Big names rise

He Mu's original intention was that Shuimu Forest and Rubik's Cube Pictures jointly bid for the digital domain. In addition to considering that Rubik's Cube and Mofang Pictures are both American companies, it is more convenient to integrate, and another important reason is that Shuimu Forest is somewhat stretched in terms of funds. .

It is true that films led by "Zi Bu Yu" and "33 Days of Broken Love" earned more than one billion yuan at the box office in the mainland last year. The box office saved the decline of Mizuki's movies in the first half of the year, and these box offices were distributed to Shuimu Forest.

The profit level of Shuimu Forest is obvious to all, but the people of Shuimu are also well-known for their ability to spend money. Nowadays, there are many films that are in production or completed but not screened. 2" is a super giant production with a production cost of more than 3 million yuan. Even low-cost youth and comedy films such as "To Youth" and "Tai囧" have a budget of about 5000 million. If it weren't for " The "Zi Bu Yu" series is selling well all over the world. Mizuki can't support so many big projects, and they are basically all invested by sole proprietorships, so they are very courageous.

If it was just to cast a movie, He Mu would not be in short supply. The main reason is that he and his father partnered in Guevara Life.com, and invested some money in the Metropolitan Cinema Line, which owns part of a large cinema in the capital. shares, so Mizuki needs a partner in this plan to bid for the digital field.

However, as the leader of Rubik's Cube Films, Jeff has no interest in buying the digital field where the sunset is setting. He hopes to invest in the amazing profits brought by "The Hunger Games" to the production of new films and the expansion of distribution channels. In his view, these are more practical than investing in special effects companies, and are more in line with the development needs of Rubik's Cube Pictures at this time.

Standing in different positions to consider things is different.In Western countries, there are many excellent special effects companies, not to mention Industrial Light and Magic, Sony's graphics company.New Zealand's Weta Effects these top special effects companies.Even fx and hatch fx, the special effects partners of "The Hunger Games", although they are not well-known overseas.But they are also very powerful. They can provide employers with very considerate and satisfactory services, and the required expenses account for a small proportion of the production costs of Hollywood movies. Filming movies in Hollywood.It is Nolan's live-action shooting control that really burns money.

Moreover, it is not so easy to start a special effects company in the United States. Before the digital field, two famous special effects companies, Fuel VFX and World Digital, had gone bankrupt and closed. The former once produced the special effects of "Prometheus", and the latter participated in Part of the post-production work on "Titanic," which worked alongside the digital realm, is now doing the same.

So Jeff firmly disagrees with investing money in special effects companies that burn money.Although the digital field has a good foundation, it is very difficult to maintain a world-leading level in the field of special effects. Without strong funds and the determination to love special effects, it is impossible to succeed.If there is a slight mismanagement, his Rubik's Cube Films will also get involved.

But He Mu is different here. The domestic special effects foundation is very poor. The only well-known Chinese independent special effects companies are Xiantao Digital and Po Chaoting, and they are all Hong Kong and Taiwan companies. You can only turn to Hollywood special effects companies or Korean special effects companies, and their fees account for a very large proportion of the production costs of Chinese-language films.

But if you can own a top special effects company in the world, even if it used to be, the lean camel is bigger than a horse, and Shuimu Forest with the digital field in hand will definitely become a part that cannot be ignored in the Chinese film industry, and its status will definitely be more important than it is today. consolidate.Moreover, some existing technical patents and CG talents in the digital field can also enrich Lotus Leaf Animation and help the company's first world-class CG animation "Shuck and Beta" come out as soon as possible.

This is for private reasons. If it is for the public, the special effects of domestic films have always been criticized by Chinese people. When they are sold overseas, they cannot compete with Hollywood blockbusters because of the low production level. If they buy back a digital domain, it can help domestic film companies to produce more. If better movie special effects can even help domestically-produced short-board sci-fi movies, then it’s worth it for this company to buy.

Of course, it would be even more perfect if we can contribute to the special effects of domestic films and at the same time get good revenue for the development and enrichment of the company's technology and patents.

Although Jeff rejected He Mu's request for a cooperative acquisition, He Mu did not give up, but he also knew that with the power of Shuimu Forest or He Mu alone, even if he could buy the digital field, but the injection of funds needed later, Rejuvenating the digital field will also become difficult, not to mention that there are still so many headaches in the digital field, so He Mu still hopes to find a partner to share the risk of acquiring the digital field with him.

The digital field used to be very brilliant. This special effects company established by James Cameron and Stan Winston in 1993 was as famous as Industrial Light and Magic and Weta special effects. However, in 98, the founder of the company was also the backbone. Cameron left the company because of disagreement.

In 2006, "Transformers" series director Michael Bay's company acquired the digital domain, and later in the "Transformers" series, "Special Forces" series, "2012", "Thor", "X-Men: First "Battle", "Avengers" and other visual blockbusters as the main special effects, and officially launched in 11.

The company's highest market value was as high as 4 million U.S. dollars. Even a few months ago, when "Zibuyu 2" was produced in the digital field, the company's market value could still reach 2 million U.S. dollars. However, due to the massive expansion of the business chain after listing, He has successively carried out training business, opened an animation company, cast blockbuster films and many other projects.These investments require a large amount of cash, and it is difficult to see returns in the short term, which can easily cause a break in the capital chain.In addition, after the company went public, it encountered short-selling hype in the capital market. In the end, the capital chain was broken and it was unable to repay the loan, so it could only be protected by bankruptcy.

Today, after declaring bankruptcy, the starting price of Digital Realm is only 1500 million US dollars. The auction includes the special effects studio of "Digital Realm" in Canada, and its "Carrier Media", including films, visual effects, advertising production and virtual human synthesis All major businesses such as technology, as well as the production rights of a sci-fi blockbuster "Ender's Game" invested by Lionsgate, can be said to be sold very cheaply.

The serious shrinkage has also caused many companies, especially foreign companies, to start thinking about this famous special effects company. Even in China, more than one Shuimu Forest is eyeing the digital field that is about to be auctioned.