Chapter 1398: Bad Words

"The province has set up a special working group, and you asked to finalize it before March next year. However, according to the current progress, I think most of the process can be completed by the end of the year. After all, it is a $1 billion project. The current progress of the consultation The information has been sent to you, check your mailbox. Heh, also, because of this incident, I have not been able to rest recently, and so have my parents and the people around me. They all want to attract investment, and the country is very short of money now."

"Then take a look, and vote if you find something suitable."

"You have a lot of money now?"

"It's really too much to spend. I just cashed out another 3 billion US dollars from Nasdaq this month."

"Oh, big capitalist."

Manhattan, the headquarters of the Westeros Corporation.

The time is September 19th.

Saturday.

After resting with the women for a few days, Simon finally returned to the office. It doesn't matter whether it is a weekday or a weekend. At this time, he is in the middle of a video call with Lin Su in China, mainly about the $1 billion refining that he casually agreed to last time. project, and some other recent events.

While talking, Simon quickly browsed through Lin Su's email that Girl A had just printed out. He only discussed some details and didn't talk in depth. After all, this is not an area Simon is familiar with, and it still needs to be handed over to a professional team.

Then talk about another topic.

About the "Kingdom of the Winds", which will be launched on September 11.

Compared with "Counter-Strike OL" in June, the number of activated users reached 272,000 within three days of its launch, and "Kingdom of Winds" only reached 173,000 after it was launched for a week as of yesterday.

Of course, this is only relative.

For such a project, which is the first large-scale role-playing game in mainland China, with the current scale of Internet users in China and the size of Paradise Online itself, it has attracted more than 170,000 users to join the game in the first seven days of the week, which is definitely an excellent result.

Not only that, it is different from turn-based games such as "Counter-Strike OL", because "Kingdom of the Wind" is a role-playing game type with strong continuity. Once players "enter the game", it is difficult to get rid of it. In the market environment, after the first three days of free trial time, the strategy formulated by the game operation team did not limit the level of free players to level 20 as in World of Warcraft, but continued to give 1 hour of free play per day. game time.

More than 1 hour, of course, will have to pay.

The problem is that, compared to "Counter-Strike OL", a turn-based game that can be enjoyed by playing a few rounds in an hour, "Kingdom of the Winds" can't do much in one hour.

In addition, free players also have restrictions on props and other aspects.

As a result, the payment ratio of the 173,000 activated users of "Kingdom of the Winds" has reached an astonishing 27%, far exceeding the 19% of the previous three-day launch of "Counter-Strike OL".

Of course, there are still a large number of big promotions such as free point cards for opening Yifubao-bound accounts. The proportion of paying users who can really provide stable turnover for Paradise Online will have to wait at least one month after the launch, and the various promotional activities are over, and we will wait until then.

However, just as Simon had considered before, if a certain girl launches the unstoppable "Kingdom of the Wind" to test the waters, it is likely to create a phenomenal game like "Legend" in advance.

In fact, to start such a large-scale promotion and various gifts, it was a strategy decided by Simon himself.

Lin Su had obviously raised doubts on behalf of the operation team before.

Simon also patiently explained.

It is still a word, if you want to take it, you must first give it.

It's free, and it's always been the most expensive. First, you'll get players in through various promotions that cost almost nothing, and when it's time to pay, you want to leave... Then you go, go?

Can we go?

"According to your reminder, we have kept a low profile as much as possible. However, several games during this period, from "Counter-Strike OL" to "Happy Farm" and now "Kingdom of the Wind", have all been released because they are too popular. It has aroused the attention of public opinion, and some time ago, there was a robbery by a few children in order to buy game cards, which almost appeared in the newspapers and was quietly suppressed, Simon, what do you think we should do next?"

"This is mainly a problem with Internet cafes." Simon was also distressed, and said, "Try to promote relevant public opinion and push the blame to Internet cafes. Well, you don't have to worry about this matter. I will let Xiaoqing do it."

On the computer screen, Lin Su nodded with a smile: "Well, she is very suitable for doing bad things, but I was thinking, can we promote legislation to force Internet cafes to prohibit minors from entering?"

