Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 230 240 [Dongbao wants to invest in Chibi? Then it can only make money on its knees]

on the way back.

Izumi Sakai also lamented: "I saw Mr. Kitano recording a program on TV before, but I didn't expect that a car accident would directly ruin his future acting career."

"Yes!"

Li Yishu agreed deeply, and suddenly remembered something, turned around and asked, "Quanshui, have you done the physical examination according to my instructions?"

"There are physical examinations, which are done every six months. I just had one last month and I feel very healthy."

"That's good."

After chatting for a few sentences, Izumi Sakai's phone suddenly rang. Li Yishu helped to take it out. Izumi Sakai glanced at it while driving and said in surprise, "It's Ichiro Tanaka!"

"Tanaka?"

Li Yishu raised an eyebrow and took out his cell phone to check. It was indeed out of battery. He then called Izumi Sakai and said, "Hello, Mr. Tanaka."

"Director Li! That's great! I finally got in touch with you."

Ichiro Tanaka on the other end of the phone said happily: "Director Li, are you in Japan?"

Li Yishu frowned: "How did Mr. Tanaka know that I came to Japan?"

He didn't inform anyone that he was coming to Japan, and only Izumi Sakai knew about it.

Ichiro Tanaka on the other end of the phone was stunned for a moment, but he quickly reacted and apologized, "I'm very sorry, Director Li, I couldn't get through to you by phone, so I contacted your company in Hong Kong and learned from them that you came to Japan."

"Is that so? Then what do you want to talk to me about, Mr. Tanaka?"

"That's it, Director Li..."

Ichiro Tanaka paused and started talking about Brother Chen Kai.

Chinese director…Chen Kaige…The Emperor and the Assassin…invested 1.5 million RMB…cooperated with Kadokawa Corporation…to shoot the film “The Greatest Emperor in the World…sweeping across the land and unifying the world…”

Hearing this, Li Yishu couldn't help laughing out loud. If she was not mistaken, the "The Emperor and the Assassin" directed by Brother Chen Kai seemed to have nothing to do with the emperor who was the greatest emperor in history and swept across the world, right?

When the movie came out in the previous life, Li Yishu always thought it was a war blockbuster, but it was not until he walked into the cinema that he realized it was a pile of shit.

It's really a pile of shit. It's ok to change the character settings randomly. Qin Shi Huang is a madman, which can be described as literary exaggeration. However, taking the unofficial history and folk stories and adapting them into reality is purely a pile of visual shit for the audience.

Qin Shi Huang became Lu Buwei's biological son, his mother Zhao Ji became his childhood sweetheart, and Lao Ai even had the guts to call on his followers to rebel, intending to support his illegitimate child with the Queen Mother to ascend to the throne of Qin...

This is even more unacceptable than "The Secret Visits of Kangxi" and is exaggerated to the extreme.

The whole movie is full of the tone and style of European Shakespeare. It is no wonder that later films such as "The Promise" and "The Orphan of Zhao" are full of dramatic stage style.

After the other party finished speaking, Li Yishu asked back: "Mr. Tanaka, is there something you want to tell me?"

Ichiro Tanaka said quickly, "Director Li, I heard that you are planning to make a movie about the Three Kingdoms. It will cost a lot of money. I wonder if our Toho Corporation has a chance to invest in it?"

Li Yishu was not surprised that Ichiro Tanaka found out that she was going to shoot "Red Cliff of the Three Kingdoms". After all, although this project has not been made public, many filmmakers in mainland China have heard of it.

You can find out about Toho Co., Ltd. by just asking around.

"I do have the idea of ​​making a Three Kingdoms movie, but the investment issue has been settled, so I won't bother your company anymore."

"Director Li, please give us Dongbao a chance! This time, Kadokawa Corporation invested in Chen Kaige's Qin Shi Huang, and we at Dongbao Corporation must not be left behind..."

