Full-time actor

Chapter 550 [115] Fortunately, I am a reborn person. My wife is so smart!
Inside the café at Grand Hyatt Roppongi.

Chen Yu and Anlun Weir sat opposite each other.

This foreigner was also very familiar with Zhang Yimou. After the premiere of "A Solo Journey", he chatted with Chen Yu for a while, and then Zhang Yimou came over to introduce Chen Yu.

This seems to be a guarantee that Zhang Yimou has confirmed the other party's identity to Chen Yu.

After all, a business card alone is not convincing enough; although he was able to attend the premiere, he had actually already experienced a certain identity.

But the appearance of Zhang Yimou completely dispelled the last bit of vigilance in Chen Yu's heart.

"Chan, I really didn't expect to meet you at the Tokyo Film Festival!"

Anlun Weir said with a smile, and Chen Yu shrugged: "It shouldn't be strange for me to participate in Dongying. After all, all my business is in Asia!"

"No, no, no, Dongying shines because of you!"

Aaron Will was flattering him, and Chen Yu shrugged: "I accept your flattery to me, Mr. Will!"

"Hahaha!"

The two laughed loudly, and An Lun said, "I saw the introduction to your movie premiere in the East Film brochure. It was the premiere of Yimou's new movie, and I just happened to see you there, so I wanted to talk to you about your new movie!"

"Okay, my pleasure!"

Chen Yu was still a little polite, mainly because the other party's identity was indeed extraordinary.

The title of Vice President of United Artists Asia Pacific is actually quite intimidating; currently United Artists has no business in China, but has close ties with Japan.

As one of the eight major film studios in Hollywood, United Artists enjoyed great success in the first few years after the birth of Hollywood. It even reached a point where it was the only dominant company, simply because its founders were four of the most famous filmmakers in the world - Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, Fairbanks and David Griffith!
These four people had a great influence in Hollywood at the time. Mary Pickford was Canada's national treasure-level film queen, Chapel Hill was needless to say, Fairbanks was the first generation actor of Zorro, and Griffith was the last one, one of the top 100 directors in the United States.

But these four people lived in the early 20th century, so not many people know about them.

With the passing of the four founders, the United Artists employees who had originally wanted to make independent films went out to work on their own and set up their own studios. United Artists entered a period of decline; finally, it went bankrupt and was acquired.

This century-old film giant was acquired by Pan American World Airways in the 60s and was the investor in "2001: A Space Odyssey". Pan American World Airways then went bankrupt and the company changed hands several times before eventually coming into the hands of another Hollywood giant, MGM.

MGM was very popular in the 80s, but its heyday lasted only 20 years. In April this year, a group of consortiums led by Sony formed MGM Holdings and forcibly acquired MGM through leverage.

Of the eight major Hollywood studios that had existed for a hundred years, only six remain today.

Sony, with its previous acquisition of Columbia, another one of the Big Eight, plus United Artists and MGM, now has three of the Big Eight and has become the new Hollywood giant. It is unrivaled at the moment and is on the verge of surpassing the other five.

This is indeed unsolvable, because Sony is really rich now, and its global brand value is second only to Microsoft.

The An Lun in front of us is the general manager of Sony's United Artists Independent Pictures, which is responsible for acquiring independent film distribution rights in the entire Asia-Pacific region.

He has handled many Asian films, which were released in North America and Europe and achieved relatively good returns.

He had previously promoted Zhang Yimou's films such as "My Father and Mother" to the North American market, especially in the audio-visual field. As Zhang Yimou's fame grew, the films that he bought out for only a few hundred thousand dollars at the time have continued to make profits and are getting better and better.

"Chan, I want to buy your new film "The Force Awakens" at the highest price in the market!"

After chatting for a while, An Lun told him why he came to see him.

"Thank you Mr. Will for your appreciation of me. Wouldn't it be better to talk about it after the premiere?"

Because "Extraction" was not a shortlisted film, there was no need to wait until the premiere to sell it; in the imagination of outsiders, the scene of the film trading market should be tens of thousands of people gathered, buyers shuttled between hundreds of movie booths, and bid on the spot to select the best ones.

But in fact, most buyers have already made preparations for their intended films before heading to the film festival, and have begun to contact and communicate with the film producers and arrange meeting times in advance.

