Enlight Media's 2015 box office revenue of 5.5 billion yuan exceeded expectations

Wang Changtian, chairman of Enlight Media, recently said on Weibo that last year, Enlight Media invested more than 20% and exclusively or jointly distributed 13 films, with a total box office of 5.5 billion yuan, 500 million yuan more than the estimate at the end of 2014.

As the company with the highest box office revenue among private film and television companies in 2014, Enlight Media's box office revenue in 2015 attracted attention from inside and outside the industry. Wang Changtian, chairman of Enlight Media, recently stated on Weibo that last year, Enlight Media invested more than 20% and exclusively or jointly distributed 13 films, with a total box office of 5.5 billion yuan, 500 million yuan more than the estimate at the end of 2014. The reason why Enlight Media's box office revenue was higher than expected is related to the rapid development of the domestic film market on the one hand, and to Enlight Media's layout in the film business last year on the other.

Through observation, we can find that although the performance of Enlight Media's film business in the first half of last year was not very outstanding, the films produced and distributed in the second half of the year, such as "Rambling Hollywood","Lost in Hong Kong", and "Villain Angel" were released one after another. At the same time, the film "Seeking the Dragon", which participated in the film, was also released at the end of the year, attracting many audiences to watch the film and earning a high box office.

In recent years, Enlight Media has been adding more films, and made many arrangements last year. It not only reorganized the TV business department, transferred Zhang Hang, the former head of the TV business department, to Youth Light, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Enlight Media, as president, but also carried out a number of investment acquisitions, covering online ticketing, content production, online literature copyright, animation development and other fields. In addition, Enlight Media also holds a stake in First View Network to deploy video websites perpendicular to the film industry.

Peng Kan, director of R & D and consulting at Lezheng Media, said that last year should be regarded as a big year for Enlight Media's film business, and Enlight Media has gradually entered the investment and production of large-scale films since investing more in small-cost films in the past, earning higher box office revenue. However, compared with other film and television companies, such as Huayi Brothers, which not only produces content, but also has theme parks, cinemas and other businesses, Enlight Media's film business chain is relatively short. In the future, Enlight Media should extend the industrial chain of its film business to create higher revenue.

"Villain Angel" lost word of mouth and won the box office.

On January 4, Enlight Media announced that the film "Villain Angel", which participated in the investment and distribution, had been released in the mainland of China for 11 days as of 24:00 on January 3, with box office results exceeding 620 million yuan.

"The Villain Angel" was released on December 24, 2015. It was adapted from the stage play of the same name. Deng Chao directed and starred, and his wife Sun Li also starred. "The Villain Angel" earned 150 million yuan in the box office on its first day of release, but its reputation was surprisingly poor. Some even called it the worst among the popular domestic films of 2015.

Judging from Douban,"Lao Pao 'er", which was released on the same day, scored 8.5 points, while "The Villain Angel" only had 3.9 points. Under such circumstances, when "Lao Pao' er" was gradually surpassing the latter in its schedule and box office results, some fans lamented that "justice has come too late."

All of the above does not prevent "Villain Angel" from making a lot of money. As a result, Enlight Media announced that the box office results exceeded 50% of the company's audited operating income in the latest fiscal year.

Of course, it is impossible for the 620 million yuan box office to be fully included in Enlight Media's revenue, and further calculations will be carried out after dividing the accounts among all parties.

For investors, 8% of the tax and fee must be deducted from the box office of a movie. Of the remaining money, 57% belongs to the theater line, and about 3% to 7% is deducted to the publisher (this article is calculated based on 5%), then the company that invested in the production will get the rest. Under this logic, the producer's net box office revenue is actually only about 35% of the total box office we see without tax deductions.

"Villain Angel" has two investors: Light Media and Orange Image Media. According to industrial and commercial data, the latter is the company of Deng Chao and others, and Enlight Media also obtained a 27% stake in it in 2013. The distribution of the film is the exclusive responsibility of Enlight Media.

Enlight Media did not disclose the company's investment ratio, but a brokerage analyst close to Enlight Media told reporters that the capital market tends to favor Enlight Media to get nearly 50% of the production revenue.

Roughly estimated, of the 620 million yuan box office, Enlight Media can get more than 130 million yuan.

When the box office results of an investment film exceed 50% of the company's audited operating income in the latest fiscal year, it is a requirement for the Shenzhen Stock Exchange to announce the box office results. Therefore, when a popular film has a good box office result, Enlight Media will make an announcement, even if the company is not the main investor, but a "supporting role".

For example, when the box office score of "The Quest for the Dragon" exceeded 680 million yuan on December 21, Enlight Media also disclosed it. Previously, market participants gave information that the main investor Wanda accounted for 60% of the distribution and production revenue, while Huayi Brothers and Enlight Media each accounted for 20% of the distribution and production revenue.

According to data on January 3, the total box office of "The Quest for the Dragon" has exceeded 1.54 billion yuan, so Light Media will get roughly 120 million yuan.

Compared with other film and television companies, on the one hand, Enlight Media has frequently issued favorable box office announcements due to the gradual increase in the film industry; on the other hand, Enlight Media is also suspected of catering to the market to "speculate on box office".

Some of the increases were indeed convincing. From the end of December 2012 to the beginning of January of the following year, in more than half a month, Enlight Media's share price rose by more than 60%. At that time, the small-budget film "Lost in Thailand", which was controlled by the company, repeatedly set box office records, adding a lot to the performance at that time.

But sometimes the popularity of Light Media is really just a concept.

In the summer of 2015, three domestic films "Monster Hunt","Return of the Great Sage" and "Pancake Man" hit the box office. Enlight Media was hyped as a leading stock in domestic films, but in fact, it had nothing to do with the success of these films, and even withdrew from the investment in "Return of the Great Sage" halfway through.

However, the company responded quickly. When the movie was still popular, Enlight Media announced that it planned to use its own funds of 20 million yuan to jointly establish October Culture with Tian Xiaopeng and others. The company holds 20%. Other shareholders except Enlight It is the core team of "Return of the Great Sage".

Editor: vian