Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 578 Invitation

All award ceremonies are followed by a dinner party, which is essentially a social event.

Zhang Chen basically doesn't mingle in Hollywood circles. When he comes to the United States, he's mainly busy with projects or going to the Cube to make his presence felt. He generally doesn't attend parties or anything like that.

So even though people in the industry know that there is such a person, and many people want to get to know him, Zhang Chen is not in North America at all, so they have no chance to meet him.

This resulted in Zhang Chen not knowing many people at the party, which made him quite bored.

He had originally thought he would run into members of the Hula Gang here, since the Saturn Awards have a Best Horror Film award, and the Hula Gang loves this kind of extreme stuff.

But the truth is, he didn't see a single member of the "Hooray Gang".

As he was considering whether to leave early, a man walked towards him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Director Zhang Chen. I'm Thomas Tull from Legendary Pictures..."

Zhang Chen nodded politely. He didn't really recognize Thomas Tull, but he had heard of Legendary Pictures—the one Old Wang bought.
Judging from Zhang Chen's expression, Thomas guessed that the other party probably didn't know him, so he took the initiative to introduce himself: "I used to be the producer of '10,000 BC' and 'King Kong'..."

"Oh, sorry, I didn't recognize you at first glance~"

Now Zhang Chen remembered who the person in front of him was—the true founder of the original Time-Space Monster Universe.

Strictly speaking, the MonsterVerse was created by him.

This guy is known for his love of monster movies. He was involved in projects like "King Kong" and "Kong: Skull Island," and he also remade "Godzilla," and then made "King Kong vs. Godzilla"...

Oh, and there's also "The Great Wall".

That's right, Zhang Yimou's terrible film "The Great Wall" was also produced by this guy.

This guy really loves monsters, all kinds of monsters.

"Director Zhang Chen, I'm very interested in the prehistoric creature in 'Pacific Rim.' To be honest, I originally thought 'Pacific Rim' was just a movie about mechs fighting monsters, but I didn't expect you to add your own monsters to the human camp. This idea is so unique..."

Tours was very talkative; the two had only just met, but they were already chatting away.

"I think the Primordial Panda will be a classic screen character no less than King Kong. I never imagined that an adorable panda could become a ferocious monster. The guy who came up with this idea is a genius..."

Tuer's words were blatant flattery, obvious to anyone with eyes, but Zhang Chen didn't care; he loved hearing it.
"I heard that in Pacific Rim 2, you put King Kong and the prehistoric monster together. Wow, just thinking about it is exciting. I can't wait to see the two monsters fight each other..."

Oh, this guy even knows that?
But thinking about it, it's not surprising.

Legendary Entertainment has a collaboration plan with Warner Bros., which seems to be worth several hundred million dollars.

It's normal for him to know some inside information.

"Sometimes I think, America has King Kong, China has the prehistoric god, Japan has Godzilla, and South Korea has that dragon. If we put them into one universe, wouldn't that be amazing..."

"Dragon? What dragon?"

Zhang Chen was taken aback when he heard the word 'dragon'. When did South Korea have dragons?

These bastards, they wouldn't even want to steal a dragon, would they?
Zhang Chen's reaction also confused Tu'er, "Haven't you seen 'Dragon Wars'? It's a Korean monster movie..."

"Oh, you mean this~"

Zhang Chen pretended to suddenly realize something.

"Dragon Wars," a terrible movie, directed by South Korean director Shim Hyung-rae, cost $22 million to make and grossed over $90 million worldwide...

Zhang Chen shook his head: "Mr. Tours..."

"Call me Thomas, that's what all my friends call me~"

Zhang Chen thought to himself, "When did I say we were friends?"

But he still said, "Thomas, you're right, I did think about making King Kong, the Great Monster, and Godzilla into a monster universe, but that doesn't include that dragon you mentioned, that movie was terrible..."

Tuer pondered for a moment: "Hmm, you're right, that dragon is indeed unworthy, but Godzilla is. When are you planning to arrange a prehistoric battle between Godzilla and yours?"

Zhang Chen finally realized something was wrong, and he looked at the other person with a smile.

Seeing that Zhang Chen had realized what was happening, Tu'er laughed and admitted, "Looks like you figured it out, Zhang. May I call you that?"

