Chapter 281: Success or failure! Kung Fu Panda is released!
For Wu Lingxi, there is a sentence that can best describe her mentality.
Feelings only affect the speed at which I draw my sword.
In this respect, she and Xia Xi are truly of the same blood, truly worthy of being sisters.
So ever since she was old enough to understand, she has only cared about interests, not emotions.
Even if she was moved, she was completely passive.
So when Xia Xi pretended to be Lin Xiao and teased her, he was really sexually harassing her every day and forcing her every day, day after day, tirelessly.
Wu Lingxi was cursing most of the time and would occasionally respond.
After hearing Lin Xiao's words, she instinctively wanted to run, but then stopped and stared at Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao also stared at her, completely counterattacking.
"Oh, you say you love me, but you are too stingy to even give birth to a child." Lin Xiao sneered.
Wu Lingxi sneered: "Are you serious? Or are you still playing your trick of retreating to advance?"
Lin Xiao: “Seriously.”
Wu Lingxi said slowly: "Then I will tell you directly, my emotions are very rare. If I leave it alone, I can still maintain it. If something really happens, I am afraid that the remaining emotions will be exhausted."
Is this the legendary period of ambiguity that is most touching? Once something happens, the mysterious veil is lost and all expectations are exhausted.
But aren't these all men's thoughts? "Okay!" Wu Lingxi said firmly, "I'll start to arrange my cycle and regulate my body. When the time comes, I'll text you."
"You go through the process!"
Lin Xiao: “Okay!”
Wu Lingxi: "Then you can leave now."
Lin Xiao walked out, and when he reached the door, he suddenly stopped.
“Xixi.”
"What?" Wu Lingxi.
Lin Xiao: "You are not cute at all normally, you are cute only when you are drunk. You let me see your breasts and your lower body."
Wu Lingxi: “Get lost!”
When Lin Xiao walked out of the door, Wu Lingxi began to pant and even had to open her mouth to breathe.
As a result, Lin Xiao turned back and opened the door directly and said, "Xixi."
Wu Lingxi: "So what?"
Lin Xiao: "We are fine now, right? We don't have any conflicting positions anymore, right?"
Wu Lingxi: “Get lost!”
Then she went straight to the door, closed it, and locked it from the inside.
Then, he opened a bottle of wine, poured it into the glass, and drank it all in one gulp as usual.
result……
Just when it reached her mouth, she put it down again.
He slammed the cup on the table and poured the wine directly into the sink.
In the past two or three years, the relationship between Lin Xiao and Wu Lingxi has been almost innocent and they have not crossed the line at all.
Only that time.
Wu Lingxi had just taken over Facebook and needed enormous support, costing $120 million. At that time, Lin Xiao was most in need of money and was about to borrow $800 million.
However, Lin Xiao still agreed directly and squeezed out the money with gritted teeth.
Then, it was Wu Lingxi’s birthday.
He was also drunk after drinking.
The two of them were a little ambiguous, and according to Lin Xiao, this woman with the highest appearance value showed him her breasts.
Since then, it has returned to its cold and quiet state.
Because Wu Lingxi has always been working hard to maintain her independence and uniqueness.
She didn't want to get too emotionally involved.
A wise man does not fall in love.
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Sony probably really regards Lin Xiao as its most important ally.
In terms of publicity expenses for previous works, we have always been very conservative, and we value money as if it were our life.
The publicity cost of "The Last Days" was only about 10 million US dollars, and Lin Xiao was asked to pay half of it.
The $60 million for "The Hunger Games" was also paid out with gritted teeth.
By the time of Kung Fu Panda, the publicity expenses soared to 150 million US dollars, and Sony paid for it all.
In this era, $150 million in advertising expenses is extremely staggering.
This kind of publicity cost has actually made it clear that the film will not make money, and it is just for the purpose of building the IP for the second and third parts.
The original production cost of this movie was about 130 million US dollars. After it was made, everyone was satisfied with it, except Lin Xiao, who was not satisfied and sent it back for redo.
First, $50 million was added, and then another $20 million! The entire production cost soared to $200 million. Including the publicity costs, the total cost of the film reached $350 million.
That is, somehow it could become the most expensive movie in the world.
With a cost of 150 million US dollars, the publicity campaign was truly overwhelming.
Lin Xiao could see various posters of Kung Fu Panda almost every time he looked up.
There's not only the panda Apo, but also mantis, tiger, crane and other characters.
Not just outdoors, but also the Internet and TV stations.
Propaganda is everywhere.
