Full-time actor

Chapter 551 [116] The price of the European and American distribution rights of "Extraction"!
"The most popular actor in Asia, Chen Yu and his girlfriend Liu Yifei walked the green carpet at the Tokyo Film Festival, and the whole audience was excited!"

"The 22nd Tokyo International Film Festival opens, and Asia's popular queen Ayumi Hamasaki lights up the show!"

"This year's East Film Jury Chairman Zhang Yimou and all members appeared! "

"Zhang Yimou's new film "A Solo Journey of Thousand Miles" premiered in Dongying, receiving rave reviews! "

"Unprecedented, the Chinese film industry is at home, and for the first time, four Chinese-language films are simultaneously shortlisted for the main competition unit of the Eastern Film Festival!"

"Chen Yu's action blockbuster becomes Tokyo Film's closing film, and it's sold out as soon as it goes on sale, with scalpers offering 10 yen for the front row seats!"

……

"Ha ha!"

After the routine lovemaking at night, Liu Yifei lay there lazily, using her phone to look through yesterday's entertainment reports on several portal websites. She was a little shocked when she saw the last article: "Honey, the tickets for the premiere have been sold for 10 yuan each?"

"is it?"

Chen Yu had just finished taking a shower and walked out of the bathroom: "There are scalpers in Japan?"

"I remember Motoki told me that in Japan, reselling movie tickets is a serious crime. If caught by the police, you may be sentenced to more than three years in prison!"

“It’s much heavier than in China!”

This was the first time Chen Yu heard of it.

"The news can't be false, right?"

"I'll give you a call and ask!"

Chen Yu was just about to ask Motoki Masahiro when his cell phone suddenly rang.

"Well, Lao Yang, you go ahead!"

The call was from Yang Lu, the person in charge of Yu Xin. In recent years, Yang Lu has been very dedicated to the management of the company. Although Chen Yu is basically a hands-off boss and has given him some shares, many decisions are actually made by Chen Yu.

For example, the investment in some movies and the formulation of the company's film and television projects all have to be decided by Chen Yu himself.

Some basic film and television transactions such as collecting debts, selling, and handling business are left to him and the company's team.

This ensures that Chen Yu has a clear idea of ​​his income.

After all, the box office, sales of distribution rights, etc. will be announced to the public, so it is very difficult to falsify such information; and the employee salary expenses, etc. are basically the same, and Chen Yu actually has a rough idea of ​​this.

Therefore, Chen Yu was still very confident in Yang Lu. He had served as Chen Yu's deputy in the past few years and had done a good job. Of course, Chen Yu had never treated him unfairly.

Annual dividends and shares increase year by year.

"Brother Yu, the negotiations with An Lun are almost over. His price is really high, 3800 million US dollars, including all the European and American distribution rights of "The Force Awakens", as well as the adaptation, audio and video rights, etc.!"

"3800 million..."

This price is indeed very tempting.

Although Chen Yu is confident that "Escape Plan" will be able to achieve high box office in Europe and the United States, the distributor certainly does not think so; because the director has not proven his ability, and Ye Weixing is not considered a first-tier director in Hong Kong, let alone other regions.

If it was Zhang Yimou or Stephen Chow, this movie would definitely be sold in the 5000-8000 million range.

If the leading actors were Jackie Chan and Jet Li, they would definitely earn more than 5000 million.

But Chen Yu is still a little short of it at the moment.

Therefore, the price of 3800 million US dollars is definitely higher than any other in the market; Hollywood and European distributors are unlikely to offer such a high price.

The price is double that of the Golden Lion-winning "Departures".

Which producer can resist such temptation?
Before it was even released, it was able to earn nearly 3 million yuan in profits. The actual cost of "Extraction" was only more than 1000 million yuan.

Of course, this expenditure of more than 1000 million does not include Chen Yu’s salary.

If his salary is included, the cost of "Extraction" is about 5000 million; he alone will take up 500 million US dollars, and the quoted cost of "Extraction" is 5000 million.

The price is also the same for accounting and tax filing. Chen Yu’s salary of 500 million US dollars is also calculated separately and has to be transferred to his personal card.