Seeing Zhang Chen nod, Tu'er continued, "To be honest, I want to remake Godzilla. Emmerich's version of Godzilla was good, but it was too weak. I want to make a different version, and Kong and Pacific Rim have given me some ideas..."

Zhang Chen was astonished. If he remembered correctly, in the original timeline, "Shin Godzilla" was a movie from 2014. Could it be that his butterfly effect caused the other party to have the idea of ​​remaking "Godzilla" ahead of time?

He didn't understand whether that was the case, but he did agree on one thing: Emmerich's version of Godzilla was indeed too weak.

A mighty monster, killed by a missile? This doesn't seem like a legendary monster at all; it's clearly just a giant gecko.

No wonder Legendary Pictures' new Godzilla is so powerful; not only is its physical body incredibly strong, but it can also breathe atomic energy.

If someone can be both a warrior and a mage, how about adding super self-healing abilities? Then there's no need for a healer; one person can form a raid.

"Do you think it's feasible?" Tull asked tentatively.

"Of course, although Godzilla is a Japanese monster, it has a certain level of recognition in North America, so if it's rebooted, the box office shouldn't be too bad..."

Tuer's eyes shone with light; Zhang Chen's words had clearly touched his heart.

"So Zhang, are you interested in directing a film like this? Legendary Pictures can offer you a top Hollywood salary..."

Zhang Chen really wanted to ask, what is the top-tier price? Is it a fixed 20 million plus a 2000% share of the box office revenue?
Before he could finish speaking, a voice rang out from behind him: "Thomas, Zhang has a contract with Warner Bros., and Warner Bros. has priority investment rights for all his film projects..."

It was David who spoke; he had somehow appeared behind the two of them.

I wonder how much of their conversation he overheard.

Tull, however, was not surprised: "Of course I know, but this is not Zhang's project. I just invited him to be the director..."

But David immediately saw through him: "Come on, with Zhang's current status, how could he only take a paycheck for making a monster movie? He'd definitely be the producer..."

To put it bluntly, if Zhang Chen is the producer, then the project belongs to him, and Huayi Brothers has the right to invest.

Upon hearing David's words, Tull looked embarrassed.

Zhang Chen replied bluntly, "No, I think you've misunderstood. I haven't agreed to take on this project. In fact, my plans for next year and the year after are already set, and even if I wanted to, I probably wouldn't have the time..."

"Oh, that's such a shame~"

Tours clearly doesn't want China involved.

Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. once enjoyed a honeymoon period, co-producing films such as 300, The Hangover, and Nolan's Batman series...

Then, Legendary Pictures wasn't satisfied.

After all, it's just an investment firm; the core business is all in Warner's hands.

It's a bit like the coal mine owners of about 10 years ago; they put in the money but didn't have much say.

Furthermore, Warner Bros. takes a 15% distribution fee regardless of the film, essentially guaranteeing a stable income. Legendary Pictures, on the other hand, can only recoup losses from distribution fees if a project fails, whereas for Legendary, a loss is a loss.

Of course, he was unwilling to accept this situation, so he left Warner to start his own business.

"Director Zhang, would you be interested in making a co-production film?"

"Ok?"

"Just like 'The War of Dragons,' which is a South Korean-American co-production, we can also make a Sino-US co-production..."

"For example?"

Zhang Chen was somewhat interested.

This greatly worried David, who was standing nearby.

Warner Bros. was most afraid of Zhang Chen flirting with other companies, so they not only signed a strategic cooperation agreement with him, but also agreed to a whole host of other conditions, such as helping "Gravity" get nominated for an Oscar, and helping to train Star Entertainment's computer effects personnel...

"I recently visited China and saw the Great Wall from the plane; it was magnificent. At that time, I thought I could make a movie about fighting monsters on the Great Wall. For example, a group of mercenaries wanted to steal gunpowder from the East, but they were attacked by monsters on the way. They were rescued by the Chinese, and then they stayed to help the Chinese fight off the monsters..."

Zhang Chen was stunned. Wasn't this Zhang Yimou's "The Great Wall"?

Why are you here?
Seeing that Zhang Chen didn't speak, David, who was standing next to him, thought that Zhang Chen was interested and became anxious.

Tours, however, was full of confidence.

He had just come up with the idea for this film project called "The Great Wall," but the more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

As for whether Warner would get involved, he wasn't afraid at all.