At that time, Lin Xiao wanted to go back to school and increase the salary by 50 million US dollars, but was resisted by the top management of Sony Columbia. It was Amy Pascal who made the final decision against all objections.
This time, the entire Sony Columbia top management easily approved the $150 million publicity cost.
Amy Pascal smiled and said, "Because its strategic level has completely changed."
"Before, it was just an ordinary project of Sony Columbia, but now it has become the core IP of the entire group and will support the development of animation in the next decade or so."
"Originally, Sony Pictures had little expectation or urgency to enter the animation market, so the animation studio we worked on was named Oriental Fantasy. Sony's top management did not object much because they did not care."
"But the unprecedented success of The Hunger Games changed everything, giving Sony Columbia direct ownership of a major IP."
"Sony Pictures was originally looking forward to entering the TV drama market, but it was hesitant to do so because it is a different market. To open up an unprecedented market, you need a lot of money and a lot of resources."
"As a result, the success of Squidward and Breaking Bad made it easy for Sony Columbia to enter the TV drama market."
"The most important thing is, do you know how much Sony Group's stock price has risen recently?"
"Phantom Vision has become a unicorn, but it is determined not to go public, and Sony Columbia owns nearly 30% of Phantom Vision's shares, so all of this is reflected in Sony's stock price."
Lin Xiao took the newspaper handed over and was slightly surprised.
Sony Group’s market value has soared to 90 billion US dollars?
Lin Xiao couldn't remember exactly what Sony's market value was at that time in history, maybe 70 to 80 billion? But soon he saw this article in the newspaper, and in just half a year, Sony Group's market value had increased by more than 10 billion US dollars.
In this article, Sony's layout becomes extremely wise and shrewd.
First, Sony Pictures Entertainment has opened up a strong Chinese market.
Secondly, Sony Pictures has successfully entered the TV drama market.
Finally, Sony Pictures successfully opened up the animation market.
In just one year, Sony Pictures opened up three new tracks, the first two of which were huge successes. The third market, animation, is also the most important piece of cake for Hollywood.
Once Sony achieves success in animated films, Sony Pictures will have almost penetrated all sectors of film and television and occupied all territories.
The article said that the decision-making level of the entire Sony Group was originally lagging and slow. Unexpectedly, it has become so pioneering and enterprising in the past one or two years.
Therefore, Sony Group, which has regained its strong expansion spirit, has made the market full of expectations for its future.
The article also specifically mentioned "The Hunger Games" series and how much revenue and profit it will bring to Sony Columbia in the future.
In addition, the sales of "Fallout 3" have exceeded 11 million, a large part of which are on the PS platform.
The PS2 has sold 160 million units, but the newly launched PS3 seems to have lost the glory of the previous generation. Coupled with the strength of Microsoft's Xbox 360, people see the possibility of Microsoft's platform and Sony's platform competing against each other.
Because "Fallout 3" was launched on the PS platform instead of the Xbox platform, the sales of PS3 have seen a huge increase in the past few months. According to estimates by Sony Electronics Entertainment, the sales increase brought by "Fallout 3" alone to PS3 exceeded 1.5 million units, and this is still a very conservative estimate.
In the article, Sony Entertainment CEO Kazuo Hirai revealed that another blockbuster game directed by Master Ergou, "The Witcher", will also choose to be launched on the PS platform and will still abandon the Xbox platform.
Therefore, he is very optimistic that in the next one or two years, the sales of PS3 will far surpass XBOX360.
Sony Electronics Entertainment will continue to lead.
At the end of the article, there is actually another sentence.
So, who is the leader Ergou who created all these miracles?
When Lin Xiao heard this, he was stunned and looked at Amy Pascal.
Amy: "Some people want to pull you back to China, and another group of people want to pull you to the United States."
“You can pay attention to American newspapers, television, and especially the Internet.”
"Who is the leader of Ergou? This storm has been going on for a month or two."
"You can't stop it, young Mr. Lin."
Then, Amy Pascal handed over another newspaper.
The biggest headline, Er Gou and Breaking Bad! Breaking Bad Season 2's latest ratings, has reached 7.8 million?! The first episode only had about 5 million viewers, and now it has soared to 7.8 million.
AMC is a cable television network, which is different from TV networks like NBC, CBS, and ABC.
Cable TV's audience is far more valuable.
7.8 million is already an extremely impressive number, and the key is that the upward momentum is too strong.
Everyone knows that it is only a matter of time before the viewership exceeds 10 million.
Another TV series from Fantasy Vision is about to start production.
