has risen every two years, and both markets have changed.
text/Pang Hongbo
has a great background. Recently, it was announced that "The Battle of Midway", which was released simultaneously in China and the United States, was officially finalized. But in fact, behind this movie is far more than just a Chinese company participating in the production of the Hollywood Wars, which can be released simultaneously. In fact, two years ago, this movie, also called "Midway Island", had an extremely complicated background, which made the strategic significance of two years later look even more different. At the 2017 Cannes International Film Festival, Bona Pictures suddenly announced that it would vote for "Midway Island" with 80 million US dollars. The director and producer of this project are both CAA clients, and this project is one of many projects recommended by CAA to Bona Pictures. The reason CAA is recommended to Bona Pictures is for two reasons. One point is that "Midway Island" did not find a suitable investor in Hollywood's "Big Six"; another point is that Chinese capital was fiercely fighting in Hollywood, even though foreign exchange controls had already appeared at that time. In the end, Bona Pictures became the first time that Chinese capital controlled and invested in Hollywood blockbusters. It is reported that the $80 million investment cost accounts for 70% of the total investment cost, and the remaining share is used to find US partners. From the current point of view, the overall cost of the film is comparable to the originally estimated 120 million. According to the agreement, Bona Pictures enjoys global ownership outside the US market, including distribution rights in China. According to the current information disclosure of the film, the North American distribution rights belong to Lionsgate. At CinemaCon in Las Vegas this year, "Midway Island" also appeared on Lionsgate's film list. is also the film that attracted special funds for the long-term investment of films established by Bona Pictures and CAA with the first phase of 150 million US dollars. This is not just a single business, it looks like a combined business. Nowadays, in the North American market, it is still difficult for projects like "The Battle of Midway" to reach an investment budget of more than $100 million, and streaming media platforms such as Netflix and Amazon have become better homes for such movies. Hollywood's "Big Six" Complete the reorganization. However, in the top ten box office in the Chinese market, there is only one imported film "Avengers 4", but two of them are domestic blockbusters with main themes such as Bona Film's owner-controlled. The two film markets in China and the United States have undergone completely different changes in two years, and this change has to some extent tested the "forward-looking" of this business two years ago.
z2
3z
"Decisive Battle Midway": China Capital 1.0 era of high light
main control and main investment, this is the "Power Game" that Chinese capital ever wanted most in Hollywood.
China Capital has actually gone through several stages in entering Hollywood: financial investment --- project investment --- industrial investment. Nowadays, it can be regarded as an embryonic stage of industrial investment. Many Chinese capitals not only divide the mainland market share by introducing films, but also pay more attention to the introduction of films in mainland operations and even global distribution. But two years ago, it was completely different. Chinese capital squeezed its head and rushed out, with the goal of "branding" in Hollywood blockbusters. At the 2017 Cannes International Film Festival, it was announced that 80 million US dollars will be the master voter of "The Battle of Midway Island", which to some extent became the highlight of the Chinese capital 1.0 era. This is also the first time that China Capital controls and invests in Hollywood blockbusters, and it is also the only time it has been impressed so far. In the past two years, Bona Pictures has been deeply involved in the main theme of domestic blockbusters so that the outside world has forgotten that this company once went public in the United States and accumulated a lot of Hollywood resources during the listing. In 2015, Bona Pictures participated in the investment in "Billy Lynn's Midfield War" directed by Ang Lee and won the distribution rights of the film in China. In November of the same year, Bona made a high investment of US$235 million in TSG Entertainment Finance, an entertainment finance company that has been cooperating with Twentieth Century Fox for a long time. The funds from are used in the production of six mainstream commercial blockbusters including "The Martian", "X-Men" and "Independence Day 2". Subsequently, the two parties supplemented the cooperation of "The Circus King" starring Hugh Jackman. These seven films have won over 3 billion box office in the mainland market. 's $235 million investment is mainly a financial investment. According to the agreement, Bona invests 20% in each of these six films, and has the right to get the same percentage of the global box office share of these films.
but in "The Battle of Midway",It's completely different. U.S. Central City Film Company is director Emmerich’s own company and the producer of the film; Bona Pictures’ investment of US$80 million is obviously the largest producer of movies; while Lionsgate is the film producer. North American issuer.
It is reported that "The Battle of Midway" is a blockbuster film that director Emmerich has always wanted to shoot, but even Sony, who has worked with Emmerich for a long time, is not willing to invest in this film. At this time, Bona Pictures "take over" the main control and cast, becoming the biggest "golden master" of the film. So, this also means that Chinese capital has gotten rid of the original financial investment in "The Battle of Midway".
2
One billion "marriage" CAA: a "starting point" for the transformation of the Chinese and American film markets
The most overlooked focus of the transformation of the two major Chinese and American film markets.
