Movie peripherals refer to products developed according to the characters, scenes, props, logos, etc., including toys, clothing, accessories, audio and video, books, daily necessities, etc., mainly relying on the popularity and influence brought by the movie's release.
In Hollywood, movie peripherals have long formed a huge and mature industry. Many movies may only earn back the cost at the box office, but relying on the sales of peripherals, they still make a lot of money.
According to the 2016 statistics of the Motion Picture Association of America, peripherals contributed more than 30% to the Hollywood film industry. Two-thirds of the income of many movies came from the sales of peripherals!
This was undoubtedly an extremely tempting big cake.
However, it was very difficult to eat the cake. China and Xiangjiang had also started the development of movie peripherals very early, but the results were completely unsatisfactory.
Two years ago, Baodelong Pictures, a big shot in the Xiangjiang film industry, invested 170 million to shoot the Hong Kong adaptation of "Super Hero", with the intention of replicating the Hollywood model, making a big fist in the field of peripherals, and creating a big IP of Hong Kong comic heroes. It could be said to be ambitious.
However, this Hong Kong blockbuster, with a total investment of more than 200 million plus the publicity costs, only earned 68 million in Hong Kong in the end. Including the domestic box office, it barely reached 300 million, a huge loss.
At that time, Baodelong Pictures also spent 12 million on the peripherals of "Super Hero", ordering a large number of puppet figurines, prop models, accessories, daily necessities, etc. In the end, the total sales in Xiangjiang and the mainland was only 5.1 million.
It should be known that the profit of movie peripherals was very high. The cost of a set of puppet figurines was 100, and the sales price was at least 300 or 400. Compared with the investment cost of 12 million, the 5.1 million sales was a huge loss.
"Super Hero" also borrowed the fame of the original comic to sell some peripherals, otherwise the loss would be even greater!
In the end, Baodelong Pictures was forced to destroy a large number of backlog of finished products, becoming a joke in the industry.
In fact, if it wasn't for Baodelong Pictures' overconfidence that led to a wrong prediction, the 5.1 million peripheral sales would still be possible, because most of the mainland and Xiangjiang movies did not have any peripherals, and what they had were just cheap posters and the like.
The example of "Super Hero" also made people in the industry flinch from peripheral products. They watched Hollywood blockbusters eat meat, and it became the most common phenomenon to be envious but not to do anything.
Therefore, when everyone learned that "A Chinese Ghost Story" had sold 2.65 million yuan on the first day of its release, their first feeling was disbelief. They could not believe it at all!
"A Chinese Ghost Story" was not a drama adapted from a popular manga, so it lacked a fan base. Although everyone was familiar with "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio", this was a supernatural film, so it was not suitable for the genre.
However, it was even more impossible to falsify the sales. First of all, Lu Chen Studio and Jiayang Pictures did not have the ability to make the cinemas in Hong Kong cooperate with them to fabricate the sales figures. Second, it was completely unnecessary.
This was because the sales of peripherals were not about buying ticket sales. Wouldn't spending money on their own peripherals be idiots?
Therefore, when the news was confirmed to be true, everyone's second reaction was disbelief.
It was unbelievable!
But regardless of whether they believed it or not, the industry professionals' evaluation of "A Chinese Ghost Story" suddenly increased by a large margin.
This movie was trending to be very popular!
It was very simple. If the audience didn't like the movie to a certain extent, why would they be willing to spend money to buy peripheral products that were more expensive than the movie tickets?
It had sold 2.65 million yuan on the first day. How much could it sell in the four-week release period?
If Hong Kong could sell so much, how much could it sell in mainland China, which was Lu Chen's home ground?
No one could make an accurate estimate — it was embarrassing to say more or less.
Everyone had to admire Lu Chen. To sell so many peripherals, he had to first lay out so many goods and stock up. Lu Chen dared to spend money on peripherals that were regarded as forbidden areas by countless of his peers. Whether it was courage or confidence, they were undoubtedly very strong.
And he had a high chance of winning the bet!
This made more people turn their attention to "A Chinese Ghost Story". Those in the industry who had been watching coldly from the sidelines or disdainful of the film had changed their minds. Many people even got someone to book tickets for "A Chinese Ghost Story".
No matter how much the advertisements in newspapers and websites were exaggerated, it was better to see it with one's own eyes!
…
"There are not many people I, Zhou Yi, truly admire in my life …"
Seeing Lu Chen, Zhou Yi said with great emotion, "Young Master Lu, you are definitely one of them!"
As soon as he got the first-day box office and peripheral sales data of "A Chinese Ghost Story", the behind-the-scenes boss of Jiayang Pictures could not sit still and personally went to the studio to look for Lu Chen.
Zhou Yi was not a boring person, and in fact, Jiayang Pictures was not the most important business under his name. However, this heavy sales data made him unable to remain calm.
More than two million in sales of peripheral products!
Thanks to policy factors, after the movies made by Hong Kong film companies were released in Hong Kong, they received a much higher share than their counterparts in the mainland, almost 50%.
In other words, with a box office of one million yuan, the film company could get 500,000 yuan or more. This was one of the important reasons why so many film companies could survive even though the local market of Hong Kong was small.
However, a 50% or 60% share of the box office was nothing compared to the profits of peripheral products!
As a rather successful businessman, Zhou Yi was well versed in the ways of this.
What made Zhou Yi feel ashamed was that when Lu Chen decided to invest a large amount of money in customizing the peripheral products of "A Chinese Ghost Story", he was against it. He could learn from the mistakes of "Super Hero"!
However, Lu Chen was stubborn and would rather invest all of his money than give up. In the end, Zhou Yi reluctantly agreed to Lu Chen's peripheral development plan out of consideration for maintaining the relationship between the two parties. He still had a knot in his heart.
Now that he thought about it, if he had missed it at that time, he would probably regret it till his intestines turned green!
"Boss Zhou, you flatter me …"
Lu Chen smiled and invited Zhou Yi to sit down for a chat. He asked his assistant, Li Zhen, to pour tea for the guests.
Even if Zhou Yi did not come, he was prepared to talk to him.
Zhou Yi said solemnly, "First of all, I came here to apologize to Young Master Lu. As a partner, Jiayang Pictures has not done its best in the past. Please forgive me!"
As he spoke, he actually stood up and bowed to Lu Chen to apologize!
Lu Chen quickly stood up and said, "Boss Zhou, you're too kind. There's no need to do this. There's really no need!"
Speaking of which, in the early days of cooperation, especially when faced with the threat from the Jiang family, Jiayang Pictures' indecisive performance made Lu Chen very dissatisfied. However, it was still very good later on.
Without the strong support and cooperation of Jiayang Pictures, "A Chinese Ghost Story" would not have been released so smoothly.
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