Chapter 569 Wanda's Crisis

Chapter 569 Wanda's Crisis

Chapter 569 Wanda's Crisis

The release of "Train to Busan" can be regarded as a counterattack for the currently popular "Fast and Furious 8".

Although overall, Sino-Korean co-productions such as "Train to Busan" are less famous than Hollywood blockbusters such as "Fast and Furious 8", it is an indisputable fact that Galaxy Entertainment Group has a geographical advantage.

At least in China, with distribution channels like Tao Piao, promotional tools like Douyin, and the support of China Film Group and Wanda Cinemas, "Train to Busan" is no weaker than "Fast and Furious 8".

So while "Train to Busan" earned 3.27 million yuan on its first day of release, the box office performance of "Fast and Furious 8" was also halved compared to the previous day.

After that, the single-day box office of "Train to Busan" increased steadily and slightly, and the single-day box office of "Fast and Furious 8" also dropped to a visibly low level.

During this process, the producers behind "Fast and Furious 8" naturally could not sit idly by, but ultimately they were unable to compete with Galaxy Group in China.

Even in Japan, South Korea and some Southeast Asian countries, the release of "Train to Busan" squeezed out the space of "Fast and Furious 8".

In the end, the box office of "Fast & Furious 8" in mainland China stopped at 18.73 billion, which is almost one-third less than Wang Hao's previous performance.

"Train to Busan" earned 15.12 billion yuan in the mainland and 6.74 million US dollars in the global box office. Compared with the cost of the film itself, it is considered a huge profit.

At the same time, the fierce competition between "Fast & Furious 8" and "Train to Busan" and the achievements they have made can be regarded as a good start for the upcoming May Day and subsequent summer seasons.

In addition to the pre-heating of the movie, there was also a phenomenal TV series in April 2017 that attracted the whole nation to watch, that is "In the Name of People".

The drama attracted heated discussions from all parties when it was broadcast on Hunan TV. The ratings for the first broadcast exceeded 2, and then soared all the way, with the highest ratings exceeding 8, successfully breaking the ratings record for TV dramas in the past 10 years and setting the highest ratings since 2000. It can be said to be the number one drama of the year.

In May, after the release of "Train to Busan", Galaxy Pictures released the second extended trailer of "The Three-Body Problem 5".

This trailer lacks the sense of crisis and urgency in the first super long trailer, and instead focuses on some warm scenes.

For example, Liu Peiqiang and Han Duoduo's date, Qin Feng and Su Xiaolin's international call, Shi Qiang's daughter throwing herself into his arms when he returned home, and Xiumei and Zhao Hailun's breakfast together...

These clips do provide some comfort to fans of the movie universe. At least from this perspective, "The Three-Body Problem 1" will not end in a tragedy.

While the audiences were eagerly waiting and counting the days for the release of "The Three-Body Problem 1", Wang Hao, who had finished most of the company's affairs, came to [Eastern Galaxy Cinema] to visit the set of "Wolf Warrior 3" which was currently being filmed.

As the country's leading modern military war-themed film, the "Wolf Warrior" series, like the "Detective Chinatown" series, is a series that fans of the "Galaxy Cinematic Universe" are very concerned about.

The two films shot by Wang Hao before this series have achieved impressive box office results in China and broke many records.

Nowadays, with the Galaxy Cinematic Universe becoming larger and larger, Galaxy Group's business growing, and a new child at home, Wang Hao has to slow down the energy he devotes to filming. The frequency of filming and producing movies has also decreased, and some film series have to be handed over to others.

For example, in "Wolf Warrior 3", Wang Hao was only listed as a producer, but the director chose Wu Jing, who plays the male lead Liu Peiqiang in the movie.

Of course, Wu Jing’s experience as a director is not that sufficient after all. Although he has participated in the creation of two previous works, this is his first time as a director, so Galaxy Pictures also assigned him an experienced producer and several assistant directors and executive directors.

"Again!"

When Wang Hao walked into the studio, he heard Wu Jing's powerful voice before he saw her.

When I got closer, I saw a ruins frame built with wood and foam in the spacious studio, and then covered with a green screen.

Wu Jing and his teammates were wearing semi-covered exoskeleton armor models and moving through the ruins.

Wang Hao watched from the sidelines for a while, waved his hand to stop the staff from going forward to remind Wu Jing, and only walked forward after the filming of this scene was completed.

