Chapter 56 About Cinemas
Chapter 56 About Cinemas
"You mean, you want to invest in The Shallows yourself, but there are too many big guys who want to invest, and you don't know how to refuse?"
"Yes, that's what it means."
After Zhang Chen told his troubles, Dong Jianqiang quickly grasped the key points.
"This is very simple, brother Zhang Chen. I will tell you a principle. At this stage, the most important thing for making movies in the mainland is to have the support of theaters. Theaters are the foundation of the box office. Everything else is nonsense."
"Brother Dong, please explain it to me." Zhang Chen filled the other person's glass of Erguotou again.
Dong Jianqiang seemed to be aroused to express himself, and he spoke with great force:
"Let me give you an example. You know Infernal Affairs 3, right? It was an amazing movie, with eight movie kings starring in it, and it grossed 2800 million in its first weekend. But do you know that so far, there are only two movies in China that grossed over 2000 million in their first weekends, Hero and Infernal Affairs 3. Oh, and we have House of Flying Daggers. Even your Dark Side didn't make over 2000 million, I remember it was 1980 million, right? It was still 20 short."
Seeing Dong Jianqiang looking over, Zhang Chen nodded, "It is indeed 1980 million."
Dong Jianqiang is indeed a professional and can easily come up with all kinds of figures.
"But even for such a strong film, do you know how much its final box office was? 3600 million. We who work in the film industry all know that the first weekend box office is generally about one-third of the total box office. There may be some discrepancies, but it will never be too outrageous.
So if we calculate this way, the total box office of Infernal Affairs 3 should be 3600 to million, but in the end it was only million. Why is there such a big difference?"
Dong Jianqiang seemed to be asking and answering his own questions, and he immediately gave the answer: "Because BJ New Film Association did not schedule him for a film. Then why didn't they schedule him for a film? Because Cell Phone was on the screen."
Seeing that everyone still didn't seem to understand, he said again: "The general manager of BJ New Film Association is Gao Jun. Gao Jun is very supportive of Feng Xiaogang. It can be said that Feng Xiaogang was brought up by the New Film Association. Every time his movie is released, the box office in Beijing is at the top of the list, because Beijing is the base of the New Film Association.
Cinema chains are all spun off from the former film studios, and each has its own inherent sphere of influence. New Film Association is under the Beijing Film Studio, Shanghai United Cinema Chain is under the Shanghai Film Studio, and Sichuan Pacific Cinema Chain is under the Emei Film Studio..."
“So, of those big guys that day, you only need to take care of Wu Hehu, and ignore the others.
Wu Hehu represents Shanghai United Cinema Line, which ranks among the top three cinema lines in China. At present, Star Cinema Line is the undisputed number one cinema line in China, with New Film Association and Shanghai United Cinema Line taking turns to be the second and third.
Your new film has the investment of Shanghai United, so at least the box office in Shanghai will not be bad. Even if there are other strong competitors at the same time, Wu Hehu will guarantee your screening schedule to the greatest extent.
As for Chen Guofu of Columbia, you don't need to worry too much about him. He can't really help you with the box office. At most, he can help you with overseas distribution or selling copyrights, but many people can do this. You have "The Dark Invasion" as a foundation, and you already have a certain reputation. It's easy to sell overseas copyrights."
Zhang Chen knew some of what Dong Jianqiang said, but didn’t know some of it, but he definitely didn’t understand it as deeply as Dong Jianqiang did.
This is probably his personal experience from working in the publishing industry for many years.
While they were talking, Teacher Fu served another plate of hand-cut meat, which was Dong Jianqiang's favorite.
The three of them left again, and Dong Jianqiang continued:
“What was the budget for The Shallows?”
"It will probably cost 600 million to film it, but if you want to get the best effect, it may cost more, maybe 1000 million. After all, every time a shark appears, that's money."
"Then just make it 1000 million. 1000 million is not a small investment. Then bring in the Shanghai United Cinema Line. With the support of the cinema line, the box office will definitely be good. The big sales of your "Dark Invasion" this time are related to them. Of course, the quality of the film itself, the publicity and roadshows, etc. also have a lot to do with it, but the support of the cinema line is the foundation."
Zhang Chen nodded. "Then how much credit should I give up to be appropriate?"
