Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 448 You Pretend to Be Deaf and Dumb, My Box Office Soars (Bonus Chapter for Ice Cream Bro)

Che Guevara?
Damai.cn?
The former is indeed relatively unknown, and as Ma Yun said, it is a newly established online platform for real-time movie ticket sales.

However, those present had heard of Damai.com.

In particular, Liu Chuanzhi, whose company Damai.cn has received investment from Lianxiang, is just that he, as the big boss, may not pay much attention to this business segment.

Damai.cn was founded in 1999 by Cao Jie. Formerly known as "China Ticket Online", it provides performance ticket delivery services through the Xiaohongma Express network.

In 2005, the brand was upgraded to "Damai.com" and the self-developed Maitix ticketing system was launched to achieve real-time data synchronization and electronic ticket verification.

Also in that year, Damai.cn received 3000 million yuan in Series A funding from Legend Capital, a subsidiary of Lianxiang, and began to grow and expand. In 2008, it became the ticketing, technology and operations partner of the "Good Luck Beiping" Olympic test series, and participated in the construction and service of the ticketing system for the test events.

Ma Yun explained, "President Liu should remember that the founder of Damai.cn is Cao Jie, a friend I met when I was working in Beiping in the 90s."

"His father was the head coach of the Chinese motorboat team. In 98, when the first wave of e-commerce emerged in China, he founded Little Red Horse Express Company."

“In 03, Cao Jie contacted me and said that a large part of his business in Beijing was offline performance ticket delivery. He asked if I could do e-commerce for a ticketing website. I said, ‘Give it a try, and if it doesn’t work out, we can do it together.’”

"Cao Jie has an engineering background and is very technically skilled. He led a team to develop a ticketing system, which was later invested in by Lianxiang in its Series A round. Now it is doing well."

Everyone present was shrewd; they listened with expressionless faces, but they roughly understood the meaning behind Old Ma's words.

In real history, Ali acquired a 32.44% stake in Damai.cn in 2014 and fully acquired it in 2017, incorporating it into Ali's entertainment division.

Gewara, another competitor of Damai.cn since 2009, was acquired by Tencent's Weiying in 2015.

What followed was the arrival of the "ticket subsidy era," which was welcomed by the general public.

Liu Chuanzhi frowned. He was planning to find another opportunity to talk to Wang Jianlin about opening up the Ali platform to Taishan Club members after Ma Yun's last attempt to persuade him to invest failed today.

Why are we suddenly bringing up this damn ticketing website/platform again?

In any case, the former chairman and Ma Yun, Wang Jianlin, Li Yanhong and others were not businessmen in the same field.

Ma Yun and Wang Jianlin's strategic vision and business acumen far surpass those of some old fogies who only know how to "sell their father's land" and demolish public buildings.

This can be seen from the way Lao Wang looks at Ma Yun now.

Li Yanhong asked curiously, "Mr. Ma is thinking of applying this ticketing system to movie ticket purchases, right?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean, and someone has already done it, like Che Guevara."

Ma Yun was delighted to see the curious expressions and gestures of Wang Jianlin and the others in front of her, and patiently explained:
"We've been researching the collaboration between Ali and Huayi for some time now. Besides relying on the 'If You Are the One' project, we've also been looking for other opportunities, and Ali's strategy department happened to see this news."

"President Wang, Chairman Liu, and Yan Hong, I believe this is an excellent opportunity for cooperation."

Ma Yun, beaming with pride, once again adopted the speaking mode of a top entrepreneur: "Look, at the Film Association Forum that just concluded, it was estimated that by the end of 08, the number of screens in China would exceed 6000, and the total box office could reach 60 to 65 billion yuan. What does that mean?"

"Based on an average ticket price of 35-40 yuan, the total number of moviegoers this year is estimated to be 1.3-1.5 million."

"Lu Kuan was right when he said something at the forum: the Chinese film market is now shifting from 'niche entertainment' to 'mass consumption'. So what can we do?"

"Could we develop an online movie ticketing project? Are the conditions in place right now, and is there any possibility of it being implemented?"

Ma Yun looked at the three people in front of her who were thinking rapidly: "Chairman Liu goes without saying, he is our strong backing, and even Damai.com, which we want to invest in, is our strategic cornerstone."

"What about the rest of us? Mr. Wang, I've already offered my initial thoughts. Please share your perspective from the point of view on theater ticket sales."

Before Wang Jianlin could even speak, Lao Ma laughed and said, "Lao Wang, don't feel pressured. Today is just like a small forum. Whether we cooperate or not is another matter."

Wang Jianlin nodded and said in a deep voice, "If we follow Mr. Ma's idea, from the perspective of offline scenarios such as movie theater ticket purchases alone, it certainly meets certain conditions."

"For example, there are long queues for popular movies at the theaters, ticket purchasing efficiency is low, and many cinemas and theater chains have separate membership systems that are not interconnected, requiring users to register multiple times, resulting in a fragmented experience."

Ma Yun raised her glass in a toast and gently guided him, saying, "Jianlin, I'd like to offer a few points regarding the benefits of online ticketing for Wanda, and I'd appreciate your feedback."

