Actor: Thank you.

There is a Chinese saying that goes, "The bolder the people, the more fertile the land."

Zhang Yuan was not that brave to begin with.

Because Hollywood is not their territory, they act relatively cautiously.

But the white master had no moral principles and insisted on pushing it to the limit with me.

This forces me to come up with bold ideas!

You are greedy, then I am greedier than you!

From the facial expressions of Universal's middle and senior management, it can be seen that they were not mentally prepared at all for Zhang Yuan to agree to the price of 2000 million US dollars.

Who would spend 2000 million for a supporting role?
Mike, the head of the production department, seemed to be hesitant to speak, and opened and closed his mouth again and again.

“Are all the Chinese so rich now?”

He couldn't help but have doubts.

"The price is no problem." Zhang Yuan said after glancing at Harvey.

“But the conditions have to change.”

“You can’t just invest in the next movie.”

"You have to give more in exchange."

Harvey knew that Zhang Yuan was different from ordinary Chinese people.

But I didn't expect him to be so crazy.

He really wanted to pull him over and ask him a question.

"Do you have that much money?"

But there are so many people here, it’s not appropriate to speak.

Harvey winked at Mike.

"All right."

"Well, let's adjourn and take a rest first."

"We'll discuss this privately later."

That’s all… Zhang Yuan felt disdainful.

He wanted to offer me a sky-high price and scare me.

As a result, I was really willing to pay a sky-high price, but you couldn't react.

This shows that they didn't make a complete plan and didn't consider that I would agree.

Zhang Yuan’s reaction caught them off guard and left them completely stunned.

When Zhang Yuan has something to do, he can make the decision as soon as he thinks about it, but on the Global side, not to mention big things, even small things require repeated consultations.

They couldn't react immediately and had to discuss it for a while.

The meeting is now adjourned.

The female secretary stepped forward and guided Zhang Yuan to the VIP lounge upstairs to wait.

Vin Diesel and Justin Lin came forward to greet him and say goodbye.

The attitude is obviously more passionate than before.

They also didn't expect that this Chinese man would agree to such a huge investment amount.

wipe!
This is the big guy.

You need to touch it more and hold it in your hands!

The figure of 2000 million US dollars is enough to make a B-level movie.

Both of them have experienced failure, so they have to leave a way out for themselves.

If the next "Fast and Furious" fails again, I might really have to make a B-level movie.

If you build good relationships now, you may be able to attract investment later.

They may not be interested in the Chinese people, but they are interested in the Chinese renminbi, and a very big one.

The US financial crisis is just around the corner and there is no telling when it will end.

Now I suddenly realized that this friendly young Chinese man, with whom I just met and talked a few days ago, did not change his expression when faced with the offer of 2000 million US dollars.

Hello, Chinese friends!

Both of them took the initiative to invite him to dinner.

Old Fan also invited him to his house to play.

If you have money, you will be welcomed everywhere.

Zhang Yuan just said it and showed his attitude, which changed the attitudes of the two people.

"Zhang, are you really going to take out 2000 million US dollars?"

After arriving at the VIP lounge, the old man Harvey couldn't help but ask.

Zhang Yuan didn't answer in a hurry, but picked up a bottle of water on the small coffee table.

It's in a glass bottle with French words on it.

Sure enough, once you are treated as a VIP, your treatment will be greatly increased.

After opening it and taking a sip, he pretended to be completely unaware of the fact that the guy was trying to get something from both sides.

"Yes, but the prerequisite is that Universal has to show enough sincerity."

"Are you sure you can come up with that much money?" Harvey narrowed his eyes, unable to believe it.

"This is my business. If I can tell you about it, there will naturally be a way."

"Okay, so what do you mean by sincerity?"

"You can tell me and I will communicate with the other party."

"After all, I'm on your side." The old guy winked.

"What I think is sincerity is, of course, the full copyright of the IP of "Fast and Furious"."

“I want to buy this IP!”

He deliberately raised his voice and spoke excitedly.

Zhang Yuan knew in his heart that this was impossible.

It’s not that the other party is reluctant, but that the money is not enough.

After all, it is a series of three works, and two of them made money.

But he, like his opponent, played the trick of trying to get the best.

First break the limits of your imagination, and then ask for an exorbitant price.

You may not know what roles I have played in the country.

That is the best at giving someone a taste of their own medicine.

Not long after, the old man Harvey looked at the text messages on his mobile phone, then ran away under the pretext of going to the bathroom.

Knowing that he was going to tip off.

Zhang Yuan didn't take it seriously and just asked him to go and say it!
Give the other party a general direction first before you can talk.

Zhang Yuan was deliberately giving the other party time to prepare.

Not long after, the sexy secretary came into the room again and invited him to go to Mike's office for a detailed discussion.

The secretary pushed the door open, and he walked in and sat down casually.

Now he has to act like he is rich and the boss.

"Mr. Zhang Yuan, after our discussion just now, we at Universal Pictures are very interested in your proposal."

