The King of Directors 2000

Chapter 354 "Hurricane Taken"

At 2006 o'clock in the evening on January 1, 15, Yanjing was brightly lit, and every corner was brightly lit. People who had worked for a year stepped out of their homes one after another, patted the money in their arms, and strode down the street, preparing to be God for a while. .

In the lobby on the seventh floor of Landmark River Hotel, hundreds of people poured into it. There were dozens of waiters alone, pushing the dining car back and forth. There were glasses of red wine on the dining car, or colorful and various pastries.

Today is the "Extreme Escape" celebration banquet.

Several new movies have been released in recent days, from Hollywood's "Underworld 2", as well as "Last Vacation", and co-production "Shopaholic".

The domestic blockbusters that were released at the end of last month basically have no film schedule at this time, that is, "King Kong" still has more than ten percent of the film schedule, and "Extreme Escape" has only [-]% left. As for "If You Love", "Riding Alone for a Thousand Miles" is about one percent.

At this time, the total box office of "Extreme Escape" in the mainland has reached 5000 million.

There are 400 million people on Hong Kong Island, and 100 million people in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

The total adds up to nearly [-] million.

The current profit is about 500 million.

The film has not yet been released in Europe and the United States, and it should continue to increase the box office in the future.

This kind of achievement naturally needs to be celebrated, and Fenghua does not need to pay for it. Naturally, there are hotels, red wine, and pastry brand sponsorship.

So on this beautiful night, Li Shengyao led the creators of "Extreme Escape" to hold a celebration banquet.

Deng Chao wore a neat suit, and Li Lianhua also wore a long skirt. The movie benefited the most from Lee Shengyao, who once again proved his charisma as a director of commercial films.

Followed by Deng Chao and Li Lianhua.

These two are mainland actors. Unlike other co-productions, the male and female actors in this film are from the mainland.

Now many media are promoting the box office appeal of mainland actors.

Under such circumstances, if Deng Chao and Li Lianhua still have commercial films worth more than [-] million yuan, they can be promoted to movie cafes.

At this time, Deng Chao and Li Lianhua were in very good condition, their faces were full of red, and the celebration banquet started with smiles. It has been half an hour now, and they still haven't stopped.

Seeing this, Li Shengyao was also happy for the two of them.

In his previous life, mainland actors did not prove that they could fight the box office until "Painted Skin" became a big hit.

At this moment, Wang Zhonglei walked over with a glass of wine in his hand, "Director Li, congratulations."

"President Wang, please be polite."

Li Shengyao had a drink with Wang Zhonglei, and what he drank was still clear water.

"Director Li, this time "Extreme Escape" is as exciting as "Let's Punch, Dad". Both movies can make a lot of money. You are definitely the most profitable director in China right now."

If you want to say that the most profitable, it has to be Lao Mouzi. "Hero" is 5000 million US dollars, which is unmatched by other people.

"President Wang, you're being polite. I'm just making a little money now, so it's not worth mentioning."

Filmmaking is like this. It looks lively, but in fact, unless it is a big hit like "Wolf Warrior 2" more than ten years later, the producer will not make much money.

Whether it's "Let's Punch, Dad" or "Extreme Escape", Fenghua only earns 4000 to [-] million.

Of course, as a director, producer, and screenwriter, Lee Sheng Yew has a personal salary of 500 million for a movie.

Wang Zhonglei followed up with some good words, and he finally said: "Director Li, is the next movie confirmed?"

Li Shengyao is very serious about making movies, well prepared, and will not fill his own pockets. It can be said that Li Shengyao is the kind of producer that investors like most.

This time Han Sanping and Wang Changtian followed suit and made some money.

Seeing this, Wang Zhonglei naturally wanted to join the game.

As for what he said to Zhang Weiping to deal with Li Shengyao together, he had long forgotten it.

This is the way in the business world, if there is no benefit, you can just say hello, if it is beneficial, you can kneel down and call daddy.

Li Shengyao shook his head, "Not sure yet."

The lights were bright, and Li Shengyao was smiling, looking calm and composed.

He actually lied, now there is a direction.

He received a call from Cheng Long two days ago. Cheng Long expressed his intention to cooperate, saying that he would go north to Yanjing in a few days, and the two of them would have a deep chat.