"The Walking Dead", AMC, Sony Pictures is also one of the producers, and DreamVision holds more than 60% of the production shares.
At the end of this article, there is also a sentence? Who is the leader of Ergou?
It really is a vigorous movement to deify people.
Amy Pascal smiled and said, "The global box office of The Hunger Games has now reached 730 million U.S. dollars, and the group's intention is that Kung Fu Panda will exceed this number."
"Only if Kung Fu Panda is successful, the next Graveyard Book (Coco) series will be more effective."
"Once we have two animated film IPs, our animation business will be invincible."
"Sony Group's market value will rise again."
I understand. For Sony Group, Kung Fu Panda can only succeed, not fail.
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Next, Lin Xiao was suddenly invited by Kazuo Hirai, and this time it was a private invitation.
When Lin Xiao arrived at his house, he found that there was already a guest inside, also a Japanese.
"Mr. Lin, I'm very honored to introduce you to a new friend, Mr. Hideki Komiyayama, who just took over Sony Ericsson this year." Kazuo Hirai pointed at the Japanese man.
So it was him? He was also one of the most important members of the Sony series, but it was hard to say whether he would succeed or fail.
In a sense, the business led by Komiyayama was a failure.
It can even be called mediocre.
Lin Xiao stepped forward and stretched out his hand.
As a result, the other party bent down and stretched out his hands, so Lin Xiao had no choice but to stretch out his hands as well.
The Japanese are really... hypocritical and persistent when it comes to etiquette.
In November, Sony Ericsson's president, Marius Flint, resigned and was replaced by Hideki Komiyama.
This year, Sony Ericsson's mobile phone shipments reached an unprecedented peak, breaking through 100 million units in history!
Nokia ranked first with 437 million units shipped.
Motorola came in second, shipping 160 million units.
Samsung ranked third with 147 million units.
Sony Ericsson and LG ranked fourth and fifth respectively.
At this time, Nokia could no longer be described as being in its heyday; it was simply unrivaled, occupying 37.8% of the global market.
Who could have imagined that in just a few years it would fall completely, and to the level of defeat.
Even among the top five mobile phone giants, only Samsung has not fallen behind, and even all of them are doomed.
Therefore, intelligence is a revolution, and those who follow it will prosper while those who go against it will perish.
"Mr. Lin, from our perspective, it is actually difficult to understand that you spent more than 2 billion US dollars to develop a mobile phone." Komiya Hideki said: "This is completely incredible to us."
The US$2 billion mentioned includes the RMB costs, especially the costs paid to the supply chain, the costs of foundries, etc.
The development costs in the era of feature phones and the era of smartphones are really incomparable.
Lin Xiao: "Because all the industrial chains are not fully prepared, we need to pay a high cost."
Komiyama Hideki: "Lin-san, I know you are a magical person, and I want to ask you a question."
Lin Xiao: "Mr. Xiao Gongshan, please speak."
Hideki Komiyayama: "Do you think Sony Ericsson should start developing smartphones?"
Historically, Sony Ericsson did not start manufacturing smartphones until 2011, which was the same time as Xiaomi.
This kind of sluggishness is simply indescribable.
Maybe it cannot be seen this year, but by 2009, everyone will be able to see that feature phones are no longer popular and the next era is the era of smart phones.
So this year Samsung launched its first Android smartphone, the Galaxy GT-I7500.
Sony has always been stronger and more sophisticated than Samsung.
As a result, Sony allowed itself to miss the golden age of smartphones.
Of course, Ericsson is also largely responsible for this. The strategic inconsistency between the two parties led Sony to prepare to acquire Sony Ericsson in full, and this negotiation took several years.
The deal was not finalized until 2011 and closed in 2012.
Although the Xperia series of mobile phones launched by Sony later did cause some market waves, it was ultimately just waves.
In the end, its mobile phone business completely declined and even died out.
Lin Xiao thought for a while and said, "I think it should be done sooner rather than later."
Komiyama Hideki: "Mr. Lin is truly a gentleman. You know that once Sony Ericsson enters the research and development of smartphones, it will become a behemoth and a huge obstacle to your mobile phone business."
Lin Xiao: "I'm also looking forward to your company's smartphone using my operating system."
Having said that, Lin Xiao knew that the other party would not change its strategic direction because of his words.
The strong players in the era of feature phones are all facing the problem of being too big to be defeated. I am so successful now, why should I destroy my own empire?
Therefore, the subsequent conversation between the two sides was just brief.
At about 11 o'clock in the evening, the three parties dispersed and Kazuo Hirai saw Lin Xiao and Hideki Komiyayama off.
