The Korean movie Mom recommended was a Korean occult novel that James had enjoyed in his previous life.
It was a solidly constructed story with a strong Korean flavor that appealed not just to genre fans but to the general public as well, boasting massive sales and confidently challenging itself to a live-action adaptation.
“Is it a novel called Exorcism Records? Have you heard of it?”
“Yeah. I’ve heard of it. They say it’s fun.”
James had read Exorcism Records in his previous life, but since it was published after he came to America in this one, he couldn’t say he’d read it.
“Given the movie’s content, it’ll need a lot of special effects. Can they make it in Korea?”
“That’s why they’re investing more than double the usual production budget. Do you think it’s worth investing in?”
Even if it was more than double the usual budget, that was only 2.4 billion won, less than 2.5 million dollars—a drop in the bucket compared to the 200 million dollars poured into Titanic.
Since it was such a small amount, losing it wouldn’t hurt much, but after a moment’s hesitation, knowing the outcome of the Exorcism Records movie, he couldn’t bring himself to say yes to investing.
“I’m not sure. It’s a movie with a lot of niche elements, so it might not appeal to the masses, and with all the special effects needed, if they’re done poorly, it’ll just get bashed.”
“Really? Well, if the movie was good, word about recruiting investors wouldn’t have reached all the way to America.”
The movie Exorcism Records became a black mark on the director’s and original author’s records for years, and the actors who appeared in it faced ridicule for a long time.
In the end, it was a film that left a black mark even for the audience who watched it in theaters, and James didn’t want to leave a stain on his investments with even 100,000 dollars.
“The return on investment is much better with American movies than Korean ones. And if you want to invest in Korean films, pick scripts with good artistic value that could help the industry, rather than ones that make a lot of money. Exorcism Records doesn’t seem like it.”
“Okay. We can make money in America and spend it on developing Korean cinema. I’ll look for films with good artistic merit.”
When her son opposed it, Mom dropped the Exorcism Records investment without much fuss, more easily than he’d worried.
It was good for Mom’s influence in the Korean film industry to grow through investments, but if a heavily invested film flopped, she’d be criticized for poor foresight, so he suggested picking films with artistic value even if they failed.
“Jackie Chan is making a movie in America. I met him in Korea once—how about this one?”
“It’s a cop buddy action movie called Rush Hour. Jackie Chan is reliable. With Hong Kong being returned to China, he must be preparing to enter the American market.”
The movie Mom picked starred Jackie Chan, an action film that greatly helped him build recognition in America.
The action intensity was much milder compared to the films he directed and shot in Hong Kong, but in America, even that was considered groundbreaking stunt work.
“The production budget is 33 million dollars, which is reasonable. It’ll break even quickly.”
“If I invest in this, I can go see Jackie Chan after a long time.”
Rush Hour earned 140 million dollars in America alone and over 100 million overseas, selling nearly 250 million dollars in theater tickets total.
It recorded quite decent profits, kickstarting Jackie Chan’s full entry into America and leading to sequels, and as Mom said, it was a chance to meet the still-young Jackie Chan in person.
Once Mom decided on the movie she wanted to invest in, James thought of a film where he wanted to meet someone too.
This movie is guaranteed to be a hit, and the chance to meet the directors while they’re still brothers is now. As time passes, I won’t be able to see the two of them as brothers.
It wasn’t that the directors of the movie James wanted to invest in suddenly died or anything; uniquely, the brothers co-directed the film, and as it succeeded, leading to parts 2 and 3, their designation changed each time.
Right now, they were listed as brothers, but in part 2, they became siblings, and in part 3, sisters—an unusual film.
The directors weren’t replaced; midway through, one underwent gender reassignment surgery, turning the brothers into sisters.
“I want to invest in this movie.”
“The Matrix?”
“It’s an SF action movie with a lot of special effects, about computer hackers and a virtual world.”
“Sounds like something you’d love.”
The Matrix had a relatively high budget of 65 million dollars due to the extensive special effects.
Filming was set to start early next year and wrap up mid-year, but the graphics work would take a long time, so release was only possible the year after, in ’99.
It would take a while to recoup the investment, but The Matrix was a massive global hit, earning 470 million dollars from the first film alone.
I was going to stop investing in movies, but doing it occasionally for fun isn’t bad.
Compared to corporate investments, the returns were poor, but it was enjoyable in its own way, so he decided to invest occasionally when a favorite movie came up.
With the condition of visiting the set once filming started, they invested 3 million dollars in Rush Hour and 5 million in The Matrix.
From now on, they agreed to discuss with each other before investing in movies, and to create a film investment company in Korea for the development of the Korean film industry.
