Chapter 61 Cinemas

……

Looking at Guo Shouyun, who has been plunged into the AMC theater chain since he came back from Kansas City, and in Peter Brown's profile, he has not rested all night, Wendy Solo couldn't help but persuade with hidden worry: "Bruce, everyone has setbacks, rushing to achieve results can't really solve the problem, let it be natural, maybe there will be unexpected gains." Moreover, you have now stayed up for a day and a night, and what you need most now is rest!"

Looking at the beautiful and moving beautiful woman in front of him, with a slightly pale face with haggard and worried, as well as the concern in his eyes, Guo Shouyun's heart warmed.

"Listen to you, Wendy. Don't look at it!"

Guo Shouyun smiled slightly, pushed the information in his hand forward, and stood up. In fact, after working hard for so long and reading hundreds of materials, he has basically understood why Peter Brown refused the cooperation clause that was 'beneficial and harmless' in his eyes.

First, unlike Carmicha and Summerke Cinemas, most of the theaters in AMC Cinemas are located in the core areas of large and medium-sized cities in the United States. Moreover, as the pioneer of multi-screen cinemas, AMC's revenue from food and beverage accounts for 40% of the total revenue, which is almost the highest among all theater chains. Therefore, AMC not only needs to make money from movie screenings, but also needs blockbusters to attract audiences to the cinema and make money from catering.

Second, DreamWorks spent $103 million on the blockbuster "Gladiator", which has topped the weekly box office list with $34.819 million in the first week since its release on August 3, and is second only to Warner's "The Perfect Storm" and Paramount's "Pro Secret Service 2" among all the films released in 2000. Matrix Pictures' "Smart: Ghost Shadow" unfortunately collided with the other party.

Third, after the death of Stanley Wood, who had been in charge of the AMC for 39 years last year, Peter Brown took over the reins of the AMC. Peter Brown, a Princeton graduate, was a man who was steady, or arguably conservative, in business. No changes have been made to the AMC's management structure in the past year.

Based on these three points, Guo Shouyun analyzes the reason why Peter Brown rejected himself. As he said, he has no confidence in the box office of "Smart: Ghost Shadow". Moreover, even if the film exceeds $50 million in the end, as Guo Shouyun said, AMC can get a lot of profits in box office sharing, which may not be comparable to the box office sharing and catering profits of the same screen screening of "Gladiator".

"Smart: Ghost Record" and "Gladiator", one needs to take risks, and the other has proven himself. With Peter Brown's style of business, it was only natural that he would choose the latter.

And the reason why he added 50 more screens to himself after rejecting himself. Most of the reason is that these theaters with screens are large theaters with more than 6 screens in a single hall, or even more.

They have already left enough screens for the screening of Gladiator, and the rest can be allocated to other films to satisfy the tastes of different audiences.

Thinking about these clearly, Guo Shouyun felt that most of the things were like this. It was only then that he truly felt relief.

"Wendy, let Buddy come to my office!" After a pause, looking at the worry on her pretty face, Guo Shouyun smiled, "Don't worry, I'll go back to rest after arranging the release of the movie!"

"What did you say?"

Wendy had a small smile on her face.

"Of course!"

Guo Shouyun nodded affirmatively.

"I'll go get the car over first!"

"Good!"

After nodding, Guo Shouyun watched Wendy Solow's tall and beautiful back disappear outside the door. Then he sorted out the papers on his desk. No sooner had he stacked them on the nearby bookshelf than Buddy Morris pushed the door open and walked in.

"Boss, you're looking for me?"

"Sit!"

Guo Shouyun pointed to the seat across from his desk.

"Wendy said you've been working in the office for a day straight, so take a break!"

"Thank you, I'll go back to catch up on sleep in a moment... After winning the Cinemark Cinema Line, how many screens do we get now?" Guo Shouyun nodded and said.

"Counting some small and medium-sized theaters contacted in the later stage, there are now a total of 927 screens left for us by each theater for new movies!"

"927 pieces!" Guo Shouyun nodded, "Although it is still a little short of our original goal, it is not much close." ”

"Boss, I think it's pretty good! After all, we're a small company with little reputation, and we're making a horror film with an investment of only $1.5 million. Even if we give the film to big companies like Miramax and Lionsgate, we may not be able to get so many screens!" "In Buddy Morris's mind, Universal and Warner are too far away, and Lionsgate and Searchlight are big companies.

"In that case, let's prepare for the release!" Guo Shouyun nodded and said. He also knows that the current 927 screens are already the limit of what Matrix Pictures can get before the movie is released.

After nodding excitedly, Buddy Morris became a little worried, "Boss, should we postpone the premiere later, after all, "Gladiator" is too hot now!"

