China Entertainment started from Nortel 96

Chapter 186 Becoming an Industry Reformer

Qi Wei actually didn't have much affection for Li An.

This is the same as the old Mouzi who compromised with capital in later generations.

Qi Wei still prefers Lao Mouzi's rebellious leader now.

But if you want to become a qualified capital, you should not consider too much personal feelings, but start from interests more.

So even if Qi Wei doesn't like Li An, it doesn't prevent him from investing in his "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

Although the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was deliberately made by Li An to cater to Western audiences, the overall style of the movie was westernized, but after all, this is a martial arts movie, and it is to show Western audiences the unique oriental beauty of China. beautiful.

Still promoting Chinese culture.

From this perspective, there is no problem supporting the film.

But even to become a capital, there must be a bottom line.

And Qi Wei's bottom line is that he will not provide support for any film that whitewashes traitors or invaders.

Even resist in various ways.

Just like the movie behind Li An.

Of course, there are also many people in China who carry private goods with crooked buttocks.

Qi Wei put forward his conditions to Li An and Jiang Zhiqiang, and they had to discuss with the funds from Hollywood before making a decision.

Of course, compared to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", Qi Wei actually cares more about the movie "Hero".

After Li An and Jiang Zhiqiang left first, Qi Wei and Er Zhang chatted about "Hero".

"I wonder if President Zhang and Director Zhang have made a decision? Would you like to prepare the "Hero" project with me?"

Zhang Weiping and Lao Mouzi took a look, Zhang Weiping first asked Qi Wei a question:
"We have read the script and project proposal provided by your company in detail. The investment of the "Hero" project is huge, and the domestic income alone will definitely not be able to cover the investment cost. It needs overseas achievements to support it. results, we will inevitably encounter the situation encountered in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"."

The most important overseas market is the North American market. If you want to enter the North American market, you must cooperate with Hollywood, either by investing in North American distribution rights, or by purchasing distribution rights at a certain price.

Anyway, there is one point, that is, there is no way to participate in the North American box office share.

This is what Zhang Weiping said.

Qi Wei, who understood it, showed a confident smile, and said, "Isn't there such a thing as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"? As long as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is a big success in North America, then the overseas distribution rights of "Hero" will be guaranteed." Worry about not being able to sell at a high price."

Sometimes the first to eat crabs may not necessarily have the highest income.

Especially in the film industry.

Sometimes movies that people don’t like can sell well at the box office, and sometimes movies that everyone likes fail miserably. The high risks brought about by this uncertainty will make many capitals hesitate to invest in movies.

Everyone is afraid to try new tracks, and only thinks of the old tracks swarming together to seek stability.

And martial arts commercial blockbusters are now the new track.

Just like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" prepared by Li An, in terms of investment, even if he exaggerates the prospects of this movie, in fact he has no confidence, and the investors have no confidence.

This made the investors unwilling to invest in his film, even if the investment was relatively stingy, so that he has not yet drawn enough investment.

The investment promised by Hollywood has not yet arrived.

When this movie becomes a big hit in the future, everyone will make money watching martial arts commercial blockbusters, and they will not be stingy when investing.

Overseas capital such as Hollywood, no matter in which form they obtain distribution rights, will not be as stingy as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Let’s make a hypothesis, if Li An had a martial arts blockbuster that exploded at home and abroad before preparing for “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, then he would have the confidence. It would be much easier for Jiang Zhiqiang to help him attract investment from Hollywood, maybe he could Easily help him get the planned 1500 million yuan of funds.

In later generations, it is because of the precedent of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" that everyone is willing to take a gamble, and Lao Mouzi's "Hero" can easily attract more than 2.5 million investment.

When Zhang Weiping was thinking about Qi Wei's words, he heard Qi Wei say something amazing: "The movie "Hero" may be able to recover the cost through the domestic revenue, maybe that's it."

"Cost recovery through domestic revenue? It's impossible!" Zhang Weiping replied subconsciously.

This is due to the immature commercialization since the reform of the domestic film market.

The domestic film market is still in a state of "fragmentation". Even if it is a bigwig like Han Sanping, he can only affect a few regions, mainly in the north.

Other areas are basically in a state of obedience and defiance.

Theaters all over the country are also doing the same thing of killing chickens to keep warm at the box office.

This makes domestic films, including imported Hong Kong films, a threshold of [-] million yuan, and it is difficult for them to break through this box office.

