Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 197: Demons Dance (asking for monthly ticket)

In order to graduate smoothly, Zhang Chao secluded himself again and instructed that unless the industrial and commercial department came to shut down "Midnight Tide", no one should disturb him with any matters, big or small, before he finished his defense in June.

"Midnight Tide" officially began to enter a state of chaos... chaos... and collective efforts.

Although Zhang Chao is a hands-off boss in daily operations, his grasp of the tastes of readers of the time, his keen sense of writers' works, and his ability to plan book projects and utilize media opinion are unparalleled among the younger generation of writers.

This also suppressed everyone's talents to some extent. Now that Zhang Chao is in seclusion, everyone in "Midnight Tide" can freely express themselves according to their own wishes.

First, Huang Jiefu, who was responsible for daily operations and business development, flew to the United States the day after Zhang Chao's retreat.

The main purpose of Huang Jiefu's visit to the United States this time was to discuss the adaptation rights of "Gone Girl" with 20th Century Fox.

In the more than five months since the publication of "Gone Girl", due to its continued popularity and the "exotic style" of the author Zhang Chao, sales of "Gone Girl" have exceeded 100 million copies in the United States and 10 copies in the United Kingdom.

In addition, French, Japanese, Spanish, and Italian versions have also been released, and their sales are equally encouraging.

This kind of novel with global influence has always been a favorite of Hollywood. As early as March, New Line Cinema offered $3 for the adaptation rights, but Zhang Chao rejected it at first sight.

Later, 100th Century Fox raised the price to US$ million, but Zhang Chao still refused to give in.

Until recently, Warner Bros. said that the bid would not only be higher than $100 million, but it would also offer other favorable conditions, such as a higher long-term profit ratio, and even allow Zhang Chao to participate in the investment of the film.

That's why Jeff Huang is now sitting in front of Kurt Reid, one of Warner's vice presidents.

Kurt Reid is over 60 years old and is a typical white elite. From his hair to his leather shoes, everything is well-groomed and capable. Although he does not appear overbearing, one can still feel a kind of reserve and pride in his bones.

When he met Huang, Kurt did not talk about the acquisition of copyrights, but asked Huang about his experience at Harvard Business School. Huang knew that Kurt was a senior in one of his classes.

After chatting about school trivia, Kurt said bluntly: "Jeffrey, I think your experience in Chinese companies has made your temperament different."

Huang looked at his polo shirt and then at Kurt's meticulous three-piece suit and said, "Maybe it was influenced by my boss... He never requires us to dress in a certain way."

Kurt said, "Are you talking about Zhang Chao? I thought he was just a talented writer who got lucky."

Huang Jiefu smiled and said, "You should be glad that I am the one talking to you today, not him. I have seen too many big shots in China who looked down on him, and in the end, without exception, they all suffered a great loss."

Kurt asked curiously, "Then I might really want to see it...Okay, let's get to the point. For "Gone Girl", I can offer $120 million to acquire the adaptation rights. And we expect to invest no less than $3000 million in the production..."

For a modern suspense film without any special effects and with most of the scenes taking place indoors, an investment of 3000 million US dollars is not small.

But Huang Jiefu was obviously not satisfied. Hollywood movies are also movies. The story and script are important, but the cast still has a decisive influence. 3000 million US dollars means it is difficult to invite first-line stars who can guarantee box office success.

So he flatly refused, saying, "Our boss is not the kind of writer who doesn't care about anything after selling the copyright. This is his first adapted film in China, and the director and lead actor are both top names in the industry. If you really value "Gone Girl" and have confidence in it, the copyright fee will be no less than 200 million US dollars. In addition, we think Tom Cruise is very suitable for the male lead of the film. If he doesn't have time, Brad Pitt is also good..."

Kurt ignored his manners, widened his eyes, and asked in disbelief: "Are you crazy?"

Huang Jiefu shrugged and said that this was his "bottom price".

While Huang Jiefu was arguing with Hollywood giants, Ma Boyong also began to let himself go in guiding Xing Siyuan's novel and establishing the character of "Master Qi".

Although he has good literary accomplishment, he just likes to make spoofs and has a very wild imagination.

As the manuscript of "Crazy Pampered Beautiful Bride: My Boyfriend Is Not Easy to Mess With" gradually took shape, and the character of "Master Qi" became more and more complete, he could no longer suppress his bad taste, and quietly registered an account with the ID "Jiu Gege".

The style of "Jiu Gege" is completely different from that of Xiao Si and Qi Gongzi. With a postmodernist attitude, Ma Boyong began to deconstruct Xiao Si's proud youth pain writing style, and pointed out from a high vantage point that this style can not only be imitated, but even reproduced.

For example, he first summarized the high-frequency words used in Xiao Si's novels: [unbridled, bright, sad, tearful, quiet, silent, empty, desolate, slender, thin, painful, cherry blossoms, summer, railroad tracks, hallucination, arc, misty...]

He also analyzed the proportion of Xiao Si's novels: [Brightness is the embellishment, sadness is the main body, and the ratio of the two should be kept between 1:4.5 and 1:5.5. Too much brightness is like a sweet and greasy low-quality cake; too much sadness is like instant coffee with less water...]

The latest update also includes a parody paragraph:

[Surrounded by the endless black tide that hides the secret loneliness, there is only a small light gray island standing in the middle of the sea. I look up at the sky and listen to my heartbeat like a long pendulum, emitting a hollow but lonely echo. ]

Because the deconstruction was so precise and sharp, the ID "Jiu Gege" quickly became popular, and the number of followers continued to rise, soon reaching hundreds of thousands, and related content was also reposted on major forums.

It’s just that everyone is arguing about whether “Jiu Gege” is a fan or a hater.

After two weeks of intermittent updates, a fantastic scene appeared. I didn’t know what was going on, but Changjiang Society, which had cooperated with Zhang Chao and Ma Boyong, sent an editor invitation through the blog backend, hoping that "Jiu Gege" could write the complete version as soon as possible, and then Changjiang Society would compile it into a book.

《Write as well as Xiao Si! 》

Looking at the letter of invitation in the background, the prince fell into a long and tangled contemplation...

Shuang Xuetao and Xia Da were not idle either.

The former went crazy after reading the serialized manuscript of the first part of "The Three-Body Problem" sent by Liu Cixin. The young man was completely overwhelmed by the grandeur of Liu's novel. Now he is wholeheartedly thinking about writing a science fiction novel with a post-apocalyptic style set in the heavy industrial base of Northeast China.

Xia Da quietly began to recruit animation talents and prepare for the first self-made animation of "Midnight Tide"...

As the saying goes, when Zhang Chao is in seclusion, the demons come out of their caves...

(End of this chapter)