"The legislation is simple, the key is whether it can be implemented," Simon said: "China has promulgated a ban on game consoles, banning domestic black game halls on a large scale, but I'm sure, not to mention remote areas, even core cities, many places There will still be game halls, and they cannot be banned. The same goes for Internet cafes.”

"Is it better to have something than nothing?"

"Then do it."

Lin Su smiled again: "I'm not familiar with this kind of thing, let Xiaoqing do it."

"Well, I'll say hello to her."

Then they discussed a bunch of things about Suzhou-Hangzhou Expressway, Xiaoshan Airport, the fast-growing Nongfu Spring brand, a real estate company in Hangzhou called Greentown, etc. After more than an hour, and near the end of the call, Lin Sucai pretended not to ask Said: "Last time you said that you want to come to China?"

"Don't worry, everything has been arranged, and I will leave next Monday."

Lin Su couldn't hide her joy: "Next Monday?"

Simon broke the cold water a little: "Go to Europe first, and China will be the last."

Lin Su rolled her eyes lightly, but she was relieved to get confirmation from the man, and followed his words: "Is it about Russia?"

"Well, this time I'm going to Moscow."

Lin Su also sighed with emotion: "I really didn't expect it. Since childhood, the Soviet Union existed side by side with the United States. I didn't expect it to be reduced to this state so soon."

Simon said: "It's your own fault."

Lin Su was slightly puzzled: "You have to blame yourself?"

Simon said: "There is a saying in the business field that if a company reaches a certain level, it will not fail. Although this theory has been falsified in South Korea in the past year, it actually has some rationality .Extending to the country, the size of the former Soviet Union, external force is very difficult to make it fall, the collapse of the Soviet Union, in my opinion, there is a considerable historical accident, in the last years, the Soviet high-level made too many mistakes, In the end, I destroyed myself, including the actions of the former Soviet Union countries in recent years, which can only be described as stupid."

Lin Su listened carefully, and finally said: "I thought you would say that the Soviet Union was defeated by the United States?"

"Yeah, Americans think so, I think they will pay the price sooner or later," Simon said, seeing Lin Su puzzled again, he explained with a smile: "As a westerosian, I'm more used to looking at many things from the perspective of God , The United States, the Soviet Union, China, or the current Russia, all have something to do with me, and they have nothing to do with me.”

Lin Su curled her mouth: "No wonder Xiaoqing said when I was chatting with me recently, you always use a very strange position to say some strange things."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Bad words."

"How dare you speak ill of me in private, and deal with her next time."

"hehe."

"Don't be too happy, the people who complained will also clean up."

Lin Su blushed slightly: "Then you come to China first."

After a few more chats, the video communication ended, and Simon began to review a pile of documents at hand.

The first is a recent film industry briefing.

The summer file is over, and Daenerys Entertainment's film releases continue.

Woody Allen's "Celebrity" produced by Gaomen Films was launched last Friday.

In order to pay homage to the master and for the golden age of the past few years, Old Woody made the original version of "Celebrities" into a black and white film. As a result, despite the cameo appearance of Xiao Lizi, who had just reached the pinnacle with "Titanic", the box office was still dismal.

When the project started last year, Simon personally intervened, not only dispelling Woody Allen's idea of ​​​​a black and white film, but also doing the opposite, with heavy ink.

It turned out not too bad.

In the first week of its release, with a stronger lineup still including a pair of famous guest stars including Xiao Lizi, the comprehensive media score of the new version of "Celebrities" reached 8.1 points, earning 9.67 million US dollars in the first week.

Compared with the summer blockbuster, this result is obviously deserted.

However, considering the type of film, the first week was 9.67 million U.S. dollars. It is expected that the total box office will be around 30 million U.S. dollars in the long run.

The production cost of the project is 15 million US dollars, and the domestic box office is 30 million, which basically pays off. If it sells a little overseas, the marketing budget can also be recovered, and then enters the profit cycle.

And, actually, Daenerys Entertainment's investment in Woody Allen wasn't primarily about making money.

The key is to support people.

