At four p.m. local time on August 8, 2013, several commercial vehicles were parked on the tarmac of Los Angeles International Airport.

More than a dozen people of different skin colors, led by a Chinese man and two middle-aged white men, stood next to the convoy, seemingly waiting for someone.

A middle-aged white man said, "Mr. Zhang, "Crazy Rich Asians" will be released next week, this movie is also an all-Asian team, and it is adapted from the best-selling, it is a key project of Warner at the end of this summer, and the movie has very little reputation, which will have a certain impact on "Interstellar". ”

Zhang Yi, head of North American distribution of Hantang Media, said with a smile, "Mr. Burt, the reputation of "Interstellar" is also not bad, and many of our Tang Dong's previous movies have been released in North America, and the box office and videotape results are good. ”

Another white man said, "With two all-Asian films coming in at the same time, Asian audiences will inevitably disperse." ”

"It's up to Fox to do so, and I'm sure you're ready, Mr. Rodner. Zhang Yi smiled.

After greeting for a while, a plane coming from the other side of the ocean landed on time, and Tang An and his party got off the plane.

"Chairman. Zhang Yi walked forward quickly.

"Mr. Zhang has worked hard. ”

Tang An nodded and took a deep breath, this old and beautiful air is really a little unaccustomed.

Looking at the two white people opposite, Zhang Yi also made an introduction.

The two chairmen are Bert Leevens, vice president of global distribution at 20th Century Fox, and Ronald Wheeler, senior vice president of film marketing. ”

"Hello Mr. Bert and Mr. Ronald. ”

Tang An smiled and shook hands one by one.

Wendy Deng, who had originally negotiated with Tang An about the North American screening, did not come, nor did the vice president I saw last time.

What happened inside News Corp., Tang An didn't care, it didn't matter who Bert, Ronald or whoever it was, as long as it didn't affect the release of the movie, it didn't matter.

"Hello Mr. Tang, it's the first time we met, I didn't expect it to be as young as rumored. ”

"Hehe, Mr. Bert complimented. ”

As soon as we met, you were so young, and it was rumored that you were so young.

After greeting for a while, Tang An got into the leading business car, and Zhang Yi also followed.

First of all, we must understand the current situation of the summer season in North America, although it has been emailed before, but many replies still have to be understood in person.

This year's North American summer season is still the same as last year's total box office, and even if it is pushed forward by five years, the North American market has not expanded again.

After more than 100 years of development, the North American market has been fully developed, and there is basically not much potential, and in terms of the ceiling, the box office in 13 years is not much higher than that in 03.

Today, there are 19 North American summer movies with a production cost of more than $100 million, but most of these blockbusters have been lost.

"Forsaken Battlefield", "Return to Earth", "Pacific Rim", "Forest Warrior" and other blockbusters all hit the streets.

"Chairman, don't you know that the North American market is simply evil this year, and there are few blockbusters that are not sequels. ”

Speaking of this year's summer file in North America, Zhang Yi still has palpitations.

One after another original non-sequel blockbusters hit the streets, which is called a miserable.

He continued, "Not only is it an original movie, but it is also difficult to sell blockbusters adaptations, before the release of "Underworld Police", Warner had a hunch and reduced the scale of publicity and distribution, wanting to reduce losses, but the North American box office of this comic book adaptation film with a production cost of 130 million US dollars alone was only more than 30 million. ”

Tang An shook his head, "The setting of "Underworld Police Station" is too niche, biased towards adult male audiences, and lacks female audiences and young audiences, which is destined to be a big hit, and the traces of "old and young" on the cast are too easy to remind people of "Men in Black 3", and the final fiasco is not without warning. ”

Tang An has seen this movie, and originally thought about whether it was a supernatural movie, or similar to some supernatural settings in China, the protagonist can communicate yin and yang, and enforce the law in the yang world as a law enforcer, not only catching living people, but also catching ghosts.

However, it's a big bad movie, an ordinary police movie, except that the two policemen, one old and one young, are dead, and the dead people Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges are stupid in the movie, and it is estimated that the makeup artist is afraid of being scared and does not dare to make it too realistic, it is all computer-generated beams and smoke.

The plot is extremely cliché, an old man and a young man, one moves his mouth and the other does it, investigating strange cases, fighting hellish creatures, old and young partners, immortal bodies, super weapons, and laughing action.

A proper supernatural action comedy.

The actor Reynolds is still a box office poison, and "Green Lantern" was miserable before.

However, two years later, this will become popular, following the role of Deadpool in "Wolverine", the small and medium-budget superhero movie "Deadpool" starring in 16 years is a great success.

The one-man "Buried Alive" also starred him.

"I heard that Fox is planning to start the "X-Men" series and spin off "Deadpool" alone?"

"Yes, I was preparing the script in 07, but now Reynolds has messed up two big productions in a row, and it is estimated that this project will be stranded indefinitely. Zhang Yi replied.