Chen Yu only calculated the actual expenses.

To be honest, this price is really hard for most people to refuse.

"What about other companies? Are there any offers?"

"Yes, Searchlight paid 2800 million, Weinstein paid 3100 million, Legendary Pictures paid 3000 million, and we also paid for the European distribution rights..."

"Legendary is opened so high?"

Chen Yu was stunned. Legendary Pictures is also a well-known independent production company in Hollywood.

Although it is not owned by Warner, it has always had in-depth cooperation with the Hollywood giant Warner; it will be acquired by Wanda in the future, and its domestic subsidiary "Legendary East" will be incorporated into Huayi. Its nature is actually similar to Relativity Pictures. It is a company established by hot money from Wall Street and is also one of the Hollywood giants that has cooperated the most with China. The other one is Relativity.

It has also produced many well-known commercial blockbusters.

For example, "Superman Returns", "The Dark Knight Rises", "Pacific Rim", "Godzilla", "King Kong" and so on.

After Zhang Weiping and Zhang Yimou parted ways, the Hollywood investment in his film "The Great Wall" was made by Legendary Pictures.

"First, I have money, and second, I have a big tree behind me!"

"Legendary Pictures has just signed a seven-year cooperation agreement with Warner Bros., which stipulates that in the next seven years, the two parties will jointly finance and produce 7 film and television works and share distribution channels!"

"Oh?"

Yang Lu was talking on the other end of the phone, and Chen Yu began to understand a little.

This is a big shot on the list, just like Relativity is dependent on Paramount; but the current operations of the two companies are somewhat different. Relativity wants to make money by making movies on its own, but Legendary wants to have the best of both worlds?

In the end, facts have proved that Legend is more successful than Theory of Relativity.

You can't rely on one tree to make money, and Legendary Pictures' current CEO Thomas Tull has a broader vision than Kavanaugh.

"Then let's talk about 3500 million!"

"Anyway, 3300 million is our bottom price. As for An Lun from United Artists, don't reject him outright!"

"Tell him that you won't sell the adaptation rights, but you can give them the distribution rights, but they have to release it in North America and Europe within six months. This has to be included in the contract, but you're not asked to really sell it. You have to find an excuse to delay it!"

Anyway, Chen Yu has seen through it, and he is not afraid that Tom Cruise knows it.

Moreover, there is nothing wrong with Chen Yu's contract. It is based on cooperation and guarantees the release of the film and the ownership of the adaptation rights.

Even though there are contractual constraints, the other party may not necessarily enforce them.

This is very normal in the United States. If you have no one to sue, you may not win.

That's why Chen Yu used the tactic of procrastination.

"Okay, Brother Yu, I understand what you mean!"

"Well, other families do the same!"

Don’t be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of what happens.

God knows whether Tom Cruise will try to snatch the movie after "Extraction" is sold to Legendary; we can only put all these things in the contract first. As for the final release details, Chen Yu will have to confirm the seller before discussing them one by one.

All he had to do was to ensure that the movie was released in North America; whether the money was a little, or just a difference of a few million dollars, Chen Yu really didn't care.

Opening up the North American market is the key.

This is something that cannot be bought with any amount of money, and Tom Cruise is actually afraid of this at the moment.

"This matter cannot be reported to Richard yet!"

Tom Cruise is also a co-artist of CAA, and Weinstein is unreliable... If it really doesn't work, Chen Yu can only ask Cheng Long to see if New Line is willing to take over, and also ask Kavanaugh of Relativity.

There's money to be made, New Line's Robert Shea would certainly agree.

"As for the way of cooperation..."

In fact, Chen Yu has a very good idea, but New Line may not cooperate.

That is the same as "Taken", making New Line a partner, so that it can enter the North American market by sharing the profits; the higher the box office, the more money it makes.

But the problem is that New Line may not pay, and he just wants to pick peaches for free.

You will know how stingy and arrogant the Americans are after dealing with them. Many actions that seem outrageous to Chinese people are considered normal by them.

For example, if New Line does nothing and is given a 10% profit share, New Line is 100% willing to do this kind of thing of giving away money. Who doesn't want to make money without doing anything?
But it may not help with marketing, and giving Chen Yu money is just wishful thinking.

