Reborn in America, I'm serious about making money.

"Boss, our recently released film 'The Big Ship' has achieved a new box office record in the South China Sea."

Zhang San listened to the box office report for "The Big Ship" with some curiosity. Could it be that they understood love better there? Hollywood doesn't have love; it only creates illusions of love. Hearing that the Southern Dynasty had broken records again made him very strange.

"WHY!?"

The assistant took out the documents and said, "Since the beginning of this year, a lot of things have happened in the Southern Dynasty. Many buildings have been damaged. At the end of June, their Sanfeng Department Store collapsed. I heard it fell apart in twenty seconds. It's very tragic now. I heard at least five hundred people died."

"That's tragic, but what does that have to do with our box office? Shouldn't they refuse to watch disaster movies like that?"

Zhang San was still somewhat doubtful, feeling it was unrealistic. After all, he was a normal person with no masochistic tendencies, and he didn't like watching tragedies; he loved watching comedies and eating sweets. Before his rebirth, he loved eating sweets, not for any other reason than because he was suffering inside.

That's why he didn't actually like watching "The Big Ship," but he still enjoyed making it for the money.

At the beginning of this year, the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck Japan, causing severe losses to many businesses there, and it was one of the triggers for the Asian financial crisis.

Like Europe and the United States, island nations are major lenders to Southeast Asia, providing them with US dollars in loans to these countries.

However, after the Great Hanshin Earthquake at the beginning of the year, they diverted funds from Southeast Asia to aid businesses in the disaster area.

This withdrawal created a funding gap in the region; it can be said that the impact of the Great Hanshin Earthquake, this black swan event, caused a short-term economic stagnation or even decline. For example, the Hong Kong stock market fell to around 8,000 points and has not risen since.

This indicates that the funds have been withdrawn, and he has done a one-tick transaction.

It's clear how much capital the island nation withdrew back after this major earthquake; otherwise, Hong Kong's stock market wouldn't have plummeted from 10,000 points to just over 8,000 points.

Southeast Asia, with its rapid development, needed more US dollars to support its growth. At this time, European and American banks took the opportunity to enter the foreign exchange lending market that had been vacated in the island nation.

This resulted in the issuance of $40 billion in short-term loans, and there will be many more such loans in the future, creating opportunities.

Disaster films like "The Big Ship" appeal to those in disaster-stricken areas, allowing them to relive the pain and release their emotions; while those in economically developed areas enjoy watching them, as it lets them experience tragedy and indulge in a bit of self-torture.

"Heh...that's really true..."

Zhang San stared at the report in deep thought, then said to his assistant, "Send me a report on the foreign exchange reserves of various countries in the Far East over the past two years."

Of course, he was preparing for the Asian financial crisis a few years later. He needed to prepare in advance. If he had to cram at the last minute, someone might have targeted him and used him as a scapegoat to quell the anger of the retail investors.

Such a thing is very likely to happen. Enter the village quietly, and don't fire your gun.

Meanwhile, a month has passed since "The Big Ship" was released, and its global box office has exceeded $500 million, with over $200 million coming from North America. However, this is a long-running film, and it has been the top-grossing film in North America for four weeks.

The audience for "The Big Ship" is mostly couples, and many of them come to see it once or twice; in North America, I heard that some people have already seen it three or four times, which Zhang San finds very hard to understand.

In his previous life, he had also seen this movie. The part he remembered most vividly was the painting scene, followed by the scene where the big ship sank.

He didn't remember anything else, but what were those couples watching? Moreover, according to internal information, almost all the guests at the Universal Studios Grand Ship Hotel's movie theater would come to watch movies.

Hehe... Watching "The Great Ship" sink from a high-quality replica of a large ship is quite an interesting phenomenon. I heard that the room where the painting is done is very popular, and the staff always have to use air freshener when cleaning, otherwise it will smell like heather.

It's really tough on these people. Zhang San decided to give these cleaners a raise, like... a 10% bonus.

Why not increase the base salary?

This reveals the capitalists' cunning: the base salary is a fixed monthly wage, while the bonus is not. The base salary is paid monthly, but the bonus depends on performance.

Moreover, the final interpretation right belongs to the boss or the compensation committee; this is something Zhang San only understood after becoming a capitalist. The bonus was like the carrot hanging in front of them, and they were the oxen and horses behind the carrot.

Zhang San's past life as an ox or horse has finally come to an end, and now he's become the kind of creature oxen and horses hate, haha...

"Congratulations, Third Brother! I heard your movie has grossed five hundred million dollars. You're almost back to break even, right?"

Chai Xiaofen smiled and congratulated Zhang San. She knew about the movie; it had an investment of 300 million US dollars, which, if converted to Hong Kong dollars, would be 23.4 billion Hong Kong dollars—a sum higher than the market capitalization of many listed companies in Hong Kong.

How dare he! But considering Zhang San's wealth, it's alright.

Chai Xiaofen, who had been smiling, suddenly stopped smiling. Three hundred million US dollars was enough for her and the child in her belly to live a comfortable and extravagant life.

Sigh, she just doesn't understand the world of the rich. But this guy seems to have never lost money investing in movies.

Before "The Big Ship" was even released, Universal created an official website with a forum section for netizens to post and chat.

"I've watched it ten times in the past month. Every time I watch it, I cry. I don't know when I'll run out of tears."

"I love this movie; I watch it repeatedly and savor the storyline."

"When will the videotape be released? I'm willing to pay for it."

"I went to the Ship Hotel at Universal Studios and experienced it firsthand, it was amazing; but I heard that this movie was filmed in Hong Kong, and that ship is in the sea. I'm going to spend Christmas there this year."

"Wow, I heard it's really expensive there. I'm afraid I'll have to eat instant noodles from the second half of this year until next summer just to be able to go."

"I've been there. Please see the pictures of Hong Kong. It's incredibly luxurious, and there's an underwater restaurant there—it's fantastic!"

Below the comments section were dozens of pictures, arranged in more than ten columns; this particular post had the most replies, with people leaving their own comments.

Zhang San was unaware that he had changed a lot; if he had known, he would have scoffed at it.

"This is nothing!"