"But I still want to ask formally."

"Are you sure you're willing to invest $2000 million?"

It means "willing to invest".

In fact, the real question is whether you can afford the money.

Zhang Yuan was too lazy to joke with him, so he replied seriously.

"I am very sincere. We can write in the subsequent contract that a fee of 100 million US dollars must be paid first."

“And stipulate the time for payment of subsequent funds.”

"If it's overdue, I will pay a penalty of 1/1000 of the amount per day."

He didn't say what would happen if it failed.

We have already paid a deposit of 100 million. If the deal fails, the deposit will definitely be confiscated.

The total amount is 2000 million US dollars, one thousandth of it, which means it costs 1 US dollars a day.

Seeing how confident he was, Mike began to believe it.

White people are like this, the more confident you are, the more they believe you.

They may even believe it to the point of losing common sense.

In fact, it's not just white people, many not-so-smart Asians are like this too.

It’s just that this generation of Chinese people generally don’t like people who make exaggerated remarks.

People in later generations tend to like people who make exaggerated remarks, because there are many people who like to have fun on the Internet.

"What do you want?"

Look, you are anxious again… Zhang Yuan saw that the other party confirmed that he could take out the money, so he immediately asked for a plan and understood it in his mind.

My guess was absolutely correct!
They are short of money, and may not be optimistic about this project and IP internally.

Domestic movie fans, audiences, and the old myth of Hollywood.

Of course, this is also the purpose of their publicity.

Using Hollywood as a starting point, create the "American Dream".

But after all, Hollywood was built by people, and people are not gods.

Not only are they not gods, sometimes they are even quite "stupid".

This kind of stupidity is based on arrogance and short-sightedness.

The same as the Hollywood Big Eight.

Warner developed two science fiction films simultaneously in 98.

One is called "Wild Wild Wild West" and the other is called "The Matrix".

After the company reviewed the film, it believed that "Wild Wild Wild Wild West" would be a hit.

The Matrix was not well received.

The reason why it is not favored is very simple.

The top management didn’t understand this concept.

Brains in a vat, bullet time, reality and virtuality… what the hell is this? So, Wild Wild West was given $1.2 million, while The Matrix was only given $6000 million.

The Wachowski brothers, later known as the Wachowski sisters, both underwent gender reassignment surgery.

In order to increase the budget, he begged everyone and almost knelt down, but in the end he only got an additional 300 million US dollars.

In order to save costs, the crew left the money to the special effects team.

I can only go to Australia where labor costs are cheaper to shoot.

Initially, The Matrix wanted Will Smith to star.

But my brother was not optimistic about this movie, so he switched to another one.

It is "Wild Wild Wild West" developed by Warner at the same time.

Ultimately, Wild Wild West suffered huge losses and failed to recoup its investment.

Will Smith still received dividends. Not only did he not make much money, he also won a Razzie Award.

"The Matrix" made a huge profit and became a classic IP in film history, while also causing the value of the lead actor Keanu Reeves to skyrocket.

Until the movie became popular, Warner didn't understand why it was popular.

After all, Warner is a well-known gathering place for "magic operations".

The good DC superhero IP has been ruined by them.

And that's just Warner.

And heavyweight.

20th Century Fox.

In 06, I invested in a blockbuster movie.

After reading the script and asking the director questions, Fox executives all agreed that the project would not work.

They think the film will at best break even, and will most likely lose money.

I am not optimistic about the market prospects and I don’t understand what you want to express.

So I went to discuss it with the director.

The end result was that Fox gave the copyright of the film to the director in exchange for a reduction of $200 million in the director's salary.

The director is James Cameron and the film is called Avatar...

Fox's actions left even God of Cards confused.

After the film was finished but before post-production, Cameron went to Fox executives to see the rough cut in order to prove himself.

In the end, the other party still said, "What the hell?"

The original judgment is upheld.

Cameron is mad at me.

As a result, everyone knows that this movie made a lot of money.

Cameron, who holds the copyright, also made a fortune from subsequent IP development.

And "this guy is not worth discussing with", so when filming the second part, they turned to Disney and stopped working with Fox.

Because this isn't the first time Fox has looked down on Cameron.

The last time they were down on Cameron was about ten years ago.

The work that time was called "Titanic".

When the budget was insufficient halfway through filming, Fox refused to increase the money and went around to persuade eight major film companies. Finally, they found Paramount to invest and gave half of the copyright and subsequent profits in exchange.

Paramount was so happy after the movie was released.

Just in Cameron's case, Fox showed incredible stubbornness and prejudice.

The losses amounted to billions of dollars.

So there is no regret about Fox's death, as it was eventually acquired by Disney, where Cameron joined the team.

It is obvious that it is not just that the top management did not understand the script, but that they are engaging in internal strife and deliberately suppressing the famous director.

Why did Tian Feng know that if Yuan Shao won, he would still have a chance to survive, but if Yuan Shao lost, he would die?