Since most projects are still in the early development or just-started shooting stages and the finished films cannot be seen, each booth will have a TV ready to play the film's production highlights or rough cut trailers at any time.

At the film market, meetings between buyers and sellers are short and quick, and the process is roughly as follows: the buyer inquires about the price of the film he's interested in, then learns about the actual production cost and tries to bargain. If he can make a price right away, he'll make it immediately; if not, he'll set a time point as the deadline for making quotes.

A good film will generally receive quotes from many companies at the same time. As for who to finally cooperate with, it mainly depends on the amount and the relationship.

Outside of the official venues of the film market, nearby hotels, cafes, and restaurants can all become places where film deals are finalized. However, it is difficult to participate in the bustle outside of this "film market" without years of rich connections and relationships.

In later times, film deals were often negotiated long before the film festival.

In Chen Yu's opinion, Anlun Weir is such a buyer now.

He was a little impatient and wanted to kill with one blow and complete the deal before the premiere even started. Of course, Chen Yu wanted to receive bids from more companies.

"Chan!"

An Lun drank a cup of coffee and smiled at Chen Yu: "I have analyzed your works, and without exception, they are all excellent works. If I made a mistake this time, it only shows that my vision is very poor, but I believe in my judgment!"

"If you get it after the premiere, it will actually affect my judgment. I believe many film companies will give you an offer!"

"Do you have a rough estimate?"

An Lun is indeed a very experienced buyer and his words are easy to understand.

Just as Chen Yu guessed, he bought "Extraction" directly at a suitable price, and he didn't care about the quality of the movie after it was released.

Moreover, this kind of offer is generally difficult to refuse.

Because it has to be a very high price to attract film producers.

To give the simplest example, Chen Yu's "The Eleven" was invested with 2000 million RMB. Considering his popularity, 2000 million USD would be more than enough. The price of Chen Yu's inner self might be 3000 million USD, but An Lun's was directly 3500 million!
It was his price that made it difficult for the buyer to refuse.

Even if you have a premiere and the quality of the movie is very high, many film producers cannot offer such a price.

This is different from a liar like Weinstein. This guy quoted a high price to sign the contract and then went back on his word after paying the deposit. If Chen Yu agreed to An Lun, he would definitely set a time limit for the payment and completion of the transaction.

After all, there is the precedent of Weinstein.

"Actually, I want to wait until after the premiere to watch it. And I'm not good at this kind of negotiation. I can let the person in charge of my company talk to you!"

Chen Yu is too lazy to care about things like film transactions.

He only needs to tell the company a rough transaction range, and the rest will be left to Yuxin Pictures; just like "Departures", which sold for 2000 million US dollars.

"Can you tell me a rough price?"

"3000 million? 3500 million?"

An Lun was smiling, and Chen Yu drank his coffee and shook his head: "Really, Mr. Will, I haven't thought about it. I'm just an actor. My job is to perform well, not to sell movies!"

"Hahaha, okay, but as far as I know, you are the founder and largest shareholder of Yuxin Pictures. Both "Extraction" and "Departures" are films invested by your company, so you should have played a certain role in decision-making!"

"No, this kind of thing must be left to professionals. Can I give your phone number to my colleague?"

Chen Yu took out a business card from his pocket. It was from Yang Lu, the current head of Yuxin Pictures.

"Ok, then I'll wait for his call, or I'll contact him in the evening!"

Anlun Weir took the business card and looked at it carefully.

"No, I'll let him contact you!"

"My company will also send a team over in a few days to handle the sale and purchase of distribution rights!"

"understand!"

Of course, Anlun Weir can understand Chen Yu's hands-off behavior, because it is too common in Hollywood.

A star opens a film and television company and has a whole team serving him. All he has to do is make good movies; for example, Tom Cruise does this.

After exchanging a few words with Aaron Weir, Chen Yu returned to his hotel.

Seeing Chen Yu's thoughtful look, Liu Yifei couldn't help but ask, "Didn't you reach an agreement?"

"No, it was very pleasant, I just thought of something!"

Chen Yu also remembered something very important when he walked into the room; after hearing how wealthy An Lun was, no one would have thought that United Artists would be sold to MGM again, and the one who acquired United Artists was Tom Cruise.