Li Shengyao wanted to cooperate with Cheng Long because Cheng Long was famous all over the world.

His movies are not only shown in the mainland, Southeast Asia, and the beautiful country, but also in France, Spain, Eagle, and Italy.

In this regard, China Entertainment is unmatched.

There are some movies that Li Shengyao feels can reap the box office in other countries, and he needs an opener like Cheng Long.

The movie he wants to cooperate with Cheng Long is "Taken".

This film was conceived by French directors and screenwriters in 2007, so there is no need to worry about copyright issues.

As for the actor's action style, it should be easy for Cheng Long.

Now that Cheng Long's comedies are clearly not selling well in Hollywood, he is in urgent need of a transformative work.

"Taken" can be said to be a perfect fit for Cheng Long. Li Shengyao believes that this idea and script should be able to impress Cheng Long.

But he was not sure that Cheng Long would agree to cooperate with him.

Because the two of them cooperated, apart from the subject matter, there was another major premise, which was Cheng Long's salary.

At this time, Zhou Runfa's offer was 4000 million.

Jet Li's quotation for "Fearless" was 1000 million US dollars, and the following "Certificate of Fame" was quoted as [-] million US dollars. In the end, a fraction was wiped out, and the film salary was [-] million US dollars.

If Cheng Long follows the Hollywood market, he will have a salary of 2000 million US dollars.

That's nothing to talk about.

Li Shengyao went crazy and gave a salary of 7000 million. With such a high salary, he had to go abroad to shoot, so he still earned a hammer.

So Li Shengyao was not sure that Cheng Long would agree to cooperate with him.

The highest salary he is willing to give Cheng Long is 4000 million, which is the same as Zhou Runfa.

Zhou Runfa is naturally at a loss, he is not worth 4000 million at all, Fa Ge's appeal in the mainland is not as good as Liu Dehua.

Liu Dehua's salary at this time was about 400 million yuan, but it rose to 600 million yuan in "Certificate of Fame".

According to Cheng Long, it is more reasonable to get 9000-4000 million box office in the mainland in the past two years, plus overseas box office, [-] million.

In fact, both Cheng Long and Li Lianjie came back from Hollywood. Li Lianjie's "Certificate of Fame" was paid 9000 million yuan, and the following mainland films were all 1000 to [-] million. If converted into US dollars, it is about [-] to [-] million dollars.

When it came to "The Mummy 3", this movie focused on the mainland market, and it even got 500 million US dollars.

This is Li Lianjie's new high, his salary is higher than that of the leading actor.

However, some fans later boasted that "The Expendables" received 500 million blades in ten days, that's bragging.

"The Expendables" first approached Cheng Long, but Cheng Long refused, and then approached Li Lianjie. The total investment of the film was only 8000 million, and Stallone didn't even have a salary of 500 million, let alone Li Lianjie.

From Li Lianjie, it can be seen that if he returns to the mainland from Hollywood, if he becomes a starring role, the salary is similar to Hollywood.

And Cheng Long's salary in Hollywood is too high, and he is the only member of the 2000 million club in the Chinese circle.

No company in the mainland can afford such a high salary.

So except for Jing Tian's movie, no one asked Cheng Long to star in it. His movies are all his own boss.

He returned to the mainland from Hollywood, and he is the producer of almost all films, and his salary is investment.

Just like "Myth" invested 4000 million, "New Police Story" invested 2000 million, and "Baby Project" cost [-] million.

"Mythology" went to Ah San to shoot, and the production cost was high, which is understandable.

The other two modern dramas don't need so much money.

Most of the investment is actually considered as Cheng Long's film salary. There is no news about the specific film salary of Cheng Long's three films. It is estimated to be 6000 to [-] million.

The box office of "New Police Story" in mainland Hong Kong is only 6000 million, and the global box office is not known to be 3000 million. Cheng Long's film salary is included in the investment, and the money allocated is at most [-] million.

"Baby Project" is only 1000 million in Mainland China and Hong Kong Island. The global box office also does not know if there is [-] million. The money allocated is definitely not as much as the film salary.

Why is this? It's not that the production company can't afford him such a high salary.

The salary of nearly 2000 million US dollars is definitely a loss.

Li Shengyao hoped that Cheng Long would reduce his film salary to 4000 million, and he would also give Cheng Long a [-]% dividend of his global profits, which was his bottom line.