Wang Jianlin smiled and gestured for him to offer his advice.

"First, online ticket purchases can be synchronized in real time as data, reducing box office conflicts and complaint rates."

"Secondly, for cinema operations, each cinema can reduce the budget for 1-2 ticket sellers. Based on your current number of cinemas, the annual savings in labor costs will be at least around 2000 million yuan."

"Third, by using online data to drive film scheduling and dynamic pricing, Wanda can further increase its already advantageous per-screen output!"

The logic behind this is simple, similar to the airline industry's "off-season discounts + peak season premiums" model, both of which can be observed and controlled at the online data level.

Even though Wang Jianlin hasn't figured out Ma Yun's true intentions yet, it doesn't stop him from appreciating this cooperation model.

For Wanda, if it can make large-scale use of the online ticketing system and link it with other services of commercial real estate, including the registration of Wanda members, the improvement in customer stickiness will be huge.

Ma Yun gave Wang Jianlin some time to think, then turned to Li Yanhong: "Yanhong, we hope Baidu will give us priority display of keywords in this process—"

Old Ma paused for a moment, then said helplessly, "It's obvious that with Mr. Lu's keen sense of smell, once this model is established, I think Wenjie will quickly follow suit, and that will be the time for your company to provide assistance."

In 2008, Baidu's daily search traffic reached 2 million times, which significantly boosted ticket sales and expanded its competitive advantage.

"Let me talk about the role that Ahri plays." Ma Yun seemed to have found the inspiration to write, and he himself felt that this alliance was a brilliant idea.

"Ali will first provide the payment interface. We now have more than 1 million registered users and more than 200 million daily transactions."

"Movie tickets are a type of small-amount, high-frequency payment, which aligns with the payment habits of most Taobao users. Combined with the most frequently used utility services like water, electricity, and gas, the integration is even smoother."

"Secondly, Taobao currently has around 8 million daily UV (unique visitors), with each user spending an average of about 800 minutes on the site. Most of these 800 million users are those with online payment capabilities, and they will be the direct target users for online movie ticketing."

Apart from Chairman Liu, who was from a different industry and needed to visualize the application scenarios of online ticketing, the other two fell into deep thought after Lao Ma's reasoning and began to weigh the pros and cons of their decision.

Looking at the participating companies:
Alipay will be responsible for providing the payment interface and integrating Taobao's traffic. They can try to take advantage of the current unfavorable situation in the battle between Alipay and PayEase by extending e-commerce payments to local life services and creating a closed data loop from ticket purchases to derivative consumption.
Wanda will exclusively integrate its ticketing system with its cinema scheduling system, along with providing offline ticket machines and self-service terminals. This will improve the optimization of screenings during prime time, allowing Wanda to monopolize the scene in its commercial real estate offerings and further widen the gap with its competitor, Golden Harvest.

Baidu mainly provides search traffic entry points and ranking priority services in the later competitive landscape, while Liu Chuanzhi's Lianxiang has become an unavoidable figure because it has invested in Damai.cn.

Otherwise, given Lao Ma's independent business style, he might not necessarily choose to cooperate with him.

Wang Jianlin, quick-witted, frowned and pondered for a long time before having to admit that Ma Yun's suggestion was highly compatible with the current competitive landscape.

What is in the realm of questions?
High-quality content, the entire distribution and promotion chain, and internet tools.

What do you get by adding Ali, Wanda, Baidu, and Link to your search results?
The industry's leading e-commerce platform, leading search website, leading cinema chain, and currently leading electronic ticketing system.

Compared to other platforms, the alliance of these major companies lacks high-quality content and a distribution chain, but this is not necessary, and may even be unnecessary.

Would the film company, Wenjie, really claim that it would never participate in ticket sales cooperation with Damai.cn?
That was him cutting himself off from the industry.

Refusing to cooperate with Damai.cn on online ticketing is tantamount to refusing to enter Wanda's cinema system, which holds a 15% market share.

In terms of promotion and distribution, a mature electronic ticketing platform inherently possesses certain channel-based promotion and distribution functions.

However, in 2008, it could only serve as a complement to offline promotion rather than a replacement, since big data-based functions such as ticket conversion, user profile analysis, and dynamic pricing were not yet feasible.

Old Wang was getting restless.

Investing in Huayi is a dead end, but forming a joint venture with these companies to develop a branch of internet e-commerce—electronic ticketing—seems like an interesting attempt.

Wang Jianlin's thoughts had shifted from whether to do it to how to do it.

"I have a few questions."

"please say."

"Currently, neither Alipay nor Wenjie's Payment Tong are widely used. What is the scenario logic for electronic ticketing?"

Old Ma was prepared: "For online electronic voting, after users select their seats, they need to fill in their mobile phone number and submit the order. We will call back to confirm the order details, including the audience member's name, showtime, and seat number, to eliminate users' doubts about online transactions."

"After completing online payment, users can collect their tickets directly from the cinema's ticket machine using the SMS ticket collection code or their mobile phone number, which we have partnered with the three major telecom operators."

Wang Jianlin frowned: "Wanda is easy to talk to, but the technical upgrades for some small and medium-sized cinemas require costs. How do we convince them?"