Behind the 80 million US dollars main investment "The Battle of Midway", Bona Pictures and CAA established a long-term film special investment fund with an initial scale of 150 million US dollars. The fund is jointly managed by Bona Pictures and CAA, and is mainly used to invest in English films for the global market, Chinese co-production films and Chinese films for the local market.
Unfortunately, no news has been heard since the fund was unveiled. However, Bona Pictures has been very active in introducing films in the past two years. In addition to the resources accumulated during the listing in the United States and the cooperation with 20th Century Fox and Sony, this investment fund is more or less helpful. For most people, CAA is still considered to be the brokerage company with the richest star resources in the world. But in fact, CAA has a very high voice in overseas brokerage business to some extent. First of all, the directors and producers of "The Battle of Midway" are from CAA. CAA in Hollywood is not only a huge resource in hand, but can provide a film company with a package of directors, screenwriters, producers, and artists. Service, and charge a commission of about 10% for the clearly marked price. In addition to , CAA is responsible for agency investment in the North American film sales in the investment fund jointly managed with Bona Pictures, and selects international distributors. In addition to the North American publisher Lionsgate, the global publisher AGC studios may have also completed the search for CAA. So, for such a Hollywood company that has the right to speak, why would choose Bona Pictures?
In addition to Chinese capital factors, more importantly, Hollywood itself is conservative and lagging.
In fact, after the super-British blockbuster established the universe, the series and super-British movies became the first choice of Hollywood's "Big Five" (20th Century Fox was acquired by Disney). So, for a brokerage company like CAA with integrated resources, it is tantamount to limiting its most important lifeline. Now, in two years, Hollywood has gone a step further from its original conservativeness. Big directors such as Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, and Alfonso Cuarón have all "turned to" streaming media platforms, while Netflix, Amazon, and even the ambitious Apple have invested heavily. The reason why the streaming media platform has achieved such rapid development mainly comes from the "conservative" of Hollywood itself. The budget for non-series commercial films in Hollywood is becoming more and more limited, and the high-priced investment of streaming media platforms eager to enter the mainstream market has finally completed a replacement of old and new. In fact, "The Battle of Midway" fell into the hands of Bona Pictures based on the same background. Emery was struggling to find investment and failed, and Bona Pictures and CAA hit it off.
3
2.0 in the Chinese market: Where are the opportunities for Hollywood films?
"constant" market opportunities.
along with the National Day files "Me and My Motherland" and "Captain of China" squeezed into the top ten in mainland movie history box office, currently only "Avengers 4" introduced in the list. In the future, the market prospects of imported films in the Mainland have become a very interesting topic because of such changes.
In fact, in the resumption of the mainland market in 2018, domestic films accounted for more than 60% of the box office, and it was still based on the obvious increase in the number of non-Hollywood movies. But what should also be seen is that the top six Hollywood super British films in 2018 are still the "magic stones" of the mainland market, which reached its peak in this year's "Avengers 4". Although from a single film, Hollywood superBlockbuster movies still remain competitive, but the box office size of most movies has begun to solidify. It is extremely difficult to achieve a big breakthrough. In addition, the relationship with Chinese capital has also changed significantly. Super British movies are the absolute trump card of Hollywood's "Big Five". Even at any time node, Chinese capital wants to be among them through financial investment and get the global box office. There is no hope. Then, in addition to the super-British movies, Hollywood’s “top five” independent productions are shrinking, and the “mid-stage movies” are shrinking. Today, coupled with the strong rise of streaming media, Chinese capital has nowhere to be placed in the Hollywood system. In other words, the original financial investment in China's capital overseas has basically failed. What
should see is the rise of industrial investment under the failure of financial investment. For example, although the box office performance of "Gemini Killer" is not satisfactory in China, the CINITY theater system established because of "Gemini Killer" "counterattack" the release production system. This industrial operation of high-format movies has given Chinese companies a great deal space. Alibaba Pictures played a very important role in the Oscar-winning films "Green Book" and "Freehand Rock Climbing". The mainland marketing of imported films has given Alibaba Pictures more room for development.
In 2015, Bona Pictures learned its experience in global distribution through the cooperation with Fox. This seems to have the opportunity to "marry" CAA in 2017 and take an important step in global distribution. Similarly, the strategic cooperation between Ali Pictures and Zaihai and Spielberg Abelin has made it possible to operate the "Green Book" to some extent. Whether it is the market prospects or the growth rate of , the future development momentum of the Chinese and American film markets will still be in the Chinese market. However, pure financial investment is no longer profitable, and industrial investment with industrial operation capabilities has become a greater possibility in the future. is now looking back at Bona Pictures’ “super big order” two years ago, which seems to be a “node” in the transformation of the two major Chinese and American film markets in the past two years.
