英國《金融時報》
原文閱讀精選集Vol.1

《星球大戰》首發周末刷新多項記錄

迪士尼公司出品的《星球大戰：原力覺醒》17日晚7時起在北美4134家影院上映，成為好萊塢史上首部24小時內票房收入過億的影片。凸顯出三年前沃爾特·迪士尼公司(Walt Disney)斥資40億美元購買該系列版權的原因。

 

測試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識：

smash 粉碎[sm??]

gross 總收入[gr??s]

royalty 版稅['r???lt?]

acquisition 收購[,?kw?'z??(?)n]

marquee sports rights 室內體育賽事轉播權

 

閱讀馬上開始，建議您計算一下閱讀整篇文章所用的時間，對照下方的參考值就可以評估出您的英文閱讀水平。

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.

 

請根據你所讀到的文章內容，完成以下自測題目：

 

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
解釋：文章第一段：三年前沃爾特·迪士尼公司(Walt Disney)斥資40億美元購買該系列版權。2012年10月，迪士尼以40.5億美元的現金加股票，全資收購了擁有《星球大戰》的盧卡斯影業，迪士尼同時獲得了其公司名下的真人電影制作（包括《星球大戰》《奪寶奇兵》等）、消費品、視頻游戲、動畫、視覺特效和音效后期。

[2]答案：C.$238m
解釋：該電影在美國共斬獲2.38億美元票房，在全球其他地區還收得2.79億美元票房，全球約5.17億美元。

[3]答案：B.$500m-$1bn
解釋：原文給出的是一個范圍：麥格理證券(Macquarie Securities)估計，僅《原力覺醒》一部電影就能帶來50億美元的消費類產品銷售額，其中迪斯尼賺取的版稅將在5億美元到10億美元之間。

[4]答案：A.ESPN
解釋：體育電視網ESPN是迪斯尼盈利的主要來源，而對室內體育賽事轉播權的收購，為ESPN帶來了高昂的固定成本。