Chen Yu was not sure about the exact time, but it seemed to be during the release of Mission: Impossible 3; because the news was widely circulated at that time, Tom Cruise bought United Artists, one of the eight major film studios in Hollywood.

Chen Yu was not interested in this because of the news, but because he was very familiar with Tom Cruise.

This was a landmark event in his brilliant star journey, symbolizing his transformation from an actor, to a star, to a Hollywood superstar... and then to a producer. Now, the acquisition of United Artists has directly become a complete transformation of capital.

This is a very important transition and span.

It is said that his sect also made a lot of efforts in this process; because he alone might not have the strength to acquire such a century-old film company, so he acquired it together with another partner.

As the saying goes, a lean camel is bigger than a horse. Although United Artists has been resold all the time, it has a lot of copyrights under its name, not to mention Chaplin's, but also "Gone with the Wind" and the "007" series, which are all works developed by this film studio.

Tom Cruise obviously has his eyes on these copyrights and has big ambitions.

You have to know that the copyright of the "Mission Impossible" series is an American TV series from the 6s and 70s, which was noticed by Tom Cruise, and then the "Mission Impossible" series was derived, which became a box office hit all over the world. From this point of view, this guy is really awesome.

Vision, operation, ability... it's certainly not easy to become popular all over the world. "In other words, United Artists will be acquired by Tom Cruise either this year or next year?"

"Sony probably doesn't think much of United Artists right now, right?"

Otherwise, it would not face the fate of being sold.

Chen Yu sat at the desk, staring at the computer in front of him in a daze; Liu Yifei, who had cut the fruit, wanted to feed him some, but surprisingly did not disturb him.

This is the awareness of an excellent girlfriend.

Moreover, in Liu Yifei's view, the thinking Chen Yu is full of masculine charm.

When girls are in love, they become infatuated with their lovers. Even if she is as beautiful as Liu Yifei, she will have this kind of filter for her significant other that is extremely good.

Da da da!
Chen Yu's fingers tapped rhythmically on the table. He always felt like he had overlooked a crucial detail.

United Artists is so wealthy that it purchased "Taken" - was it a gamble or did they really believe in themselves?
Although Chen Yu knew that "Extraction" was well made and he himself was very popular and had great commercial value, it should be no problem for this movie to earn 1 million US dollars in Asia; but, what is Hollywood?
Chen Yu's achievements are enough to make a big splash in Asia, but they are really not taken seriously by people in Europe and the United States.

This is the current status of Chinese movie stars.

Just like in the past, many stars from South Korea and Japan were very popular in Asia, but could only play supporting roles in Hollywood blockbusters. They didn’t take you seriously at all.

Even if you are a Grand Slam actor, Grand Slam actors like Sean Penn and Julianne Moore are not as famous in Hollywood as Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

The two are now global superstars, but not many people know about Sean Penn Huaxia.

After all, the United States is still a commercial country, and box office is the guarantee of fame; awards are just a way to enhance your fame, but they are far less important than box office appeal.

This is also the reason why the Oscars will become less and less prestigious and controlled by capital in the future.

If you have money, you can really do whatever you want in the United States.

"wrong!"

Chen Yu suddenly slammed the table, and Liu Yifei, who was playing with her phone, couldn't help but look up.

"Tom Cruise... United Artists..."

After Chen Yu went over it in his mind, he finally found a link that he had been missing; it was true that "Extraction" had not yet premiered, but in fact, not only Chen Yu, but also another guy, had already seen this movie.

Tom Cruise!
This guy, let United Artists buy this movie?

In other words, it is very likely that United Artists has already hooked up with him.

"No wonder he's so confident, it's Tom Cruise who gave him that!"

Of course he could see the commercial potential of Chen Yu's film, so he snatched it up in advance and made a profit of 3500 million for the European and American distribution rights.

But other publishers may not have his courage and generosity to spend money.

Even if you've watched the premiere.

Because they are just the buyers and employees, they have to ask the headquarters for prices and other things; and on the United Artists side, Tom Cruise may be their future boss, so An Lun certainly has the confidence when he gives the order.

"Yifei, I want to ask you something!"