"Director Wang!"

"How is it? It must be very tiring to direct and act by yourself," Wang Hao said to Wu Jing with a smile, "There are times when Wolf Warrior can't hold on."

There is already a certain sense of vicissitudes on Wu Jing's face, and it can be seen that the experiences during this period have also been extremely stressful for him.

"This job is really unbearable. Being an actor is easier."

He looked at Wang Hao and smiled bitterly.

Wang Hao also smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's just this once. After the filming of Wolf Warrior 3 is finished, this series will also be over. I will give you a long vacation then."

The two chatted for a while. After the scene of the shooting was rearranged, Wu Jing said sorry and plunged into the tense and busy work again.

Wang Hao sat in front of the monitor and temporarily took over the position of director. At the same time, he could see that the entire shooting scene was running very smoothly, basically in accordance with the film industrialization system established by the Galaxy Group. The teamwork was very harmonious and the relevant steps were in compliance with the standards.

Seeing this, he felt relieved. He stayed in the "Wolf Warrior 3" crew for half a day. After eating a box lunch with the crew members, he turned around and went to another crew in [Eastern Galaxy Movie Metropolis].

Unlike "Wolf Warrior 3", the director of this crew does not have the identity of the leading actor.

When he saw Wang Hao coming, Guo Fan immediately stood up from the director's chair.

"Director Wang!"

"Sit down, you continue, I'll take a look."

Wang Hao waved to Guo Fan to sit down, then stood aside and watched the filming on the spot.

The movie shot by Guo Fan also belongs to the third phase of the [Galaxy Cinematic Universe]. Its name is "The Wallfacer", and its starring role is Luo Ji played by Chen Kun.

The scene they are currently filming is where Luo Ji is hunted by the "Wall Breakers" organization. Fortunately, Qin Yanni from the special affairs department rescues him.

Although Wang Hao just watched quietly from the side without saying anything.

But his presence alone was enough to make director Guo Fan and most of the crew members on the scene feel under tremendous pressure, and they worked very cautiously.

When some people were chatting privately, they couldn't help but say that Wang Hao was worthy of being an internationally renowned director, and his aura was terrifyingly strong.

Wang Hao spent a whole day wandering around the [Eastern Galaxy Film City]. In addition to visiting the crews of Wolf Warriors 3 and The Wallfacer, he also visited the crews of The Mechanic 2 and John Wick 2, which were also filming. In addition, the crew of The Martian, which is currently in the preparation stage, also completed some tasks in the [Galaxy Film City], such as the production of props in the movie. Wang Hao also went to the prop workshop to take a look.

After finishing filming "The Three-Body Problem 1", his next new film was confirmed to be "The Martian".

The script of the film has been fully written, and the shooting plan, location selection and props production are being carried out simultaneously.

After "The Three-Body Problem 1" is released, Wang Hao will be able to receive the work results of the early preparation team and start shooting the film directly, achieving a seamless connection.

Of course, unlike the original version of "The Martian", Galaxy Pictures' "The Martian" must be directed by a Chinese director. Even the novel of "The Martian" was originally written by Wang Hao in the form of a derivative work of the "Galaxy Cinematic Universe". He posted it on foreign websites and seized the copyright first.

As for the casting of "The Martian", because it is a new work in the third phase of the movie universe, Galaxy Pictures does not plan to choose from the original characters in the movie universe, but is preparing to look for new actors.

[Galaxy Cinematic Universe] Of course some of the characters from the previous phase will continue into the third phase, but there will definitely be new characters as well.

However, the actor for this role has not been decided yet. It will not be too late to cast after Wang Hao finishes working on "The Three-Body Problem 1".

After a busy day, Wang Hao returned to his villa in the Xinghe community near the Xinghe Movie Metropolis in the evening. As soon as he opened the door, a lump of flesh crawled towards him unsteadily.

"Dad~Dad~"

The unclear voice instantly swept away Wang Hao's fatigue from a busy day. He immediately put down the things in his hands, smiled and picked up the cute little guy from the ground.

At this time, Jing Tian, ​​dressed in home clothes, hurried over.

"Husband, I'm back."

"Junjun, I told you to run slower, what if you fall?"

Jing Tian looked at Wang Hao who was holding his son, and a happy smile appeared on her face.

