China Entertainment started in 2004

Chapter 358 Settlement
In January 2008, new films such as "Rescue Me" starring Xiao Songjia and Shi Liang, "Wrong Love" starring Shawn Yue and Teresa Teng, and "Butterfly Flying" starring Zhou Yuwen and Li Binbin were released.

In fact, the one that dominates the theater circuit is "Assembly", which landed in theaters on December 2007, 12.

In addition to the "Assembly Number", there is also the "Notice of Voting".

The former finally earned a box office of 2.6 million, and the latter earned a box office of 1.8 million.

Others are not worth mentioning.

As for Wang Shu's "Human Mountain", it is just an art film.

Compared with commercial films, the box office of art films has always been mediocre.

Therefore, Wang Shen did not choose to have this film compete with "Assembly Number" and "Report" in the New Year period, but set the release date in the Spring Festival period.

These days, mainland filmmakers have not yet discovered the market potential of the Spring Festival season.

The "blockbusters" that have been freed up will all be released during the New Year period from December to January, and there are very few "blockbusters" released during the Spring Festival period.

At this point in time, the competition among Chinese-language films will be relatively less stressful.

"The Sun Also Rises" is different from "Lust, Caution". Its investors need the film to be released as soon as possible to collect funds. Whether the film is released or not is never decided by Jiang Wen and Li Yu, but by the investor's father.

A lot of publicity and hype, as well as the pressure of no other blockbusters except "Yangtze River No. 7" during the Spring Festival, gave "Human Mountain" enough room to survive.

It can be said that Wang Shu aimed at the release of "Yangtze River No. 7", the only movie with a statement during the Spring Festival, and chose "Human Mountain" to be released in theaters during this period.

In this way, "Human Mountain" is an art film, and its box office may actually be higher than when it is released in other schedules.

……

After all, the only blockbuster film during the Spring Festival is Zhou Xingxing's "Yangtze River No. 7".

April is not a good month.

Due to the release of this film, other films that felt inferior and wanted to achieve high box office all ran away.

As for "The Beginning of Spring".
"Yangtze River No. 1" was released at the end of January, and "Slam Dunk" starring popular artist Jay Chou was released at the end of February.

After being withdrawn, "Slam Dunk" was rescheduled to be released on February 2, three weeks apart from "Yangtze River 27".

Among Chinese-language films, there was "Three Kingdoms" starring Andy Lau, and later the co-production "The King of Kung Fu" was released.

The rise of this kind of publicity trend will naturally attract audiences who want to buy tickets and go to the cinema to see the true face of Lushan in "Human Mountain and Crowd of People" and see if this movie has the qualifications to fear "Yangtze River No. 7".

Now in 2008, "The Sun Also Rises" and "Lust, Caution", which were entered into the main competition of the Venice Film Festival last year together with "Human Mountain", have been released, leaving Wang Shu's "Human Mountain" without news.

It’s just that March has never been a good time.

"Slam Dunk" was released three weeks apart from "Yangtze River 7", just when "Yangtze River 3" has almost closed the coffin lid and there is no competition pressure.

Originally, "The Beginning of Spring" was scheduled to be released on February 2, and "Slam Dunk" was scheduled to be released on February 4.

But with only "Yangtze River No. 7" being a blockbuster, the market will definitely not be saturated, which gives "Human Mountain" a chance.

Wang Shu has the final say whether to find the issuer to act as an agent for distribution.

If in addition to "Yangtze River No. 7", there are also movies such as "Assembly Number" and "Vote" released in this schedule, Wang Shu will not even watch this schedule.

This year's Spring Festival, Zhou Xingxing's "Yangtze River 7" will be released on January 2008, 1, and "Slam Dunk" starring Jay Chou and Chen Boling, two Chinese-language films with box office appeal. The film is released.

For example, the great mainland director Wang Shu is not afraid of Zhou Xingxing, or Wang Shu uses art films to challenge Zhou Xingxing in theaters and does not take Zhou Xingxing seriously, etc.

With such a big market, it is even more impossible for one movie to saturate it.

There must be opportunities for other films to fish in troubled waters.

In this way, Wang Shu was given a chance.

Then, because Zhou Xingxing's "Yangtze River No. 7" was scheduled to be released on January 1, the two films immediately ran away and were withdrawn.

"Human Mountain" is different from "The Sun Also Rises" and "Lust, Caution". This drama is exclusively produced by Yishu Company.

In addition, "Human Mountain" is another film that won Wang Shu the best director at Venice.

"Human Mountain" is an art film, but under the pressure of several commercial blockbusters, it will only die.

During this period, only Zhou Xingxing's "Yangtze River 7", a Chinese-language film with a narrative, was released.

Even if the pressure is less, it is not as good as the Spring Festival.

