Hollywood Tycoon [US Entertainment + Business War]

Although the official flagship store of AMC Times is not as big as the Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, AMC temporarily persuaded the New York City government to seal a road so that the red carpet show of "The English Patient" can be held.What made Jed even more amazed at AMC was that they also bought advertisements on several important display screens in Times Square to play the promotional film of "The English Patient".

For AMC's great sincerity, Jed naturally wants to reciprocate.Just before the premiere, Jed made it a point to invite AMC CEO Gerardo Lopez to dinner.Jed knew that Gerardo was an extremely discerning businessman, and it was with his help that the merger between AMC and Wanda Cinemas was completed.To be honest, don't look at AMC's claim to be the second largest theater company in the United States, but in fact they are still a long way from the No.1 Royal Entertainment Group.But behind them, Cinemark is pressing harder and harder, so AMC has always been in an awkward position before it was acquired by Wanda.It was precisely because of Herardo's strong opposition that he resolutely chose to cooperate with Wanda that led to the later revival of AMC.

"Surely Mr. Sherman didn't just treat me to a meal?" Herardo asked with a smile.

"Of course it's not just about a meal." Since Jed invited Herardo to eat in this quiet box, he must have something to discuss, "Mr. Lopez should know that I am buying the Canadian IMAX company recently, but Due to local laws in the United States, I have to sell IMAX Theater Alliance, a subsidiary of IMAX Corporation, I wonder if AMC is interested?"

The IMAX alliance theater company actually does not own many theaters, but the problem is that they are all standard IMAX projection equipment and are located in some important cities in Europe and America, so it is impossible for AMC not to be interested in them.In particular, Herardo has always disagreed with AMC's so-called "unified standard" arrangement. In future movie theater competition, you must use differentiated services to impress audiences.After all, distribution companies provide the same films to major cinema companies, so why do people go to CMU instead of AMC?

For theater companies at the level of AMC, they don't need to specialize in second-round discount movie theaters or art independent movie theaters. What they need is to provide more services to audiences.Some American audiences are only willing to pay $3 to Blockbuster to rent DVDs, and some American audiences are willing to spend $5 to $10 to watch movies in theaters, but even more American audiences are willing to spend $20 to enjoy a better viewing experience. Obviously, IMAX is Good choice.

Herardo has been paying attention to the advancement of IMAX technology, especially after Jade's company launched the "Pacific Giant Screen" technology. He firmly believes that the era of high-definition and high-shock movie viewing has arrived.He thought in his heart that it would indeed cost a lot of money to acquire the IMAX alliance theater company, but since Jed came to the door, he naturally had his plan.

"I would like to hear any good suggestions from Mr. Sherman?" Herardo asked with a smile.

"I know that it will be very difficult for AMC to enter the IMAX alliance theater company, so there will be a company called Sherman Family Development Company to inject capital into AMC, but it will need some stocks. Of course, I will also be willing to give up the IMAX trademark, allowing How about the free use of AMC for five years worldwide?" Jed also gave his suggestion with a smile.

Herardo immediately thought about the acquisition. In his opinion, there is nothing wrong with AMC introducing new capital.In particular, Jed owns a film production company, so it is also reasonable to indirectly control the theater company through capital operations.Herardo especially valued the condition of using the IMAX trademark for free. Obviously, he really wanted to make the future AMCIMAX theaters a high-end brand of AMC theaters.However, it is too stingy for Jed to only give five years of free use. God knows how many years it will take AMC to promote the IMAX brand to the world.

He shook his head and said, "I have no problem with the financing issue. You just need to convince the board of directors. I am also happy to promote IMAX together with your IMAX company, but the free use of only five years is too short, right? I’m afraid we’ve been promoting IMAX for more than five years, don’t we want to recover the proceeds?”

Jed didn't reject Herrad, after all, from AMC's point of view, the five-year free license is indeed a bit too short.Jed thought for a while and said, "Mr. Lopez, how about this, let's leave the rest of the issues to your subordinates to negotiate?"

Herardo nodded. After all, just relying on the two of them to have a lunch together won't yield any results. Anyway, the two of them already have intentions and have negotiated on major aspects.For Herardo, on the one hand, he can win the theaters of the IMAX Alliance theater chain and get the free use of the IMAX trademark; Conducive to the promotion of AMC.