In addition, Zhang Weiping also noticed that the increasingly rampant piracy has had an impact on movies that cannot be underestimated, which will further deteriorate the already unoptimistic domestic movie market.

According to the plan, the investment of "Hero" will exceed [-] million yuan, of which domestic investment will be at least tens of millions or even hundreds of millions.

And if you want to recover this cost from the domestic film market, from the perspective of box office share, you need the box office record created by "Titanic" today.

More than 3 million box office, is this possible?
No way!
No matter how confident Zhang Weiping was in "Heroes" and how imaginative he was, he did not dare to hope for this achievement.

He is very satisfied with the box office exceeding [-] million and setting a record for Chinese-language movies in the mainland.

"There is nothing impossible. Where there is a will, there is a way." Qi Wei still looked confident.

But Zhang Weiping shook his head, feeling that Qi Wei was a little arrogant.

""Hero" will be an unprecedented blockbuster. Isn't it normal to achieve an unprecedented box office result? Shouldn't you have such confidence in a blockbuster with an investment of over [-] million?" Qi Wei asked rhetorically.

"I have the confidence, but it's not the confidence to go against the reality. We have to consider the actual situation," Zhang Weiping replied.

"It's true that the confidence brought by a blockbuster film alone is not enough, but what if someone supports us to change the status quo?"

"Huh?" Zhang Weiping and Lao Mouzi both looked at Qi Wei.

"You two should know Mr. Han, the director of Beijing Film Studio. I have a good friendship with him."

Zhang Weiping nodded, and Qi Wei can invest in "Party A and Party B" and "See you soon", two Lunar New Year movies that Han Sanping pays special attention to. From this point, Zhang Weiping can see that Han Sanping attaches great importance to Qi Wei. .

Qi Wei went on to say: "Han Sanye is leading the merger of eight units including Beijing Film Studio and China Film Corporation. Next year, a China Film Group will be established. You know that Han Sanye has broken his heart for domestic films, and he also If he wants to change the current market situation, he also needs an opportunity, and the "Hero" project in our hands is the best opportunity, and this is also my gift to him."

This year, under the stimulation of "Titanic", the total domestic box office has exceeded 10 billion, reaching 14 billion.

And next year, perhaps due to the influence of piracy, or the more serious situation of domestic theaters concealing the box office, the total domestic box office will shrink rapidly to less than 10 billion next year.

Then it was like this for several years.

As for Han Sanping, these bigwigs in the industry, they know very well that if they want to save domestic films, they must rely on commercial blockbusters instead of comedy films with small investments such as "Party A and Party B" and "See You or Be There".

That's why he supported Director Chen so much.

In case of lack of investment, arrange for Huayi Brothers and others to invest in him, and give him the green light all the way in terms of policy.

It's a pity that people's calculations are not as good as the sky's calculations. "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin" was dismal at the domestic box office, and it didn't produce the effect he wanted.

But he was not discouraged by this, and still believed that commercial blockbusters were the way out for domestic films.

In fact, Qi Wei thinks so too, which is why he is so positive about the movie "Hero".

For Han Sanping, the "Heroes" project is tantamount to giving away a pillow when you are sleepy.

Qi Wei believes that as long as the "Hero" project is officially approved, Han Sanping will definitely give the green light and escort the film all the way.

It is even better than Director Chen's "Jing Ke Assassinates the King of Qin".

"Nowadays, the total domestic box office is only around one billion yuan. A blockbuster film with an investment of more than two hundred million yuan is qualified to bring those theaters to the negotiating table, especially with the support of Han Sanye and others.

We have the right to protect our own interests. We can ask them to curb the behavior of killing chickens for warmth, not to hide the box office, help fight piracy, and we can even increase the box office share.

We can use this movie to be a game-changer in the industry, and if we can succeed, we can establish ourselves as a pivotal position in the industry."

Qi Wei's "generous statement" made Er Zhang and Zhang's eyes shine, and they didn't expect Qi Wei's ambition to be so big.

And Qi Wei's ambition also touched them.

After all, the project "Hero" has high feasibility.

Looking at Qi Wei with admiration again, Zhang Weiping said excitedly: "I also really want to change this situation, and I will fully support you. When the movie "My Father and Mother" is finished, I will assist him immediately. Into the preparation of "Heroes"

Just like the world has suffered from the Qin Dynasty for a long time, someone needs to rise up.

