry Yang and David Filo to spend all their savings, and they had to start contacting venture capital companies.

Charles, who was in charge of the New Century investment negotiations, said confidently: "For $100 million, we only want 40% of the shares."

Hearing this condition, Yang Zhiyuan was moved.
100 million US dollars for only 40% of the shares means that their website is worth 200 million US dollars in the other party's mind.

This number is not low, considering that only 7 months have passed since the website was founded.

He glanced at his friend David and saw that he was also interested. He hesitated for a moment and said through gritted teeth, "Isn't this price a bit low?"

"Mr. Yang, I understand your thoughts, but the valuation of $200 million is already our highest estimate. Your Yahoo website is good, but after all, it is just a web page."

Charles shook his head. "I know something about the Internet. It is still a new industry. Although your Yahoo website is well-known, I am not willing to give you even $100,000 before you find a profitable project."

Hearing this, Jerry Yang frowned and was about to say something when Monica, who had been silent, suddenly said, "Mr. Yang, how about this? Our company can bid $150 million for 40% of the shares, but the premise is that you give us 5% of the shares that will never be diluted, including a future listing."

Hearing this, Jerry Yang chatted with his friend David in a low voice for a few words, then he nodded and said, "No problem!"

Monica smiled and said, "Then I wish us a happy cooperation."

"Happy cooperation!"

Jerry Yang and David were extremely excited.

　I checked that in April 1995, Yahoo's first round of financing was only $4 million, with a valuation of $200 million.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)