英国《金融时报》
原文阅读精选集Vol.1

《星球大战》首发周末刷新多项记录

迪士尼公司出品的《星球大战：原力觉醒》17日晚7时起在北美4134家影院上映，成为好莱坞史上首部24小时内票房收入过亿的影片。凸显出三年前沃尔特·迪士尼公司(Walt Disney)斥资40亿美元购买该系列版权的原因。

 

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

smash 粉碎[smæʃ]

gross 总收入[grəʊs]

royalty 版税['rɒɪəltɪ]

acquisition 收购[,ækwɪ'zɪʃ(ə)n]

marquee sports rights 室内体育赛事转播权

 

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

Star Wars smashes US box office record（315 words）

By Matthew Garrahan in New York

 

Star Wars: The Force Awakens generated more than half a billion dollars in its opening weekend,smashing the box office record in the US and underscoring why Walt Disney paid $4bn for the rights to the series three years ago.

 

The film grossed $238m in the US,higher than the $208m mark set this year by Universal Studios' Jurassic World,and an additional $279m around the world.

 

It set records in markets including the UK,Germany,Australia and Russia. Global returns will climb further on January 9 when the film opens in China,the second-largest movie market after the US.

 

The Force Awakens is the first of six Star Wars films commissioned by Disney,which will use the characters created by George Lucas to drive consumer product sales and visits to its theme parks. Macquarie Securities estimates that The Force Awakens alone could generate $5bn in consumer product sales,with Disney earning $500m-$1bn in royalties.

 

The Force Awakens could lift total annual US box office returns past $11bn for the first time and power global takings above $40bn,according to Paul Dergarabedian,a senior analyst with Rentrak,which monitors box office performance.

 

The launch of the first Star Wars film in a decade comes amid concerns about the growth prospects of ESPN,Disney's sports cable network — and the main driver of the company's profits. Rich Greenfield,analyst with BTIG Research,cut his earnings estimates for 2017,warning that ESPN's profitability would “meaningfully underperform investor expectations”.

 

Disney's media networks division,which includes ESPN,generates more than 50 per cent of group operating income. However,ESPN has high,fixed costs based on its acquisition of marquee sports rights at a time of shifting viewing behaviour: the sports network lost an estimated 3m subscribers in the year to August,according to Nielsen,the research firm.

 

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

 

1.When Walt Disney paid $4bn for the rights to the series?

A.2011

B.2013

C.2012

D.2014

[1] 答案

 

2.How much did the film grossed in its opening weekend all over the world?

A.$208m

B.$517m

C.$238m

D.$279m

[2] 答案

 

3.How much will Disney get in royalties from The Force Awakens alone by Macquarie Securities' prediction?

A.$5bn

B.$500m-$1bn

C.$40bn

D.$11bn

[3] 答案

 

4.What is the main driver of Disney's profits?

A.ESPN

B.film distribution

C.Disney Park

D.acquisition of marquee sports rights

[4] 答案

 

[1]答案：B.2013
解释：文章第一段：三年前沃尔特·迪士尼公司(Walt Disney)斥资40亿美元购买该系列版权。2012年10月，迪士尼以40.5亿美元的现金加股票，全资收购了拥有《星球大战》的卢卡斯影业，迪士尼同时获得了其公司名下的真人电影制作（包括《星球大战》《夺宝奇兵》等）、消费品、视频游戏、动画、视觉特效和音效后期。

[2]答案：C.$238m
解释：该电影在美国共斩获2.38亿美元票房，在全球其他地区还收得2.79亿美元票房，全球约5.17亿美元。

[3]答案：B.$500m-$1bn
解释：原文给出的是一个范围：麦格理证券(Macquarie Securities)估计，仅《原力觉醒》一部电影就能带来50亿美元的消费类产品销售额，其中迪斯尼赚取的版税将在5亿美元到10亿美元之间。

[4]答案：A.ESPN
解释：体育电视网ESPN是迪斯尼盈利的主要来源，而对室内体育赛事转播权的收购，为ESPN带来了高昂的固定成本。