Just like Warner Bros. with Legendary Pictures, they keep the good projects for themselves and only offer the less desirable ones for collaboration.

Tull wouldn't share something like "Godzilla," but he'd love for Warner Bros. to get involved in a project like "The Great Wall," which has a lot of uncertainty.

Tu'er remained calm and collected, but after a long silence, Zhang Chen said, "Never mind~"

Tuer was taken aback, and so was David.
"why?"

I'm not interested in movies where white men save the world.

"How can this be a white man saving the world? It's white people and Chinese people guarding the Great Wall together!"

Tuer tried to persuade Zhang Chen, but Zhang Chen interrupted him first: "Isn't it still the same? According to your description, the story is definitely from a white person's perspective, so the white person is the protagonist, and it's just a white man saving the world. This perspective might work in North America, but nobody in our country likes to watch this anymore..."

"Ah, is that so?"

Tuer was surprised that Zhang Chen rejected him outright.

"How could it not be? What's the difference between this and 'The Forbidden Kingdom'? It's a Sino-US co-production, and the Chinese character is clearly much stronger, while the American character is just a pushover. But in the end, the pushover saves the world, and everyone else is just background..."

Such stories are no longer popular where we're from.

Zhang Chen said one last thing.

David, standing nearby, gloated: "Haha, Thomas, just because you set the story in China doesn't mean you can make a co-production. What does 'The Great Wall' have to do with the Great Wall?"

Just as the three were feeling awkward, Diane appeared out of nowhere.

"Gentlemen, excuse me, but Boss, do you have a moment? I need to talk to you about something..."

Zhang Chen apologized to the two men and left with Dai An.

Only after walking a distance away did she say, "Thank goodness you arrived in time; your timely intervention was truly crucial!"

Diane was surprised: "What's wrong? Did you two have a bad chat? I had no idea. I'm not here to save the day; I really need to talk to you about something."

"Oh, what's the matter?"

Diane looked around. "It's like this, David Ellison, do you know him?"

Zhang Chen felt the name sounded familiar, but couldn't quite place it.

Seeing Zhang Chen's expression, Diane knew the answer and simply introduced, "You've heard of Oracle, right? David Ellison is the son of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, and he's also a producer..."

Zhang Chen finally remembered that this person was a very frequently appearing "tool" in American entertainment.

In American entertainment novels, this character is either a villain or a foolish, rich, and opportunistic tool.

What happened to David Ellison?

The other person wants to meet you.

"Ask me to meet up?"

Zhang Chen didn't think of the matter in a negative way, but he never imagined that he would have any interaction with the other party.

"Is there a problem?"

"Hmm, it seems to be related to the latest Mission: Impossible movie~"

Zhang Chen instantly realized: "He's with Paramount?"

Diane shook her head: "No, but he seems to be an investor in Mission: Impossible 4. Paramount wanted to start production on Mission: Impossible 4 at the end of last year, but I heard that Tom Cruise, the lead actor, didn't want to play the role. Rumor has it that he's tired of the character Ethan Hunt and wants to find someone to take over. There's been no consensus within Paramount. I heard a rumor before that David Ellison once suggested that you direct Mission: Impossible 4..."

"No wonder~"

Following Diane's words, Zhang Chen immediately recalled that at the end of last year, the media had interviewed him about his relationship with Mission: Impossible 4.

Zhang Chen was completely confused at the time.

The news even reached China, and many people contacted him to confirm it.

But Paramount never contacted him, and the matter was eventually dropped.

So that's where the root of the problem lies.

After thinking about it some more, I guess the suggestion wasn't adopted, which is why nothing came of it.

But why did they invite me again this time? Could it be that they've reached a consensus internally?
Zhang Chen considered for a moment: "What time was the agency we contacted before?"

"tomorrow morning."

"Alright, let's meet David Ellison tomorrow afternoon. I need to get back as soon as possible to finish up 'Planet 2.' If he has time, let's meet this afternoon; if not, we can do it another time."

Zhang Chen wanted to acquire Riot Games and made two preparations.

Chen Xiaowei and Diane both looked for agencies at the same time. Diane's agency was obviously more reliable. She was attending the Saturn Awards and could take the opportunity to meet them. If there were no problems, they would finalize the matter to avoid any unforeseen complications.

"Okay, that's my reply to him."

(End of this chapter)