At this time, the acceptance and love of kung fu movies by the people of the United States far exceeded Chu Xiangqian's imagination.

But it's right to think about it, there are basically no kung fu movies or specialized fighting movies in this era.

For Asians, the western cowboy is curiosity and yearning.

But for most Chinese people, cowboys are low-level, the object of discrimination and ridicule.

To put it bluntly, they are herders.

Not only is the income low, but it is also very fortunate, but anyone who has worked on the ranch for three or five years will know that this job is not easy.

I've watched too many Westerns, and the heroes with the western cowboy as the protagonist are naturally tired of watching crookedly.

And the fighting of the rice people, in the final analysis, is only boxing.

Now there is a movie that suddenly appears, with wonderful fights and humorous and funny, plus the people of the United States despise and look down on the ancient civilization of the Celestial Empire.

On the one hand, there is curiosity and yearning.

Finally, there is the recent trend of martial arts, and it is not surprising that the attendance rate on the first day can be 5% due to various factors.

In this way, there is no need for Chu Xiangqian and Universal to mention it, I believe that the theater chain itself will take the initiative to ask for the release area to be expanded to the central and east coasts of the United States.

Seeing that Chu Qianqian had finished reading the data on the note, Ovilla hurriedly spoke again, "Boss, Mr. Hydeman from Universal is still waiting for your call. ”

Chu nodded forward, entered the living room of the main building, picked up the microphone and said, "Hey, I'm Stark." ’

Mike Hyndman hurriedly said, "God, you're going to send it, Stark." ”

Chu Xiangqian smiled at the corner of his mouth, the box office on the first day was 310,000, which was indeed a big hit.

It is foreseeable that the box office of 500 movie theaters in the first week will not be less than $2 million, and this alone will have a profit of $1.46 million from the fund.

It's just that in this way, the tax avoidance method of the two funds that he came up with seems to underestimate the popularity of kung fu movies in the United States.

However, when the fund makes money, it does not have to pay taxes.

Although I have to spend 5% of the fund's profits on charity every year, I will use it for charity every year in the future, to expand my influence, and to win over politicians and elites.

Overall, it's a good thing.

Then, not surprisingly, Mike Heilman asked Chu Xiangqian to go to the office building of Universal Studios earlier and sign a contract with the people in the theater to expand the screening.

This time it is really a full 1,500 movie theaters, and it is one of the top 30 big cities in the whole country.

In addition, in a few days, those small cinema chains, local cinema chains in various states, will definitely come to the door to seek cooperation.

In the end, maybe there will be more than 2,000 theaters to broadcast Snake Fist.

However, it is difficult to control the actual box office data of small theaters and local theaters in various states.

Maybe you can only get two or three percent of the box office.

The rest of the box office was naturally stolen by the cinema.

So after signing a supplementary contract with the theater chain, Chu Xiangqian said to Mike Heideman, "If the local theater chain in various states comes to the door and delays it for one week, or two weeks, let them play."

Are theaters in each state willing to buy out? How much can I sell for if I buy out? ”

Mike was stunned for a moment, and then became embarrassed.

After thinking for a while, he said, "Stark, I suggest you don't be so careful. Sometimes you lose a little profit to have a better future.

And I made it clear to you that even a few big theaters have been stealing the box office.

Even if Universal is one of Hollywood's eight largest companies, it will face this situation.

Although it is not a helpless way to fight back against them, the price paid is high.

If you offend the theater chain, you will inevitably face a decrease in the number of films scheduled in the future.

Even if we send two people to watch at each theater, in the end, we will find that we don't give as much as the theater chain.

Many of the people below will definitely be bought by the theater chain, because it is also difficult for us to supervise the supervisors who work for us

In fact, the vast majority of overseers will collect money from both ends. We give $200 and the theaters give $200.

Then the supervisor only needs to underreport a few thousand dollars, and the theater chain not only does not lose money, but also makes a lot of money, and we can't find out. ”

Chu Xiangqian nodded helplessly, this kind of thing will be digital in the future, and it will be difficult to avoid it.

In these years, relying on manual statistics, there are more places where you can do your hands and feet.

Fortunately, the cinema chain does not dare to go too far with a large company like Universal, after all, although the cinema chain is full of confidence, in fact, they are not an upstream industry.

If you want to make money stably, you still rely on the eight Hollywood movies such as Universal.

Not to mention that the Hollywood Big Eight have the right to rate movies.

This is also the fundamental reason why these eight companies can become giants.

In the 20s, Hollywood scandals were frequent, movies were full of obscenity, and the entire film industry was considered a miasma.