Ma Yun hesitated for a few seconds: "Ticket subsidy."

"Ticket subsidy?"

"Yes, it's subsidies, give them subsidies!"

Liu Chuanzhi was all too familiar with this pattern: "When there are competitors, you should be able to imagine the consequences of doing this."

"In the end, it was a matter of several parties burning through money to grab theater distribution rights."

"Or to put it more clearly, it is to compete with Wenjie for other public and private cinema chains besides their own."

Ma Yun explained, "There is a revenue sharing ratio between cinemas and ticketing platforms. For small and medium-sized cinemas, our Ali and Baidu interfaces help them drive traffic. This is not simply a buyer's market."

"Of course, besides Wanda, Huayi, and Wenjie, the focus of the competition is on Shanghai United, China Film Stellar, China Film Southern New Line, and Beijing New Film Union. These four companies occupy more than 60% of the national market share and are the main battleground for burning money."

Wang Jianlin gasped, as if he could already see banknotes flying everywhere.

He roughly calculated: "Based on 1.5 million transactions and a subsidy of 5 yuan per transaction, the annual cost would be around 7.5 million yuan. This number isn't that big; it all depends on the intensity of the competition."

"The key lies in seizing the opportunity!" Ma Yun suddenly tapped the large mahogany dining table lightly. "We need to do this before Wen Jie can react and before Lu Kuan is engrossed in the Olympics! Our target is this year's Lunar New Year film season!"

"Think about the crisis that Wenjie is facing this time. Overall, it is because of insufficient liquidity, which led to the Bank of China taking the initiative to investigate. At least right now, Wenjie cannot afford to burn through that money."

"If we act now and wait for Wenjie to react, whether it's negotiating with other cinema chains, preparing hardware like ticket vending machines, or building an online ticketing platform, Lu Kuan can't just conjure all of that up out of thin air, can he?"

"Wenjie is now competing with Ali in e-commerce, Wanda in cinemas, and now it has to add competition from ticketing platforms."

"With the three of us, plus the corporate resources and personal connections that Chairman Liu controls, it seems like... this is going to be a battle that will be incredibly lucrative."

Just as Lao Ma was about to blurt out that the advantage of his fellow villager "Niang Xipi" was in his own hands, he inexplicably felt that it was not a good omen.

Liu Chuanzhi nodded: "The cinema chains can start by looking for private enterprises. You are looking for China Film Group and Shanghai Film Group. I am worried that before you have even found out anything, someone will have already tipped you off."

In 2008, apart from state-owned enterprises, there were only a handful of cinema chains nationwide, including Wanda and Wenjie.
Pacific in Sichuan Province, Huayi Cinemas which divided up Pearl River Golden Cinema, Hengdian Cinema Line in Zhejiang Province, the alliance between Berna and Fiber Optics, and so on.

Among them, Mr. Xu from Hengdian is also a member of the Taishan Club, which is undoubtedly a great convenience.

Ma Yun nodded: "Lu Kuan has built up very solid relationships with China Film Group and Shanghai Film Group over the years, as well as with local connections in Beijing and Shanghai. We really can't compare."

Li Yanhong shook his head and said, "It may not be as good as it is, but if there really is a ticket subsidy war, it will still come down to the strength of the subsidies. The decision-makers of Shanghai Film Group and China Film Group will not dare to openly favor one side, right? After all, these subsidies are real profits."

After a few words of discussion, the group had basically outlined the ingenious plan for this surprise attack.

It is obvious that although Chairman Liu had not been informed beforehand, he was still very willing to see Lianxiang's unintentional investment make a difference in the booming film industry in China.

That's one of his achievements.

The highly respected old chairman felt a mix of joy and worry. He was pleased that a vast blue ocean lay before him, but worried that he ultimately couldn't take advantage of Ahri's crisis to make a significant profit.

Looking at Ma Yun, who was still tirelessly explaining the details to Wang Jianlin, Chairman Liu couldn't help but sigh, "There are so many heroes in the world."

Like playing Go, even though Ahri's large group was almost surrounded, she was able to use the momentum of sacrificing a piece to start a new game.

After discussing for a while, the three members of the Taishan Club couldn't help but look at Wang Jianlin, waiting for his final decision.

In this game, no one can be missing except Wanda, whose 15% market share gives it a natural head start.

Old Wang is always cautious, especially this time when he is going directly against Lu Kuan.

This is different from the previous theater chain dispute between Wanda and Wenjie Jiahe. Although the latter was also fierce, it was ultimately a matter of both sides relying on their own abilities and focusing on business.

But this time, it was a clear alliance with Ahri, a competitor who had previously engaged in commercial ambush and underhanded tactics, to confront them head-on and take real action.

Inevitably, some personal grudges will be involved.

Wang Jianlin wouldn't doubt whether Boss Lu would bring personal grudges into this matter. If it weren't for personal grudges, would he have carelessly asked his girlfriend to hold shares, accept surrender, be slapped in the face, and have her leg broken?

Young people are often impetuous, which is understandable.

But on second thought, if Huayi eventually falls apart and Wanda takes over its artist and director resources, then gains a first-mover advantage through online ticketing, and forms an alliance with Ali and Baidu, it should be able to make a name for itself in the mainland cultural and media industry.

