Chapter 183 Pre-sale success and Series C financing

Just after midnight, the first day pre-sale results of "Assassin's Blade 2" were immediately released.

The pre-sale box office of 58 million deeply shocked people in the industry.

According to the first day’s pre-sale box office results, the total pre-sale box office may reach 170 to 180 million after 15 days.

Some more radical experts even boldly predicted that the pre-sale box office of "Assassins 2" would exceed 2 million.

The pre-sale box office of "Knife of the Assassin 1" was 1.4 million yuan, which was already outrageous. Unexpectedly, "Knife of the Assassin 2" was even more outrageous.

It is really a score on the prairie, each score is bigger than the other.

This is a martial arts film that is generally recognized in the industry as having declined.

Many people can’t understand why the box office of "Knife of the Assassin 1" and "Knife of the Assassin 2" are so high.

Is the spring of martial arts films coming again?
Many small film and television companies are considering whether they should follow the trend and invest in one or two martial arts films to test the waters?

Investing 10 or 20 million yuan, can you make a small profit with a big investment?
I don't expect a 1 billion box office, I'd be satisfied with a 100 million or 200 million.
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Before 12 o'clock, Liu Shishi logged into the Maoyan app and kept refreshing it. Just after 12 o'clock, the first day's pre-sale box office data was confirmed, which was as high as million.

Liu Shishi was so excited that she threw herself into Yang Hao's arms, leaning on his chest and said excitedly: "My dear, the pre-sale box office of "Assassin 2" is 5800 million."

Compared to Liu Shishi's excitement, Yang Hao was much calmer.

Yang Hao has experienced many movie hits before and has become accustomed to it. The pre-sale performance of 5800 million does not cause any ripples in his heart.

"Charlotte's Troubles" and "The Richest Tomato", which one is not more popular than "The Assassin 2" at the box office?

But Liu Shishi is different. For so many years, Liu Shishi has been stuck in the TV drama circle and has always wanted to achieve a breakthrough in her career and cross over into the film industry.

Especially in the past two years, my good friend, Da Mimi, starred in "Bridget Jones Meets Seattle" and "Knife of the Assassin 1", two big hit movies, and she seems to be gaining a firm foothold in the film industry.

Last time on the set of "Knife of the Assassin 2", when Da Mimi came to visit Yang Hao, she boasted to herself several times in private about her movie achievements, which made Liu Shishi very angry.

Now that I have a representative film, let’s see how you, my dear Mimi, will continue to show off in front of me in the future.

However, when she thought about the man lying next to her, who also had an unclear relationship with Da Mimi, Liu Shishi felt a little unhappy.

But the dissatisfaction in my heart was fleeting and was soon dispelled by the first day pre-sale box office results of "The Blade of the Assassin 2".

Liu Shishi looked at Yang Hao's handsome and youthful face. The most important thing was that Yang Hao had talent and wealth, which was really a deadly poison to women. Liu Shishi felt that she was falling into endless decadence.

"How can there be such a perfect man in the world!" Liu Shishi cried in her heart.

At this moment, Liu Shishi felt that all her efforts on Yang Hao were worth it.

At this time, Liu Shishi thought of the old man who was 17 years older than her.

When Liu Shishi thought of him, she felt disgusted. He wanted to pursue me at such an old age.

Still, Yang Hao, who is a few years younger than me and lying next to me, smells better.

He is rich, pretty and has a great body. Thinking of some embarrassing scenes, Liu Shishi's face gradually turned red and her body kept twisting in Yang Hao's arms.

The huge success of the movie is definitely the most powerful rejuvenation medicine.

Liu Shishi's awkward behavior at this time confirmed this statement.

It is true that it is easy for a girl to pursue a boy.

As soon as Liu Shishi took the initiative, Yang Hao became impulsive.

……
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The first day pre-sale box office of "The Blade of the Assassin 2" is not only of concern to Yang Hao and Liu Shishi.

Many of her good friends, including Nazha, Reba, Zhao Liying and others, are also paying attention to this matter.

Yang Hao knew clearly in his heart that many of these good friends became his good friends because of his successful career.

Only if my career continues to be successful will they follow me unwaveringly.

The news media reporters are even more crazy. They have already written the manuscripts in advance and are just waiting for 12 o'clock. When the final pre-sale box office data comes out, they can fill in the numbers on the manuscripts and send them out immediately.

I have to say that media reporters are very professional and efficient.

