Chapter 1954 A Flood of Good Movies (Part 2)

"Resident Evil" has carried the expectations of comic fans for so many years. After surveys and previews, major theaters have given great support.

In North America alone, a total of 3,550 screens participated in the premiere, including 1,000 IMAX screens in the United States.

At first glance, this is not as much as when "Speed ​​of Life and Death" and "Superman 2" were playing in the ring. After all, the share of about 4,000 tickets was already mentioned at that time.

But now it has been more than 5 years since that time, and the situation is completely different.

First of all, the seven major Hollywood groups, as well as the small and medium-sized production companies, have produced many more movies than before.

As the total number of movies increases, the number of screens each movie gets decreases.

No matter how popular a movie you are, without good feedback from the box office, the number of 3,000 is a very difficult goal to surpass.

If it weren’t for the enthusiastic warm-up of comic fans this time, if it weren’t for Alice, popular fried chickens like Johnny Depp and Keanu Reeves joining the team, if it weren’t for the screenwriter Yin Jun and director Spielberg, Guaranteed, the number of 3,550 screens is absolutely unavailable.

"Mission: Impossible", which was so popular last year, only premiered on more than 2,600 screens.

Then look at the IMAX screens with more than 1,000 screens. If calculated based on the ticket price of 15-20 US dollars, they are already about 5 times the price of ordinary movie tickets.

Such a calculation is equivalent to the release amount of more than 7,000 ordinary screens, which far exceeds the "Speed" and "Superman 2" that year.

In fact, the number of premiere screens of "Resident Evil" has already caused a sensation in the United States.

Many experts in the movie box office market have begun to predict whether the third movie with a box office of more than 1 billion US dollars will be born soon?

"Resident Evil" did not disappoint those who were expecting it.

It grossed US$25 million at the North American box office on its first day, breaking the single-day North American box office record of US$20 million set by "Mission Impossible" and becoming the first North American box office to exceed US$20 million on its first day. Movie.

Not only has it achieved a great success at the box office, it has also been praised by many comic fans in terms of word-of-mouth. It has restored the scenes in the comics very well, whether it is Alice, Matt, Lane, etc. People are quickly immersed in the movie, and there is no sense of discomfort or drama.

And that cost a lot of money

With such word-of-mouth spread, many comics fans who were waiting to watch also flocked to the cinema on Saturday to watch their favorite classic.

So the next weekend, with the support of so many movie fans and comic book fans, the box office of "Resident Evil" soared again, reaching 31 million US dollars, and immediately broke the North American single-day box office record set yesterday.

The box office on Sunday was also very good, only down about 13%, with a revenue of 26 million US dollars.

The three-day box office result of the first weekend was 82 million U.S. dollars, which set a box office history and stunned everyone.

Only then did many people realize that maybe a total box office revenue of 1 billion US dollars is not a dream!

But only Yin Jun knows that the box office of the first part of "Resident Evil" should not exceed 1 billion US dollars.

The two movies that now have a box office of over 1 billion US dollars - "E.T." and "The Lion King" are both big movies that the whole family can enjoy, and they appeared very early. At that time, there were not as many movies as there are now, and there were not that big movies. Competition, so it can create a box office of 1 billion US dollars.

It’s not that there won’t be billion-dollar movies in the future. In fact, there are still many, but they probably don’t belong now.

Even "Jurassic Park" barely broke the $1 billion box office mark, let alone "Resident Evil," which had an obviously smaller audience.

Of course, after continuous accumulation, "Resident Evil 2" or "Resident Evil 3", or at most "Resident Evil 4", the box office of a single movie should also exceed 1 billion US dollars.

But that is also the case when the market is constantly being cultivated and people’s enthusiasm for watching movies continues to increase.

Today's "Resident Evil" cannot be said to be bad, nor can it be said that the audience is not supportive. But according to Yin Jun's observation of the global box office, if it does not exceed 100 million in the first weekend in North America, then according to the North American box office and the sales outside North America, Based on the global box office ratio, the possibility of US$1 billion is really unlikely.

Thinking about it, it's actually a bit of a pity.

"Resident Evil" is by far the most expensive movie in the world to produce.

Its production cost alone reached 150 million US dollars, of which 80 million US dollars were spent on special effects, which also created a historical record.

Then the global publicity and distribution costs of "Resident Evil" were as high as 100 million U.S. dollars, which added up to 250 million U.S. dollars.