Chen Yu suddenly raised his head and looked at Liu Yifei.

Liu Yifei then walked up to Chen Yu with a smile, picked up a piece of the cut apple and peeled orange with a toothpick, and handed it to Chen Yu's mouth: "Go ahead, I'm listening!"

Chen Yu ate a piece, hugged Liu Yifei, and whispered in her ear: "If Tom Cruise buys my movie, would you sell it if it were you?"

"'Taken', Tom Cruise?"

Obviously, these two things had nothing to do with each other, which made Liu Yifei a little confused.

"Yes, I analyzed it!"

"What about the price?"

Liu Yifei asked.

“The price should make me very excited!”

"Sell it!"

Liu Yifei narrowed her eyes and said, "It doesn't matter who we sell it to. We don't have any distribution channels in North America. Maybe Tom Cruise has it. He should have it, right?"

"But why did he buy your movie? He wanted to adapt the rights...to make it himself?"

When Liu Yifei said this, she suddenly glanced at Chen Yu, nodded and said, "It's very possible. If he were to film this script, with his global influence, the box office would definitely be higher than yours!"

Of course, Liu Yifei had read the script of "Escape Plan" and she even made a cameo appearance in a few scenes.

But the speaker has no intention, the listener has the intention.

Chen Yu's mind suddenly became clear, and he understood everything completely.

"Haha, my wife is smart!"

Chen Yu suddenly held up Liu Yifei's face and kissed her fiercely: "Why didn't I think that this guy was after my adaptation rights?"

"That must be the case. This guy had this idea after watching my movie last time!"

"That's not right either!"

Liu Yifei looked at Chen Yu and asked, "Why didn't he just tell you that he wanted to buy the rights to the film adaptation, instead of going through so much trouble through other people?"

"To make money. I can make some money after the movie is released, and then I can adapt it myself—"

When Chen Yu said this, he suddenly raised his head and looked at Liu Yifei. Liu Yifei also looked at him. The two of them... seemed to have thought of the real reason.

"It's not that simple!"

"Yes, if my movie becomes popular in North America, what's the point of him adapting it?"

"It can only be like Infernal Affairs. Asia has absolute influence, he will adapt it, and then-"

“Pick peaches!”

"So when he bought the distribution rights, he didn't even think about distributing it, but rather adapting it and filming it himself!"

"..."

Chen Yu and Liu Yifei stared at each other, and Chen Yu felt very disappointed.

If this is true, then this movie will really be a good choice for Tom Cruise.

Grass!
With his popularity, he will definitely be a big hit with this script; if he doesn't get more than 3 million US dollars worldwide, Chen Yu will be his last name.

"The Departed", adapted from "Infernal Affairs", grossed 3 million US dollars worldwide!
Moreover, it directly won the Academy Awards that year, winning Best Picture, Best Director, etc.

Absolutely fame and fortune.

Tom Cruise really needs a masterpiece like this right now to establish his absolute position in Hollywood.

"This guy almost succeeded!"

"Then I adapted his Mission Impossible 4, there was absolutely no pressure at all!"

"You did it on the first day, don't blame me on the fifteenth!"

Not to mention the "Mission Impossible" series, Chen Yu will not let go of any Tom Cruise work, including "Top Gun" and "Edge of Tomorrow"; even if Chen Yu himself does not shoot, he will write the script and adapt it for other directors in the company.

Thinking of this, Chen Yu felt a little happy.

"What are you laughing at? Are you still in the mood to laugh at this hour?"

Liu Yifei really couldn't understand Chen Yu's train of thought. Chen Yu pinched her delicate face, which no longer had baby fat, and said lightly: "Don't you think it's good to have an opponent like Tom Cruise?"

Intercept him, replace him, surpass him!
This is what Chen Yu thought next, and if possible, he would kick him a few times and make a few bad movies for him.

"Ha ha!"

When he thought of this, Chen Yu felt that he was also quite evil.

"Forget it, just work on his work; for the rest, it depends on the ability of his team..."

Chen Yu would not do anything to slander others. The most he could do was to take away his popular works. As for what kind of movies Tom Cruise will make in the future and whether they will be popular or not... this has nothing to do with Chen Yu.

(End of this chapter)