Thanksgiving in 1997 was November 27th.
In the early years, in order to block schedules and save publicity and distribution budgets, many films would often choose to open on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, so that they could span the four days of Thanksgiving from Thursday to Sunday when demand for movie viewing increased. Long weekend.
This kind of schedule choice is becoming less and less with the gradual rise of saturated full-scale releases that are more and more focused on publicity.
Because a large publicity budget has been invested in advance for publicity, the audience who should know is already aware of it, and there is no need to use similar tricks.
Of course, things are not absolute.
This year is the exception.
After the first week of Thanksgiving from November 14th to November 20th, on Friday, November 21st, which is the week of Thanksgiving, only Disney's super blockbuster "Terminator 3" and Pixar's latest 3D animated film "Bug" will be available. "Bugs Story" has doubled the pressure on many films, so they once again chose to take advantage of the situation.
Still only counting films with an opening screen count of more than 2,000.
On November 21st, in addition to the blockbusters "Terminator 3" and "A Bug's Life", there will also be a "Gannet", "Sugar-coated Trap" and "A Time to Kill" original novel author John Grimson Another new film adaptation of "The Rainmaker" was released. The film was directed by Coppola, starring Hollywood veteran Danny DeVito and young actor Matt Damon, and cost 40 million US dollars.
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Then, on November 26, the day before Thanksgiving, Warner Bros.’s “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” opened together with another sci-fi comedy “Paramount” from Paramount.
"Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" is a thriller and suspense film that Clint Eastwood once again collaborated with Warner Bros. and directed and starred in. It tells a series of confusing events caused by a midnight party murder in a small southern town.
"Up" is a blockbuster film co-produced by John Hughes and Paramount, which has been dormant for several years. It cost $80 million and stars Robin Williams. It tells the story of a scientist obsessed with research who invented All kinds of ridiculous things happened after using a magical paint that can escape gravity.
Counting it all together, during the box office week from November 21st to November 27th, there were as many as five mainstream commercial films. Among them, "Terminator 3", "A Bug's Story" and "Up" are all blockbusters. Even the lowest budget "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" had a production cost of US$35 million.
Considering that three new films in the past week had generally sluggish openings due to strong competition, and five new films were added during the Thanksgiving week, executives at various studios are under great pressure.
Simon is the kind with a more relaxed mentality. I am even happy to hear about the current situation.
Because it is a strategy that has been determined long ago.
Even though it will inevitably suffer some losses in the short term due to the concentration of movies, Daenerys Entertainment, which has a strong family, can completely afford this kind of competition. Therefore, it is actually just squeezing the living space of other studios. When it is discovered that the film market is becoming more and more crowded, other companies will naturally take the initiative to reduce the number of productions. While others take a step back, Daenerys Entertainment can take a step forward.
Eventually, a new pattern was achieved in which the seven major Hollywood companies were reduced to three giants or even one superpower.
And, speaking of which, while other Hollywood studios are anxious about the subtle changes in the film market, Simon's recent thoughts are not even on movies.
In terms of major events, Simon’s recent focus is South Korea.
In terms of small things, after returning from London to New York, Simon valued other things in the next few days more than the movie.
First of all, on the same Friday, November 21st, "Counter-Strike 3.0" by Daenerys Entertainment's game department was released. After final planning, the official name of the game was designated as "Counter-Strike OL". 'OL' naturally means On Line.
Secondly, it’s Saturday.
There are two things happening at the same time. On Saturday morning, the long-prepared Tinker Bell store will be officially opened. There are only three stores in the first batch, located in prime locations in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. And Saturday night was the Victoria's Secret annual charity party that was held as a fill-in after the Victoria's Secret show was suspended. The fundamental purpose was still to promote the brand.
Long Island.
In an oceanfront estate on the east end of East Hampton.
It's already Friday night.
Chen Qing, who was connected to the video communication with Simon, saw at the first sight that her boss was holding a little girl with a rosy face like a doll in his arms. She didn't ignore it, and even said hello with a smile: "Hello, Miu Miu. "
Of course the little girl also remembered the same Ms. Chen who had brought the mother and daughter together and greeted them politely.
After praising the little girl for being more beautiful, Chen Qing turned to her boss. As usual, she did not rush to get down to business, but said: "Boss, in yesterday's email, you mentioned the idea of acquiring the Grand Hyatt Seoul Hotel and the surrounding land. how do you feel?"
Simon had no problem with that.
The main reason is that the location of the Grand Hyatt Seoul is indeed too prime, and it can also access a large piece of land that he has been eyeing before. Or, the latter is the key point. All in all, it’s not expensive anyway.
