Shenhao who plays around the world

Chapter 218: Picking on the soft persimmons

As a Hollywood playboy, Li Zizi has Victoria's Secret as his harem.

But this time he was starring in a movie from across the ocean, and DiCaprio received an early warning from his partner Jennifer Davidson.

China is different from the United States, especially the heroine who is opposite him this time, so he must not be provoked.

At first, Xiao Lizi was not convinced.

As a Hollywood celebrity with nearly 100 million fans around the world, which film and television company would not treat him as a guest?

Although he didn't necessarily have any thoughts about the actress he was cooperating with, hearing Jennifer Davidson's serious warning made him instinctively unhappy.

Jennifer Davidson has worked with Leonardo DiCaprio for many years, so she naturally understands how ridiculous this guy's private life is.

"Leonardo, you can imagine if there was a company with the largest theater chain in the country, Disney's distribution and production capabilities, and a promotional platform similar to Twitter, with a similar volume to long and short video platforms such as Netflix and Tik Tok.

How terrifying would it be to have such a huge user base?”

"And the owner behind such a company is the star of the scandal with your co-star."

"So, you must not offend this woman in the slightest."

"Otherwise, it will be extremely difficult for the films we produce in the future to be released in Chinese theaters."

Xiao Lizi was also confused: "OMG, this company has not been punished for being a monopoly?"

"It is a pity that this company has been operating normally and has been praised by officials many times."

Jennifer Davidson shrugged helplessly, with an incredible expression.

In the United States, it is impossible for such a giant company to appear.

From film and television production to theatrical releases, as well as streaming media platforms and social promotion platforms, there is no business that it does not involve.

Think about the terrifying influence of the combination of Twitter + Disney + AMC + Netflix + Tik Tok.

Even a veteran like Xiao Lizi couldn't help but feel nervous.

Even if he becomes famous, he will be abandoned by the film companies without hesitation in the face of profit.

Although women are good, they must have the blessing to enjoy them.

Xiao Lizi shrugged, pretty girl, he slept a lot.

He still has this bit of self-control.

"Jennifer, thank you for the reminder."

Xiao Lizi is also a person who can handle things clearly. Just don't have any evil thoughts during this filming.

"The film will be shot in Hollywood first. I will inform you in advance when the time comes. Remember to study the script carefully. I have a hunch that this movie will achieve a high box office."

Jennifer Davidson has known Leonardo DiCaprio for many years, and she also knows that this guy will never be a fool at critical moments.

"To be honest, this book always gives me a feeling of déjà vu. Maybe I have taken it in my dream before?"

Xiao Lizi shrugged and made a joke.

"According to the information I have learned, AMC will join forces with the other two major theater chains to renegotiate the box office share ratio with the five major movie companies led by Disney. It is said that this Chinese consortium is behind this."

Jennifer Davidson also sounded particularly emotional, "The Big Five are indeed rotten, but it's not something AMC can shake, unless..."

“Unless they have a high proportion of the global vote base?”

Leo understood what Jennifer Davidson meant and secretly decided to deepen his relationship with this Chinese consortium.

No one knows what the future of Hollywood will look like.

Compared with local powerhouses like Disney, this Chinese consortium is definitely a dragon crossing the river.

Today, DiCaprio is not only an actor, but also a producer.

The company co-founded with Jennifer Davidson has also collaborated with Sony Pictures several times.

Companies like Disney are strong because they control traditional cable TV and broadcast television.

It is precisely through cable TV and broadcast television that they have been able to penetrate hundreds of millions of American households and develop income channels such as DVD and pay-on-demand.

The reason why streaming media platforms are panicking is because Netflix is ​​bypassing TV stations and directly grabbing these paying users.

Disney, Paramount, and Warner are all scrambling to develop their own streaming media platforms in order not to fall behind in this competition and be controlled by others.

The reason why Netflix cannot fly is also related to the lack of self-control.

In the past, spending money to produce high-quality dramas has indeed brought in considerable users.

But when the number of users reaches a certain level, it enters a bottleneck period.

We can only maintain high costs in disguised form by increasing membership fees.

As a result, users will naturally lose, giving Disney, Paramount, Warner and other traditional film companies the opportunity to catch up.

Xiao Lizi was suddenly shocked. This company dared to challenge Disney and others, and it certainly had ambitions in this regard.

