Looking at it now, the return on investment has been superb!
The production and distribution costs totalled over eighty million yuan, but the final earnings exceeded twelve billion yuan. "Super Combat Team" became a legend in Xia Country’s film industry, so much so that countless other directors were green with envy.
"Principal Ding, you initially promised a 3% bonus of revenue to the Feiyue Animation studio. That comes to 37.89 million yuan. I have already prepared this amount with the finance department," Wen Ruohan proudly announced.
Ever since Principal Ding gave instructions yesterday, Wen Ruohan had been busily working on this matter.
The finance department has arranged the funds, and Principal Ding can award bonuses to the staff of Feiyue Animation studio at any time.
"Good, after breakfast, we will head over to Feiyue Animation Studio. Also, have you notified Jiuge and the others? All the official members of our Feiyue Animation studio should be present today," Ding Yue asked, smiling.
"Yes, I notified them last night. After breakfast, I’ll remind them again. And for the celebration banquet, I have reserved the third-floor hotpot restaurant in our second canteen with a campus theme at 8pm."
Wen Ruohan replied, nodding his head.
Regarding Wen Ruohan’s efficiency, Ding Yue had always been very satisfied.
After finishing breakfast, Ding Yue wiped his mouth with a tissue, rose, and said, "Let’s go to the Feiyue Animation Studio."
While Ding Yue was preparing to award a bonus of 37.89 million yuan to the staff under his command at the Feiyue Animation studio, a certain producer in distant Yancheng was rather disheartened.
The well-known saying goes: some drown in floods, some die in drought.
Ding Yue belonged to those who were flooded with box office receipts, while Ma Wenhai was dying of drought.
Because, the science fiction film "Space Fortress" directed by Ma Wenhai only earned 547 million yuan in box office revenue after a month of screening.
In two words, "Space Fortress" was—a bloody loss!
"Space Fortress" had a production cost of over 100 million yuan, added to the marketing and distribution expenditure, the cost was even higher.
The pre-screening promotion for "Space Fortress" was in overdrive—huge scale, trending day after day; they must have burned a fortune, though the exact amount remained unknown.
But what could be known was that the box office of 547 million yuan was nowhere near enough to cover costs!
The first few days of "Space Fortress" release were reasonably good for Ma Wenhai and the investors. However, in the following days, the daily box office took such a hit, it was downright pitiful. Compared to "Super Combat Team" and "Chronicles of Demon Sealing", it was a far cry.
Therefore, "Space Fortress", after a month of dismal performance, did not apply for key extension.
Even if it had applied for key extension, it would not have earned any subsequent box office revenue and was entirely unnecessary.
"Old Ma, how much did ’Space Fortress’ lose this time?" in Ma Wenhai’s villa, Chen Dachun, a friend of Ma Wenhai, discussed the situation of the loss.
"We lost more than 100 million yuan. I personally invested 35 million yuan. All is lost, sigh!" Ma Wenhai sighed endlessly, the cigar in his hand no longer tasted good.
As the director and producer of ’Space Fortress’, Ma Wenhai was also one of the investors. The other investments were all brought in by Ma Wenhai himself.
According to the contract signed by Ma Wenhai and the investors, the box office return of over five hundred million yuan went to the investors first.
Despite this, the revenue from over five hundred million box office, after the split, was less than two hundred million yuan. Even if all were given to the investors, it was not enough.
This essentially meant that all the investors of "Space Fortress" experienced considerable losses.
And the 35 million yuan that Ma Wenhai himself had invested went entirely down the drain; not a single cent was recovered!
"35 million yuan is not a small sum. The key point is, Old Ma, after this setback, it won’t be as easy to raise funds for filming next time," Chen Dachun regretfully said.
"Let’s not bring that up!"
Right now, Ma Wenhai’s feelings were mixed: "Why could that animation film from Mist City Arts and Science University achieve such high box office returns."
To this day, Ma Wenhai couldn’t figure it out. Why! Why!
The fact that his big-budget sci-fi film got tanked during the National Holiday Period left Ma Wenhai feeling quite bitter.
"I know. This is the first time for you, Old Ma, to make a loss in all your years as a director. But we need to analyze the reasons to try and prevent another disaster next time. Otherwise, I am afraid of your future career as a director..."
Being a producer himself, Chen Dachun couldn’t help advising his friend.
"So, according to you, where exactly did I fail this time?" Ma Wenhai took a deep breath and asked Chen.
"As you just mentioned, the total box office during the National Holidays is limited. A significant part was snatched away by "Super Combat Team" and "Chronicles of Demon Sealing". This, indeed, is one reason. However, there is also a reason specific to the film "Space Fortress"," Chen Dachun gave a balanced analysis of the causes of failure to Ma Wenhai.
"So, it’s still about market share being snatched away!" Ma Wenhai found himself stuck in a cycle, believing that the failure of his "Space Fortress" at the box office was because its audience base was taken over by "Super Combat Team" and "Chronicles of Demon Sealing," both of which generated box office earnings surpassing twenty billion yuan.