Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 432 The Horror Universe of Rose Pictures: Liu Yifei Wants to Act in Horror Films
Gu Bei's offer to Wen Ziren was absolutely full of sincerity.

Hollywood insiders are very clear about the production costs of each project; Wen Ziren's "Lurking" was a $1.5 million project.
Major film studios typically start their quotes with a 10% discount, allowing the production company to lose money initially, and then profit through standard revenue sharing later.

However, given Wen Ziren's track record with Saw, publishers will definitely have to go through a bidding process to acquire the rights.

However, the price quoted by Gu Bei was equivalent to a 100% net profit margin for the production company.

The key is that we don't need to look at the stable net profit margin of the box office. It's already an extremely high figure in Hollywood. You should know that when Netflix spends money to buy TV series and movies from major studios in the future, the checks they write are only 20%-30% of the production cost.

and,

The most difficult aspect of Gu Bei's quote was...
That is, he knew that no matter how high the offer was, Wen Ziren would only be able to enjoy a portion of the director's profit share.
Therefore, in addition to the offer of three million US dollars, he also offered a sequel, which was equivalent to giving Wen Ziren a guaranteed job opportunity.

A few years ago,
This job opportunity wasn't that important to Wen Ziren.

After all, back then he was working with the Big Six studios on a B-movie with a budget of $2000 million.
But for Wen Ziren, who hasn't had a new film released in four years, a stable job is even more important than money!
"Bruce..."

Wen Ziren's expression already showed that he was interested.

He originally thought that Gu Bei's offer was merely an attempt to help him raise his bid.
After all, it's not uncommon for studios without distribution capabilities to buy films first and then entrust distributors to distribute them in Hollywood. However, this business model is riskier and less profitable, so they occupy a supplementary position to distributors in the ecosystem, and are more about picking up the scraps.

But Gu Bei's tone and sincerity in making the offer clearly indicated that he genuinely wanted to acquire the project he was trying to acquire!
Moreover, Gu Bei could be considered the best buyer in his mind.

Gu Bei is a director he greatly admires, so he'll naturally lean more towards Gu Bei.
Secondly, Gu Bei is also Chinese, and the most successful Chinese director in Hollywood, so his identity would be more favorable towards Gu Bei.
Given the same offer, Wen Ziren would always advise the production company to choose Gu Bei.

Not to mention Gu Bei's offer, it's estimated that no other company will be able to offer a higher price.

"Does your Rose Pictures have distribution capabilities?"

The partner at Peak Entertainment also realized that Wen Ziren was still physically present, but his heart was no longer here. So he couldn't help but tear off his mask of hypocrisy and said sarcastically.

"Hollywood may not have much else, but it has distributors as numerous as hairs on a cow!"

Gu Bei said lightly.

"Then I wish you good luck!"

The partner at Summit Entertainment looked on with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty before turning and leaving.

"Bruce, I will take your offer back and do my best to persuade Bloom Palace Productions to reach an agreement with you as soon as possible."

Wen Ziren earnestly assured Gu Bei, while also advising him, "Peak Entertainment is also a long-term partner of yours. Distributors are quite important to our director's works, so don't make things worse with them."

Wen Ziren was also using his own experience to persuade Gu Bei.

He only chose to remain silent for four years, both voluntarily and involuntarily, after two consecutive B-movies from the Big Six flopped in 2007.
Gu Bei emerged out of nowhere in 2007 and reached the pinnacle of Hollywood's art scene at an unprecedented speed. Since Chinese influence in Hollywood was already weak, Wen Ziren did not want Gu Bei to become a shooting star like him.

"It's alright, he's just a minor figure at Top Entertainment."

Gu Bei responded to Wen Ziren's kindness with a smile.

After Wen Ziren left

Liu Yifei spoke up, "Are we really going to part ways with Peak Entertainment?"

Of the four people present, only Wen Ziren failed to grasp the meaning behind Gu Bei's words, "Publishers are as numerous as hairs on a cow!" Even Liu Yifei, who doesn't usually pay much attention to these things, understood Gu Bei's meaning.

For Wen Ziren, who believes that Rose Pictures and Summit Entertainment are inseparable,
Gu Bei's statement merely indicated that he was looking for a distributor to release the "Lurking" film series.

Just like Gu Bei's Artist and La La Land, which were both distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, this is standard practice for studios.

However, there were already undercurrents within Summit Entertainment. If it weren't for the top-tier IP of Twilight binding the two parties together, their conflict would have already become public.

Gu Bei's words clearly signaled that Rose Pictures was about to venture into the distribution field.

In fact, it would be abnormal for a production company of Rose Pictures' caliber not to be involved in distribution.

Besides the Big Six, there are simply too many small and medium-sized distributors in Hollywood. Acquiring just one of them would be enough to give Rose Pictures the ability to distribute in North America.

"People are never satisfied; at the very least, they should have a backup plan!"

Gu Bei turned his head, looked into Liu Yifei's eyes, and explained seriously, "However, with the Twilight series binding both of us, we can still maintain a respectable relationship for a few years."

Gu Bei had never been involved in distribution channels before.
The main reason is that what reborn people need most is time. Sharing some benefits with others and saving a lot of time is a sure-fire way for them to make money.