Although Guo Shouyun wants to bring "Smart: Ghost Shadow" to the market as soon as possible so that he can carry out his follow-up plans, he also understands that going head-to-head with "Gladiator" is not conducive to the box office of "Smart".

"Then put it on August 18th, with a two-week buffer, I believe that "Gladiator" has also passed its peak!"

"Then I'll go tell Kevin right away!"

"Wait a minute!"

Guo Shouyun stopped Buddy Morris, who was about to turn around and leave.

"Recruit me a managerial talent with experience in cinema management. Facing Buddy's surprised eyes, Guo Shouyun said seriously.

"Cinemas?"

Guo Shouyun nodded, this time he was rejected by Peter Brown, although he was not thoughtful, he was also fed up with the pain of not being able to control the film screening channel. Matrix Pictures is not a giant like the Big Six in Hollywood, and it has an absolute content advantage over theater operators in film distribution.

Therefore, in order to make up for the shortcomings, in the case that Matrix Pictures cannot develop into a giant in a short period of time, self-built theaters are the best choice.

As for the 'Paramount Act' that prevents film companies from owning theaters, it has begun to fall apart since Reagan's New Deal, and now it has long been a non-existent thing. Now Viacom, he owns both Paramount and National Entertainment. Later, Wanda also acquired AMC and Legendary Pictures at the same time.

"It takes a lot of money to invest in cinemas, and we...!"

As for the follow-up funds, "Smart Ghost Record" has made money, isn't everything solved?" Guo Shouyun interrupted.

The box office of "Smart Ghost Record" is 200 million US dollars worldwide. And for movies, it happens to be the periphery that really makes money. The peripherals include video releases, TV plays, and so on. Therefore, Guo Shouyun estimates that the total revenue around "Smart: Ghost Shadow Record" is close to 400 million. Among them, the part that Matrix Pictures can get is between 80 million ~ 120 million US dollars. This huge amount of money is enough for Matrix Pictures to build 3~5 multi-theater luxury cinemas in the core urban areas of first-tier cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco under the condition of self-owned properties.

Buddy Morris doesn't know the future, and he is not as confident as Guo Shouyun in the box office and revenue of "Smart Ghost Shadow". However, now that he is only the CEO of Matrix Pictures, Guo Shouyun, as the boss, has given orders, and he can only execute them.

“… I have three points for investing in cinemas. First, the site must be located in a densely populated area of a large and medium-sized city, preferably close to a commercial center. Second, the number of screens in the theater should exceed 9. ”

With the impact of the Internet, the living space of small movie halls will become smaller and smaller, so multi-hall theaters are the trend of the future. Since Guo Shouyun has decided to solve the theater line, he has to do it in one step. Moreover, his thinking is also very clear, expensive but not too expensive. He didn't want to compete with AMC and Marveler for the position of the leading theater boss, but he just planned to have more chips in his hands when the film was released and negotiated with Hollywood giants.

“… By the way, there must be an IMAX giant screen in every theater!"The giant screen is the mainstream of future development, and it will be troublesome to transform it in the future, so it is better to do it in one step."

Buddy Morris was about to say that the giant screen was too expensive, but thinking about the identity and background of the new boss, he swallowed it back.

"Thirdly, every theater has a restaurant that doubles as well, and we serve not only popcorn and mineral water, but also pizzas, burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, as well as drinks and alcohol!

In the age of the Internet, the real money-making place for cinemas is not movie screenings, but catering. Moreover, better service can win more customers. Before his rebirth, it was almost a trend for cinemas and restaurants to operate at the same time.

"Fourth, the construction of the cinema line should be purchased even with property rights. Pay a 20% down payment first and repay it slowly!"

The rent of the cinema chain accounts for 18% of the total expenditure of the cinema chain, which is a huge profit, and it can be saved. Moreover, Guo Shouyun also knows that in two years, the United States real estate will usher in a crazy growth, and the house price has increased by 1.5 times before the subprime mortgage crisis. Even if it fell after the subprime mortgage crisis, it was only 25% of its peak, which is still nearly double the current level. So, buying property rights now, especially in the downtown area, is a big profit no matter how you look at it.

"Boss, according to your requirements, I'm afraid that the investment in each of our theaters will not be less than 10 million US dollars. If it's a metropolis like New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, it's even doubled!"

"I know you can push the repayment time a little bit later so that we don't have so much financial pressure! In addition, I will invest at least $60 million in the company this year to carry out this plan. Investments in film production are counted separately. ”

Looking at the rich and willful Guo Shouyun, what else can Buddy Morris say.

"Understood, I'll immediately contact the headhunter to find a suitable candidate!"

"I've been notified of the news. Guo Shouyun nodded and said.

"Understood... Still, boss, you really should get some rest. ”

"I'll leave after packing up these documents!"