But, just a dozen minutes later!
Kazuo Hirai had another secret conversation with Lin Xiao alone.
"Mr. Lin, Sony Ericsson is an independent company, and Sony Group does not have 100% say." Hirai Kazuo said, "But some time ago, your lady Wu Lingxi approached me and invited Sony Group to invest in Quantum Technology."
"I would like to ask, is this Miss Wu Lingxi's personal will or Mr. Lin's will?"
Wu Lingxi actually went to find Kazuo Hirai instead of Howard Stringer, the current big boss of Sony Group.
Lin Xiao: "This is not only Miss Wu Lingxi's idea, but also my idea."
Kazuo Hirai: "Mr. Lin, you think Sony Ericsson cannot transform itself in a short period of time, so you hope that the Japanese market will also become your home market?"
Lin Xiao: “I do have this vision.”
Kazuo Hirai: "Then I understand. I will do my best to promote this matter."
In Kazuo Hirai's view, Amy Pascal is Lin Xiao's loyal ally. As a result, in just a few years, she was promoted from President of Columbia Asia to Columbia Global CEO, and now to President of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
In everyone's opinion, Amy Pascal's greatest success was to bring Sony Columbia into the investment of Visionvision, and with only less than 20 million US dollars, she acquired about 30% of Visionvision's shares.
Dream Vision owns several major IPs such as "The Hunger Games", "Breaking Bad", "Kung Fu Panda", "Graveyard Book" and "The Walking Dead". Who knows how much its market value is now? Who knows that Amy's deal at that time has now increased by dozens of times.
Therefore, investing in Dream Vision at that time is equivalent to investing in Quantum Technology now.
Of course, there is a price to pay.
Next, Sony will fully support the occupation of quantum mobile phones in the Japanese market.
For high-end mobile phones, the world's four major markets are China, the United States, Japan, and Europe.
Is China Lin Xiao’s home ground?
Japan is Sony's home turf, and the United States is Texas Instruments' market.
As for Europe, although Wu Lingxi pushed ARM to invest in quantum technology, this company has little influence on the consumer market and cannot provide channels.
Therefore, Sony Ericsson may really need to provide certain channel support by then.
Of course, this may not work.
Because the positions of Sony Ericsson and Sony Group are not completely consistent, not to mention that Ericsson is involved.
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Is China Lin Xiao’s absolute home court?
Right now, it feels a bit like an unknown.
This great debate and discussion has been going on for several months.
Both sides are exerting their strength, and the situation is becoming increasingly intense.
So has Lin Xiao’s reputation been restored?
I don’t know, maybe not yet.
Because at this time, the public intellectuals have too strong a voice in public opinion.
Blogs, Renren, and MSN have become the largest outlets for opinions.
Although Facebook has the highest traffic and the most users, the other party's system seems to be of higher quality and holds the so-called high-end discourse power.
On the Lightning Department side, everything that needed to be said had been said, and all the opinions that needed to be expressed had been expressed.
There are even plans within the Lightning Group to acquire Sina in its entirety, in order to gain direct and fundamental control over the largest output platform for opinions.
In 2005, Shanda tried its best to acquire Sina, but ultimately failed.
However, at this time, the capital strength of Lightning Group far exceeds that of Shanda in 2005.
However, this plan was ultimately rejected.
Almost as soon as this sign appeared, it was immediately met with extremely fierce resistance from the other party.
At least on the surface, the other side is still more powerful.
However, someone within the Lightning Group suggested that the silent majority should not be ignored.
Only a part of the group speaks out because they have the right to speak and the power of public opinion.
Most people have their stance in their hearts but are unable to express it. However, at critical moments they will express it through actions.
And "Kung Fu Panda" may become this weather vane.
If "The Last Days" cannot be considered a Chinese movie, then "Kung Fu Panda" should be considered one.
There are several hundred people in Oriental Fantasy Studio, and more than two-thirds of them are Chinese.
Moreover, this movie is completely Chinese, from the script to the story background to the character setting.
Even the main director of this film, Mr. Huang Weimin, is a 100% Chinese animation director.
Of course, this movie has another producer, Lee Unkrich, who was poached from Pixar Studios by Sony with a high salary.
But with Lin Xiao's absolute insistence, the director of this animation was directly named one person.
So, is there really a silent majority on Lin Xiao's side? The key lies in the box office performance of Kung Fu Panda.
Just like Fallout 3, Kung Fu Panda will be released worldwide on December 14th, except for China, where it will be released on December 13th.