Maybe, they will plan to broadcast it in theaters first, and then directly launch it on the streaming media platform, bypassing the traditional TV and radio platforms controlled by Disney and others.

hiss……

Little Plum suddenly felt like crying but had no tears.

He just stupidly got into the competition between the two major forces.

Is it too late to quit now?

DiCaprio looked at Jennifer Davidson with a bit of bitterness and expectation on her expression.

"Sorry, the liquidated damages are 80 million U.S. dollars, and we don't have the courage to refuse."

Jennifer Davidson and Leonardo DiCaprio have worked together for many years, so naturally they have a tacit understanding and can directly guess what Leonardo DiCaprio is thinking.

Xiao Lizi shook his head and laughed, but his mood quickly calmed down.

The five major film companies are not monolithic, and they are constantly at odds with each other.

If nothing else, Sony is absolutely happy to see Disney holding back.

Sony itself has been miserably cheated by Disney and others.

When Sony acquired Columbia Pictures at a high price, it was taught a lesson by the local forces in Hollywood.

It has been suffering losses for more than ten years, thanks to Sony's deep wealth, which has allowed it to endure the endless period of losses.

There were even some years when it turned a profit by relying on the IP of the Spider-Man series.

But the good times didn't last long. After spending a lot of money in the early days, the box office failure of The Amazing Spider-Man completely made the parent company furious.

Since then, less and less support has been given to Sony Pictures.

In the end, a group of senior executives were simply replaced.

At this point, Sony Pictures began to embark on the road of self-financing, insisting on making "idiot movies" with medium cost and simple content.

Do you really think Sony Pictures is willing to do this?

The parent company did not grant a budget, and Sony Pictures saw other companies entering the streaming media track, so it had no choice but to become a content provider for Netflix.

Although it is true that you can make a lot of money by doing this.

But I can see that other companies are developing vigorously in the streaming media industry.

How could they be willing to do so?

But what makes Sony Pictures the only company among the traditional six that does not own a national TV station and does not have any strong binding relationships?

Even Paramount, which had been a close friend of Sony in the past, still had CBS as its backer.

CBS diverted traffic to Paramount, which led to a surge in users of the streaming media platform launched by Paramount.

Compared to several other film companies, Sony is an outsider.

If it weren’t for the Marvel movie boom in 2017, super IPs would become very popular.

At that time, Sony had already considered selling its film business.

Holding the copyright of Spider-Man is the confidence that Sony Pictures has always had.

…

Negotiating with traditional movie giants such as Disney is a test question assigned by Lin Shen to Adam Aron, the current president of AMC Cinemas.

Good answer, continue to serve as president of AMC Theaters.

If he doesn’t answer well, there are people who can take his place.

Aaron is under a lot of pressure.

Fortunately, the theater chain's cash flow is abundant and it has no debt, so it is as healthy as can be.

Once the second largest theater chain in North America, Movie World previously filed for bankruptcy and has yet to recover.

Cinemark, the third largest theater chain, is also heavily in debt, and life is also very difficult.

Under Adam Aron's persuasion, the three reached a consensus that they must force the five major film companies to make concessions.

In recent years, the five major film companies have become more and more aggressive, frequently testing their bottom line.

In the past, everyone would abide by the rules.

The movie is first released in theaters for 90 days as a window period, and is not allowed to be played on other streaming media platforms until the movie is released.

However, as the five major film companies have tasted the benefits of streaming media, they gradually want to try to play it in theaters and streaming media platforms at the same time.

This time, the bottom line of the theater chain was completely violated.

AMC and Movie World announced their ban on Universal at almost the same time, which was a warning to the five major companies.

After that, the Big Five did converge.

Universal, which was blocked, even took the initiative to give up 10% of the revenue of the PVOD home on-demand platform to AMC Cinemas.

In return, AMC Cinemas agreed to reduce the decades-long window from 90 days to 17 days.

It seems that the income has decreased, but in fact the loss is not large.

Anyone familiar with the North American market knows that new movies are basically released on Friday.

In this case, the 17-day window period includes exactly three days of the first weekend and the complete second and third weeks.

For most films, after 17 days, they have actually begun to face the problem of being continuously suppressed in the film schedule.

It is also normal to be on the verge of going offline.

The 17-day window period can actually be regarded as a market node.

The box office in these three weeks accounts for about 80% of the total box office on average, or even higher.