A blockbuster film like "Hero" often takes a year or two, or even more, from the completion of project preparation to the completion of production and release.

When this film is about to be released, it is also the perfect time for film reform.

Zhang Weiping and Lao Mouzi left full of excitement.

As soon as they left, several people took their places.

It was Zhang Guorong and the princess.

After all, the place where Qi Wei and Lao Mouzi talked was in the Hong Kong City Tea Restaurant, which is the favorite place for Hong Kong stars to drink afternoon tea. It is normal to meet Zhang Guorong and the others.

"I didn't expect to meet you here, and you have begun to know how to enjoy life." Zhang Guorong said with a smile.

"I'm here to talk about business. I'm not from Hong Kong and I don't have the habit of drinking afternoon tea." Qi Wei explained.

"Do as the Romans do, I think you are in pretty good shape now."

It seems to mean something.

Zhang Guorong said again: "It seems that Jiang Zhiqiang, the general manager of Anle Films, and director Li An, who left before, seem to be the director Zhang Yimou who left just now. If I'm not wrong, you are talking about film investment?"

"Is it a guess?" Qi Wei said like Zhang Guorong, "Weren't you not far away just now? I seriously doubt that you overheard it."

Zhang Guorong couldn't help laughing, "It's still eavesdropping. In order to attract investment for his "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", director Li An has searched the entire Hong Kong city. Everyone in this circle knows everyone." Got it."

"What do you mean, no one is optimistic about his project?"

Zhang Guorong nodded, and persuaded Qi Wei as a friend: "They must be looking for you for investment, the film risk is too high, I advise you not to invest."

"Why are you not optimistic about his project?"

"Of course, his movie is a martial arts movie."

The martial arts movie that Zhang Guorong made before was Wang Shajing's "Evil and West Poison". During the filming of this movie, the actors were tortured to death, so that the actors didn't know what they were filming after the filming.

They even cut out all the hard-working shots of a certain actress surnamed Wang, which is really pitiful.

Of course, this is not the point. The point is that after the film was released, the box office suffered from Waterloo, so don’t let the investment side of this film directly be cheated.

In Zhang Guorong's view, the reason why the movie "Evil and West Poison" failed at the box office may be because of Wang Sunglass' style of filming, but it is also related to the fact that martial arts movies are an outdated theme.

Yes, Zhang Guorong is not very optimistic about martial arts movies.

Qi Wei looked at Zhang Guorong and smiled, and took a sip of the afternoon tea he ordered casually.

"Well, this tastes pretty good."

"The afternoon tea here is really good. You can come here to drink tea when you have nothing to do in the afternoon."

"I will definitely ask you out next time I come here for tea."

"No problem, I really like drinking tea with my friends here."

Zhang Guorong regards Qi Wei as a friend, and Qi Wei also regards him as a friend.

Although the two have not known each other for a long time, it does not prevent the two from establishing a deep friendship.

"Brother, have you ever thought about opening the Hollywood market?" Qi Wei asked suddenly.

Facing Qi Wei's question, the elder brother thought for a moment, and replied seriously: "I have thought about it, but I have no plan to develop in Hollywood."

In fact, due to the decline of Hong Kong films, the market in Hong Kong City can no longer support the remuneration of top movie stars such as Big Brother Dragon and Li Lianjie, making them gradually become priceless and need to find another way out.

But to find another way out, there are two options before them.

One is to develop in Hollywood, and the other is to develop inland.

And Zhang Guorong chose the second path to develop inland.

Maybe it's because his salary is much lower than that of his big brother Long, and it's still within the range of the mainland film market. Maybe it's because of his love for this land. He has been participating in mainland movies for many years.

It can be regarded as the superstar of Hong Kong City who cooperates with the mainland the most.

Zhang Guorong explained: "If you have an understanding, Hollywood is prejudiced against Chinese movie stars. Even the big brother Long, who participates in their movies, many of them are funny characters, like Li Lianjie and Zhou Runfa. They go to Hollywood to act They are all negative roles with a bad image, and I will only consider going after Hollywood changes its view of us."

"Actually, I also understand this." Qi Wei nodded and continued: "Now there is a movie that has Hollywood investment, but it is basically a Chinese team, and it will also be filmed in China. You don't need to go to Hollywood to help you To open things up, would you like to be in the movie?"

Zhang Guorong looked at Qi Wei and fell silent, and then asked suddenly: "Could you be talking about the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"?"

(End of this chapter)