"I heard that a cool movie is being shown in theaters recently, it seems to be made by Chinese?"

The red car was racing, the loud music from the stereo even drowned out the roar of the motor, and the white man had to speak loudly at the top of his voice to make sure his companion in the passenger seat could hear him.

The companion took off his sunglasses, "There is such a movie, all my friends have seen it, it is a story about zombies in the East, but everyone says that it is more like a vampire movie." ”

The car stopped at a redlight intersection, and the white man tapped his fingers lightly on the steering wheel, "Sounds good, why don't we go and see it too?" ”

"There are a lot of the most ridiculous dialogues of the year in the film." In the back seat of the car, the white man's girlfriend suddenly interjected.

"Shut up!" White men hate it when their girlfriends contradict themselves in front of their friends.

"That's what the magazine said." His girlfriend raised the magazine in her hand.

"Then let the magazine go to hell! I decided, let's go see this movie today! ”

Peer understanding agreed, "Why not? ”

"But it's a B movie, what about Kate?" The girlfriend pointed to the little girl who was holding an ice cream next to her.

"It's okay, let's go to Pooh's Town, the cinema there has supporting entertainment facilities, and we can find a suitable place to put Kate." The white man quickly came up with an idea.

Most of the theaters in the United States are located in small towns between cities, and in addition to huge parking lots, they are fully equipped with commercial services. The family only needs to drive to the cinema and can satisfy a full day of leisure and entertainment.

In this "country on wheels", distance has already been conquered by wheels. Cinemas located in small towns are connected to a radiant network. Coupled with the highways extending in all directions, it is not worried about not attracting people. The box office of theaters in the vast non-urban areas of the United States has always been a number that cannot be underestimated, and more than 70% of the multiplex theaters of the United Arts Cinema chain are distributed in these small towns.

The white man drove to what he called Pooh Town, and when he went to buy movie tickets, he found that "Tales of the Night" was so popular right now, and it was not too late for them to come, but the movie tickets had been sold out until the midnight show.

"Hell, can't you just open two more screening rooms?" The white man finished buying the ticket and complained angrily.

The staff at the ticket office patiently explained, "I'm sorry, sir. It's not up to us to open more screenings. The theater manager is applying to the head office and we will solve the problem as soon as possible, we are sorry for the trouble caused to you. ”

——

"I don't want to hear sorry, why don't you have a full estimate of the box office prospects of this film? Because it's an oriental movie. The audience only likes to watch Bruce Lee? What bullshit reason this is! "At the headquarters of Lianyi Company, President Norton was scolding at the phone, "Since the release of this film, the headquarters has received hundreds of complaint calls and calls from dozens of theater managers, all asking us to increase the number of screenings of this film. I don't want a second time like this, or you're going to fuck me out!" ”

Norton hung up the phone and took a deep breath, trying to calm his temper. Changing into a pleasant face, he turned to Thomas who was sitting on the sofa drinking coffee and said, "Is the jet lag reversed?" ”。

"Good to have coffee!"

Thomas was urgently recalled to the United States by the headquarters, and after a long journey, his face could not hide his tiredness, but his eyes were still bright.

"The North American weekly box office champion is actually a Hong Kong movie, which has not happened for many years?" A look of remembrance crossed Norton's face. …,

Thomas figured out the wording. Only then did he slowly reply: "In fact, this is the first time this situation has occurred in the United States, and even Bruce Lee's kung fu movies were not so popular." ”

Bruce Lee movies have cultivated a group of die-hard fans of kung fu movies in the United States, and the influence of "Tales of the Night" cannot be surpassed in depth, but it has surpassed the former in breadth.

"Popular?" Norton shook his head with a wry smile, "The mainstream press in the United States did not rate this film very highly, which is almost a fatal blow to a foreign film that has no good reputation, and it is a miracle that this film is so successful in my opinion." ”

"I thought this was the result of the company's media PR."

Thomas's remark embarrassed Norton, and there has been a disagreement within United Arts about whether the film is worth a media PR campaign, and before the results have been discussed, the film has been known to many audiences, and the media and critics have begun to pay attention. Rather than following the old path of imported films being underrated by the media and then dismal at the box office, the film inherited the tradition of authentic American commercial films, and the lower the media and critics, the more audiences watched the film.