As popular protests grew louder and political pressure mounted, Hollywood was either at the mercy of lay lawmakers or setting guidelines for self-censorship.

Needless to say, behind closed doors, Hollywood established the United States Film Producers and Distributors Association, and then established the Production Standards Administration, with only eight shareholders in Hollywood.

In the mid-60s, the association changed its name to the United States Film Association, and then the classification system was really determined.

But before the advent of the grading system, the authority to produce specifications was greater.

There have even been cases where someone from the Authority took a ruler to measure the cleavage of an actress on the screen, and even though nothing was actually revealed, they said that the cleavage was too wide to limit the release of the movie.

There are too many ridiculous things like this in Hollywood.

Chu Xiangqian thought of this, and he was still very persuaded to give up and buy out the movie to a small theater chain.

But Mike Hyndman smiled at the corner of his mouth, "Stark, why don't you give you 300,000 from Universal, and you will leave the matter of distribution with small theaters to us?" ”

Chu Xiangqian rolled his eyes after hearing this, but to be honest, he did supervise the cinemas in small towns and small towns.

silently calculated in my heart, with 500 movie theaters on the first day, the box office had a box office of 310,000.

I feel that the total box office of the serpentine trickster in the small theater chain should not be less than 3 million US dollars.

If you sell it for 300,000 yuan, you will lose no matter how you calculate it.

According to the fixed account that Universal can get, Universal can get at least between 1.2 million and 1.5 million.

And the film basically doesn't have to invest in publicity now.

Chu Xiangqian said that he guessed the 3 million box office, Mike Hyndman frowned, and secretly said that Chu Xiangqian was really difficult.

Although Universal is estimated to have 3.5 million to 4 million, it is not so easy to win 300,000 US dollars at 3 million US dollars.

"Or, $500,000?"

Chu Xiangqian smiled, "600,000, we will sign the contract." ”

One person earns half, or he earns 3 or 4 percent, and this proportion will never be obtained by other small and medium-sized film companies in Hollywood.

Mike shook his head helplessly, at this time, the world really needs to make a profit, and it also needs data.

And compared with "Ten Commandments", which Paramount spent $13.25 million in '56 and finally grossed $87.8 million.

Universal spent 12 million to produce "Sparta" last year, which really lost to grandma's family.

Chu Xiangqian still has another drunken fist waiting to be released, and it is foreseeable that the box office of a movie made by the same protagonist will definitely not be bad.

As soon as the contract was signed, Universal was at full speed, and it had to make a box office of more than 10 million.

The best box office outperformed Sparta's $14 million performance.

Decca records are naturally welcomed with both hands and feet.

The better the performance of Universal, the more difficult it is for the United States Music Company to acquire, and the greater the cost.

Even if you are finally impressed by the price of the United States Music Company, you can merge instead of being acquired.

The merger means that the shareholders of Decca Records can get a part of the shares of the new company, instead of taking the money and being driven out.

In the future, you will be able to enjoy the dividends of the new company.

A week passed quietly, and the first-week box office was also released, and the first-week box office of 1,500 theaters in the United States actually reached 5.6 million US dollars.

After this news was reported by the media, it instantly caused a sensation in the United States.

Then it spread to Hong Kong Island and Asia, and also caused a huge sensation and envy.

The production cost of the serpentine trickster did not exceed 120,000 Hong Kong dollars, and when converted into US dollars, it was only 30,000 Hong Kong dollars.

In Southeast Asia, it has received a huge return of more than 3 million Hong Kong dollars.

At the box office in India, South Africa, England and France, there were also more than 400,000 pounds, or more than $1.6 million.

Now that the United States has only been released for a week, the box office has exceeded 5.6 million, which is not difficult to break 15 million at the box office if it is released for two or three months.

As for the small theaters, they will have to wait another week for the release.

Otherwise, several national cinemas will never give such a high film schedule to the serpentine trickster.

And the estimated total box office of the serpentine trickster, compared with last year's production cost of $15 million and the total box office of $73 million, the money earned is indeed far from comparable.

But the return on investment, whether it is in the past or in the future, will definitely be the top three.

Although the filming cost of the future "Blair the Witch" was also very low, it spent more than 10 million dollars on publicity.

Although the serpentine trickster also had publicity, he only spent more than 200,000 yuan before and after the world to hang banners on radio broadcasts and movie theaters.

In other words, the production and publicity of the serpentine trickster only cost less than 300,000 US dollars.

A full 50 times the rate of return, which is enough to leave a name in film history.

It's just that what people didn't expect was that the box office grew in the second week, directly past $7 million.