China still comes first.
However, even though "Fallout 3" prioritizes China and contains a large number of Chinese elements, its sales in China are still very average and insignificant in the total global sales.
Will Kung Fu Panda repeat the same mistake?
After all, the box office of the previous "Hunger Games" in the Chinese market was just average, and it was seen as the end of the legend of Master Ergou in China.
The sales of "Fallout 3" in China also seem to confirm this point of view.
According to Lin Xiao’s plan, this movie will not only enhance the Chinese film industry, but also raise the ceiling of Chinese films.
To achieve this goal, the plot was even slightly modified to make the emotions of "Kung Fu Panda" more exciting and passionate, just like learning from "Nezha".
But what will be the final outcome?
Lin Xiao doesn’t know either, and no one knows now.
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However, in the global market, especially in the North American market, Sony Pictures has invested unprecedented advertising costs and launched a massive publicity campaign a few months ago.
The domestic market is similar.
It’s just that it’s not Sony that’s spending money on the promotion, but Lightning Entertainment and Bona Film Group.
The publicity campaign and publicity costs in China far exceeded those of "The Last Days" back then.
During these few months, this movie has become known to everyone in the country.
The total cost exceeded 350 million US dollars (production and promotion), making it the most expensive movie in the world.
The production period lasted three years and nine months.
There are more than a thousand people involved in this film, and the core Oriental Fantasy staff alone has more than three hundred people.
Thanks to this movie, the Chinese film industry built a 3D animation system almost from scratch.
Even though the film was completed last year and the people at Sony Columbia were very satisfied with it, Master Er Gou was not satisfied and arbitrarily sent it back for redoing, which almost doubled the cost.
Wait, wait, the behind-the-scenes stories of this movie are all revealed.
Then, the two camps engaged in a war of words for a month or two because of this movie.
Zuo Yi believes that this is a milestone for Chinese films and the greatest hope for breaking through the ceiling of the film market in recent years.
Once successful, the Chinese film market will expand dramatically and will soon become the most important market in the world, rapidly approaching the North American market.
Once it fails, there may be no hope of market upgrading in the next few years.
The right side believes that this is a complete form of moral kidnapping and patriotic kidnapping.
Although this movie has a lot of Chinese background, its main producer is still a Hollywood team, and Master Ergou is completely selling dog meat under the guise of selling mutton.
Just like "The Last Days", it's a despicable patriotic marketing campaign.
It seems that if you don’t watch this movie, you are unpatriotic.
But the people in the country today are no longer the same as they were three years ago. Their perspectives have changed and they can now think independently.
The failure of "The Hunger Games" and "Fallout 3" in the domestic market shows that this kind of sales by moral kidnapping and emotional kidnapping no longer works.
This is obviously a Hollywood movie, so don't pretend it's a Chinese movie to attract patriotic traffic.
This kind of quarrel spreads from newspapers to the Internet, from social networks to QQ groups, from forums to real dinner tables.
It is not known whether this heated debate has boosted the box office of "Kung Fu Panda".
However, it did make the whole country focus on the Lunar New Year holiday.
This year's Lunar New Year movie season is indeed packed with blockbuster films.
Chen Kexin's "The Warlords" and Feng Dapao's "Assembly".
Last year, Huayi and Feng Dapao's "The Banquet" failed both in terms of reputation and box office, but "Assembly" can be considered as them finding the real market code, coupled with Chinese narrative sentiment.
Feng Dapao's real box office success began with "Assembly".
"The Warlords" is a true masterpiece from the Hong Kong circle that has moved north.
"Assembly" is a masterpiece in the Beijing circle.
When Feng Dapao was interviewed by reporters, he also praised "The Warlords" highly.
"The Warlords is a real Chinese movie, and Assembly is also a real Chinese movie. The Chinese flavor in our two movies is authentic."
"As for Kung Fu Panda, I actually want to give the other party a piece of advice."
"Don't be so neither Chinese nor Western. Either you just admit that this is a Hollywood movie, and that's it. Chinese audiences now also recognize Hollywood movies. For example, Transformers has a very good box office. The most worrying thing is that it is neither Chinese nor Western, and neither is popular with people at home or abroad."
"Which Chinese film's cost is denominated in US dollars? Chinese films don't need a savior!"
And amidst this extremely fierce controversy and overwhelming publicity.
December 13th is here! The movie Kung Fu Panda, which cost a lot of money and effort, is officially released in the country.
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Note: The double monthly ticket is about to end. If you have monthly tickets, can you help me out? Thank you!
(End of this chapter)
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