Tang An thought for a moment and said, "In this way, you pay attention to it and see if Fox needs to invest." ”

Investing in Hollywood movies is a very risky thing, and it is basically a meat bun and a dog with no return.

Major Hollywood companies usually have a production company and a hair company, and production and distribution are separate.

In addition to the clear division of labor, the other is to do the accounting.

There are many examples of similar movies selling well, but investors losing money.

Disney is now one of the largest conglomerates in Hollywood, but its own film production business is losing money every year, but its distribution company Bowei Films is making money.

The production cost of "Deadpool" seems to be 50 million US dollars, and the global box office is more than 700 million in the end.

If there is only a box office of two or three hundred million, Tang An will not invest, and when the time comes, the box office will be four or five times the cost, and he will lose money, all of which will be earned by Fox's distribution company.

"Okay chairman, I'll talk to Fox, it shouldn't be a big problem, Reynolds has already pounced on two blockbusters, Deadpool, a superhero, didn't respond well when he appeared in "Wolverine" a few years ago, neither comic book fans nor movie fans bought it, the risk is too great, and Fox definitely needs external investment. ”

Although the risk is high, Zhang Yi did not persuade much, and responded to it in one bite.

After staying in North America for a few years, although Tang An's movies and "Ghost Blowing the Lantern" sold well in North America, if his company could participate in the investment and even distribution of Hollywood films, then he, the head of the North American distribution department, would have a higher status.

continued to learn about the movements of the summer file, as well as the opponents that "Interstellar" will face next.

"Underworld Police Station" is not the worst, it gathers the original cast of "Pirates of the Caribbean", director Gore Verbinski, gold producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Captain Jack Depp's iron triangle, and the super blockbuster "Lone Ranger", which cost 250 million to shoot, only got $88 million at the box office in North America.

The movie is called the "Pirates of the Caribbean" on land, the pirate ship is turned into a train, and Captain Jack becomes a prodigal son, who looks a little like Captain Jack, with some messy things on his face and a rag tied to his forehead.

But it's clear that audiences aren't buying it, and the success of Pirates of the Caribbean is hard to replicate.

There are a bunch of blockbusters hitting the streets, and naturally there are other movies that have exploded, and there are many dark horses in the summer file.

"Spicy Police Flower" and "The Great Gatsby", which are aimed at women as the primary target audience, have performed well, and the reason why the sci-fi disaster film "Doomsday War" starring Brad Pitt has been able to survive in a desperate situation is also due to the fact that more than half of the female audience turned the tide.

So if you are handsome, you can still sell for money, if you replace Pete and Xiao Lizi, it is a matter of whether those female audiences will enter the movie theater.

"Human Removal Project" and "The Conjuring", two low-budget horror and suspense movies, have become dark horses, and even still focus on female audiences.

Tang An complained speechlessly, when did the courage of a woman in the United States become so big.

However, North America is the same as China, and women and children make the best money.

Tomorrow on the same day will also be released "Fake Family", "Percy Jackson and the Sea of Warcraft", "Elysium", "Plane Story", although there is no hit, but four movies will be released in a row, which will divide up a lot of films.

The scale of "Interstellar" in North America is 2,700 theaters, which is medium in the same period.

In the same period, there were ten movies with a release scale of more than 2,000 theaters, and the highest film schedule was "The Smurfs 2" with 3,800.

Although the already released "Smurfs 2" hit the streets, with only $18 million in the first three days of last week, which is exactly half of the first part, but as a Colombian main movie, it still got the highest schedule.

There are no hit movies, there is a kind of rookie pecking at each other.

And in the same period, only the sci-fi thriller film "Elysium" starring Matt Damon is the same genre.

The director of this film is the director of the famous film "District 9" four years ago, and this time it is a science fiction film, and two big names Matt Damon and Jodie Foster join in the starring.

Sony has bought out the global distribution rights for $115 million in cash, and the cost of 90 million has been earned, and there are other rights such as videotapes that can be profitable.

Domestic movies have overseas buyouts, and North America also has them, which is gambling.

After learning about the situation, Tang An asked about Wendy Deng again.

"Chairman, last month Murdoch has publicly filed for divorce with the court, and it is estimated that the divorce agreement is being discussed, and according to media estimates, Wendy Dun can get a billion dollars in compensation. Zhang Yi said.

Billion dollars ....

If she really wants so much, Murdoch can fight a lawsuit for a few years, and then she can't afford to pay the lawyer's fees, and the top team of lawyers in North America is not cheap.

He got more than $8 million in shares, a three-story apartment on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, and a courtyard house in Beijing.

The fierce woman who has since been known in the English media has been away from the top of the media circle after Murdoch was wiretapped in the English Parliament and slapped a protester who broke into the parliament and tried to throw a paper plate full of shaving cream in his face.

Tang An shook his head and no longer paid attention to the former top of the list of the top ten super-rich wives.

Without the identity of Murdoch's wife, although she often haunts various celebrity circles, she is no longer qualified to talk to Tang An on an equal footing, and it is even useless.