He believes that calculated in this way, Cheng Long will eventually earn 6000 to [-] million.

It must be more profitable than Cheng Long filming "Myth" and "New Police Story".

He wasn't sure if Cheng Long would accept it.

Wang Zhonglei was not surprised, he nodded with a light smile, and then left.

Less than 2 minutes after Xiao Wang left, Wang Changtian and Han Sanping came to Li Shengyao with wine glasses.

"Director Li, Xiao Wang is looking for your cooperation?"

Han Sanping asked tentatively.

Wang Changtian immediately said: "Huayi's "Night Banquet" didn't even look for you, obviously they didn't take you seriously, so don't talk to them."

Li Shengyao nodded with a smile, "I know it well."

Han Sanping raised his glass and touched Li Shengyao with a clang, and he continued, "Director Li, have you read the CCTV report?"

"Looked."

With regard to the summary of the mainland market in 2005, Li Shengyao thinks it is very good.

There were many blockbuster films in 2005. Compared with 2004, the film market has grown a lot, but there are also regrets.

After "Hero", there has never been a movie with more than [-] million yuan.

Looking at it now, in 2006, we should watch "The Banquet" and "Curse of the Golden Flower".

Han Sanping followed with a smile and said, "Director Li, won't you make a blockbuster film worth over [-] million yuan this year?"

Wang Changtian nodded, "Yes, Director Li, you are now second only to Lao Mouzi in terms of single-movie box office. This year, you must make persistent efforts and strive to reach [-] million."

These two people have money, they are not afraid of Li Shengyao making blockbuster movies, but they are afraid of Li Shengyao making small troubles, and investing tens of millions, then they have money and have nothing to spend.

Hearing this, Li Shengyao nodded with a smile, some thoughts flashed through his mind, and finally decided to reveal something.

"This year I will make a movie with a relatively high cost."

If Cheng Long is willing to act in "Taken", then he must pay Cheng Long's high salary, go abroad, and rent a yacht.

Invest at least 5000 million.

In addition, even if the discussion with Cheng Long fails, Lee Sing Yew wanted to make a big movie in 2006 and invested hundreds of millions.

"Extreme Escape" and "Let's Punch, Dad" have a box office of more than 1 million, so he will naturally pursue a higher box office.

And to reach [-] million, in the market in recent years, it is necessary to make a blockbuster film and have a big scene.

Han Sanping and Wang Changtian looked at each other, and they both saw the joy in each other's eyes. Instead of going deeper, they smiled and chatted about other topics.

After a while, the two left at the same time, but soon Han Sanping came back.

Since you want to invest, you can't chat with Li Shengyao with Wang Changtian.

What is the status of China Film, the share must be more than that of Wang Changtian.

"Director Li, I'm very interested in your project this year, can you reveal a little more information?"

The news about Li Shengyao's invitation to Cheng Long will spread sooner or later, and Cheng Long will come over in a few days.

Disclosing some news now has nothing to do with the overall situation.

Furthermore, the investment of 5000 million yuan, Fenghua can't afford it now, he was going to bring other people to play with him.

"Director Han, I have an idea. I want to invest with Cheng Long. Cheng Long has already contacted me. I will go north for a detailed discussion in a few days. Now I can't give you an affirmative answer. If Cheng Long is willing to join, Mr. The investment is around 5000 million."

Hearing this, Han Sanping was a bit brighter, her eyes were shining brightly, and her smile almost reached her ears, but after all, it was the old man of China Film Group, with absolutely good acting skills, and he quickly calmed down his emotions.

"Director Li, this is a good idea, very good."

China Film's internal competition is actually very fierce. Li Shengyao watched the news in his previous life. The reason why China Film invested [-] million in "Red Cliff" was because Han Sanping's family was in urgent need of performance.

Although the reputation of "Red Cliff" is not good, the box office is not bad, especially in the island country.

Let Han Sanping's group achieve performance and stabilize their position.

It made sense that Han Sanping was so excited at this moment.

"Director Li, China Film Group is willing to invest... [-] million."

He went on to say: "If you don't have the confidence to persuade Cheng Long, I can help you. I will be with you when the time comes. Let's chat with Cheng Long together. How about it?"