This also means that the box office performance of the film will definitely not be very good.

They will make money anyway, and they don't care about the 5% share; this is why no film would choose this kind of cooperation method, usually it is a buyout; if a movie is bought out, the film company will also lose money without marketing.

So we must help promote it.

However, cooperation based on profit-sharing is too risky.

99% of them are just for others. Unless it is a movie by Jackie Chan, New Line might promote it more vigorously.

It’s just like the collaboration between Golden Harvest and him in the past.

Box office must be coordinated with marketing, and North America needs it even more.

"Unfortunately, Marvel is still too weak at the moment!"

If "Iron Man" becomes a big hit after its release, Chen Yu can easily bring Marvel into the investment of "Taken" and distribute it through Paramount's channels.

"Without a familiar partner in North America, there are indeed too many restrictions!"

For the first time, Chen Yu felt how difficult it was for Chinese films to enter North America and become box office hits.

Not only are there people who are being targeted, but whether or not you make money is another matter entirely. No wonder people in later generations simply stopped going on the platform, and those who did went on only focused on the Chinese community.

Also, there are a lot of scammers.

At this point, Chen Yu lost all interest in inquiring about scalper tickets for the premiere. In his heart, he was thinking about a safe way to release the film in North America. All the current targeting was just because he was not famous enough. Once his box office appeal was verified, the Americans would completely change their attitude.

These guys couldn't be more realistic.

"Go to sleep, and wait until the premiere to see what the film producers say!"

Liu Yifei comforted her, and Chen Yu nodded, then hugged her and fell asleep together.

……

At the same time, the crew of "Mission Impossible 3" was staying at the hotel in the United States.

The filming of "Mission Impossible 3" is coming to an end, and in a few days, the lead actor Tom Cruise will finish shooting.

He woke up quietly from his sleep, hugging his girlfriend Katie Holmes. The time difference was exactly the opposite of Japan.

Rubbing his eyes, Tom Cruise took out the mobile phone on the bedside table. As soon as he turned on the phone, he received a text message from his agent Maha Dahir, reminding him to call after turning on the phone no matter what.

"Hi, Maha!"

Tom Cruise sat up from the bed and greeted Maha Dahir who answered the phone.

"Cruise, Chan's new film "The Force Awakens" will premiere at the East Film Studio. I've arranged for An Lun to contact the studio to acquire it!"

"How about it?"

Tom Cruise stood up and walked to the window: "Did you get it?"

"The other party refused to sell the adaptation rights and agreed that the film must be released in Europe and the United States six months in advance!"

Maha Dahir's words made Tom Cruise narrow his eyes: "Is it Chan himself who is contacted, or his company?"

"company!"

"But the other party represents Chen Yu!"

"Promise him!"

Tom Cruise said this calmly, and Maha Dahir said helplessly: "If this happens, there will be some legal risks later!"

"It doesn't matter. I can still afford this lawyer's fee!"

Basically, every Hollywood star has a very professional team of lawyers.

"Okay, then I'll talk to An Lun!"

Maha Dahir said this and hung up the phone.

"what happened?"

Katie, naked, walked behind Tom Cruise, hugged him tightly from behind and leaned on his shoulders.

"nothing!"

Tom Cruise smiled at Katie and patted her forehead.

The two of them returned to the bed, Katie leaning on his chest, while Tom Cruise leaned there with his hands on his neck, looking forward, indeed lost in a kind of calm contemplation.

Is it that Chen Yu’s company is professional, or is it that Chen Yu himself saw through his plan?

After thinking about it, Tom Cruise felt that it was unlikely that Chen Yu could see through him. It should be that his company was more cautious, so they came up with such a plan.

However, cross-border contractual constraints often come to nothing.

Weinstein often plays this trick, and Tom Cruise himself doesn't take it seriously.

After thinking for a while, he suddenly picked up his phone again and sent a message to his agent Maha Dashir: "When is Chan's new film premiering? I want to know the premiere feedback of this film?"

"Okay, I will keep an eye on the news in this regard and let Dongying report to me!"