Nodding, Simon said: "You have to figure it out, and don't be anxious. The most difficult time for South Korea has not yet come. Remember to pick the best time to take advantage of it."
Chen Qing smiled and nodded.
A little girl who was being held in Simon's arms and listening silently raised her head and curled her lips: "Dad, is taking advantage of someone's situation a derogatory term?"
Simon tapped his chin on the girl's forehead and smiled: "Of course it's a derogatory term."
Miu Miu shrank her neck: "Dad is good or bad."
Chen Qing, who was on the other side, waited for the interaction between the large group and the small group before continuing: "I don't think there is any need to wait, boss, now is a very good time. After this period of time, the exchange rate of the Korean won against the US dollar should appreciate from below 2,000." To more than 1,500, we may have to pay at least 25% more of the cost by then. In his speech two days ago, Kim Yong-sam also said that the authorities need to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, which happens to be a good time to sell assets to the public."
Simon didn’t object: “Just do it if you think you can.”
Then we started talking about business.
Because a certain girl was there, Chen Qing switched to English, and Simon also switched. The little girl in his arms has been in the United States for more than two years. Daily conversations in English are no problem, but when it comes to various professional terms discussed by the two, even if they continue to use Chinese It is impossible to understand them, especially in English.
It’s Saturday in Asia.
In the past few days, although there were sporadic commotions in South Korea due to the signing of a harsh agreement between the authorities and the IMF, it was no longer relevant to the overall situation and things were basically settled. In view of South Korea's precarious financial situation, the IMF will allocate US$10 billion in advance this weekend to help the South Korean government's emergency response.
Chen Qing also talked about the latest news.
South Korea will reopen its stock and bond markets next Monday and will also reopen short-lived foreign exchange controls.
With the help of Washington, creditors in Europe, North America and Asia have promised not to pursue bank runs on South Korea. Today, several major financial giants in the United States issued a joint statement because of this. As long as there are no more unpredictable events, Black swan incident, financial markets will reopen next week, and South Korea's economic situation will gradually stabilize.
As for the Westeros system.
Negotiations with the current three major companies, Hyundai, Samsung and SK, are also very smooth. However, after all, it is a big business worth tens of billions of dollars. Even if the intention has been finalized, it will not be completed in a day or two. If everything goes well, it will be completed before the end of December. , the transactions with the three chaebols can basically be settled.
Simon listened to Chen Qing's general introduction and had no objection. He just asked her to bring along the British consortium that had promised Blair when she was in London.
On the call screen, Chen Qing agreed, and continued: "Boss, recently Daewoo, LG, Ssangyong and other consortiums have probably understood their situation and have also tried to contact me. However, according to the boss's wishes, I have refused. Now, what should we do next?”
Simon has read the information, and LG will definitely not let it go. He hopes that LG can focus on LCD screens in the future, and if the time is right, it can also divest Samsung's related businesses. Even if he can completely control Samsung in the future, Simon still does not intend to make Samsung too powerful. This is also a strategy set very early.
Daewoo also has a large-scale semiconductor business, which can be integrated with SK. There are also other projects that Simon is interested in, such as the Hanjin Consortium that operates shipping.
However, none of this is urgent.
After thinking about it for a moment, Simon shook his head and said: "Ignore them for now, and then we can finish the three goals of Hyundai, SK and Samsung."
It's still a matter of time.
After dragging on for a year or two, it is not impossible for South Korea's chaebols, who can still control it now, to kneel down and beg for mercy.
Letting it dry for a while can help Samsung and other companies understand the value of compromising in advance. When the time is right, you can get what the Westeros system needs at a lower price.
Chen Qing agreed, looked at the memo in front of her, and talked about the layout of the Korean entertainment industry.
We have talked about many other aspects privately through emails and phone calls, this time mainly about movies.
Simon has been looking through the various scripts that Chen Qing turned over in recent days and said: "As for the selection of scripts, the team there focuses on low-cost comedies, horror films and other genres. This can be said to be correct. That’s not correct, do you know what the problem is?”
Chen Qing tilted her head and thought for a while, then said: "The risk of this kind of project is very small. Similarly, once produced, the impact will be very small and it will not be able to compete with Hollywood blockbusters. Just like in China, the boss supports the production of big movies like "Hero" Investment projects are all about creating impact.”
Simon nodded: "That's right. However, it's not just about influence. It's basically about re-attracting the audience's attention to local films and activating the market. Therefore, if Korean films want to get out of the downturn, they need to produce Korean blockbusters. A blockbuster, as long as it is successful, will have a greater impact than a lot of low-budget films, even if there are dark horses in these films."