“James and Jenny seem to grow taller every time I see them.”
For Thanksgiving, the Yoo family flew to Arkansas where the Walton family gathered, sharing stories over an American-style turkey dinner with people they hadn’t seen in a while.
“Kids grow up so fast.”
“James is in high school now and starting to look like a man. He must be popular at school.”
The connection with Walmart continued, and they kept sending a private jet for American holidays.
At first, the private jet felt burdensome and novel, but now they were used to it, and James had enough money to buy his own plane.
“We might not be able to come this winter since we’re going to Korea after a long time.”
“We’ve spent year-end together for so long—it’s a shame you can’t come this time.”
“It’s been a while since we’ve been to Korea, and the grandparents want to see their grandchildren.”
This winter, they planned to visit Korea after a long absence.
Until now, Dad couldn’t take long vacations, and James had been subtly busy with various things, making it hard to find time, but now was the moment.
“How’s Walmart doing in Korea? They opened stores last year.”
“It’s still early, so there are many shortcomings, but I hear they’re starting full-scale expansion.”
James listened to the adults’ conversation from the side, recalling that Walmart would fail and withdraw from Korea.
They opened their first store in Incheon in 1996, but due to trademark issues, they only changed the corporate name to Walmart Korea this year.
Despite pouring astronomical costs into entering Korea, Walmart withdrew exactly ten years later in 2006, giving up on the market.
Walmart is a classic case of localization failure that appears in every business and marketing textbook.
There were several reasons for Walmart’s failure, but the most prominent was the large parking lots and warehouse-style displays that didn’t fit Korean realities.
Women drivers were still not common in Korea, and they failed to consider the culture of lightly shopping at markets or marts; instead, they built stores assuming people came by car like in America.
It wasn’t a model where families visited on weekends to buy a week’s worth in bulk; it was housewives buying what they needed on the spot or sending kids on errands, but they built large warehouse stores without thinking of that.
They weren’t easily accessible by public transport either, and without shuttle buses, the number of customers visiting was inevitably limited.
Finally, in a Korean market focused on fresh foods, setting up sales centered on manufactured goods like in America led to a mismatch in products and localization failure.
In contrast, Costco charged membership fees from the start and emphasized low-variety, high-volume sales, making popular product management easy with fewer items.
Crucially, the headquarters’ location mattered: Costco was in Seattle with a relatively high Asian population, so they understood Korean tastes to some extent, but Walmart in rural mid-America Arkansas stuck to a typical American style.
Entering too early was also a factor. If vehicle ownership had risen and second-car culture spread, Walmart could have succeeded, but it’s premature now.
If they’d built many small, accessible stores instead of focusing on large ones, they might have surprisingly survived, but Walmart left a great failure case in business textbooks, teaching what not to do.
“Korea is such an interesting place. The people are dynamic, and everything moves quickly—it’s great.”
“Koreans do have impatient personalities. I’m glad Walmart has entered Korea.”
Knowing Walmart would fail, James wondered if he should say something, but a high schooler advising on management instead of programming didn’t make sense, and if Walmart survived and dominated distribution in Korea, that could be problematic too, so he stayed quiet.
Even if they withdrew from Korea and lost money, there was no need to worry about Walmart, which already dominated America, the world’s top consumer market.
“When we go to Korea this winter, we’ll definitely visit a Walmart.”
James’s mouth itched, but he held back with difficulty, spent Thanksgiving in Arkansas, and returned to Seattle.
“I hear Korea is having a hard time lately—is it okay to go now?”
“The economy is really struggling. But since it’s just a short visit, it should be fine.”
Korea was in chaos right now with the IMF crisis erupting.
Famous conglomerates were going bankrupt one after another, and families suffering from sudden unemployment were emerging everywhere.
Even James in America felt sorry for Korea’s situation, but he knew they’d overcome it and rise again, and as a high schooler in America, there wasn’t much he could do.
“Mom, we sold our house—where are we staying?”
“We’ll stay at your paternal and maternal grandparents’ places. Jenny, you’ll see Grandpa after a long time.”
When the family followed Dad to America, they had sold the house in Korea and liquidated most assets.
Both grandfathers were still alive, and if needed, they could stay in a hotel, so it wasn’t a problem, but James’s investment instinct stirred.
House prices are rock bottom right now—I should buy some land in Seoul this time.
With Korea short on dollars, buying assets there with dollars earned in America could even be seen as patriotic.
If I tell Dad, it’ll blow up again. With the IMF opening up foreign investment, I can buy under the investment company’s name.
Before going to Korea, James happily pondered where to buy land and buildings, waiting eagerly for winter break.