In the history of human movies, there has never been such a high-cost movie produced.

This is also thanks to the three male and female protagonists of "Resident Evil" - Zhong Chuhong, Johnny Depp and Keanu Reeves, who are all actors under Kirin Culture. The latter two also signed a 20-year and 30-film contract with Kirin Culture. contract, so the basic salary is only US$1 million.

Although they will also participate in the subsequent profit sharing, overall, they have kept their remuneration down.

At normal prices, based on the good performance of Johnny Depp's consecutive appearances in "Rain Man" and "Jack Reacher", and the popularity of Keanu Reeves' "The Island", at least It should start from US$5 million.

If this is the case, the salary will increase a lot again.

Even Spielberg didn't get much guaranteed salary. He got 2 million US dollars plus 5% of the global box office share.

no way.

Spielberg is no longer the popular director who made "Raiders of the Lost Ark". He is a super director who made super blockbusters like "E.T.", so the share he gets is different from others.

Others only take a share of the North American box office, and even Keanu Reeves and Johnny Depp only take a share of the box office profits, but Spielberg takes a share of the box office directly.

No matter how much it is sold, whether it is profit or cost, then he has a share.

This is just the first film. Spielberg doesn't have high requirements for Yin Jun's sake.

If Spielberg is still allowed to serve as director and producer in the second and third films, his agent will definitely demand a share of the profits from the derivative products.

This includes profits from TV copyrights, video tapes, and comic peripheral products.

For a super blockbuster like "Resident Evil", with the support of comic fans and the bonus of the movie, the comic peripheral products will definitely sell well, and the profit will definitely be much higher than the box office profit of the movie. .

The current cost of production and promotion of "Resident Evil" is US$250 million, and the global box office needs at least US$650 million to recover the cost.

Of course, "Resident Evil" can reach a box office of 650 million U.S. dollars, but even with a total box office of 1 billion U.S. dollars, the box office share it can get is only 400 million U.S. dollars at most - North America, the largest box office, is based on a 50% share.

The pre-tax profit of US$400 million, minus the production and distribution costs of US$250 million, is only a profit of US$150 million.

After deducting the dividends to Spielberg and Zhong Chuhong, and deducting the tax payment, how many tens of millions are left?

A movie with a box office of 1 billion US dollars actually only made tens of millions of US dollars, and the investment cost was as high as 250 million US dollars. This shows how big a risk a large-cost movie is for a film company!

Usually many film companies never recover because of the failure of one or two big-budget movies.

Even a super conglomerate like Kirin Group will suffer a huge loss if it stumbles on "Resident Evil" - a loss of 100 to 200 million US dollars, how many movies will it take to make money back?

Fortunately, the Hollywood giants definitely have more than just the income from movie box office. In order to make the most of the money, they develop peripheral profits at all costs to increase their income.

For example, income from TV rights and video tapes is very high and should account for 20% of the box office.

If it were specifically placed on "Resident Evil", this ratio would be much higher.

Because many "Resident Evil" comic fans definitely want to collect a set of the movie version of "Resident Evil" as their own collection.

Therefore, in this area, there is a net profit of US$300 million.

And the bigger revenue comes from the "Resident Evil" comic peripheral products.

Whether it's the dolls of Alice and others, the licensing of clothes, shoes, and jewelry, or the income from advertising games, etc., it's all a steady stream of profit.

According to the statistics of United Artists Film Company, the five-year revenue and profit of this company will reach at least 500 million US dollars!

When the second and third parts are released, with the participation and support of comic fans around the world, the profits of these peripheral products will be even higher.

Think about it, if Spielberg asked for a share of these profits, his income from one movie would still be more than $100 million?

You can directly obtain such high profits without taking any risks, so this super director is really a money-making machine!

But Yin Jun didn't have so many ideas.

The fact that Spielberg can get so much means that he shoots well and performs well.

The more you earn, then the cast and crew involved in the overall production should naturally receive more rewards. This is the normal law of the market.

If you want "Resident Evil" to become a long-lasting super classic, and to continuously exert its influence and become a signature of the Kirin Group, these costs are nothing at all.

Don’t forget, “Resident Evil” can also be made into a very large area in the theme park!

Just like the special zones for "Harry Potter" and "Spider-Man" in Universal Studios, countless people contribute their money every day!

…

(My friends who went to squeeze through Universal Studios are really heroes. I heard it is much harder than waiting in line at Disney^_^)