Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 680 Mistakes Every Man Makes

Although Aaron is in Hong Kong, he hasn't let up on his Hollywood career. The bustling summer movie season has come to an end, but the Universal Pictures craze is far from over!
Scary Movie grossed $1.6 million in North America and $1.2 million in overseas markets, bringing its global total to $2.8 million, setting a new record for horror-comedy films.

"Erin Brockovich" grossed $1.2 million in North America and $1.2 million in overseas markets, bringing its global total to $2.4 million. Nicole Kidman continues to deliver strong performances.
The amazing superhero blockbuster "Spider-Man" grossed $4 million in North America and $4 million in overseas markets, bringing its global total to over $8 million, making it almost a shoo-in for this year's champion.
The sequel blockbuster "The Mummy 2" grossed $2 million in North America and $2.3 million in overseas markets, for a total global box office of $4.3 million.
Gladiator, which is still showing in theaters, has already grossed over $4 million worldwide, and its sequel, Scream 3, has grossed over $1.2 million worldwide.
After three weeks in theaters, "Behind the Lies" has grossed over $9500 million at the North American box office.

Universal's next release is Eddie Murphy's comedy sequel, "The Fat Professor 2"!
Nighttime, a private room in a bar in Lan Kwai Fong.

"The action-comedy film 'Shanghai Noon,' which Jack Cheng co-produced and starred in, seems to have fallen short of expectations in terms of both performance and critical reception?"

Wang Zhuxian leaned on Aaron, "Golden Harvest gave him HK$2 million to film 'The Accidental Spy,' which has many Taiwanese actors. Hongji Company probably wanted to use Jack Cheng's fame to do some advertising."

"Shanghai Noon" grossed around $55 million in North America, and with overseas markets included, its global box office totaled over $95 million, which did not exceed $100 million.
However, with an investment of only $5500 million, the production of "Shanghai Noon" and its distribution on videotape, DVD, and television broadcast would not result in a loss for Disney.

Last year, Jack Cheng was exposed for having an extramarital affair, and one of his mistresses gave birth to a daughter, who was dubbed "Little Dragon Girl" by the media.
Jack Cheng also apologized for the "Little Dragon Girl incident," uttering the famous line, "I made a mistake that every man in the world would make!"

Aaron smiled. "Jiahe is just making a death throes; it won't turn things around."

After all, most of Golden Harvest's assets have already been taken over by Media Asia!

"Jett Lee's 'Romeo Must Die' also grossed $5500 million in North America and $3500 million overseas, for a total worldwide gross of over $9000 million."

"However, Romeo Must Die is a B-movie with a budget of only $2500 million, so Warner Bros.' investment was still very successful!"

In any case, Jett Lee's first Hollywood starring role attracted a lot of viewers, and his salary was much lower than Jack Cheng's.

After his stunning appearance in "Lethal Weapon 4", Jett Lee's salary for starring in "Romeo Must Die" was $240 million, which is close to HK$2000 million.

Now, Jett Lee's next film has started shooting in France; it's the action film "Kiss of the Dragon" with Luc Besson.
Although Luc Besson was not the director, he was the screenwriter and producer of "Kiss of the Dragon," a collaboration between EuropaCorp and 20th Century Fox.

Of course, due to the commercial success of Romeo Must Die, Jett Lee's salary doubled, reaching $500 million for Kiss of the Dragon!
Wang Zhuxian nodded. "Hollywood now has another Chinese action star."

"Now, in Hong Kong, Emperor Entertainment Group has entered the film industry and is making a strong push."

Aaron touched the other person's face. "Doesn't Media Asia have collaborations with some big-name stars in Hong Kong?"

"Can a new company really compare to the financially powerful and influential Huanya?"

Wang Zhuxian made a lot of money after selling her shares in Shinco VCD. In addition to investing in real estate in Beijing, she is also expanding her entertainment business.

Now Hong Kong has Media Asia Cinemas, which is responsible for the screening business. Media Asia has businesses in Hong Kong and Taipei, not to mention its subsidiaries in Japan. It can also access the US market. How can other companies compare?
Wang Zhuxian smiled and said, "That's true. Now Media Asia has contracts with many directors and big-name actors. They didn't pay much attention to the talent agency business before, but now they do." "Media Asia has also become a conglomerate, with both real estate and entertainment businesses developing in the same direction."

The entertainment industry encompasses film and television production, theatrical distribution, and artist management.

"By the way, I heard that the television industry in mainland China is booming right now, isn't it?"

Aaron suddenly asked.

"That's right, the TV shows we invested in are getting pretty good ratings," Wang Zhuxian thought for a moment, "I reckon it's because the film industry is sluggish, so people are only able to choose television for entertainment."

"You might not know this, but last year the box office in mainland China was only 8.1 million RMB, less than 1 million USD."

"Of course, there are no official statistics on box office revenue in mainland China right now, but according to statistics from mainstream newspapers, it won't exceed 9 million RMB!"

Aaron sighed. "So low?"

It seems that China is indeed in a period of development. Last year, the total box office in the North American market was $73 billion!
"Yes, so the development of the film industry is now a key focus of government discussions, and opening up the film production industry to private companies is now imperative."

China's film industry is in dire straits. If it weren't for the release of 10 imported blockbusters every year, the situation would probably be even worse.
In addition, the Hong Kong film market is now in a state of decline and urgently needs new markets, but the official departments in mainland China have not opened up to it at all.
Wang Zhuxian was also very anxious. After all, Hong Kong films are imported films for the mainland, and it is not easy to get a revenue-sharing quota. They can only enter the market through the batch film model, which does not make much money.

Moreover, whether in Hong Kong or mainland China, piracy of VCDs and DVDs is rampant, so there's not much hope for the audio-visual market!

"Well, there are 15 imported revenue-sharing blockbusters this year, but it's not enough to make a difference."

Aaron couldn't help but laugh, picked up his glass and took a sip. "The foundation of spiritual civilization is material security."

"You have to eat your fill first before you can pursue things related to spiritual civilization. Things will naturally get better once China's economy develops!"

There's no need to rush these things; the economy is the foundation of development.

Wang Zhuxian nodded. "That's true. These things shouldn't be rushed. By the way, is the Fulihua Hotel really going to be demolished?"

Aaron shrugged. "Of course, that location is excellent. Building a high-end office building there would have even greater economic value."

Moreover, AIG (American Nationality Group) also supports them; they want to establish their Asian headquarters in Hong Kong.

A new skyscraper has been erected, and Haihua's headquarters are now in place!
(End of this chapter)