I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 314 - 314 313. The whole Times Square shines for you_1

Chapter 314: 313. The whole Times Square shines for you_1 Chapter 314: 313. The whole Times Square shines for you_1 “Exclusive broadcast?”

Upon hearing Thomas Lee’s suggestion, Lu Ban subconsciously asked a question in response.

“Yes, we can reduce the cinema’s take and give you a larger share, as well as increase the number of screenings and provide more promotional support. The condition is that in the North American market, our company will have the exclusive right to broadcast your ‘Magic Tide’ as well as ‘Cry’ and ‘The Madman’s Mouth’. In terms of specifics, we can accept a thirty percent take rate, which means you could earn close to seventy percent of the movie’s box office revenue.”

Thomas Lee looked at the young director in front of him, speaking very sincerely.

He had received a call from his boss two days earlier, insisting that he secure the exclusive rights for ‘Magic Tide’ as a top priority, which was somewhat perplexing for Thomas Lee.

Although he had seen ‘Magic Tide’ and found it to be an excellent film, he had serious doubts about his company being able to negotiate an exclusive broadcast deal.

For one thing, although his company had the largest share of North American cinema chains, they did not have a nine-to-one monopoly; they only had about fifty percent of the market share. An exclusive deal with them would mean missing out on almost forty percent of other cinemas’ revenue, which wouldn’t make sense for someone confident in their own work to make such a decision for a minor gain.

Secondly, from his interactions with Lu Ban, Thomas Lee felt that Lu Ban wasn’t that conservative; he seemed more likely to choose an aggressive strategy. For Lu Ban, saturating the market might be more important.

“Mr. Lee, I’m sorry, I have no intention of accepting an exclusive deal.”

Lu Ban almost immediately responded without much thought.

“This film, my goal is to reach five billion in profit sharing, which is eight hundred million US dollars. If I choose to exclusively screen in your cinemas, I believe it would make it more difficult to achieve this goal.”

He spoke candidly.

“…Eight hundred million US dollars???”

Thomas Lee thought he might have heard wrong.

If Lu Ban had talked about an eight hundred million US dollar box office, he might have thought that Director Lu was very ambitious,

But eight hundred million dollars in box office revenue share? What kind of concept was that?

According to the normal profit sharing, the production company would take forty percent, which means eight hundred million dollars would require two billion dollars in box office revenue—that was the baseline.

So far in global film history, only five movies have ever surpassed two billion dollars at the box office.

Was Lu Ban hoping to break into the global box office top five with this movie?

It was even more of a pipe dream than the ravings of a lunatic.

Thomas Lee began to think that Lu Ban might actually be a little crazy.

“Director Lu, if you do not want to accept our exclusive offer, you could’ve just said so; there’s no need for jokes like this.”

Thomas Lee gave an embarrassed yet polite smile.

“No, I’m very serious.”

Lu Ban answered.

“In fact, during this period, I’ve already reached agreements with several other cinema chains, scheduled for release during Christmas. Moreover, I’ve purchased a massive advertisement in Times Square. By next week at the latest, you will be able to see the entire Times Square shining for ‘Magic Tide’.”

“???”

Thomas Lee’s mind overflowed with question marks.

Coordinating a release date with other cinemas wasn’t an issue; in fact, most serious production companies operate this way, but a massive advertisement in Times Square?

There are many advertising screens in Times Square, with famous ones including NASDAQ and Reuters, and among these, NASDAQ is the most expensive, with a thirty-second video spot costing around sixty thousand for one day. The prices for other screens vary, and to light them up, it would cost hundreds of thousands, close to a million.

Moreover, these ads aren’t just for one day; they’re at least a week long. So, to do as Lu Ban planned, it would cost at least several million dollars.

What’s more, it’s only August now, four months away from the Christmas release date. Lu Ban would definitely need to place ads at least once a month during these four months.

This means that just the promotion here would cost tens of millions; that’s just the bare minimum.

With street promotions, other mall screen promotions, newspapers, etc., just the North American marketing budget would be enough for a small budget team to produce a whole movie.

Previously, a film had invested over two hundred million US dollars in global marketing, which brought in close to two billion eight hundred million at the box office, ranking second in global box office history. But that was the finale of a well-known superhero ensemble, which already had high popularity. Whether Director Lu, making his debut in the European and American market, could have such box office appeal was truly unpredictable.

After concluding the negotiation with Lu Ban, Thomas Lee reported Lu Ban’s response back to his superiors and couldn’t avoid a reprimand.

Once the procedures were settled, Thomas Lee took a vacation to relax.

Back in North America, he wandered the streets of New York, feeling somewhat unreal.

The North American version of ‘Cry’ would be released in September, and ‘The Madman’s Mouth’ in October. These two films had already generated quite a bit of discussion on North American forums, and bootleg copies had been leaked. However, because of the language barrier, many foreigners couldn’t understand it, relying on fan-made translations to add English subtitles. Those who had seen the films had nothing but praise for Lu Ban; after all, such topics were rare in European and American cinema lately.

Early in the morning, Thomas Lee arrived at Times Square.

People bustled about ceaselessly; as the busiest crossroad in the world, often featured in various news and movies, it was almost the most iconic landmark next to the Statue of Liberty.

He looked up to see the NASDAQ-branded screen still showing cosmetics and clothing ads, while the others likewise displayed their own advertisements, a plethora of dazzling neon lights.

Suddenly, all the screens went dark.

If it had been just one or two screens, passersby might have thought it was the brief dark screen while ads switched, but in an instant, every screen in Times Square plunged into darkness, and the bustling noise vanished, leaving the streets in eerie silence.

Thomas Lee looked at the giant NASDAQ screen.

The logo of Silent Media emerged from the darkness, followed by a vast forest appearing.

This thirty-second trailer showcased the entire film’s chilling, solemn, and adrenaline-pumping atmosphere to the extreme. Thomas Lee looked around and noticed that the majority of onlookers had stopped to watch, seemingly captivated by the trailer’s visuals.

Just as the screens darkened again, as if all had concluded,

suddenly, a roar erupted, like the giant wolves from the film, and Thomas Lee saw on the screen a giant grey wolf appearing to leap out, its entire head bursting forth from the display!