Ichiro Tanaka was still begging for Dongbao to give them a chance. Li Yishu didn't want to agree at first. The investment had already been secured, so why bother taking Dongbao to share the money?
But on second thought, this time Brother Chen Kai invested 1.5 million yuan in "The Emperor and the Assassin". According to his character, this movie will most likely be as fucked up as the movie of the same name that Li Yishu has seen.

The investment of 1.5 million yuan ended up in vain, causing the investors to suffer heavy losses while the filmmaker made a fortune.

Why can Brother Chen Kai make so much money, but he can’t?
Based on the fact that Chen Kaige’s movies are likely to lose money nine out of ten times?
Li Yishu rolled his eyes and said, "Mr. Tanaka, I can give Dongbao a chance, but it's too late now. Let's wait until tomorrow!"

"Yes, yes, thank you, Supervisor Li. I won't disturb you from resting then."

Ichiro Tanaka hung up the phone excitedly.

night.

After having a passionate time with Izumi Sakai, whom he hadn't seen for a long time, Li Yishu got up from the room and went downstairs, found a pen and paper and started to figure out how to cheat money.

In fact, according to the ways of the Internet age, Li Yishu has at least nine ways to cheat investors, but there are probably only two that are most suitable for Toho Co., Ltd.

The first one is the simplest fictitious cost!

For example, Chen Kexing, the director of "The Warlords", spent several thousand dollars on a sun hat and another 50 yuan on a set of armor for the male lead. However, because the armor was too heavy, it was eventually "abandoned". The costumes worn by the extras also cost no less than 1000 yuan each...

Those costumes that looked the same as those of the Beggars' Gang cost 1000 yuan, and that was 2007 yuan in 1000!
As for the false reporting of expenses, Li Yishu was astonished and had great respect for Chen Kexing. The production cost of 4000 million US dollars, equivalent to 3.2 million RMB, gave people the feeling that this late Qing Dynasty war blockbuster cost only 2000 million RMB to produce.

Of course, this is a bit exaggerated, but Li Yishu himself is the director. Excluding the semi-public pay of several main actors at the time, Chen Kexing earned at least hundreds of millions from this collaboration with others, and he himself earned at least tens of millions.

The second, and simplest, is to expand the film plate. Now Li Yishu is cooperating with Beijing Film Studio and August 1st Film Studio, with each party investing 2 million yuan. He can easily expand the 5 million to million.

Li Yishu's original salary was converted, and now with the addition of Dongho, he can completely include his full director's salary offer to the outside world.

$1000 million + % of the global box office.

And they can even report higher prices, such as $2000 million in salary + % of the global box office + % of peripheral benefits.

At this price in the United States, probably no one would look for Lee Yi-su, because there are too many directors there who have achieved high box office success.

By spending this money, others will be more likely to recognize directors like Spielberg and George Lucas who have achieved more than one high-grossing film.

But in Asia, Lee Yi-su is the first director in history to have a single movie gross over $4 million worldwide, and the first Asian director to have a total box office of over $7 million.

So why is Lee Yi-seo not worth this price? !
The more she thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. Li Yishu calculated that if Toho agreed to all the conditions, the total investment in this film could be as high as 6000 million US dollars.

According to the RMB exchange rate to US dollar on New Year's Day, after the exchange rate was changed to 8:1, the 6000 million US dollars would be equivalent to 4.8 million RMB.

This investment is absolutely earth-shattering in China, but in the United States it is just a production that barely reaches the A-level threshold.

The production cost of $6000 million would need to be at least three times higher at the box office to barely make back the money, and if it were to make a profit it would need to be four times higher, which would be $3 million...

It’s a bit difficult, but if the film is managed well in Japan, it should be able to get at least $1 million at the box office.

Add to that the countries and regions in East Asia and Southeast Asia that are familiar with "Three Kingdoms", as well as the box office and copyrights in Europe and the United States, there shouldn't be any major problems, right?