Although it fell a bit in the third week, it was also $5.2 million.

Coupled with the release of small theaters, the box office added up to more than 6 million.

But Chu Xiangqian can't earn a share of the 800,000 box office of the small theater line, and according to Mike, the 800,000 may only be half, or even one-third.

In other words, the small theater line concealed the box office of 80 to 1.2 million.

Chu Xiangqian listened, not angry, but a little gloating, anyway, he couldn't get a share of the box office of the small theater chain, and seeing Universal eating deflated on them, it made people feel happy to think about it.

Of course, thinking so in my heart, I cursed with Mike.

And Chu Xiangqian's share in the past three weeks reached $11.8 million.

After deducting 10% of the issuance fee of Global, the profit was US$10.62 million.

If the box office in the fourth and fifth weeks does not plummet, I believe that it should still be able to get about 10 million in two weeks.

According to Chu Xiangqian's agreement to take a 20% share in the past two weeks, a serpentine trickster can earn Chu Xiangqian a net profit of $12 million.

This is higher than the net profit of the eight major Hollywood companies and the last few film companies throughout the year.

Margaret, who was still on a trip to the United States, directly ignored the visit and flew back to Los Angeles on a plane.

first had a friendly match with Chu Xiangqian, and the next day he followed him to participate in the general meeting of shareholders of Universal.

To put it bluntly, it is a group of rice people who are red-eyed.

And it's not your average blush.

The purpose of this meeting, naturally, is the release of Drunken Fist. There is also the signing of an exclusive distribution contract.

The serpentine trick is a foregone conclusion, and Chu Qianqian invited Coopers to be one of the top ten lawyers and accounting firms in the world.

If you want to withhold the money on this movie and don't give it, then the global custody will be sued by Chu Xiangqian for bankruptcy.

At most, it can only drag on and pay the profits of the serpentine trickster in batches.

And if it is delayed, it may be delayed for a year or two.

Chu Xiangqian knew that the shareholders of Global wanted to use funds to control themselves.

But Universal is also worried that one is not good, and Chu Xiangqian will cooperate with other companies, after all, the two sides not only did not sign an exclusive distribution agreement.

Even if the release of Drunken Fist has signed a contract with Universal.

But the future films of the 'Chu Family' film company do not necessarily have to cooperate with Universal.

And the shareholders, or rather, Decca Records, intend to keep the estimated $12 million in shares at Universal.

Chu Xiangqian didn't have to take the money away, if he could exchange it for more shares in the world, it would naturally be better.

No matter how bad it is, he also wants to get a stake in Universal Studios.

Compared with Universal Pictures, the fixed assets of the cinema are more valuable, and the signboard of the cinema is very valuable in the future.

Chu Xiangqian has thought about building a Universal Studios on Hong Kong Island, and all the equity belongs to him.

Not only did the construction of various amusement facilities start, but also built a studio in the cinema.

In the future, this will be a comprehensive cinema integrating amusement and film production.

Not to mention the price increase of land in the future, there may be hundreds of thousands of tourists received every year.

Of course, there are not so many people who go to Hong Kong Island with a population of only 2 or 3 million, but Southeast Asia, island countries, South Korea, and Europeans and Americans who travel to Hong Kong Island every year.

It adds up to three and a half million.

And Margaret ran back, which was also a good thing for Chu Xiangqian.

When she was brought to the board of directors, the shareholders present immediately became a sensation.

Although before Chu Xiangqian became a shareholder, he used the name of Margaret at the front desk.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for an Asian to invest in an entertainment company like Universal, but most of the shareholders of Universal and Decca Records have never seen Margaret.

In the news of the whole country these days, the only one that can comprehensively suppress the fighting tournament and the snake fighter is the news of Margaret's visit to the United States.

This chick just bought a few suits for Chu Xiangqian in a luxury store in New York, and they were all on the front page of the newspaper.

It can be seen that the people of the United States have a desire for the royal family. The shareholders of Universal and Decca Records, it is difficult to know Margaret or not.

Chu Xiangqian said directly, "Rong Zhong would like to introduce to you, Her Royal Highness Anne Margaret Windsor, one of the founders and beneficiaries of the M&S Foundation.

At the same time, he is also a shareholder and a member of the board of directors of Universal Pictures. ”

M&S is an abbreviation for Margaret and Stark's initials.

More than a dozen middle-aged and elderly people all got up and saluted Margaret respectfully.

And Margaret nodded in return very appropriately and naturally, then took off her gloves, shook hands with the shareholders and management present one by one, and talked a few words.

This set, for Margaret, has long been familiar with.

(End of chapter)