"10%-20%, not too much, just a steady stream will do, the main thing is to build good relationships. The operating risks of cinema chains are huge, if your movies are well received by the audience and do well at the box office, then you can become a basic market.
In fact, even if you don’t accept investment, as long as your movie is good enough and has high box office, the theater chain will be happy to schedule your film. The more you earn, the more they earn. But if there are competitors at the same time, it’s hard to say. You don’t have investment, but they do. Even if your box office is good, most of the time your competitors will schedule more films. Do you understand this principle?”
Zhang Chen nodded again.
Dong Jianqiang thought for a moment and asked, "How does your The Shallows compare to The Dark? Do you have any idea?" Zhang Chen thought for a moment and said, "It's about the same, but The Shallows should have a wider audience. After all, The Dark is a horror film, so its audience is a bit narrow, but The Shallows won't have that."
"Are you so sure you can make money? Last time you made 200 million, this time you made 1000 million, what if you lose money?"
Zhang Chen didn't say anything, just looked at Dong Jianqiang and smiled.
Dong Jianqiang understood what Zhang Chen meant.
"If that's the case, then I suggest you bring in China Film Group. In terms of distribution, China Film Group is the leader in China."
After a pause, he continued, "There are eight major cinema chains in China, and China Film Group has three of them under its name, China Film Star, China Film Southern Shinkansen, and China Film Digital. In addition, Sichuan Pacific is also a joint venture between China Film and Emei Film Studio. Of the eight major cinema chains, he alone owns half.
If your "The Shallows" can maintain the level of "The Darkness", with the support of China Film, it may be able to break 100 million directly.
Of course, the prerequisite is that the film must be good enough. China Film Group invests in and releases a lot of films every year, but not every one of them is a success.”
Hearing this, Teacher Fu looked at his students. Dong Jianqiang’s words were so tempting.
Sure enough, his students' eyes were shining at this moment.
Zhang Chen was indeed excited. It was over 100 million. Currently, Zhang Yimou was the only person in China to enter the 100 million club. Although he knew that Feng Xiaogang and Zhou Xingxing would also enter by the end of this year, being the fourth was still a great honor.
"I'm just making a suggestion. Please consider it. But I think you can give it a try. You can even earn 6000 million for The Dark Side. According to what you said, The Shallows is not as good as The Dark Side, but it has a wider audience. If the promotion is in place, it may not be impossible to earn over million."
As Dong Jianqiang spoke, he became excited. The thought of being able to personally create a billion-dollar director made him excited. He would have enough capital to brag about for the rest of his life.
After a meal and chatting, Zhang Chen admired Dong Jianqiang very much.
Today's meal was not in vain. Why didn't I realize before that Dong Jianqiang is actually a talented person?
Mr. Ge You once said: What is the most important thing in the 21st century? Talent!
Zhang Chen is in great need of talent right now. Xingchen Film and Television has just started up, and everything depends on him alone. But he is not omnipotent, and there is no one to discuss things with when he encounters problems.
It would be great if there was someone like Dong Jianqiang. Thinking of this, Zhang Chen couldn't help but get interested.
"Brother Dong, why don't you come to my company? It's such a waste that a talent like you was only a distribution manager in Guangguang."
When Zhang Chen sent out the invitation, he never thought that his company was not as good as other people's distribution department.
Dong Jianqiang bowed and said, "Brother Zhang Chen, to be honest, I am not happy with my job at Guangguang, but I am not ready to change jobs yet. However, I still thank you for your affirmation of me."
"Ah~, didn't Brother Dong just get promoted to director? Why are you still not happy?"
Dong Jianqiang smiled bitterly again: "You don't know, our Enlight Pictures suddenly parachuted in a president recently. His name is Zhang Zhao. He returned from studying abroad and was originally the art director of the parent company. I don't know what happened, but he suddenly parachuted in to us and took full responsibility for all affairs of Enlight Pictures. This person probably has some opinions about me, and he started to attack my distribution department as soon as he came. Sigh..."
Zhang Chen nodded. He knew Zhang Zhao. Yuan Shikong seemed to be the head of Light Media. He was the one who founded the ground network model and was also a great man.
Nowadays, when a talented person works under another talented person, he will be subject to some restrictions.
Especially those who have risen rapidly like Dong Jianqiang might even have their power taken away.
(End of this chapter)