Wang Hao also looked at her with a smile, carried his son back to the living room, put him on the carpet, then hugged his wife and kissed her, kissing her for a long time before letting go.

And their son, looking up at his father and mother, also giggled.

A warm atmosphere permeated the house. After the family of three had dinner prepared by the nanny, Wang Hao asked his wife to take care of the children and prepared to go to the study to do some more work.

But at this time Jing Tian pulled him back.

"What's wrong, baby?" Wang Hao looked at his wife with tenderness on his face.

Jing Tian hesitated for a moment before saying:
"It's my family's business. Mr. Wang from Wanda came to see some of my elders, and they came to me again, talking about Wanda's business..."

"Wanda..." Wang Hao nodded. He was not surprised that Wanda's Mr. Wang came to him.

Just at the beginning of this year, Wanda Group, which had always had smooth sailing in overseas acquisitions, encountered trouble for the first time.

In February, Dalian Wanda Group prepared to spend $2 billion to acquire Dick Clark Productions.

This is actually only a part of Wanda's aggressive overseas investment, but the overseas acquisitions made by their company in recent years have caused domestic rumors to spread, and there have been constant rumors that Wanda's Wang is transferring assets.

Naturally, this kind of voice attracted the attention of higher authorities, and at the same time, problems arose with the funds Wanda used for overseas acquisitions.

This is also normal. After all, as a real estate company, Wanda's corporate funds mostly come from loans from domestic banks. Therefore, the higher-level regulatory authorities' trial and suspension of Wanda's overseas projects are naturally in line with the rules.

Of course, outsiders don’t know whether this is affected by the Malaysia City project.

However, Lao Wang has actually realized what his company will face next, so he is trying to struggle.

If nothing unexpected happens, in June this year, there should be news in the market that the China Banking Regulatory Commission requires some banks to check the overseas financing support and risk analysis of five companies including Wanda Group, and focus on cross-border business risks such as M&A loans, domestic guarantees for foreign capital, etc.

In July, the CBRC should require strict control over Wanda’s six overseas projects.

Then in August, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, the People's Bank of China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other departments will jointly issue the "Guiding Opinions on Further Guiding and Regulating the Direction of Overseas Investment", which clearly points out the restrictions on overseas investment in real estate, hotels, cinemas, entertainment industry, sports clubs, etc.

By that time, Wanda will be like a giant python with its seven inches grasped, caught in a dilemma and unable to move forward or backward, and will be forced to start liquidating its assets.

Wang Hao, who has the memory of later life, certainly knows that 2017 is a turning point for Wanda, and he also knows how serious the crisis Wanda will face is.

But that's how business is, there are gains and losses, you have to accept the loss if you gamble. There's nothing to sympathize with.

Moreover, it is not a bad thing that Wanda chose to sell off its assets and solve its debt problem in 2017.

After all, it remains to be seen whether the cultural and tourism cities and hotel projects that he sold for 637.5 billion yuan at this time will be worth the price in a few years.

Even compared with other real estate companies, Wanda is already very lucky for having taken the lead in transforming into a light asset company.

However, precisely because he understands the problems and crises that Wanda will face in the future, it is even less likely that Wang Hao will lend a helping hand now.

Wanda’s problem is not a problem of capital chain, but a problem with its own business strategy. Real estate seems to be an entity, but in fact it is finance, and funds are just the surface of the problem.

Therefore, they will have a lot of troubles in the future, just like a bottomless pit. Giants such as Tencent, Alibaba, JD.com, and Suning have all tried to save Wanda, but the results are still difficult to deal with.

Therefore, Wang Hao does not intend to be a hero. His energy and the company's wealth must continue to be invested in building an entertainment empire and the Asia-Pacific cultural circle. Compared with Wanda alone, this is undoubtedly more important.

Moreover, Wang Hao has long had his eyes on Wanda Pictures and its cinema business under the Wanda Group. If nothing had happened to them, how would Galaxy Group have the opportunity to get a share of the pie from the other party's weakness?

As for the previous pleasant cooperation between Wanda and Galaxy Pictures, is their behavior considered as taking advantage of the situation?
Sorry, the business world is like a battlefield. Old Wang, who used to be a soldier, definitely understands this principle better than Little Wang, and he probably won't blame him.

At worst, if Xiao Wang has any difficulties in the future, he will take care of him.

(End of this chapter)