"Here's the box office stats I just received yesterday!" Norton handed Thomas a fax document with a prominent red circle around the number "5816."

"It's been less than two weeks, isn't it? "Thomas was shocked by the $58 million box office result in 10 days of its release."

"Look at this again!" Norton handed over another chart file, which showed the year-over-year box office growth rate in the last 5 days, and looking at the increasingly steep curve on the chart, Thomas realized that the film's box office blowout had just begun.

"We have expanded the number of theaters showing this film to 1,000, but judging from the current market reaction, there is still some short supply." Norton looked at Thomas with a serious face, "That's one of the reasons why the headquarters called you back urgently, according to the contract we signed with that Hong Kong company, we have to pay them 25% of the box office share in the box office range of $50 million to $100 million." Now the analysis report given by the marketing department says that the film can reach at least $80 million at the box office, which is still a very conservative estimate, so, you know what I mean? ”。

Thomas nodded, if the box office of this movie stops at around $90 million, United Arts will have to pay Golden Harvest at least $3 million more in box office dividends, but if the box office exceeds 100 million, the share ratio will be reduced to 20%, and United Arts will be left with a lot of money.

"It's in our best interest to have at least 1,500 theaters show this film at the same time." Thomas immediately suggested.

With Thomas's support, Norton was more confident that the board would pass the resolution, which made him feel better.

"How is it about working in Hong Kong?"

"It's a pleasure, I'm going to pick Jenny over in a while."

"Jenny has a good husband to envy!" Norton nodded, "So you're going to stay in Hong Kong for a long time?" ”

"If the company doesn't have a new assignment for my role, I think so."

"In some time, the company may set up a Greater China region, and I am ready to recommend you to the company to be the head of this region." Norton smiled and said to Thomas, "You shouldn't refuse such a change, right?" Quite a few words"

In the competition of several major theaters in the United States, United Arts has not had a significant advantage, and the hot box office of "Legend of the Night" in North America stimulated the top management of United Arts, they felt that imported films could have a special attraction to the audience because of their novel content and exotic culture, and if imported films could be made a feature of United Arts Theaters, they could gain more advantages in the competition. Another important reason why United Arts recalled Thomas this time is to strengthen the cooperation with Hong Kong film companies through him. …,

"What do you think of the Hong Kong film industry?"

"In the past, I would have told you that Hong Kong movies could only satisfy a small percentage of American audiences, but now I would never say that. I've met the screenwriter of "Tales of the Night," and he knows more about American cinema and American audiences than many of our counterparts back home. Facts have proven that as long as the genre and subject matter are properly chosen, Hong Kong films can also fully meet the viewing needs of American audiences. ”

Thomas's words puzzled Norton, "I remember you told me before that Hong Kong films are limited by the market and isolated from the local culture, and their development prospects are not promising. ”

"Then I have to retract that now, remember the Mr. Lin I just mentioned to you? I feel that he has begun to explore a new path of international development for Hong Kong films, "Legend of the Night", there are not only common action and gunfight elements in Hong Kong, but also Westernized computer special effects, and the plot adopts an international narrative framework, replacing the zombie race in the film with Western vampires and werewolves, and the plot can still go on smoothly, which makes the film have a strong adaptability in different cultural regions. If this Mr. Lin can always maintain this influence on Hong Kong films, the future development of Hong Kong films is very exciting. ”

Norton was shocked by Thomas's conclusion and asked hesitantly, "Do you think Hong Kong movies have the potential to surpass Hollywood?" ”

"Don't forget how huge the market of Chinese mainland is, if Hong Kong films gain a firm foothold in the international arena and rely on the Chinese mainland market, it is not impossible to surpass Hollywood; Of course, it is too early to say this, I don't know when the Chinese mainland market will be fully developed, coupled with political and cultural constraints, within two decades, the rise of Hong Kong films will basically not shake the status of Hollywood, this is the space for us to cooperate with. ”

Norton was worried that United Arts' large introduction of Hong Kong films would be criticized by domestic public opinion, and even pressure from the authorities, Thomas's answer dispelled his worst concerns.

[Asking for a commuter pass, recommended]

(2 more per day, there are currently 76 monthly passes in this book, and one more is added for every 20 monthly passes, please supervise, not afraid that everyone is too cruel, you can't write so much in a day, and you can't make up for it in a month!) (To be continued......) ……，