Top of the big era

This is Hollywood.

Zhou Buqi's visit this time was of course related to movies. It’s not just Ziweixing Global’s financial report, stock price, market value, etc., it’s a real movie.

Arranged by the company, a total of three films were fortunate enough to receive the care of the big boss.

1. "007: Skyfall".

This movie was released during the Christmas season last year. Half a year later, it has begun to close in the North American market. The results are very gratifying. The current global box office is 1.08 billion US dollars!

It is likely to break the $1.1 billion mark before being taken off the shelves globally.

This is the biggest-selling movie in the history of the "007" series.

It’s not just the box office either.

There are also advantages in corporate image and external public relations.

MGM was on the verge of bankruptcy a few years ago, and it couldn't survive even with the ace franchise "007" in hand. Later, it was acquired by Boss Zhou through a debt-for-equity swap.

The outside world is watching.

MGM is of great significance in Hollywood. This company has a special status in Hollywood. Everyone wants to see how this amateur Silicon Valley entrepreneur can save MGM.

The series of actions that followed were truly astonishing.

First of all, Ziweixing Global bulldozed the old MGM factory, directly planned a new headquarters park, and built a 30-story Ziweixing Global headquarters building.

Then, MGM's production department made major adjustments and absorbed Summit Entertainment. The team from Summit Entertainment was in charge of MGM's production department.

Third, it refused to cooperate with Warner to develop the "Hobbit" series of masterpieces. With the support of the group headquarters, MGM wanted to develop the entire series of "Lord of the Rings" drama versions alone.

After several adjustments, the first American TV series "The Lord of the Rings: Creation" was aired in January this year. It premiered on Warner's HBO TV station and then premiered overseas on the British BBC TV station.

The first round ended and in March, it landed on the streaming media platform Netflix. There is no doubt that it has become the most watched and popular American TV series on the Internet.

The first-round TV broadcast and 3-year streaming rights for the single film earned a total of US$450 million!

The money-making ability is no worse than that of movies.

However, TV series and movies are not on the same level.

Now, the movie is coming.

The rebooted "007" makes its debut!

"Skyfall" not only achieved the highest box office in history, but also received critical acclaim.

There is also a movie, the animated film "The Croods" by DreamWorks Animation.

The movie just came out.

It’s the end of March, which is the off-season for movies.

But this animated film had a good start as soon as it was released. With its two-day box office on the first weekend, it easily won the box office championship in a single week.

Of course, this alone is not enough to enter the big boss's vision. A very important factor is the linkage effect.

It just so happened that Don Mattrick was also in Los Angeles.

Tonight's cocktail party at the Hollywood Hilton Hotel, Mattrick will be attending.

Zhou Buqi asked: "How is it linked?"

Don Mattrick said with a smile: "The big movie project of "Angry Birds" has been started. It may be half-way through filming. It is expected to be released next year. It is produced by DreamWorks Animation. At the same time, I also intend to choose A new DreamWorks Animation film was adapted into a mobile game for collaborative promotion.”

Zhou Buqi raised his eyebrows, "They're all from the same studio?"

Mattrick said: "Yes, Finland's Rovio Studio decided in August last year that Rovio Studio would develop the mobile version of "The Croods". Well... it will be a tower defense game. game."

At a time when smartphone performance is not good enough, tower defense games are the largest category in mobile games.

Changyou has a tower defense game "Avengers" in collaboration with Marvel. It was launched in June last year and its revenue in the first half of the year exceeded US$360 million.

This year, the popularity has dropped.

There are too many tower defense games.

But that's okay.

The Marvel Universe is a powerful movie series. In May, "Iron Man 3" will be released with great anticipation. With the popularity of the movie, it can drive a wave of game development.

Zhou Buqi frowned and remained calm.

When Mattrick saw that he was silent, he tentatively said: "Rovio Studio has slowed down in recent years, and all its games are centered around "Angry Birds"... Well, before that I It also promoted the cooperation between Rovio and Lucasfilm to launch the Star Wars version of "Angry Birds." But with only one game, the business is inevitably a bit monotonous. This time, it cooperated with DreamWorks Animation to develop "The Croods." "Mobile games are just an attempt."

The two of them haven't arrived at the hotel yet. On the Bentley going to the hotel, Zhou Buqi glanced at him and said, "Where is the game? Has it been developed?"

Mattrick was a little embarrassed, "No, it's much later than expected. I thought it could be launched in conjunction with the "Croods" cartoon, but their development efficiency was a bit worse."

"When will it be launched?"

"Maybe... it may have to wait until summer, July or August."

"What?" Zhou Buqi was a little angry, "By the time it's summer, the popularity of movies has long passed, and you're still linking up!"

Mattrick hesitated before explaining: "Two reasons."

"Um."

"First, Rovio now has two new projects, one is the movie adaptation of "The Croods", and the other is the original project "A Thief Story". In comparison, they attach more importance to this original project and are even confident that it will This project creates another popular casual puzzle game after "Angry Birds"."

"Not optimistic!"

Zhou Buqi came to a very arbitrary conclusion.

"ah?"

Don Mattrick was stunned.

Boss!

You haven’t even seen that game, so you know how good it is?

It is also normal for Zhou Buqi.

He has never heard of "Sniper Story", so this game must not be good. In comparison, the adaptation project "The Croods" is very famous and seems to be world-class.

Zhou Buqi said: "It's best to focus on "The Primitives". Once this project is completed, we can at least try to make some breakthroughs in film-game linkage. Film-game linkage is a very dangerous thing." I have never been optimistic about the direction. However, Changyou and MSI Global are industry giants with strong capabilities, so they may not be unable to try."

Mattrick said: "Yes, so the headquarters attaches great importance to this game, which puts greater development pressure on Rovio. They need to be more precise in development and design, which will be more time-consuming. "

Zhou Buqi reiterated the old saying: "When it comes to making original games, foreign studios are better at it. But when it comes to adaptation and imitation, our domestic team is better at it."

Mattrick heard what he meant, "Will future adaptation projects be licensed to studios in mainland China?"

Zhou Buqi smiled and said: "We can discuss it, Yan Xinlei... my college classmate, he will stay in the United States from now on, and he will work under you."

This is related to the distribution of power, and a balance must be achieved.

Changyou has a joint CEO system.

Don Mattrick is in charge of Europe and the United States, Ren Yuxin is in charge of the domestic market, and other Asian markets are promoted by two people.

If these excellent overseas adaptation projects are handed over to domestic studios, it will be equivalent to cutting off Mattrick's power.

Fortunately, there is also Yan Xinlei.

He has to be trained well and let him stay with Mattrick.