Shortening the window period to 17 days will not have a large impact on the economic benefits of traditional theater chains.

The 17-day window agreement is designed to resist the impact of home theaters and streaming media platforms on traditional theater chains.

But in terms of share ratio, Lin Shen’s minimum requirement for Alon is 65%.

Alon's box office share ratio within these 17 days must reach 65% to be considered qualified.

There is no doubt that Aaron's first direct negotiation collapsed.

A 65% box office share ratio is simply a peach for the five major film companies.

If it weren't for the natural "shared account" limitations of streaming media platforms, they would only further squeeze theaters and become even more emboldened.

Aaron also refused to give in and argued hard.

The backer that moved out of the AMC theater chain is Guanhai Group from China.

For a moment, Wu Da was silent.

In recent years, China's box office growth has been hit by a bunch of unscrupulous theaters.

But its global box office share is not much worse than North America.

How could these Hollywood giants not know the situation in China?

Xingyi Cinemas, a subsidiary of Guanhai Group, accounts for at least 35% of the box office in China, and even approaches 40%.

As long as their super blockbusters want to enter China, they must not offend this giant company that spans multiple industries.

But asking them to agree to a 65% share of the box office is even more uncomfortable than killing them.

As the leader of the five major movie companies, Disney CEO Bob Chapek made concessions and agreed to give 55% of the box office share, which is the limit they can accept.

You know, when Disney was at its strongest, it could even get theaters to agree to cede 65% or up to 70% of the box office share.

But now AMC has made it clear that it wants to fight to the death, and it has also roped in Movie World and Cinemark.

If we don't do it right, it could easily cause an earthquake in the film and television industry.

Thinking of the partners, there is also Sony, a bad guy.

Chapek also has a headache.

Sony itself has a lot of bad blood with them, and they have always been relatively close to theaters, so it is easy for them to win over them by using high-scheduled movies.

Although Sony and Netflix have reached a contract, and the latter has the exclusive rights to broadcast Sony content, it is just a joint move by the two to protect themselves.

Without AMC taking the lead, Movie World and Cinemark wouldn't have the guts to take advantage of the big five.

But now, AMC is financially healthy.

It even promised to acquire part of each of the two theaters to provide them with a cash flow to tide them over.

It is precisely because of this commitment that these two theater chains are determined to advance and retreat with AMC.

It's really impossible not to advance and retreat together.

Earlier, Universal Pictures shocked the whole of Hollywood by passing "Trolls 2".

Because Universal Pictures actually found a way to circumvent the "Paramount Act" promulgated in 1948 and avoided the shackles it placed on producers.

Under the Paramount Act, Hollywood studios must separate film production from distribution and exhibition operations.

In short, content producers are not allowed to be channel owners.

After that, the Big Five all gave up their theatrical businesses and retained their discovery and production businesses.

But at that time, when the "Paramount Act" was enacted, no one would have thought that "streaming media" would appear in the future.

The release of "Trolls 2" does not seem to violate the principles of the "Paramount Act", but it actually breaks the monopoly of theater chains.

In August of the same year, this bill was completely repealed.

It brings a new accounting system to the five major film companies, that is, after deducting marketing expenses, all streaming media income belongs to the film studio.

So far, the big five have been testing the bottom line of theater chains.

While ensuring that the terms of the share sharing remain unchanged, the window period continues to shorten.

Even, their ultimate ambition is to release them simultaneously.

Aron is also a smart man. In the past, Disney relied on constantly telling stories about streaming media platforms to convince investors that Disney had great potential to tap, and was favored by the capital market.

However, as Netflix's growth has reached a period of stagnation, capital has generally been pessimistic about the streaming media market.

The streaming media platform Disney+ launched by Disney has naturally been questioned.

In this case, the theater chain's income will be lost again.

I really don’t know how Disney’s stock price will fall.

The three major theater chains in North America are advancing and retreating together, and behind them there is a Chinese ticket warehouse that is like a thorn in the throat.

For a time, Disney and other five major film companies were in a dilemma.

It is definitely impossible to abandon the streaming media platform that we have invested heavily in developing.

Except for Sony Pictures, no one else is willing to give it up.

Sony Pictures is the most miserable. Without a streaming media platform, it can only be reduced to a content producer for Netflix.

