At the end of October 1986, "Opium Wars" was released in China, Hong Kong, Japan and Southeast Asia, and although it swept the box office of nearly $80 million, it performed well in most parts of Asia. However, due to the fact that the overseas box office occupies the majority, the channel cost of account sharing is relatively expensive, and it is estimated that the final account sharing is expected to be 20 million US dollars.

Although it can be released in Europe and the United States in the future, based on the current market research results, few people in the European and American markets are interested in the movie "Opium War". Both the industry and the general audience pay little attention to this movie. Even if some media occasionally mention this film, it is only mentioned in passing in the flashes related to Asian film and television entertainment news, and the report is generally no more than 100 words.

It is expected that the box office market of this film will be relatively reluctant even if it can return to its original cost. You can't make much profit, at least you have to add TV copyrights, VCD disc distribution, etc., in order to make a little profit.

This is almost different from the market performance of the previous "Court of Avalon". Because, in terms of the theme of "Court of Avalon", it is the legend of King Arthur that European and American audiences are more familiar with. It can be called the most popular folk legend in terms of subject matter, and it can be said to be ahead of the times in terms of innovation and technology. In the end, the animated film generated more than $500 million, which is not inferior even to Japan's highest-grossing animated theatrical versions or Disney animations.

And the level of production of "Opium War" is no less than that of "Court of Avalon". But the box office is far inferior, and in Lin Qi's view, this is not purely due to the immaturity of the special effects technology of live-action movies.

It's because the movie is a difference in subject matter!

In the 80s, the world economy was still completely dominated by Europe and the United States, and 20% of the population of developed countries in Europe and the United States had more consumption power than the other 80% of the population combined. In terms of the film market, Europe and the United States naturally dominate the aesthetics of the film market by relying on the absolute box office scale.

"It seems that at this stage, it is difficult to make a blockbuster on the theme of Chinese historical war into a world-class blockbuster. Lin Qi sighed and said, "The Opium War, which is a relatively important history for China, but in the world, the mainstream audience with spending power has very limited attention. Even if the threshold is lowered, the historical background and characters are reduced, and the war scenes are added, people are not interested in the subject matter itself. ”

It took two years to produce, and all aspects were done to the extreme, but the final result was only able to recover the cost. Undoubtedly, it's a bit frustrating.

At the same time, Wang Jing and Stephen Chow, the golden pair, shot eight movies in two years, with a total investment of more than 100 million. However, the total global box office adds up to more than 1 billion. On the surface, Wang Jing also spent 100 million yuan to make a movie, but this is the sum of eight films, but in fact, the funds occupied by it are only one or two million yuan. After a movie is filmed and released, by the time the next movie is finished, the box office share of the previous movie has already been credited to the company's account.

Only from the perspective of less capital, short production cycle, and high rate of return. Closing your eyes and handing over the money to Wang Jing may be the safest choice for investing in films in Hong Kong. There are very few directors who can stumble like him.

Originally, Wang Jing was very powerful, and the new entrepreneurship department reviewed the script more strictly, and basically rarely let Wang Jing make bad movies. Therefore, Wang Jing in this era does not have the title of the king of bad movies, but is known as the most profitable director in Hong Kong.

Of course, Wang Jing can't make blockbusters yet, and it's a waste to give him too much money. Movies with a budget of less than 20 million are what Wang Jing is currently best at. When he was already dissatisfied with making such a movie, he gave him more funds.

Huang Xizhao nodded and said: "War and historical themes are originally thankless. In particular, non-famous war and historical themes in Europe and the United States. Since the mainstream consumer groups are European and American audiences, European and American directors and film and television companies are more marketable for filming history and war. Even if other regions shoot history and war, they don't dare to make epic dramas, but change to other angles and make low-budget comedies and dramas. ”

In fact, in the 90s, both Hong Kong and the domestic film industry tried historical blockbusters with an investment of nearly 100 million yuan. But most of them were lost until the rise of the domestic consumer market after the 21st century. Only those epic historical war blockbusters are sure to recover the box office.

"How about the new wave of martial arts films? Over there, there must be a large number of costume films in order to drive them! Filming historical and war themes requires ancient buildings, and martial arts films are also needed!" Lin Qi thought, "Although the era of martial arts has passed, the combination of new film technology and martial arts feelings is in the ascendant." It's just that Hong Kong's current martial arts films are still a little smaller! Also, the adaptation rights of Jin Yong's martial arts ......"

"Jin Yong's adaptation right?" Huang Xizhao was stunned, a few years ago, Lin Qi swore that Jin Yong's adaptation right of martial arts was not as good as the four famous novels. Because, Jin Yong's copyright requires money, and the four famous authors have been dead for hundreds of years, and they are all free copyrights.

Of course, now Lin Qi's mind has changed, after all, the funds were not as abundant as they are now, which limited his imagination. For example, the earliest classic masterpieces that were budget-conscious and didn't need money were naturally better than Jin Yong's copyright, which asked for money. But the problem is that anyone can use the four famous novels, chatting and the like, and they can't monopolize IP copyrights!

Jin Yong's copyright is different, this is a scarce resource that cannot be copied, and its value is not necessarily inferior to super IPs such as Marvel, DC and Harry Potter.

For more than 100 years, the copyright of the most valuable and valuable Chinese writer is Jin Yong's. Various adaptations have been made since the 60s, but until the 21st century, the number of times the original books, doujin, manga, anime, and games have been developed is no longer a count. However, it is still an enduring super IP!

In terms of commercial value alone, even the most popular Japanese "One Piece" and "Naruto" and other super popular migrant manga later, their comprehensive commercial value may not be worthy of Jin Yong's copyright.

After all, Jin Yong's copyright can be recycled countless times and developed from various angles, and its value is difficult to be squeezed out.

"That's right!" Lin Qi said with a smile, "10 billion! If the old man Jin Yong is willing to buy out the martial arts copyright and sell it to us, whether it is publishing or various adaptation rights! Then, I can pay 1 billion! No...... If Mr. Jin Yong is really willing to buy out his martial arts copyright for our exclusive development, then the upper limit can be up to 2 billion!"

"Poof!" Huang Xizhao was completely stupid by Lin Qi's money or not, 10 billion!

At present, if the Hong Kong film industry only counts the local box office, the total annual box office is less than 1 billion!

The market for the television industry is similar, and the market for Hong Kong's television and radio stations is about 1 billion yuan a year! In terms of net profit, Xingchen Channel, which has become the largest television media in Hong Kong, can earn about 300 million yuan a year, and a considerable part of these profits are obtained from overseas copyright and VCD sales. If you only count the profits of the Hong Kong market, Xingchentai's local business is still loss-making.

If Jin Yong's Ming Pao Group offers 1 billion yuan, it may be overestimated. After all, Ming Pao is only a newspaper published in Hong Kong. Although the number of subscriptions of more than 100,000 copies is not low, the profit of "Ming Pao" is only tens of millions of yuan a year.

Lin Qi gave that the valuation of Jin Yong's martial arts copyright far exceeds that of "Ming Pao" newspaper company, which is not a joke, but a very objective valuation.

As a well-known local media in Hong Kong, Ming Pao has struggled to expand its business. This is because the mainland has not opened up its media business, and it has no content advantage when it enters overseas. No matter how you look at it, the asset of "Ming Pao" does not look like a high-quality asset. As a businessman, Jin Yong can only be regarded as a second-rate businessman. Among Hong Kong businessmen, Jin Yong is the best at writing.

But as a writer, Hong Kong could not find a second more successful than Jin Yong. In the next few decades, Jin Yong's copyright development has fully proved that its value far exceeds that of Ming Pao.