At least it can maintain its advantage in theaters and prevent them from being overtaken.

Seeing that Wang Jianlin was drinking pot after pot of tea, Liu Chuanzhi gave Ma Yun a wink, and the latter silently nodded, finally winning over Wang Jianlin's heart.

“Mr. Wang, you may not feel it yet, but those of us who have been dealing with Wenjie for two or three years know best how terrifying he is.”

Ma Yun wasn't afraid to admit his shortcomings: "To be honest, I had ulterior motives for this collaboration, because Alipay's nationwide promotion has indeed been severely suppressed by Zhifutong."

He counted on his fingers and said, "Currently, in the important regions of the country, we can only hold onto Zhejiang Province in the Yangtze River Delta, while we have managed to conquer South China with the help of Chairman Liu and Mr. Zhu Mengyi of Pearl River Investment."

Ma Yun paused, then said with a bitter face, "Jianlin, all the remaining core cities in North China, East China, and Southwest China have fallen into enemy hands, including the cities with the strongest consumption power: Suzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing."

If the fighting continues, even the once-peaceful South China region might be lost, forcing it to retreat directly to Zhejiang Province, or even Zhoushan.

Like Lao Ma's fellow villagers.

Wang Jianlin asked in confusion, "The Southwest is still in the recovery phase, how could Wenjie act so quickly?"

“Jianlin probably didn’t follow yesterday’s news.” Ma Yun chuckled and explained, “The teaching buildings that Wenjie donated to build in Sichuan Province three years ago did not collapse in this accident. In addition, due to the public welfare escape publicity brought about by the movie ‘Tangshan,’ Wenjie’s reputation in the Southwest is now, how should I put it…”

"If you say on the street that the word 'road width' or 'question boundary' is not good, you might get beaten up."

Wang Jianlin, a man of keen insight, couldn't help but wonder, "Won't the local area lose face? Like the storm that raged online a while ago, isn't this a bit too much of a case of the tree standing out from the forest?"

Liu Chuanzhi sighed inwardly, realizing that this CEO Wang's approach was exactly the same as the advice he had given to Ma Yun, Wang Dajun, and others about "praising someone to death."

"Wenjie has done two things," Chairman Liu said in a deep voice.

"The first thing we did was to have Fan Jianchuan, who has good relations with the local government and comes from a systemic background, show the signatures of the local departments when the donation and acceptance were made during the interview. This showed that the project was a result of the local government's concern and that every life-saving building was the result of local confirmation."

Wang Jianlin was shocked. This was clearly not an idea that could be come up on the spot, otherwise the fabricated statements and evidence would have been too easy to expose.

"Secondly, Sichuan Province held a press conference and sent representatives to China Film Group to present a banner to express their gratitude to the investors of 'Tangshan' for their initial donation and construction work."

Clearly, this was also orchestrated by Wenjie or someone else, to share the credit with Han Shanping.

What a rich resource of positive wisdom this is!

Old Ma said with a wry smile, "Jianlin, now you know what kind of competitors we're facing, right? Sometimes, it really is not our fault."

Conceal your sharpness and keep your simplicity hidden; be unassuming yet not arrogant; move with the force of thunder, and remain still as if nourishing the earth silently.

Ma Yun, Liu Chuanzhi, and others are now doing their utmost to explain the threat posed by the world in order to completely pull Wang Jianlin into their camp.

After all, Wanda and Wenjie Jiahe are inherently competitors.

Wang Jianlin felt a little uneasy. He couldn't quite explain his feelings. He just looked at the old Ma, who was considered a great man of his time, and wondered how he had been beaten into such a cowardly state.
"Mr. Ma, we need help promoting Alipay in Northeast China..."

"late."

Wang Jianlin asked in surprise, "Huh?"

Ma Yun was expressionless: "Through Zhao Benshan's connections, Lu Kuan has secured payment channels for residential services in Shenyang, Changchun, Harbin, Dalian and other cities."

"Him?" Old Wang was only surprised for a moment, then nodded with a sigh.

The King of the Northeast, he can handle this kind of thing.

Wang Jianlin glanced hesitantly at Ma Yun, who was calmly sipping her tea, and after a long while said in a deep voice, "Come out with an investment plan and prepare a schedule as soon as possible. The primary task is to maintain confidentiality and try to create a first-mover advantage."

"it is good!"

None of those present were pleasure-seekers; they sat down for a short discussion and then left to focus on developing this groundbreaking online movie ticketing platform, which could potentially be extended to other areas in the future.

The dark gate of the Mei family banquet hall opened wide, then closed again.

The four people in charge got into the car and drove away. From beginning to end, they seemed not to have thought about whether or not to bring Huayi into the investment.

Clearly, given their perception of the ruthless style of this renowned artist, no one wanted to involve Huayi in the competition, fearing that normal business competition would escalate into a personal feud.

Old Ma will fully utilize Huayi's inherent strengths, but he plans to start afresh with these powerful figures regarding this new platform that unites the industry to counter Wenjie. Capital, for its part, excels at feigning ignorance.
-
The battlefield of commerce may be silent, but it is fraught with hidden dangers.