Because Tian Feng proved that Yuan Shao was not only incompetent and short-sighted, but also stupid.

The more money Cameron's films make, the more it proves that the Fox executives who oppose him are as stupid as pigs.

In order to protect themselves, these people have to suppress him even more.

When it comes to Universal Studios where Zhang Yuanzheng works, their rice-eating operations are just as good.

In the 90s, Marvel Comics was so poor that it had to sell itself.

He found Universal Pictures and planned to sell all of its IPs in a package for US$2500 million.

Take a look around the world and you will see what a piece of crap this is.

Iron Man, Captain America, Thor... Who wants to watch this bunch of bullies?

As a result, Universal only bought the copyrights of the Hulk and Aquaman.

They didn’t even want Spider-Man!

Marvel can’t be packaged and can only be sold individually.

Sony acquired Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Black Panther, and Thor.

New Line picked up Iron Man and Blade.

Fox bought the X-Men and the Fantastic Four.

Lionsgate bought Black Widow and The Punisher.

Warner didn't buy it because they already had the DC copyright and didn't care about it at all.

These big companies don’t even consider strategic planning for 10 years later.

Even the plans for next year or next month may not be complete.

It is difficult for people who truly pursue long-term gains to come to power.

Those who are in high positions are often the ones who can make next month's financial report look good and make shareholders smile when quarterly dividends are distributed.

Long term?

After waiting for a few years without receiving any dividends, you're going to make a big profit?

The shareholders will directly kick you out of office.

So, when other senior executives of Universal heard that a Chinese "nouveau riche" was willing to pay 2000 million US dollars, they were so happy that their noses burst!

If there is a fool, he must be killed immediately!
Whatever he wants, just talk about it.

It’s not that they are really stupid, but that there is an information asymmetry and they are short-sighted.

Zhang Yuan knew that this IP would become a world-class IP in the future, but they didn’t know.

Today's "Fast and Furious" is just a second-rate IP.

If Zhang Yuan raised the price to 1 million US dollars, they would dare to sell all the copyrights.

Wouldn't it be sad if the son sold his father's land?

The best deal for them is to receive cash and have a guaranteed income regardless of drought or flood.

Next, both parties will bargain.

Even though Zhang Yuan is in a foreign place, he has become the king of hell.

The other party's attitude was very good.

After being dissatisfied with a few words, he acted as if he was leaving.

The other party immediately tried to persuade him in a nice way.

Zhang Yuan just realized that white masters can also act like licking dogs.

In the end, the $2000 million will bring 30% of the global revenue of the next "Fast & Furious" movie, including box office revenue, discs, etc.

As well as all copyrights of the series IP including network, games, offline activities, etc. in mainland China.

In addition, Zhang Yuan also asked for the distribution rights of all subsequent works of this IP in mainland China.

The film revenue sharing in mainland China was also discussed to be 50-50.

Although China is developing rapidly, Global Times still believes that there is limited room for improvement in this area at this stage.

Because for imported films with shared revenue, foreign film producers only get 13% of the revenue.

The box office of 1300 million only accounts for 200 million of the share of the box office, which is less than million US dollars in total.

Potential is potential, but people want to make money.

But Zhang Yuan had different ideas.

Now that I have obtained the distribution rights, I definitely cannot go the route of split-revenue blockbusters.

He plans to find a way to make it a co-production!
This way the profit sharing ratio will be much higher.

There are three types of co-productions: joint, collaborative and commissioned.

The best of them are co-productions, which not only have the highest profit-sharing ratio, but also can get subsidies from the Radio, Film and Television and China Film.

But just like if you want to be a judge at the Academy Awards, there are requirements on the nationality ratio of the crew members.

It is difficult to apply for co-production.

However, Zhang Yuan has the support of the cross-strait film industry.

China Film Group and Huaxia Film also have shares.

I have innate advantages.

So he also requested to sign a strategic cooperation agreement with Universal Pictures to jointly develop "Fast and Furious" as a cooperative project.

If you want to make more money, then I will change from "buying a seat" to becoming a shareholder of the film.

He also requested that the contract guarantee that his investment in subsequent related works would not be less than 25%.

Zhang Yuan thought that he had to participate in making money from every work.

Universal is thinking that this sucker is not only giving away gifts now, but is also planning to keep giving away gifts.

Having found long-term meal tickets, they were of course very happy!

We had a great conversation and it went very smoothly.

They first signed a letter of intent for cooperation, and after the two sides shook hands and took photos, Brother Mike also invited him to dinner.

Harvey was also invited to attend.

So, the situation at the dinner table became that the three of them were smiling at each other, feeling that they had made a lot of money, while at the same time they were all scolding each other for being idiots in their hearts...

In any case, the best outcome is that everyone is satisfied.

At this point, Zhang Yuan’s trip to Hollywood came to a temporary end.

Holding the document signed with Universal, he boarded the flight back to China.

The first stop after landing is to go to Hong Kong... (End of this chapter)