The entertainment empire began with Liu Yifei's premarital pregnancy.

"Honey!"

As Jessica Alba walked out of the airport, she saw Lin Bufan in front of her and felt a surge of excitement. She ran over and threw herself into Lin Bufan's arms.

She hadn't seen Lin Bufan for several days since he returned to Beijing from Los Angeles.

At this moment, Jessica Alba was like a girl in love, extremely dependent on Lin Bufan, feeling like she missed him terribly if she didn't see him for a day.

Moreover, it's only been a little over a week. If it weren't for waiting for the film crew, she would have flown to Beijing long ago.

"Director Lin!"

At this moment, assistant director Damien Charezier and lead actor John Cusack, who were walking behind, also came over.

"Let's go, the car is ready!"

Lin Bufan gently kissed Jessica Alba on the cheek, then released her and nodded to the others.

…………

"Boss, good news!"

After Lin Bufan picked up the film crew, he settled them in a hotel.

Jessica Alba went to the restroom to take a good shower and soak in the tub; the long flight of more than ten hours had really exhausted her.

Lin Bufan received a call from Carter.

"What good news?"

"Boss, 'Bleach' grossed $820 million on its opening day..."

Carter gave Lin Bufan a detailed report over the phone.

The first "Bleach" movie only cost $2000 million to make, and it only needed to gross over $4000 million to make a profit.

Unexpectedly, "Bleach" grossed $820 million on its opening day. Based on this figure, it is very likely that the box office in the first week will exceed $3000 million, or even $4000 million.

This is just the North American box office. "Bleach" was released in North America on October 7th, and globally on October 9th.

Generally speaking, for horror movies like "Death," North American box office only accounts for about one-third of the total box office, while box office in other regions is about twice that of North America.

"The box office is so high?"

Lin Bufan was somewhat surprised upon hearing this.

If he remembered correctly, the total box office of the first "Bleach" movie was only $1.12 million.

But the current situation is clearly beyond the box office record of the later "Bleach".

However, upon further reflection, Lin Bufan felt it was somewhat reasonable.

Firstly, Lin Bufan made some optimizations to the plot of the first part of "Bleach," modifying the pacing and direction of the story.

In addition, improvements have been made to the special effects.

Finally, the original release date of "Bleach" was 2000, while it is now 2006. The years are different, so the box office results will definitely be different.

Based on Carter's experience, the global box office of this first "Death" movie is very likely to reach $1.8 million, or even exceed $2 million.

If that's the case, then the box office potential for this "Bleach" movie series has been raised considerably.

"Carter, pass the word down: start 'Bleach Part 2' immediately."

Lin Bufan thought about it for a moment, and then made a decision.

For a film series like this, releasing one film every year would be ideal.

He remembered the Final Destination series, which had six movies in total.

However, that was before. Now he has his own screenwriting department, and according to the imagination of Easterners, he can totally turn the "Bleach" series into one movie every year.

As long as they don't lose money, they can keep filming.

When it comes to imagination, Hollywood's imagination is nowhere near as good as that of the Chinese.

The main reason for the poor quality of domestic films and TV series is that screenwriters, whether for films or TV series, generally have a low social status.

No, it's not that it's not high, it's that it has virtually no status.

The production crew listens to the director, and even the investors and stars, but they absolutely cannot listen to the screenwriter.

Therefore, to the general public, the plots of domestic movies and TV series are very poor.

But it's different in Hollywood; screenwriters hold a very important position.

More importantly, Hollywood is a producer-centric system. Once a Hollywood company decides to produce a film, unless you are a big-name director, you must strictly follow the script.

To put it bluntly, a director is just a slightly higher-level employee.

Unlike in China, where directors hold the highest status and can shoot movies however they want, it's common for them to impulsively change the script and start filming on a whim.

Whether it's a movie or a TV series, no matter how good the special effects and visuals are, if the plot lacks logic or is even melodramatic, then it's undoubtedly a bad movie.

But those were other companies in China. For Lin Bufan, the director was more like a tool.

"Yes, Boss!"

Carter did not hesitate at all.

For a film company, a profitable franchise like "Bleach" is of paramount importance.

"Don't neglect the subsequent development of surrounding areas either."

In Hollywood, a blockbuster movie's box office is only one source of profit; the real money is made from selling merchandise, such as stickers, DVDs, and even plush toys.

Hollywood is not like China, where intellectual property rights are of paramount importance, primarily because capitalists want to protect their own interests.

Take, for example, the now-out-of-screen movie "Insidious." It only cost $1.5 million to make, but grossed $180 million, with Extraordinary Pictures making over $90 million.

This only includes box office revenue.

Since the movie left theaters in April, six months have passed, and the surrounding development has earned approximately 4 million US dollars.

The development of the surrounding area will not be limited to the movie's release date.

It can sell for a long time. If it's a movie series, the merchandise will sell out quickly every time the next movie is released.

In other words, since "Lurking" is a horror film, the money earned from its merchandise is limited. If it were an anime, then the merchandise would truly sell like hotcakes.

Why Disney remains a dominant force in Hollywood.

Movie box office revenue is one aspect, Disneyland is another, but more importantly, Disney merchandise is what makes the most money.

A figurine may only cost a few dollars to produce, or even less than $1 if ordered from China, but it can be sold for tens of dollars in the United States, multiplying its price by dozens of times.

There are even limited edition figurines, which can be sold for hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of dollars.

Thinking of Disney, Lin Bufan suddenly thought of "Kung Fu Panda," which was currently in production. He was sure that the plush toys from the movie would sell like hotcakes once it was released.