For Jade, being able to establish a relationship with a large North American theater company will help Galaxy Movies to break away from the Disney system in the future.The only thing that Disney can threaten Jade now is that the distribution system of Galaxy movies is not perfect, without the support of Bowei International, it will inevitably lose a lot of box office.But now that Disney and Galaxy movies are getting boring, Jed has to prepare for the future early.

The red carpet show in New York is still Jade and Binoche's partner, but this time Binoche did not put on the cheongsam that has attracted much attention, but Valentino's haute couture dress.When Binoche stepped out in Valentino's iconic red gown, the gray tones of New York City seemed to be set on fire by her.And Jed is still wearing a low-key formal suit this time, but the fashion editor who knows the goods will not criticize Jed in his column, because his three-piece suit is an order from Savile Row.It is a tailor shop that is said to be rich but not inaccessible. A piece of clothing can be made for at least three months.

"This time it's not as flamboyant as last time." John commented backstage.

Shannetti curled her lips and didn't answer John's words, but was busy asking the PR company to arrange different people to go to different positions.The front row is for the film crew, the film critics are behind, the guests are behind, and the lucky audience is at the end.There are different gifts on each seat, for the crew, of course, special products belonging to New York; for film critics, an introduction to the film and a bottle of champagne; for guests and lucky audience, peripheral products of the film.If it is in China, it is natural to give red envelopes to film critics, but it is not possible in the United States.If someone takes money from the film company and praises it in a column, it is against the ethics of film critics. Not only will he be expelled from the Film Critics Association, but he may even be expelled from the reporter union.Never underestimate the power of trade unions in the United States. If you see that the directors' union can force a big director like Lucas to stop filming for ten years, you know that if he is expelled from the reporter's union, then this person will be completely unemployed.

Perhaps because of the movie-watching experience of their colleagues in Los Angeles, the film critics in New York took "The English Patient" seriously.Although New York is a bustling commercial city, the filmmakers in New York are not crowded with commercial films.One-third of the independent films in the United States are completed in New York, so New York is known as the base of American independent films and the palace of art films. Of course, New York filmmakers also call themselves "the conscience of American films". Many elements of "The English Patient" actually touched New Yorkers. There is a so-called unethical love affair, and it is a biographical film. In addition, this film was shot in the UK and produced by a British filmmaker... Various elements are constructed Together, New Yorkers feel like this is the movie New York needs.But why can the rednecks in Los Angeles understand such a movie?This is not scientific!

A Hungarian geographer and a married woman fall in love in a desert, and the background of the story is World War II.In fact, this story has little to do with love, nor does it have much to do with war, as if love and war are just the background of the story.The whole movie is immersed in the memories of the hero and heroine, each with their own memories and their own reality...These memories and reality are either independent or intertwined...Everything is turned into a wonderful story under the direction of the director. concerto.Some people saw the destruction of love by war, so they shed tears for the death of the hero; some people saw the compromise of love in the face of reality, so they struggled with the betrayal of the heroine; Intertwined, I can't help applauding the screenwriter and director; of course, some people are purely looking at the scenery of North Africa, and think that the photographer is really beautiful... Different people see different stories, but different stories are excellent stories.Finally, after the film's release, critics and celebrities in New York gave the film a standing ovation.

The next day's New York Times quoted a line from the film as its headline, "I've always dreamed of wandering with you and friends on an Earth without maps..."

The "New York Times" film review article believes that "The English Patient" is not only a biographical film about love, but also a film that directly points to the human heart, because this film is praising "the freedom of the soul". "When I saw those scenes in the movies where men and women in the desert of North Africa dreamed about swimming, my heart was so uneasy...No one or anything can stop the human imagination, as long as your heart is free then you are free too..."

With the "New York Times" setting the tone, the rest of the major Eastern newspapers also gave the film very high marks.Although the distribution company of "The English Patient" is Galaxy Films, Jed didn't want to expose his distribution channels prematurely, so he pretended to borrow the channels of Bowei International.Bowei International still didn't say anything about this. After all, although the relationship between Galaxy Movies and Disney is somewhat tense, the benefits brought to Bowei International are real, so Bowei International still doesn't have much for Galaxy Movies.Seeing such a good response from film critics, Bowei International immediately placed high expectations on the box office when the film was officially released.But Jed still reminded: "This movie is too serious. I think it would be good for this movie to enter the top ten box office at the weekend."