Entertainment tycoon since 83

Chapter 259 Eastern Science Fiction Film

Warner Bros., Los Angeles.

Huang Ze brought people from Xinghai Films here with the finished film of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

Because the cooperation with Huang Ze can be said to have been a success, and the previous "Pulp Fiction" successfully broke 100 million in North America, and entered the North American box office rankings last year. It is now being released worldwide, and the box office in other countries is also quite good.

The final global box office is fully expected to exceed 200 million US dollars.

There is basically no problem in getting into the top ten.

The key is that this is a film with a production cost of less than 10 million.

It can be said that it was a big surprise for Warner.

Therefore, Warner Bros. attaches great importance to Huang Ze.

In addition to George, with whom he had frequently collaborated before, many senior executives and professional film and television reviewers from Warner Bros. also came.

We are preparing to give a systematic evaluation of Huang Ze's new film in order to determine the purchase price and distribution scale.

"yellow."

Everyone else just shook hands and smiled professionally, and when it was George's turn, he gave Huang Ze a warm hug.

"Although this is an oriental martial arts film, everyone is still full of expectations for this film due to my strong promotion. Look, there are quite a lot of people here, right? If they are all satisfied, the distribution of your Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon will not be a problem."

"..."

Huang Ze knew that this guy was just showing off. The fact was that after Pulp Fiction won both awards and the box office, no matter what box office performance he achieved, the Warner executives would attach great importance to it.

Even if it is a martial arts film, it is a martial arts film made by a powerful director. No one can underestimate it until he fails.

I am different from Li An.

In his previous life, Li An’s "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" had to start with previews. That was because the Hollywood film producers were scared by him and had no confidence in him.

Do you know what he filmed before "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"?
"Ride with the Devil" cost 35 million and finally grossed 630,000.

Who wouldn't be confused by this?
Wouldn't it be safer to start with preview screenings in a dozen or so theaters and be prepared to release it directly into the video market if the box office doesn't perform well?
Of course, Huang Ze would not hit a smiling person. After all, they had been partners for many years. He patted the other person lightly and said, "Thank you, my brother."

"You're welcome. We are best friends after all."

"I will try my best to get you good conditions."

After whispering this, George went to his seat, and Huang Ze finally sat next to the president of Warner Pictures.

There was no need for the two to say anything as the projection room went dark and the beam of light from the movie projector shone onto the screen.

Behind the Xinghai Film and Television logo, there was the sound of a cello, imitating the horse-head fiddle of the grassland, low and melodious, performing music with oriental colors.

But the music was tinged with a hint of sadness.

Suddenly, a loud voice sounded, and four large characters appeared on the dark screen.

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

All four characters are empty, and in the middle there seems to be a bamboo forest blowing in the wind.

Below is its English name, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

What immediately appeared was a Jiangnan water town that still retained its ancient charm.

There are mountains, water, arch bridges, peace and harmony.

In an instant, one can feel the oriental breath coming towards him.

As Li Mubai appeared, all the Warner people nodded secretly.

"This is a good debut, with an oriental feel."

"Why is there no braid?" the president of Warner Bros. asked Huang Ze in a low voice.

“This was the dynasty before the Qing.”

"Oh." The president of Warner Pictures nodded and continued watching the movie. Then, the story started with Li Mubai's decision to retire from the martial arts world and hand over the Qingming Sword. The fates of Li Mubai, Yu Xiulian, Yu Jiaolong, Luo Xiaohu, and the Blue-Eyed Fox were intertwined.

Along with it is the beautiful scenery of the East.

The water towns in the south of the Yangtze River, the desert Gobi, the beautiful bamboo forests, and the fishermen casting their nets.

In the end, Yu Jiaolong, who was not tolerated by the society at that time, jumped off a cliff and died, but it still looked like an immortal scene.

Finally, here is a distant view of Cangyan Mountain.

The movie ends.

"Clap, clap, clap." Everyone at Warner clapped their hands out of respect.

The president of Warner Bros. also nodded. "It's really rare. They are both oriental films. The Last Emperor at least has an English soundtrack, but your film is in Mandarin. I actually understood it by reading the subtitles."

"That couldn't be better." Huang Ze smiled.

"Huang, I've also seen oriental kung fu movies. Isn't your movie too exaggerated?" An auditor came over and talked to Huang Ze, "The people in it feel like they are flying."

"This is different from the Qinggong in those Kung Fu movies!"

"Or, you can call it a science fiction film?" Huang Ze directly brought out the promotional method of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in his previous life. "How about a science fiction film from the East? After all, American audiences have no concept of martial arts films, but if we call it a science fiction film, everyone will understand it, right?"

"It seems like we can give it a try." The president of Warner nodded and extended his hand to Huang Ze. "Huang, this is a good movie. We need to discuss it. I will definitely give you an answer within three days."

"Okay, if the conditions are right, I still hope to cooperate with your company. After all, we have a long history of cooperation." Huang Ze shook hands with him and appropriately expressed his position to prevent the other party from thinking that he was easy to manipulate.

After all, the achievements of my previous work give me the confidence.

Even if it is an oriental martial arts film, I think no one can be sure that they will fail.

Not to mention that he has his own fans. His huge fan base is also potential movie fans. Although he is a director, he is comparable to an actor and has his own box office appeal.

With tens of millions of dollars, there should be no problem with the box office, right?

After leaving Warner Bros., Huang Ze returned to the hotel.

The senior executives of Warner Bros. quickly held a meeting.

A vice president was the first to put forward his own views.

"I am concerned about this film. I admit that Huang is a very talented director, and I understand Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but I am a film practitioner, and the audience may not accept this style of film."

"It has an oriental tone and the dialogue is in Mandarin, which means it's a foreign language film. Will our audience read the subtitles?"

"Also, everyone should know that the highest-grossing foreign language film right now is still the French film "A Cage of Fools", which grossed 20 million. The second-highest-grossing foreign language film is the Italian film "Cinema Paradiso", which grossed over 11 million."

"At least the main and supporting actors in these two films are all white. Look at Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, where all the actors are Chinese. Even if Huang has fans, I think 10 million will be the ceiling for this film, and it may not exceed Cinema Paradiso."

"So, we need to control costs. Based on the 10 million box office, even if we add the video revenue and ignore the publicity costs, I think even if we don't make any money, our purchase price should be less than 5 million US dollars. We still need to make a profit. I propose a maximum price of 3 million US dollars."

"too low."

George immediately expressed his objection. He knew very well that if this price was given, the cooperation would be over.

Huang Ze has the best personal relationship with him, and he can be considered the trump card in his hand. If he can take both into account, he naturally wants to gain some benefits for Huang Ze so that they can benefit mutually.

Looking around, especially at the face of the director who had just proposed the three million, George said in a deep voice, "This is a director who won the Palme d'Or with a cost of seven million dollars, and also made over one hundred million dollars in North America and is about to break two hundred million dollars at the global box office."

"For a director like this, even if he is a novice, the directing fee for his next film will not be less than $5 million."

"Giving such a price, Huang would probably feel it was an insult."

"Is this how we treat a friend who has worked with us several times and has never caused losses to the company?"

"Business is business."

“But this is a director who can make a hit movie on a low budget.”

(End of this chapter)