The alliance between Ahri, Wanda, and Baidu is like a giant python that has been lying in wait for a long time, quietly coiling around the lifeline of the Shangwen Realm.

The clash of capital never manifests as swords and spears, but rather as foreshadowing in contract terms, hidden doors in data back-end systems, and poisoned bait in the public sphere.

The cruelty of commercial warfare lies in its use of civilization to cloak the law of the jungle; there are no heroic epics here, only the cold, relentless changing of numbers.

Today's industry giants may become tomorrow's impairment provisions on financial statements.

Outside the seemingly impregnable walls of the border, bloodthirsty jackals have already dug a mass grave to bury their opponents, using contracts and data.

However, Wenjie has its own strategic resolve. Whether it is aware of it or not, it insists on walking the right path and facing the attacks of those who chase and those who are surpassed along the way.

Starting in June, promotional efforts for "Iron Man" began both domestically and internationally. This was the most important task for North American entertainment companies this year, as it was related to the project's profitability, which involved a total initial investment of nearly $8000 million.

If we include the high-end toy factory that North American Wenjie invested $5000 million in in a joint venture with the Cai family, the toy tycoon of Hong Kong, the investment amount would be even higher.

It's worth mentioning that after negotiations with Cai Jiazan in North America last September, the latter agreed to the cooperation terms shortly afterward due to a toy scandal in the North American market. (Chapter 384)
The new company, 70% owned by North American companies, is named Quantoys.

At the same time, this film is also the first big production after the collaboration between Infinity, Miramax, and Disney. Even though Disney did not think that Iron Man would have a bright future because Marvel was in dire straits at the time, it only held a small stake.

They have more faith in Nolan's Inception, which is currently in production.

The promotional campaign for "Iron Man" in the North American market was unprecedented, which, at least from the outside perspective, was not well understood by other Hollywood film studios, large and small.

The first time it appeared on the audience's screen was in early June, when a spectacular clip suddenly appeared on the giant IMAX screen on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles:
Robert Downey Jr., wearing a tattered Iron Man suit, stumbles into the camera: "The world needs to upgrade its defense systems... July 4th, wait for my signal."

The screen abruptly ended, leaving only the Wenjie logo.

Following this, North American Insights, Miramax, and Disney's official websites and Twitter accounts launched a virtual company page for "Stark Industries," where users can register as "intern" to unlock behind-the-scenes footage of the movies;

Twitter's marketing campaign followed the model of the previous Twilight series, using a pay-to-win browser game to attract users to design and upload Iron Man suits, select the best designs for prizes and promotion, and increase the interaction and stickiness of movie fans.

Regarding the lead actor, the media outlet Wenjie defied public opinion and focused its promotion on Robert Downey Jr., highlighting the similarities between his life experiences and those of Iron Man.

In numerous interviews and talk shows across Hollywood and North America, Robert Downey Jr. has repeatedly expressed his gratitude for the difficulty he faced in securing the role. Although his salary was only $50, he believes it will be a redemption for him.

In the official promotional video for "The World Is Intriguing," the resemblance between Robert Downey Jr. and Tony Stark is like a carefully crafted mirror image of fate—

They both fell into the abyss: Stark was pierced in the heart by shrapnel in a cave, and Downey succumbed to drugs for ten years.

One was reborn through the Arc Reactor, while the other returned to its peak through a bet with the world.

They both wear the mask of genius; Stark uses cynicism to cover up his PTSD from the war, and Downey uses impromptu jokes to cover up the scars from the drug rehabilitation center.
One hides trembling hands inside armor, the other uses outtakes on set to conceal the cold sweat of withdrawal symptoms.

Of course, the latter is a publicity stunt that Hollywood loves to see; Downey had already successfully detoxified for more than three years when the movie was being filmed.

The massive online and offline promotional campaign proceeded as scheduled, with mainland China and Europe following suit. Finally, on Friday, July 4, 2008, Iron Man officially premiered in Los Angeles.

Robert Downey Jr. drove the same Audi R8 as Stark onto the red carpet, sparking a media frenzy.

Marvel previously released a 30-second teaser clip at San Diego Comic-Con, emphasizing that "this is not a traditional superhero movie."

With the presence of Disney and Harvey's stars, the red carpet was dazzling, and the premiere event soon officially began.

As the lights dimmed, the Stark Industries logo exploding on the IMAX screen elicited the first gasps.

When Tony Stark was sipping whiskey and teasing the soldiers in the back seat of the Jeep, there were sporadic laughs from the audience, until the flames of the missile explosion engulfed the screen, and the entire theater fell silent instantly.

The loudest applause during the halftime show came during the part where Stark's first high-altitude test flight went out of control and iced up, and a spectator in the back row wearing a Thor helmet suddenly shouted "Call Pepper now!" which caused laughter.

Even after the show ended, fans were still gathered outside the Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles in the early hours of the morning, discussing the film enthusiastically. Several longtime Marvel fans excitedly made the palm-cannon gesture and made plans to watch it again.

Since the beginning of the millennium, rumors of bankruptcy have circulated, and with the leasing and sale of almost all of the superheroes, longtime fans have been waiting and hoping for this day.