It is impossible for moviegoers across the country to watch just this one Chinese-language movie during this period.

Not only did "Human Mountain" have the opportunity to be released during this period, but it was also able to use various publicity methods to gain the popularity of Zhou Xingxing.

As we all know, when a new movie hits the theaters this year, the box office trend is the strongest in the first two weeks, then begins to decline sharply in the third week, and by the fourth week it is almost able to close the coffin lid.

"The Beginning of Spring" has been withdrawn again and again. It is impossible that it will not be released forever, and it is finally scheduled to be released in early April.

What's more, by choosing this schedule, Wang Shu naturally has the opportunity to compete with Zhou Xingxing on the same stage for publicity.

Apart from "Yangtze River No. 7", there are no other high-quality movies to choose from during the Spring Festival, so the audience will naturally choose to watch "Human Mountain".

As for Gu Changwei's "The Beginning of Spring", it is an art film.

All other films just ran away, but this art film made by Wang Shu showed no fear and fought hard without changing his expression.

All along, the quality of a movie has never been the most important, publicity and hype are the most critical.

In fact, Wang Shu can also choose to avoid "Yangtze River No. 7", so that "Human Mountain and Crowd" is scheduled to be released in mid-March.

If investors need to raise funds, they will release and release the film as soon as possible.

If you are not in a hurry to collect funds, you can wait.

The drama "Human Mountain" is an art film. Mei Ting starred in the movie for a friendly price of 10 yuan, and Zhang Hanyu starred in the movie for a friendly price of 20 yuan. The salaries of other actors are not very high either.

After Wang Shu finished filming this movie, his production cost was less than 500 million.

Under the premise that the actors' salaries are not high, a more realistic art film without big scenes can be completed by saving more than 300 million yuan under normal circumstances.

The reason why I can spend 500 million is mainly because the crew's treatment is quite good, so the expenses are higher.

However, 500W is only the production cost. If publicity and distribution are included, the cost will be as high as 2500W.

500W is the production cost and 2000W is the publicity cost.

Don't look at the fact that the publicity and distribution cost of 2000 million W is four times the production cost. In fact, it is not much at all, and it is still a little less.

With Wang Shu's current reputation, he already has a certain box office appeal in the mainland.

Therefore, there is no problem at all in increasing the cost of publicity and distribution to 3000W.

But Wang Shu thought about it for a while, "Human Mountain" is an art film after all, and the 2000 million publicity and distribution cost is almost enough.

If you invest too much in publicity and promote it for too long, it may be counterproductive.

As for the cost of 2500 million, in fact, during a trip to the Venice Film Festival, the cost was not only recovered through the sale of films, but also a small profit was made.

Wang Shu is already well-known in the three major European movies. In addition, "Human Mountain" is a film that won the Silver Lion Award for Best Director in Venice, so he has no worries about selling.

The difference is just the price.

In any case, Wang Shu has already made a small profit before "Human Mountain" has been released in mainland theaters.

After it is released, no matter how much the box office is, it will make money.

The New Year's Day holiday is over, and employees of Yishu Company have returned to work one after another.

That afternoon, Wang Changtian of Guangguang organized a dinner party. Wang Shu, Han Sanping, and Shanghai Film Studio's Ren Zhonglun were present.

At this dinner, among the four people, Han Sanping, as the boss of China Film Group, had the highest status.

Next is Ren Zhonglun. No matter how you say it, Shanghai Film is still the second best in the domestic film industry, Ren Zhonglun still has face.

It’s Wang Shu again.

Finally, there is Wang Changtian of Light.

It's not that Wang Changtian, the boss of Guangdong Lighting, has a lower status than Wang Shu, but in this dinner about the "Taipei Trip" project, Wang Changtian doesn't have much say in it, it's completely incidental.

In contrast, Wang Shu is the party with the right to speak, so his status is higher.

Only for this dinner.

If off the court, Wang Changtian is the boss of the Rays and is one generation higher than Wang Shu, so naturally his status cannot be lower than that of Wang Shu.

As for Han Sanping and Ren Zhonglun, both of them are backed by state-owned enterprises, needless to say.

"Director Han."

"Mr. Ren."

"Director Wang."

"Mr. Wang."

The four of them were all present. They first greeted each other with a smile, and then sat down to eat and drink under Wang Changtian's presence.

At about the same time, Wang Changtian mentioned it and talked about "Travel to Taipei".

Naturally, we progressed to a major domestic feature, discussing projects over a wine table.

Before this dinner, Ren Zhonglun and Wang Changtian already knew that Wang Shu would direct the mainland's first zombie film with an investment of 200 million.

To be honest, when they heard that Wang Shu was going to make this type of movie, both Ren Zhonglun and Wang Changtian were hesitant.