It can only be said that after the cost increase, the investors will earn less, but they will not lose money. If the peripheral operation period is extended, it is estimated that there will be some profit. After thinking this through, Li Yishu also put away the note, and returned to the room upstairs with satisfaction, hugging the fragrant Izumi Sakai to sleep.

The next morning.

Li Yishu contacted Han Sanping through an international call and told him that Japan's Toho Co., Ltd. wanted to invest in "Red Cliff of the Three Kingdoms".

Han Sanping frowned, "Yishu, we are going to make our own domestic blockbuster. Isn't it bad to involve a Japanese company?"

"Uncle San, that's what I said, but there's no reason to refuse an investment that comes to my doorstep, not to mention that I intend to increase the total investment..."

If Li Yishu wants to cheat Dongbao, she certainly can't do it alone. She must involve Han Sanping's Beijing Film Studio. After all, with such a huge investment, Dongbao will definitely send a producer to participate.

"Isn't this a bit of a trap..."

After hearing Li Yishu's idea, Han Sanping was stunned. He didn't know what to say. He didn't expect that making a movie could be done this way. It turned out that everything in the capitalist society is calculated.

"Uncle San, I'm not cheating Toho. You can ask someone abroad to inquire about my director's salary. It has always been this price. The reason why I didn't mention it before is that it's hard to say. You can't say that my salary alone is less than 20 million US dollars, right?"

Li Yishu argued: "If Dongbao also participates this time, the budget will increase, and I can't refuse to pay my personal salary. Now it's a market economy, the market determines everything, and I am worth this much."

After hearing what Li Yishu said, Han Sanping felt that it was reasonable. People were only worth this much money when making movies overseas. The reason he came back to China to make movies was purely because the domestic film economy was not enough to support his high director's salary.

Thinking of this, Han Sanping said, "I didn't say you were cheating. I'm not a pedantic person. The Japanese Toho Company is eager to give money, so there is no reason for me to refuse it. What's more, their investment is in US dollars, so there is no problem. It's just the box office..."

Whether Toho Co., Ltd. was cheated or not is of little significance to Han Sanping. What he cares about is that with such a high budget, if the movie does not perform well at the box office, it will easily damage the reputation that Li Yishu has worked so hard to accumulate.

"I've calculated that for a $6000 million producer, a box office of four times the amount would basically pay for itself and make a profit. Taking into account the global box office and copyright, I'm still confident that I can get this number."

At this point, Li Yishu smiled and said, "By the way, Uncle San, if I can reach an agreement with Dongbao, then they will pay 3000 million US dollars, and our two families won't have to pay a penny."

No need to pay?!
Han Sanping's eyes lit up. He didn't expect that such a good thing could happen. This was like getting something for nothing!

As for saying this is not a domestic blockbuster?

Think about it from another perspective. Apart from the Japanese investors, all other directors, characters, and crew are Chinese. How can it not be considered a domestic blockbuster!

Han Sanping immediately said, "Okay, okay, you go and negotiate, and try your best to make it happen. If this is successful, I believe the leaders above will be very happy!"

"Well, wait for my good news."

Li Yishu hung up the phone with a smile. He knew a little about Han Sanping. In his previous life, he was able to find investors from outside to make a movie even though the Beijing Film Studio had no money to do so. This showed that he was a relatively flexible person.

How could Han Sanping refuse to accept such a good offer, where he could own one-third of the movie without paying a dime? Even if he refused, the leaders above him would have to agree.

Before the movie was even made, 3000 million US dollars of foreign exchange flowed into the country, without us having to spend a penny.

Regardless of the film's final box office performance, the $3000 million investment was implemented in the mainland and made an outstanding contribution to China's economic development during the reform and opening up.

Toho Co., Ltd.

In the conference room.

Ichiro Tanaka was translating nearby. When he heard Li Yishu say that the total investment was 6200 million US dollars, equivalent to 5 million RMB, he couldn't help but gasp.

