The so-called temporary cinema chain means that in addition to those professional cinemas, there are many small cinemas and independent cinemas, which are integrated together to form a playback platform.

This combination is a temporary initiative, which may be a combination of a movie together or a combination for a period of time.

There are many movie theaters in North America, and even a few major theater chains only account for less than half. It's just that because of their professionalism, they can concentrate on putting out the film. Other small cinema chains and independent cinemas occupy half of the country.

Large cinema chains such as AMC have always had the ability to release films throughout North America. Moreover, their cinema chains are relatively advanced, and most of their locations are in the bustling areas of various big cities.

According to statistics, the top 10 cities in North America account for about 40% of the total box office market. Most of the ticket offices in North America are in these cities.

And those small theater chains generally do not go out of their respective states, and only have certain capabilities in each state, but they will not have the promotion strength of the entire North American region. Not to mention the independent cinemas, most of which are located in remote corners of various cities, and even in small towns.

Neither the influence nor the software and hardware conditions that attract the audience are high.

These small cinema chains and independent movie theaters are not as strong as those who have the ability to promote the whole of North America, so they have always been very passive when negotiating box office sharing with film companies. They are often suppressed by the big studios and have to accept a lower share of the shares. More often than not, they can only make a living from independent films and small-budget art films.

Because of this, Zhang Fan, who was jointly suppressed by Hollywood giants and wanted to slaughter meat by large theaters, was in a complementary position with those small theaters and independent movie theaters.

Zhang Fan has good movies, and those small theaters have a platform for broadcasting.

Although many movie theaters are located in relatively remote places. But no matter how remote it is, it can't always be set up in a village, right? And with the advanced transportation in the United States, it will not be difficult to go anywhere in the city. As long as these cinemas can get enough high-quality movies, they can also attract a large number of audiences.

However, if you want to set up a temporary theater chain, and it is also a theater chain that can be released at the same time in the whole of North America, Zhang Fan must have a certain amount of strength in his hands. The power here is the cinema, this industry is the same as any industry, outsiders who want to point fingers will not be taken seriously, unless they can directly join it.

Under normal circumstances, Zhang Fan only needs to have a movie theater to enter the industry. But when it comes to forming a temporary cinema chain covering North America, a movie theater is clearly a joke.

If you have a movie theater, you can run a temporary theater chain in a small state with a small area and a small population, such as Rhode Island. If you want to cover North America and have thousands of screens, Zhang Fan must buy a theater chain with a certain influence.

Eddie, the head of the North American company, the manager Zhang Fan poached from Disney, has been busy with this matter all this time.

As an industry insider, and a veteran, Eddie knows the industry very well. After knowing Zhang Fan's thoughts, it didn't take long to give the goal.

"Cage Company, in the eighties and nineties, was a big theater company in the whole of California. In the president's office of the North American branch, Eddie, who was in high spirits after returning to the United States from India and wanted to show his skills for Disney to take down the bastards who sent him to India, was introducing Zhang Fan to the target company he had chosen.

Later, the company had the ambition to expand its cinema chain to the whole of North America, becoming one of the three largest cinema chains in North America. They took out a big loan to buy movie theaters throughout North America, and at one point they were very strong. Eddie's words were not finished, but Zhang Fan already knew what kind of turning point would be next, "But unfortunately, the person in charge of the company suddenly fell ill at a critical moment and died soon after." That time coincided with the economic crisis. So. ”

Add shrugged his shoulders, meaning clear. The sudden fall of an ambitious head is a huge blow to the entire company. The heirs have expanded to the entire North American region in the face of the economic crisis, and it is already a blessing of God to be able to sustain the company.

The end result has already been seen. Cage is headed leaderless after the sudden death of its ambitious leader. The heir does not have the courage and charisma of his predecessor, and he cannot even maintain the company under the blow of the economic crisis.

In order to repay the bank loan, Cage had to sell many movie theaters purchased at a low price, and this lack of ambition also made many talents choose to leave the company. Now many of the three major theater chains in North America have left Cage in the first place.