They never expected that today's grand and spectacular event would be brought to them by Chinese capital from far away in the East.

On Twitter, the hashtag #ThankYouLu quickly trended, with longtime Marvel fans sharing photos comparing their yellowed original comic books with their movie ticket stubs from today's premiere.

Comment from user Marvel4Life:

"I was heartbroken when the Iron Man comics went on hiatus in 1996, but today Stark blasted a new era with his palm-shot cannon! Unlike Sony, who turned Spider-Man into product placement (look at the awkward dance in Spider-Man 3!), he kept Tony's alcoholism and PTSD! That's the true Marvel spirit!"

Netizen Nerdvana commented:

"When Disney said 'Downey is too risky,' Wenjie insisted on betting $50 on this 'addict,' and now he should be called a savior. Ruby understood the MCU ten years earlier than Kevin Feige: heroes can break, but they must forge their own armor! PS: Hurry up and rescue the X-Men from the Fox junkyard!"

Applause is one thing, but box office success is another.

With the strong support of Harvey and Disney, Iron Man opened in more than 4100 theaters in North America on its opening day and grossed $9850 million in its opening weekend, making the whole of Hollywood take notice!

No one could have imagined that a comic book company on the verge of bankruptcy would be revitalized and thrive under the leadership of a Chinese man.

Look at this Chinese director who received countless applause and regrets at the Oscars just a few months ago!

He firmly invited his allies to participate in the feast, but unfortunately Disney's Iger seemed uninterested in the superhero franchise that was about to be thrown into the trash.

Until the opening weekend box office results were released, Harvey's ecstatic joy and Iger's helpless smile in front of reporters were in stark contrast.

According to the agreement, the total investment of approximately $8000 million will be split 65% between Wenjie, 25% between Harvey, and only 10% between Disney.

What pains Disney even more isn't just the obvious box office surge, but also the fact that they only hold a pitifully small portion of the rights to their strongest asset: merchandise development.

If you don't take what God has given you, you'll suffer the consequences. Iger was filled with regret. The day after the premiere figures were released, he bombarded Lu Kuan with phone calls while he was still busy.

He vowed he would never let another opportunity slip by!

With the opening weekend box office figures released in North America, Australia, and Europe, the much-anticipated superhero film "Iron Man" has sparked a Stark hurricane globally, grossing a total of $1.9 million.

On July 11th, the second week of the film's release, "Iron Man" faced a strong challenge from "The Batman".

Due to the inherent box office trends of superhero movies, the global box office figure plummeted to around $1 million in the second week.

Meanwhile, the film premiered in mainland China and was jointly distributed by Golden Harvest and China Film Group, with a screening period of up to 50 days, clearly taking into account the impact of the Olympics in the middle of the screening.

On the evening of the 18th, Beijing time, the cast and crew of "Iron Man" were welcomed to the Wenjie Jiahe Wangfujing store.

The 50-meter-long red carpet temporarily erected on the pedestrian street was packed with movie fans on both sides, and security personnel formed a human wall to maintain order.

When Robert Downey Jr., wearing sunglasses, stepped out of the Audi R8, the crowd erupted in screams no less deafening than at the North American premiere.

"Donnie! Donnie!" Several college students shouted, holding up homemade arc reactor signs that read "Stark Industries Beijing Branch" in a mix of Chinese and English.

Gwyneth Paltrow, nicknamed "Little Pepper," has even more fans in China than Robert Downey Jr.

This is mainly because she won the Best Actress award at the 71st Academy Awards. Although "Shakespeare in Love" was not officially released in China, it was repeatedly rebroadcast on DVD and movie channels, and it is quite well-known among literary and artistic youths.

Other films, including David Fincher's "Seven" in 1995 and "The Talented Mr. Ripley" in 1999, co-starring Matt Damon and Jude Law, are also highly regarded by mainland Chinese moviegoers.

That evening, artists from the Wenjie Group all came to show their support, with Liu Yifei, the most prominent among them, interacting with the main cast and crew on stage in a pink strapless dress.

There was a little incident on the red carpet: when she walked to the autograph wall, the marker handed to her by the hostess suddenly ran out of ink.

Liu Yifei lightly shook the pen twice, then turned to the host and stuck out her tongue: "Looks like Stark Industries needs to upgrade its stationery~"

The audience burst into laughter.

When the host asked about her expectations for the film, she smiled and shook the mini reactor keychain made by Quantoys in her hand:
“I received this merchandise three months in advance. Director Lu said it was hush money to prevent me from giving away spoilers.”

In short, Xiao Liu's appearance lasted only fifteen minutes, yet he promoted the film and its merchandise in a humorous and relaxed manner without overshadowing the main event.

It can be said that Liu Yifei, at the age of twenty, is already very skilled on such a stage, especially since it is her home turf, where she is almost completely relaxed.

Before the premiere began, the cast and crew of "Iron Man" and guests including Liu Yifei went on stage to greet the audience and answer questions from the media.

A reporter from China Film News asked Downey: "This is your first time acting in a Marvel movie and your first time cooperating with Chinese capital. How did producer Lu Kuan initially convince you to take on this role, which Hollywood considered a 'white elephant'?"