When the game between Yang Hao and Liu Shishi had not yet finished, at just around 12:2, major portal websites began to report on the first day pre-sale box office of "Knife of the Assassin ".

"Congratulations to "Blade Master 2" for reaching million on the first day of pre-sale."

"'Blade Master 2' sets new first-day pre-sale box office record"

"Shocking! "Blade of the Assassin 2" is expected to break the box office record of martial arts films that has been dormant for more than a decade"

……

After a game with Liu Shishi ended, Liu Shishi lay obediently beside Yang Hao with a satisfied smile on her face.

Yang Hao hugged Liu Shishi with one hand and took out his mobile phone with the other hand to browse the news on the web.

When "Knife of the Assassin 1" was a box office hit, these media reporters compared it with "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and boasted that "Knife of the Assassin 1" might break the box office record of martial arts films that had been dormant for more than a decade.

Now, only a few months have passed, and with the release of "Assassin's Blade 2", these media reporters have brought up the old matter again and started bragging about this topic.

The pre-sale box office results of "Knife Identity 2" continue to rise.

60 million, 70 million, 80 million...

In just three days, the pre-sale box office exceeded 100 million.

But as movie ticket prices increase every day, most people who need to buy tickets in advance have already bought their tickets, and the growth rate of pre-sale box office has become very slow.

The final pre-sale box office results are estimated to be similar to the previously estimated 170 to 180 million.

During the following period of time, Liu Shishi turned down all announcements and stayed obediently at Yang Hao's house.

Every day, as she watched the pre-sale box office of "Knife Identity 2" continue to rise, Liu Shishi was all smiles.
-
Just when Yang Hao thought that he had nothing to do recently, a phone call interrupted Yang Hao's life.

"Boss, ByteDance's Series C financing has started," Xie Yongjun suddenly called.

"ByteDance is about to start its C round of financing?" Yang Hao fell into deep thought after hearing what Xie Yongjun said. ByteDance is developing really fast, starting its B round last year and its C round this year.

Although it is developing rapidly, ByteDance currently only has one core product, Toutiao.

This is not what Yang Hao wants. What Yang Hao wants is Douyin.

According to the development in the previous life, ByteDance would not launch the Douyin app until September 2016, which is more than two years away. It is really too long to wait.

Maybe I could give Zhang Yiming some advice?
Let Douyin be released ahead of schedule.

To be honest, I have also thought about whether I could set up a company and develop Douyin in advance with foresight.

But this thought only lasted for a moment before disappearing into thin air.

Developing a short video app like Douyin is not that difficult, but the most difficult part is the artificial intelligence algorithm behind it. Without the technical accumulation, it is extremely difficult to develop it in a short time.

Instead of spending a lot of time and effort, it is better to invest in shares and take a ride.

The 4G network has been officially launched for half a year, and the era of traffic has quietly arrived.

If there is one thing that is the hottest this year, it must be the live streaming industry. Everyone thinks this is a hot spot.

But Yang Hao knows that in a few years, traditional live streaming platforms will be squeezed out by short videos and have no room for survival.

Short video apps are the biggest trend in the 4G traffic era.

"Please help me make an appointment with Zhang Yiming. See if he has time tomorrow afternoon to meet him," Yang Hao instructed Xie Yongjun.

Although now is a critical time for the movie "Knife of the Assassin 2", compared with ByteDance, the box office of "Knife of the Assassin 2" is really not worth mentioning.

Yang Hao was too lazy to care about the pre-sale box office of the movie. He just wanted to talk to Zhang Yiming about the Douyin short video APP.

"Okay, boss, I understand," Xie Yongjun replied respectfully.

Liu Shishi listened to the phone call between Yang Hao and Xie Yongjun just now.

After Yang Hao hung up the phone, Liu Shishi leaned up to him, leaned on his chest, and said softly: "Honey, tomorrow is the first day of the release of "Assassin 2". Director Lu Yang just said in the WeChat group that he would organize a roadshow. Aren't you going then?"

"You go with Senior Brother Lu Yang. I won't go because I have more important things to do." Yang Hao refused without thinking.

"Oh!" Liu Shishi felt a little disappointed after hearing what Yang Hao said. She thought that she could stay with Yang Hao during the next roadshow. Although the roadshow was very tiring and hard during the day, Yang Hao would give her a massage at night and the daytime fatigue would be eliminated immediately. Now, there was no one to help her massage.

But suddenly Liu Shishi grasped the point. Yang Hao just said something more important.

"That C round of financing is actually more important than "Knife Identity 2"? " Thinking of this, Liu Shishi's curiosity was instantly aroused.