Li Shengyao was a little moved when he heard this.

At this moment, there were bursts of clinking of wine glasses, and bursts of high-heeled shoes stomping on the ground.

Li Shengyao came back to his senses and shook his head, "Director Han, [-] million is too much, many people are waiting for me."

If Cheng Long is willing to play "Taken", then this version of "Taken" will only be more successful.

After all, before Liam Neeson filmed "Taken", he was a second-rate actor in Hollywood. His acting skills were recognized and he won awards, but his commercial appeal was not high, and his film salary was not comparable to that of a global superstar like Cheng Long. When the first "Taken" was released, the salary was 700 million.

Not to mention that Liam Neeson's skills are not very good, just like Cheng Long's.

That is, as long as there is no special event happening, such as a world war, an alien invasion.

If Cheng Long is willing to play the leading role, Li Shengyao is [-]% sure that his "Taken" will be more successful than his previous life, and the box office will be even better.

That said, the film is sure to make money.

Of course Lee Shengyao would not eat alone, but he would not allocate so much investment shares, Fenghua tightened his belt and wanted to get an investment of 8000 million.

It's not too much to earn half of your own drama.

Han Sanping smiled, "Director Li, the more you invest in this matter, the more troublesome it will be. When the time comes, it's better to have as little as possible. Let's just invest 6000 million in this movie, and you and I will each have 8000 million. "

Li Shengyao noticed that among the crowd, Wang Changtian, Wang Zhonglei, and Yu Dongdu were looking at this side from time to time, so he was naturally not in a hurry.

Besides, if the 4000 million won't be able to impress Cheng Long, he will give Cheng Long [-]% of the income as a dividend. Naturally, the [-]% will not be deducted from him, but from other investors.

With only two companies, China Film Group may be upset, thinking that they are all the same money, so why should they deduct it from themselves.

A few more investors, so that they have pressure.

"Director Han, we're not in a hurry, Cheng Long is not sure yet, so wait and see."

Han Sanping continued to persuade him a few more words, but Li Shengyao still did not let go.

Seeing this, Han Sanping had to leave. He understood what Li Shengyao meant. Li Shengyao didn't refuse to cooperate with China Film, but just wanted to attract more investors.

As soon as Han Sanping left, Wang Changtian came to Li Shengyao quietly with small steps.

"Director Li, can you tell me a thing or two? We, Guangguang, definitely have great sincerity and will never let you suffer."

Li Shengyao smiled, and then said in a low voice what he had said to Han Sanping before.

Wang Changtian paused when he heard the words, then his eyes rolled wildly, and after ten seconds he stopped, he took a deep breath, "Director Li, have you promised Mr. Han?"

"No."

Lee Sheng Yew intends to give a little hint, "This is my third movie and my first blockbuster movie with an investment of over [-] million yuan. Of course I have to be more cautious."

With the funds of China Film and Fenghua, it can fully support a 5000 million movie.

Under such circumstances, Lee Sheng Yew said that this is his third movie, so he should be more cautious...

Wang Changtian quickly understood what Li Shengyao meant, thought for a while, and then said: "Director Li, for the film's investment of 5000 million, Light is willing to invest 3000 million, as long as 15.00% of the film's dividends."

What is a smart person, this is a smart person.

Clear in one point.

Moreover, Wang Changtian made a decision so quickly, which is indeed courageous.

"Mr. Wang, do you trust me so much?"

Wang Changtian laughed and analyzed in a low voice, "You are serious about making movies. Since you are looking for Cheng Long, you must be aiming at the foreign market, just like "Hero". If it explodes, you will earn tens of millions of dollars. My side is 15.00%, and I can still make some money."

"Hero" cost 3000 million U.S. dollars, and the global box office is 5000 million U.S. dollars. Unfortunately, the beautiful country was bought out.

But even so, the producers made tens of millions of dollars.

Wang Changtian went on to say: "Director Li, I know Fenghua and China Film are the big heads, so just leave some for me, how about it?"

This is a person who is bold but knows how to advance and retreat.

Li Shengyao realized that these people can climb to high positions, they are all outstanding people.

If money is not involved, he would be willing to make friends with Wang Changtian.

He thought about it, but still shook his head, "Mr. Wang, I'll think about it again."

(End of this chapter)