Over the years, Cage has been in a cycle of selling movie theaters and then repaying loans and interest. Not to mention expanding the business, it is very difficult to even maintain it. They have now sold off all movie theaters outside of California, leaving only dozens of movie theaters in the California area. It's already a complete decline.

"Anything else?" asked Zhang Fan aloud.

"Most of Cage's movie theaters are located in very good locations in big California cities. After all, the city is growing rapidly, and what was not a good location at the beginning will now become a good location as the city expands. The price of the land alone is still worth a little money. Eddie continued, "But the movie theaters are a bit old, and the most important thing is that they still owe the bank loans and interest. The owners of Cage have long wanted to sell the company, but they have not been able to find a buyer who can pay the right price. ”

"How many years has this been? Why haven't you paid off the loan yet?" Zhang Fan was surprised to hear that Cage Company still owed money.

"If you don't do a good job, you can only continue to borrow. Borrowing a little bit and borrowing a little bit is always over. Add wasn't surprised. This kind of thing is very common in the United States, and even Apple, which has hundreds of billions of dollars in liquidity, borrows from banks. This is a habit of American companies. Even Zhang Fan himself borrowed a large amount of money from Citibank this time.

"How much?" After understanding the situation, Zhang Fan asked the most important question.

"$240 million. Eddie quoted the price, "and will also bear a total of 120 million US dollars in bank loans and interest." The owner of the company has been in business for many years and has long since stopped working, and now being able to get the money and leave is the best result for him. ”

Zhang Fan nodded and did not speak.

Although Eddie is responsible for the negotiation, Zhang Fan can't really leave everything to Eddie to do without reservation. If you really do that, no one will say that Zhang Fan dares to delegate power, but only that Zhang Fan is a fool.

Managers in the United States, although highly qualified, are not moral saints. Many managers use their power to their advantage. In Hollywood, he is best known as Eisner, who single-handedly led Disney from the brink of bankruptcy to glory. The gold medal manager almost turned the whole of Disney into his own property, but in the end it fell short.

It can be seen from this that completely delegating the company to professional managers is an act of irresponsibility to oneself.

In addition to Eddie, Zhang Fan also sent other people to participate in this matter. For these situations that Eddie said, Zhang Fan had already understood before. He also knew that the boss of Cage's company didn't know and didn't like the cinema industry, just because of the inheritance of property. His favorite thing to do is to take young and beautiful models out to sea to see goldfish. Wrong, it's whale watching.

Over the years, I have been trying to cash out the company in my hand, but I have never negotiated it because the asking price is too high. After so many years of luxury enjoyment, I took a beautiful woman to the sea, and the family property had already been lost. Now the company is able to cash out is the best option.

Some of the three major cinema chains have been in contact with him, but they only bought it at a low price when he really couldn't run and was about to go bankrupt. After all, although Cage Company only has dozens of movie theaters, the location is very good, and the land of the movie theater is quite valuable. But this time, he was cut off by Zhang Fan.

"Three hundred and sixty million. After hearing this offer, Zhang Fan nodded slightly: "The price is okay." ”

If it's just those movie theaters, it's really not worth the price. But the land of those movie theaters is worth it. Even if the land price in the west cannot be compared with that in the east, it is not a small amount. Zhang Fan bought it at this price, which is not too much of a loss.

What's more, what Zhang Fan values is this theater chain. After owning this small cinema chain, Zhang Fan was not only able to enter the industry smoothly, but also had the qualifications to set up a temporary cinema chain. It is also a foundation for having a large cinema company of its own in the future!

After getting Zhang Fan's confirmation, the boss of Cage Company signed his name on the contract very happily. Giving over to this family business with a long history and the dedication of generations of ancestors.

This may be one of the disadvantages of family businesses. Without a good heir, years of hard work will soon be lost.

The sale of Cage and the reorganization of the SC company into SC Company's cinema chain did not cause much repercussions in the industry.

Zhang Fan's company is still at the bottom of Hollywood. And Cage Cinemas has long since declined. Naturally, the deal between them will not cause any seismic sensation.

But if this news is nothing, then the next another news will really shake the theater industry.

Zhang Fan officially sent an invitation to many peers in North America to officially form a temporary cinema alliance!