One thing I have to admit is that Woody Allen is indeed one of the best directors in Hollywood who can shoot women. For a young actor, as long as he can show his face in a Woody Allen movie, he will quickly attract attention Attention, get more opportunities.

Then there is a new box office week that started yesterday.

A director who is also very important to Simon has launched a new film of his own.

Christopher Nolan.

After breaking out last year with "Follow," the same batch of Christopher Nolan and Guy Ritchie have both received a bunch of olive branches from other Hollywood studios. However, neither of them is stupid, and in the end they both chose to continue to cooperate with Daenerys Entertainment.

Compared with the first "Follow", which had a psychedelic plot, Nolan's second film is much more satisfactory.

It's also a crime suspense film.

The script originally told a serial murder case in Florida. It was a very mediocre story, a bit imitating the traces of "The Silence of the Lambs" back then.

Simon took it and made some modifications himself.

First, the place where the story took place was changed from Florida to Alaska, and then the name was changed to "White Night Chase".

That’s right, it’s the movie Nolan and Al Pacino once worked together. In fact, the official English name literally translates to “Insomnia”, but Simon still thinks that the Chinese translation of “White Night” is better. , so I switched back from Chinese to English.

After slightly changing some details, I left it to Nolan to fiddle with.

$25 million investment, low-to-medium caliber, it's okay to screw up.

In addition, under Simon's little interference, the actor this time was still replaced by Al Pacino, but he did not invite Robin Williams as a guest star as before, influenced by Simon, a big butterfly, Robin Williams, who was once hot in the 1990s, is not tepid now.

Al Pacino was similarly tepid.

In short, this is the reason why the project can control the cost at 25 million US dollars

.

Here in Hollywood, the best actor can't last a lifetime.

Probably because it was the first time he was in charge of a standard Hollywood project, Simon didn't interfere too much, and Nolan still kept his shooting quite restrained. However, as a personality director, even if it is only the second film, his own style has already been clarified.

The results are also not bad.

Under New World Pictures combined with the influence of last year's "Follow", the media gave a comprehensive media score of 7.7 points, which is not as good as Woody Allen's "Celebrities" last week, but it is enough.

2,387 opening screens, according to yesterday's first-day box office data, the film's first-week box office is expected to be around 20 million US dollars.

The current lack of strong competitors makes it easy to get out of a good long-term schedule. The first week is 20 million. It is conservatively estimated that the total local box office can easily reach 40 million. 50 million or even higher 60 million is not impossible.

All in all a pretty successful film.

In addition to the new films worthy of attention in the past two weeks, there is also the Venice Film Festival that has already concluded.

This year's Venice Film Festival opened on September 3 and ended on September 13, lasting 11 days.

There are three films related to Daenerys Entertainment that Simon is concerned about. On the Hollywood side, there is a new film that is completely out of butterflies, "The Other Side of the Sea". .

Well, Lily.

Furthermore, from China, Director Chen's "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin", which was supposed to be shown in Cannes, was pushed to Venice by Simon in order to make way for "Hero".

There was no splash of water at all.

The last is "The Day a Pig Fell into a Well" from Korea.

Simon specifically explained that although he missed the three major awards of the Golden Lion, Silver Lion and Jury Special Award, he still won an award for the best debut work.

Obvious comforting properties.

However, for Korean movies, this is also an honor worth mentioning.

South Korea has made a lot of publicity recently, and it can be regarded as a good motivational talk for South Korea, which is economically bleak.

The pacifier kind.

To Simon's surprise, because of winning the award, the overseas copyright of "The Day a Pig Fell into a Well" sold very well, and only the income from Europe was equivalent to 1.7 million US dollars.

Of course, only Europe.

It is mainly Asian films that have formed a stable market demand in Europe.

There is no drama here in the United States, so even the theaters do not plan to enter, and Blockbuster directly won it for 50,000 US dollars and entered the video tape market.

Considering that the film’s cost of 600 million won is less than 400,000 U.S. dollars at the current exchange rate, in terms of return on investment, just doing it overseas is a huge profit. It is conceivable that even if it is a boring film, the honor will be added, and the Koreans will definitely join in.