"it is good!"

After Tom Cruise finished speaking, he hugged his girlfriend and fell into a crazy passion.

……

On the second day, Chen Yu and Liu Yifei dressed up and came to the hotel downstairs to have dinner.

After a good night's sleep, Chen Yu obviously no longer cared too much about last night's troubles; all the plans would be discussed after the premiere.

Chen Yu still seems very confident that the movie "Extraction" will be safely released in North America.

"I heard that all the tickets for our movie premiere were sold out within 5 minutes of opening yesterday?"

Jiang Wen brought his daughter Jiang Yilang to the breakfast room, and Zhou Yun helped them get breakfast, looking like a good wife and mother.

"I don't know either. I only saw it when my wife was watching the news. It seemed that scalpers were selling the ticket for 10 yen. I thought it was just a rumor in the domestic news!"

"Damn, someone told me about this, you're asking!"

To be honest, this is the first time I’ve seen the premiere ticket prices being hyped up, even though Jiang Wen has participated in so many film festivals. Of course, he rarely participates in Eastern Film Festival, so such a thing is impossible to happen at the three major film festivals.

It is true that tickets for the premieres of films promoted at the three major Hollywood film festivals are sold out quickly, but there is really no such thing as ticket prices being hyped up to the sky; that is even more impossible for Chinese films at the three major festivals... But now, Chen Yu's new film has caused such a situation at Eastern Film Studios. Not to mention that Chen Yu himself did not expect it, Eastern Film Studios was also caught off guard.

Who would have thought that the premiere tickets for "Taken" which premiered on the last day would not only sell out the fastest, but also the newly built 1200-seat theater in Akihabara was sold out within just a few minutes of the opening.

Not only were the tickets sold out, but scalpers also appeared in the market.

Does this mean that Chen Yu is extremely popular in Japan, or that movie fans have high expectations for his new film?
The promotional posters and so on have already been put out.

It was a bloody scene where Chen Yu, holding a dagger in his hand, stood face to face with Wu Jing, holding a short knife. There were people lying on the ground, and Jiang Yilang was huddled in the corner, trembling.

There is another photo, showing Chen Yu holding a dagger, guarding Jiang Yilang, looking coldly at the countless gangsters surrounding them.

The feeling of one person facing a group of people.

At present, two such posters can be seen everywhere in Dongying, and they look very solemn and cold at first glance.

A strong sense of action is overwhelming.

Chen Yu called Motoki Masahiro and asked about it. As expected, Japan has very severe penalties on scalpers. However, the scalpers who suddenly appeared at the Tokyo Film Festival might be Chinese people studying or working in Japan... Chen Yu even laughed when he heard it.

Damn, Chinese people really know how to do business!

This operation routine is surprisingly familiar, and the key is that it seems that there are really Japanese people who will buy it.

10 yuan per ticket was the price yesterday, and today it has been driven up to 12 yuan.

And it’s a cash transaction on the spot at the Eastern Film Festival.

"That's awesome, bro. You're the first person to pay extra to watch a premiere at a film festival!"

Jiang Wen raised his thumb and said with a smile, "When will Xiaoye and Wu Jing come? For the closing ceremony?"

"Yes, Director Ye's first action movie will be released on the 18th of this month, and he has to stay in Hong Kong to promote it!"

"What's his name? Wolf, he talked to me about it!"

"SPL is pretty good, and it's also an action movie, starring Zhen Zidan and Hong Jingbao!"

"Then we really need to publicize it well..."

Jiang Wen is not actually very interested in action movies, except for "Taken". He doesn't know if it's because of his daughter or if he really thinks the script is similar to "The Professional", so he has more expectations.

"Let's go, there's a premiere of 'The Village' this afternoon, don't forget it!"

"it is good!"

Chen Yu took Liu Yifei upstairs, and Liu Yifei began to choose clothes for the premiere.

In addition to "Village", she will also have the premiere of "The Two of Us" the day after tomorrow, so Liu Yifei will be very busy these days.

In the entire Eastern Film Academy, she has three movies premiering, which is definitely the busiest one!
(End of this chapter)