After all, Shangying and Guangguang are not as wealthy as China Film Group. They have to be careful with their money and cannot spend it randomly.

Then thinking of Wang Shu's undefeated record, they both gritted their teeth and followed.

Both of them knew that Wang Shu was giving them face so that they could have a chance to get involved.

If you don’t follow this time, you won’t have anyone to blame if you don’t get involved next time.

"I need 50% of the share here." Han Sanping said with a smile. He had confidence in Wang Shu and believed that Wang Shu could succeed.

Seeing Ren Zhonglun and Wang Changtian looking over, he then added, "This 50% is not all owned by China Film Group. A large part of it will be distributed to foreign countries."

"You also know that with an investment of 2 million, the mainland market alone is not enough to recover the cost."

"If you want to make money, you have to add overseas markets."

In this regard, Ren Zhonglun and Wang Changtian know clearly that "Taipei Trip" can enter overseas markets even without bringing along foreign film and television companies.

However, when entering overseas markets in this way, not only cannot they be released simultaneously in a short period of time, but the films are basically sold in packages and cannot participate in box office sharing.

For example, when Hong Kong films enter Baodao, they are asked by the local gangsters there to package and sell the films.

Another example is the introduction of foreign-language films into the country. They have always been introduced in limited quantities in order to stimulate the market with the help of foreign-language films and as one of the conditions for joining the WTO.

Unless the film is selected by China Film, other films will not be able to enter the mainland market at all.

The same is true for overseas markets.

Local giants or the government will not easily allow a foreign film to make money.

Unless some film and television companies with multi-regional distribution capabilities can solve this problem.

In this regard, whether it is "Hero", "House of Flying Daggers" and "The Golden Armor" directed by Zhang Yimou, or "The Banquet" directed by Feng Xiaogang, and "Tou Ming Zhuan" directed by Chen Kexin and other films for overseas markets, There are overseas film and television companies participating in investment.

In short, either everyone invests together and makes money together, or gets out.

Ren Zhonglun and Wang Changtian then looked at Wang Shu, who said calmly: "Yishu Company accounts for 25%."

50%+25%, with 25% left, Ren Zhonglun and Wang Changtian breathed a sigh of relief.

The two looked at each other, and Ren Zhonglun immediately said, "Shanghai Film 20%."

When Wang Changtian heard these words, his eyes widened and he choked back the words that came to his lips.

Together with him, he was busy arranging this meal, and the light only accounted for 5%?

Ren Zhonglun saw something wrong with Wang Changtian's expression, and said quietly: "Investment of 2 million, 5% of which is 1000W, is quite a lot."

The capital investment of 1000W is indeed a lot, but Wang Changtian believes in Wang Shu and is willing to take a gamble. He gritted his teeth and said: "The light is 10%."

10%, which is an investment of 2000W.

The remaining 15% of Shanghai Film Group is an investment of 3000 million W.

These days, if a company invests 30 million in a movie, it is already considered a very large investment.

If they had not believed in Wang Shu, Ren Zhonglun and Wang Changtian would not have dared to make such a move.

Instead, we will find several more companies to share the risks together.

After all, the investment of 3000 million W only accounts for 15%, and the mainland market alone will not be able to recoup the investment %.

For example, if "Travel to Taipei" has a box office of 3 million in the mainland, the producer and distributor can jointly share about 1.23 million.

After deducting the distributor's share, the producer is left with about 1.1 million.

Shanghai Film Group accounts for 15%, which is a box office share of 1650 million.

With an investment of 3000 million, even if the box office of "Travel to Taipei" reached 3 million in mainland theaters, Shanghai Film Group would still be losing money.

Not only did he lose money, he lost nearly half of it.

If you want to protect your capital or even make a lot of money, you have to bet on overseas markets.

For other directors, Ren Zhonglun and Wang Changtian would not dare to make such a bet.

It was Wang Shu in front of him, which was different.

The success of "Terror Cruise" is clearly visible.

What's more, for Ren Zhonglun and Wang Changtian, even if this investment is ruined, they still have to get on board.

With this experience, it will be easier to cooperate in the future.

If we retreat, it may be difficult to have a future.

Ren Zhonglun and Wang Changtian already knew that Han Sanping didn't want to bring the shadow and light with him at all, he only wanted to eat alone.

If Wang Shu hadn't been more affectionate, nothing like this would have happened today.

"Shanghai Film 18%." Ren Zhonglun gave in and spit out a number.

Han Sanping and Wang Shu sat speechless, why were they still bargaining?
"Light 12%." Wang Changtian did not show weakness and continued to increase the amount.

Ren Zhonglun saw that Wang Changtian did not give in, and could not keep his face and continue to bargain. Then he sighed and said: "Okay, 15% of Shangying."

(End of this chapter)