In addition, since the parent company did not provide any money, Sony Pictures held a board meeting and, after seeking approval from the parent company, directly moved to AMC Cinemas.

Sony Pictures CEO Tony Wikla was the first to be interviewed by reporters to express his position.

"Sony Pictures has always firmly followed the traditional theater broadcast route, and theater chains such as AMC are also our loyal partners. We firmly resist the simultaneous broadcast of movies by streaming media platforms and theater chains."

For AMC, Aaron responded immediately: "Sony Pictures is one of the most influential production and distribution companies in Hollywood. We are also very happy to reach a consensus with Sony Pictures and will have the opportunity to reach a deeper agreement in the future.

cooperate."

When Disney CEO Chapek heard the news, he was so angry that he broke a carefully collected vase.

Although it's not worth much, you can still see his anger.

"Damn the islanders, I knew they were unreliable!"

Chapek cursed angrily, but there was nothing he could do.

They all know the situation of Sony Pictures. They are indeed being squeezed quite hard by the parent company in the island country, and they are completely left to fend for themselves.

Otherwise, why would Sony Pictures make a movie for Netflix?

It's not because of lack of money.

If you have money, who would be willing to be someone's grandson?

Soon, Chapek found out.

AMC, on its part, makes a promise to Sony Pictures.

If the window period after the movie is released is 17 days, AMC will only get 60% of the box office share.

If the window period is extended to 30 days, they will only get 55%.

And so on.

The window period is 60 days, and the theater chain only takes 50%.

The longest window period is 90 days, and the theater chain’s share is only 45%.

This kind of treatment naturally caused the already unsteady will of Sony Pictures executives to quickly collapse.

If you want them to fight among themselves, you must first let those who surrender get benefits.

A loyal supporter of theaters in Hollywood circles, Nolan immediately supported Sony Pictures and said that he would consider cooperating with Sony Pictures for his new film, which instantly made Warner Brothers unable to sit still.

Although Nolan has a close relationship with Warner, he has always been a "free agent" and has not signed any priority non-compete agreement.

If Warner doesn't want to lose a big box-office director like Nolan, it will have to make concessions.

Warner Bros. announced that they will ensure that theaters will be their first choice for releasing movies, followed by their own streaming platform.

As the second company to surrender, Warner Bros. received 1% less revenue than Sony Pictures.

Even if it's just 1%, it's still a big number.

Among the top five, only Paramount, Disney, and Universal Pictures remain.

Among the three companies, Paramount has the least confidence.

We used to be close friends with Sony, ranking last in the six major box office statistics every year.

Although Paramount+ is developing well, traditional box office revenue still accounts for the majority.

Therefore, Paramount also obediently announced that it will treat the window period issue carefully, prevent the traditional movie-viewing model from disappearing completely, and provide audiences with a richer movie-watching experience.

It all sounds like talk, but everyone in the know knows that Paramount has also shown goodwill to AMC.

In the end, Disney and Universal Pictures were left alone.

Disney is the industry leader, so how easy is it to get them to surrender?

As for Universal Pictures, they are also struggling.

In the end, I still chose to be soft.

Streaming media platforms have limited income and require high long-term investment.

At least in the short term, the income of traditional theater chains must not be lost.

In the end, only the Disney family was left hanging on.

Disney is betting!

Chapek doesn't believe it. The other two theater chains are so heavily in debt, can they really survive?

But before he could hold on for long, AMC announced that it would acquire all of Movie World's theaters in North America for a price of US$4.5 billion.

The debt-ridden film world agreed without any hesitation.

With the completion of this acquisition, the number of theaters owned by AMC has increased sharply to 570 theaters and 7,420 screens.

Immediately afterwards, Cinemark, the third largest theater chain in North America, announced that some of its theaters had been ceded to AMC Theaters for a sale price of US$1 billion, which included almost 140 theaters and 1,822 screens.

Almost immediately, AMC announced that it would acquire Canada's Cineplex cinema chain for US$2.5 billion.

Cineplex Cinemas is Canada's largest cinema chain, with 165 theaters, a total of 1,705 screens, and 10 entertainment centers.

These three acquisitions directly frightened Disney.

AMC Cinemas, which is already very strong at the global box office, has 20,000 screens in North America and Europe, not counting China.

Including the number of screens in China, the global screen share has reached more than 15%.

What's more, these screens are concentrated in big cities and prime locations in North America, Europe, and China.