Downey candidly stated, "To be honest, before taking on the role in Iron Man, I had just come out of the lowest point in my life. When Lou and Harvey approached me, I couldn't believe it."

"Lu said something to me that really touched me and made me finally make up my mind—"

"Iron Man will save Robert Downey Jr., but Robert Downey Jr. will save Marvel."

The audience was stunned, then thunderous applause erupted.

Whether this is Hollywood-style publicity and hype or not, this sentence already carries the connotation of the Chinese cultural saying, "When the spring dries up, the fish are stranded on land, breathing moisture into each other and wetting each other with their saliva."

In fact, it was the success of "Iron Man" in the previous life that gave Marvel its first pot of gold for its rise.

Downey also rose from his infamous drug addict roles to become a top star thanks to Marvel movies.

Almost all the questions were directed at Downey and Gwyneth, until a reporter from the Beijing Entertainment News asked a question to Xiao Liu, who was there to support them.

"Consort Yi, it's been almost a year since filming wrapped on 'The Sky of History.' Will your next project be a movie or a TV series, and when will it be released?"

Knowing he couldn't steal the spotlight today, Xiao Liu kept it brief: "It will be after the Olympics. My current plan is to collaborate with a new director. Thank you."

After a brief interview, the mainland China premiere of "Iron Man" officially began.

The entire process was incredibly smooth and natural, and the audience enjoyed a thrilling 130 minutes on the 4K screen of Golden Harvest.

The following day, the opening day figures for the film were released in mainland China, showing a gross of $1.6 million, lower than the $1.8 million grossed by "Kung Fu Panda" in May, ranking second among imported films.

The domestic film market is still too small for superhero movies.

In its previous iteration, Iron Man only grossed around $1300 million in China, failing to even crack the top ten.

Based on current figures and trends, the domestic figure has improved due to Wenjie's promotional capabilities, but according to predictions, it will ultimately hover around $2200 million.

Time quickly moved to early August, and Iron Man's screenings in North America, Europe, Australia, and other regions plummeted, with total box office revenue reaching $560 million.

This figure ranks third among global summer blockbusters, behind Nolan's "The Dark Knight" at $7.98 million and Spielberg's "Indiana Jones" at $7.86 million.

Just as North American and mainland Chinese film media were exclaiming that Marvel had been resurrected, the film industry in both China and the United States released the global sales figures for Iron Man merchandise for the same period.

The 1:6 scale alloy suit model is priced at $299 and has sold over 50 units worldwide.
The mini reactor keychain is priced at $39 and has sold over 240 million units worldwide.
The Palm Cannon LED Gloves are priced at $89 each, with over 110 million units sold worldwide.

Including Stark Industries T-shirts, Mark 1 model kits, children's plastic battle suits, and all related merchandise, a total of $2.4 million in revenue was generated!
Aside from "A Home Too Far" four years ago, this is the second commercial film produced by Wenjie that has achieved great success in the merchandise market.

If "Alien: A New World" was merely a trial run using high-end foreign factories, then the targeted marketing through "Iron Man" and the establishment of a joint venture factory with Caijia Toys marked North American Quantum Toys' official entry into this arena.

Of course, due to rampant piracy and a weak derivative product industry chain in China, Wenjie is temporarily unable to fully replicate the Iron Man derivative product strategy in the mainland market.

Just one week after the movie's release, counterfeit "Ark Reactor" keychains have already appeared in the Yiwu Small Commodities Market, with a wholesale price of only 5 yuan. Despite their rough workmanship, they are selling like hotcakes.

One counterfeiter bluntly stated, "Toy blueprints from Hollywood movies can be downloaded easily online, and mass production can be achieved in just three days with injection molding machines."

Wenjie originally planned to set up legitimate counters through its own cinema chain, but its investigation found that street stalls around cinemas in second- and third-tier cities had already been taken over by pirates.

In an interview, Gao Jun could only smile wryly: "Viewers spend 120 yuan to watch IMAX, and then spend 20 yuan to buy pirated gloves when they go out. They think that's the real 'value for money'."

However, the situation should still be reported, and at least we should show the determination to fight against piracy.

Even if the scene is desolate and tragic, at least it can show the authorities the true situation in the market.

In late July, Wenjie Legal Services initiated its first lawsuit against a counterfeit factory in Dongguan. Although it was a corporate legal team, the litigation costs, including evidence collection, travel expenses, and judicial appraisals, amounted to as much as 120,000 yuan.

However, the compensation cap for intellectual property infringement cases in 2008 was very low, and enforcement was very troublesome, so it was all talk and no action, just a slap on the wrist.

The exorbitant cost of protecting one's rights is one issue, while local protectionism is another.

To exaggerate a bit, some OEM factories in the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta region take orders for quantum toys during the day and then work overtime at night to produce pirated versions.

Regardless, the collaboration between Wenjie and Lu, the boss, with Disney and Harvey two years ago, caused a great shock to domestic companies as soon as it was launched.

Domestic professional film and financial magazines, including all competitors, were astonished by the multi-channel revenue generated by the "Iron Man" project.