"My dear, judging from the current pre-sale box office of "Knife of the Assassin 2", the box office should be able to exceed billion. You should be able to make a lot of money, right? Is it not as important as your Series C financing?" Liu Shishi lay on the bed, supporting her chin with her hand, looking at Yang Hao curiously with her beautiful, sparkling eyes.

Liu Shishi knew that Yang Hao held a 2 percent investment share in "Knife of the Assassin 45".

According to this share, Yang Hao could earn at least 100 million yuan. Liu Shishi couldn't imagine what kind of company it was that a small C round of financing was more important than 100 million yuan.

This is 100 million!
Liu Shishi became truly famous after the 2011 movie "Startling by Each Step".

The only years she really made money were in 2012 and 2013. Her film and endorsement salaries in these two years were just over million yuan, but she had to split the money with Tangren and pay taxes after that. The actual money she received was only a few tens of millions. million is not a small number for Liu Shishi.

"Shishi, listen carefully. I invested in Douyin, and you will definitely hear about it in the future," Yang Hao said to Liu Shishi in a teasing manner. Yang Hao was a little bit looking forward to it. After a few years when Douyin becomes popular, what will Liu Shishi think of when she recalls today's scene?
"Douyin, Douyin," Liu Shishi repeated it several times and memorized the word Douyin in her heart.
-
In the reception room of ByteDance’s office building.

Yang Hao and Zhang Yiming sat opposite each other on the sofa.

"Mr. Yang, congratulations on the huge pre-sale box office success of your movie 'Knife of the Assassin 2'," Zhang Yiming congratulated with a smile after the two of them sat down.

"Speaking of congratulations, I would also like to congratulate ByteDance on launching its C round of financing. The money raised by "Assassins 2" is just a small amount, but your C round of financing is a big deal," Yang Hao smiled politely and responded politely.

Then the two chatted for a while and said some polite words before officially getting into the topic of today.

"Mr. Yang, are you meeting me today for ByteDance's Series C financing?" ByteDance is about to launch its Series C financing, and Zhang Yiming guessed that Yang Hao must have come for this matter.

"Yes and no," Yang Hao smiled slightly and said mysteriously.

"Oh?" Zhang Yiming became interested after hearing Yang Hao's words.

"Mr. Yang, if it's not for the C round of financing, then what is it for?"

"Here, Mr. Zhang, take a look at this app," Yang Hao opened his mobile phone and handed it over.

"Kuaishou", seeing Yang Hao being so mysterious, Zhang Yiming was really curious. He took the phone handed over by the other party and saw a Kuaishou app running.

Kuaishou was launched in March 2011 and was originally a mobile application for creating and sharing GIF images.

But in November 2012, it began to transform into a short video app for recording and sharing life.

"Mr. Zhang, what do you think of this app?" Yang Hao asked tentatively.

"It's good and nice to record every little thing in daily life and share it with others," Zhang Yiming said absentmindedly.

Although ByteDance has developed very well in the past two years, Zhang Yiming can feel that the app Toutiao is not the most suitable app for the 4G traffic era.

These days he has been thinking about what kind of product he should launch to lead the 4G era.

When Yang Hao brought the Kuaishou app in front of him, a light bulb went off in his head: Isn't this the most suitable app for the 4G traffic era?
But Zhang Yiming was troubled again. Internet companies have a huge advantage as first-mover advantages. If they fall behind by one step, they will fall behind step by step. It is extremely difficult for latecomers to catch up.

Now that there is already the Kuaishou app, why should we surpass others by developing an identical app ourselves?

"Mr. Zhang, have you discovered the shortcomings of this short video app?" Yang Hao continued to guide the other party with words.

"Oh? What are the shortcomings?" Zhang Yiming has only used this app for a short while, and he has not found any major shortcomings so far. When he heard Yang Hao say that this app has shortcomings, Zhang Yiming became interested.

"The algorithm, the artificial intelligence algorithm of this app is very backward, the recommended videos are poorly relevant, and often cannot recommend what you want to watch." In the early days, Kuaishou was much worse than ByteDance in algorithm technology. This is the fundamental reason why ByteDance was able to overtake its competitors despite being a latecomer.

After hearing what Yang Hao said, Zhang Yiming continued to watch short videos.

About seven or eight minutes later, Zhang Yiming raised the corners of his mouth and revealed a happy smile. It was exactly the same as what Yang Hao said, the algorithm of this app was backward.

(End of this chapter)