The box office yield is much higher than that of theaters in nooks and crannies where few people go.

Chapek was no longer calm and quickly convened a board meeting.

Disney is clearly facing an extremely serious crisis.

No matter how attractive Marvel is, streaming platforms alone cannot make back the cost.

Faced with the serious AMC theater group, Disney must give an accurate answer as soon as possible.

While Disney was doing research, AMC also stopped making acquisitions.

The expansion of 875 theaters in one go put great pressure on AMC's management system, nearly doubling its size.

The funds for the acquisition of the two theater chains came from the capital injection from Guanhai Group.

It’s only 7 billion US dollars, and AMC itself does not have this profitability.

During the conference call, Lin Shen focused on the importance of grabbing paying users.

Soon, AMC took action.

A monthly card service of US$19.99 is launched for all theaters in North America and even Europe.

Users who open a monthly card can watch unlimited movies this month (limited to one movie per day).

In the most extreme case, a user only needs to spend less than 0.7 US dollars a day to watch a newly released movie.

This can include 3D blockbusters, rather than the 2D movies provided by some small theaters.

Moreover, annual membership is only $199.99.

In addition, there are also family bucket packages.

For a family of a couple and two children, it only costs US$399.99 per year to watch a movie as a family every day throughout the year.

In the United States, where the average ticket price is more than 9 US dollars, in some major cities such as Los Angeles and New York, the ticket price reaches 16-18 US dollars.

For only $199.99 per year, you can watch a newly released movie every day.

It has to be said that AMC’s move has really secured the users in the United States.

It is human nature to take advantage, regardless of skin color.

For those who need to watch movies, they will naturally open an annual pass without hesitation.

It only costs 200 US dollars a year, which is less than 0.6 US dollars per day on average, which is not very cost-effective.

From now on, the theater is my home!

Many movie fans in North America and Europe couldn't help but excitedly tweeted about the monthly and annual pass services launched by Amway AMC Cinemas.

A large number of users whose demand for movie viewing has dropped due to income problems have also chosen to try out the monthly card service for one month.

For a time, all major AMC theaters in North America were extremely popular.

Revenue from the sale of popcorn, drinks, and peripheral supplies has been rising steadily.

Generally speaking, the box office revenue of theaters in North America does not account for 70%.

Only the release of super blockbusters will significantly increase the revenue from popcorn and beverage businesses.

This is also the reason why Hollywood blockbusters dare to ask for high commissions.

But now?

AMC has over 100 million paid monthly members, which in turn can manipulate the five major movie companies, force them to make concessions, and even cooperate to increase the window period.

After all, in this model, the longer the playback time, the more money they will naturally make.

Even the North American box office market will be activated and reach a new level.

To the amazement of many investment institutions, AMC's model has generated a huge amount of cash flow invisibly.

Members who sign up for monthly or annual memberships increase the financial reserves of AMC Cinemas.

A movie naturally has a settlement cycle from broadcast to release.

Think about it, tens of billions of dollars are sitting in AMC accounts every year. Even if you do business and financial management, a lot of money will come into your account.

According to AMC's gameplay, the capital pool will be almost more than 20 billion US dollars.

With funds and a huge movie-watching group, it has even taken away some paying users from streaming media platforms such as Netflix in disguise.

It is conceivable that users with strong demand for watching movies will naturally have less interest in dramas on platforms such as Netflix.

Disney, which was still holding on to a glimmer of hope, has completely given in.

Chapek also publicly stated that Disney will rethink the setting of the window period and try to find a balance between traditional theaters and emerging streaming media platforms.

A ruthless person who can make Disney and other five major companies surrender, but also give DiCaprio, who is filming in Los Angeles, a chill on his neck.

At this time, I looked at Reba, who is very outstanding in European aesthetics.

Xiao Lizi kept shaking his head, this woman must not be provoked.

No matter how crazy he is, he is still an insignificant person in front of this giant force that spans Asia, Europe and North America.

Um……

The filming is pretty good, and maybe if his acting is good, he can even be nominated for an Oscar.

Women, etc., are not good at filming.

Besides, there’s also Kaitlyn Dever in the cast.

He didn't have the guts to hook up with that Chinese woman.

But Caitlin Dever fell to her knees under his suit pants in seconds.

Haha, Nolan’s Inception is really amazing, I recommend it.

(End of chapter)