Even though there are still nearly 25 days left in the mainland release, it won't have a significant impact on the total numbers.

Based on the current box office trend, Iron Man should ultimately gross over $6 million, with merchandise revenue around $3 million.

Caijing magazine, which is increasingly focusing on domestic films and the entertainment industry, has done some calculations for the North American entertainment sector:

Iron Man is projected to gross $6 million worldwide. Based on Hollywood's box office revenue sharing rules, approximately 55% will be allocated to North America and 40%-45% to overseas markets. If we calculate based on a combined 50% share, the total box office revenue could be around $3 million.

After deducting approximately 15% of the distribution costs from Disney and Harvey, and considering Wenjie's 65% investment ratio, and further deducting the initial investment of 5200 million,

In the end, the North American box office alone generated a net profit of approximately $8450 million, with a profit margin exceeding 160%.

Regarding derivative products, according to Hollywood's common practice, as the copyright holder of the Iron Man IP, Wenjie usually charges a 15% licensing fee, and the remaining revenue is then distributed according to the investment ratio in derivative products.

Finally, after deducting production costs, revenue sharing with Walmart and cinemas, as well as R&D and operating expenses, the distributable revenue of Quantum Toys resulted in a net profit of $4500 million after taxes.

Compared to Paramount's "Transformers" in 2007, which had its copyright owned by the toy company Hasbro, although the sales of derivative products were impressive, the profit margin was actually lower than that of "Iron Man," which was slightly inferior.

In addition to Paramount's extra expenses on global distribution channels and DVDs, the overall profit margin cannot be compared with that of "Iron Man".

Why is there such a big difference in box office revenue and merchandise sales among the six major superhero movies?
The first is the vertically integrated model of quantum toys, which has its own factory;

Secondly, the advantages of combining the resources of Wenjie, Harvey, and Disney are also attributable to this partnership.

Disney and Harvey handled distribution in North America and Europe, while Ambition handled distribution in Asia. Distribution in Japan and South Korea was further subcontracted to allies CJ Entertainment and Toho Co., Ltd., allowing them to reap the rewards.

Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia are directly covered by Wenjie Jiahe's network and local allies, while the mainland needs no further mention.

On the other hand, Harvey was in charge of public relations for all channels, Wenjie was in charge of negotiating online marketing with internet media in North America, and Disney used its television stations for advertising.

From distribution to marketing channels, the resources are basically controlled by the distributors themselves, offering high quality at low prices.

At the same time, it was also due to Boss Lu's own status and Harvey's bias in the project that Hollywood heavyweights like Iger were unable and dared not make any underhanded moves, thus ensuring the project's stable progress.

Foreign capital, and even "domestic capital" such as Wall Street in North America, have suffered enough losses with Hollywood.

In 2007, German capital invested in "Fast & Furious 3," but due to uncontrolled costs of filming in Tokyo, it ultimately lost more than $3000 million, and was ridiculed as "European tycoons giving away money."
In 2006, Lehman Brothers designed a Dragon Ball movie distribution agreement for SoftBank, which concealed 60% of the profits through accounting tricks. SoftBank ultimately received less than 30% of its investment.

Just like when a couple's economic situation, family background, education, and social status are severely unequal, the stronger party often controls the discourse, while the weaker party may become subservient, making cooperation difficult to sustain.

But this time, Wenjie's mixed-project project is different.

They control the Asian distribution channels, the film's core IP, the North American online marketing channels, and the subsequent DVD distribution channels via Netflix.

With the successful negotiations with Shanghai Disneyland, this triangular alliance is exceptionally stable.

The interests involved, the complex web of relationships, and Mr. Lu's maneuvering in Hollywood are not things that can be discussed with outsiders.

But this ability to make money truly shocked his domestic colleagues.

Domestic professional film and financial magazines, including all competitors, were astonished by the huge revenue generated by the Iron Man project.

Wow, movies can be done like this?
However, a careful analysis of this successful precedent reveals that it almost entirely revolves around the concept of "film industrialization" that Lu Kuan had mentioned long ago.

They've already revealed their hand; it's just a matter of who will carry it out.

In response, Dai Jinghua, professor and doctoral supervisor of the Chinese Department at Yenching University, director of the Yenching University Film and Culture Research Center, and a senior film critic in China, pointed out:
The success of "Iron Man" was not accidental. It was Lu Kuan's precise operation of using capital leverage to change Hollywood rules. More importantly, it was the first time that Chinese filmmakers had won respect in a global context by using commercial logic rather than cultural begging.

As Tian Zhuangzhuang, head of the Directing Department at Beijing Film Academy, commented in Contemporary Cinema: While we are debating 'art versus commerce,' the industry has already written the answer for the new era with box office reports and toy sales figures.

A company's vision is largely determined by the breadth of its leader's mind.

We can clearly see that under the leadership of director Lu Kuan, Wenjie is no longer confined to the binary confrontation between China and the West, but uses "Iron Man" as a fulcrum to promote the exchange of resources between East and West, and uses the Hollywood film industry to support Chinese teams.

And this is only the first step.

Let us look forward to the day when he uses Eastern aesthetics to reconstruct the world narrative, and hope it arrives soon.

(End of this chapter)