Ichiro Tanaka couldn't help but whispered, "Director Li, this...isn't this investment too high?"

Li Yishu smiled faintly: "Mr. Tanaka, tell them that I want to shoot the Battle of Red Cliffs in the Three Kingdoms. I have already confirmed with our domestic Bayi Film Studio that 80 people will be mobilized to shoot an epic war blockbuster that will shock the world."

80 people!
Ichiro Tanaka was shocked, but even though he couldn't believe it in his heart, he still translated it.

"Si Guoyi!"

"80 people make a movie, $6000 million is not a loss, not a loss!"

"If we film the Battle of Red Cliff, it will definitely be a spectacular historical blockbuster. I think the investment is worth it."

"..."

When the people from Toho Production Department heard the number of 80 people, they were completely shocked. They had never thought that an ancient war film would require 80 people!
No one would doubt what Li Yishu said, because there was no need to tell such a lie. They would definitely send someone to China to serve as producer when the time comes. It's not like they would just give money and leave nothing behind.

The words "This country is one" and "I'm so scared" came out of these people's mouths.

Even though Li Yishu only understood the word "斯国一" and didn't understand the other words, it was not difficult to tell from their surprised expressions that they were shocked by the number of participants.

In fact, Lee Yi-su did not lie. 80 was an underestimation. After all, each person appearing in the movie counts as one person.

From Cao Cao's attack on Wuhuan, to his fight with Liu Bei in Jingzhou, and finally the real highlight - the Battle of Chibi, the number of people mobilized is estimated to have exceeded one million.

Of course, the actual number of people filming would definitely not be as high as 80. If so many people were really mobilized, it would be too exaggerated.

People in the production department thought it was reasonable, that 80 people making a movie and $6000 million was really a good deal.

Not to mention that Li Yishu later brought up the issue of hundreds or thousands of ancient battlefields fighting on the river, which further stimulated the people in the production department.

However, these people do not have the power to make the final decision on whether to invest, and Toho must hold an internal meeting to discuss the matter.

Li Yishu didn't care about this. If it could succeed, that would be great. If not, she would stick to the original plan.

After leaving Toho, Li Yishu went to accompany Izumi Sakai. Now he doesn't have many opportunities to come to Japan, so he tries to spend more time with Izumi.

When the girl knew that Li Yishu could accompany her for a few more days, she immediately asked for leave from the company. Regardless of whether she was agreed or not, she turned off her cell phone and accompanied Li Yishu to have a good time in Tokyo.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Just as Li Yishu was preparing to return to China and take Gong Li and others to Los Angeles, USA to attend the Golden Globe Awards, Toho Corporation finally reached a conclusion after discussion, which was that they could invest.

An investment of 3000 million US dollars is not a big amount for Toho, not to mention that Lee Yi-su has now proved his ability in the global box office with "The Sixth Sense", not to mention war blockbusters like "Red Cliff".

No matter how bad the box office is in Europe and the United States, it is still a war blockbuster. The wonderful war scenes alone are enough to attract many audiences to go to the cinema to appreciate such an ancient war epic from the East, ancient China.

Not to mention that the Japanese have always been obsessed with the Three Kingdoms culture. Once the movie is made, the box office in Japan alone is expected to be quite high.

Lee Yi-su was naturally happy that Dongbao participated in the investment. This was equivalent to him earning 1000 million US dollars in advance before the filming of the movie started. He didn't have to worry about anything afterwards and could get one-third of the box office share.

The state-owned film studios that participated in the event, such as Beijing Film Studio and Bayi Film Studio, did not suffer any loss either. They did not have to spend a penny and there was no cost investment from the beginning. No matter how the box office performed, it was all profit anyway.

At the same time, it also brought in nearly 3000 million US dollars in foreign exchange, which can be regarded as a contribution to the country's economic reform and opening up.

(End of this chapter)