Otherwise, spending a few million dollars to acquire a small publisher would indeed give them the ability to distribute in North America.
However, these distributors are quite adept at releasing low-budget films like Whiplash.

Once they get involved in B-movies, they start to feel a bit overwhelmed.

If Gu Bei were to make films like Interstellar, Inception, or other A-list productions in the next few years, this kind of distributor would only significantly drag down the box office, ultimately failing to achieve either a win-win situation.

The difference is obvious when comparing the Twilight series; Twilight 1's box office was much lower than Twilight 2's.

If it had been distributed by one of the six major studios or even Lionsgate, the first Twilight film's box office would have at least doubled, and it should have been second only to the finale in terms of box office performance, which would be in line with commercial principles.

This is still Summit Entertainment, which has three veteran Hollywood producers with decades of experience and connections in Hollywood that have been immersing them for over a decade. This is the best Summit Entertainment can do.

If Gu Bei were to let Rose Pictures start by acquiring distributors and then reorganizing them, it would take him a lot of energy and time, and it would still be a question mark whether Twilight 1 could break $100 million in North America.

Right now, even if we create a backup plan, we can only release low-budget horror films like "Lurking" for the time being.

"A backup plan?"

Liu Yifei rolled her eyes at him, "You talk so rudely!"

"Hahaha!"

Gu Bei smiled.

the next day.

Bloomberg, the production company behind "Lurking," inquired about prices from various distributors, including Summit Entertainment, Sony Pictures, and 20th Century Fox. At least six distributors were interested in "Lurking," but none could match Gu Bei's offer.

Blooms Palace Production Company, as usual, came to Gu Bei's door and began negotiations.

Like Rose Films, Bloom Palace Productions is an independent studio that grew up in the more relaxed environment of Hollywood in the 21st century. They are very good at producing low-budget films such as horror movies.

Although their names are relatively obscure, the movies they produce are quite famous in China.

For example, the Paranormal Activity series is their original series.

Gu Bei also acquired the Lurk series, as well as the future Human Purge series and Happy Death Day series, all of which are in his film library.

Furthermore, even without Gu Bei, Whiplash would still be a film produced by Bloom Palace. Bloom Palace was certainly satisfied with the price, but Gu Bei's demand was to acquire all or part of the rights, while Bloom Palace only wanted to sell the distribution rights for the film series.

At last,
Gu Bei acquired the copyright to the film "Lurking" for $315 million, along with all rights, including the right to develop sequels.

This transaction price wasn't just about distribution rights; it meant that the Insidious series would henceforth have no connection with Bloomberg Productions.

Although Bloom Palace production company also believes that the Insidious series has the potential to be explored further,
But no way,

Gu Bei really gave too much.

This price far exceeded the expectations of Bloomsbury Productions, causing them to hesitate for a moment before ultimately deciding to relinquish the rights to the Insidious series.

A profit margin of 110% is just too tempting!

When Wen Ziren started negotiating a sequel deal with Gu Bei...
Gu Bei directly offered him a very tempting suggestion:
"James, I want to develop a horror movie universe, what do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Wen Ziren was slightly taken aback: "Similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe?"

"That's right!"

Gu Bei nodded.

Since the copyright to the Conjuring Universe has already been sold and there's no hope of it being available, then let's create a horror universe unique to Rose Pictures.

Just in time, Gu Bei was planning to acquire a small publisher to release The Infiltrator, which would give him an extra label to use in this terrifying universe.

Otherwise, if it were to operate under the Rose Pictures label, it wouldn't fit with Rose Pictures' current focus on fictional films for teenagers.

"I think it's possible, but I need to think about it carefully!"

Wen Ziren's eyes revealed excitement.

He originally came here only for the film contract of "Lurking 2", but the terrifying universe that Gu Bei threw out excited him.

This presents him with an excellent opportunity to return to Hollywood!
"It's okay. The Insidious should be released in the second half of next year, around Halloween or something similar, so you have plenty of time. You can even make some minor adjustments to the Insidious to pave the way for a future horror universe."

Gu Bei said with a smile.

Judging from the future trend of horror films rising in popularity, horror films are clearly on a gradual upward trend in the future, as other film genres gradually weaken. They may even follow the path of science fiction films and become a member of the mainstream commercial film genres in the future.

Given the increasing pressure on humans in the future, horror films that can generate large amounts of dopamine clearly have a very large market prospect.

Of course, it's definitely not the gore films that dominate the market now, but rather horror thrillers that focus on psychological terror.

Just after Gu Bei, Wen Ziren, and Bloom Palace Production Company reached an agreement,

The Hollywood Reporter immediately broke the news: "Wen Ziren's new film was sold just ten hours after its screening at the Toronto International Film Festival. The buyer is Rose Pictures, but the distributor has not yet been confirmed."

However, according to sources, the transaction amount is over seven figures, making it the largest transaction at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

At this time,
Gu Bei and Liu Yifei have already boarded the plane to the next film festival.

Liu Yifei saw the Hollywood Reporter article and asked Gu Bei curiously, "Who do you think their informant is? Could it be Bloom Palace Productions themselves?"

"no!"

Gu Bei shook his head. "It's probably the film festival organizing committee. They're the ones who most want film deals to be reported, and they know all the information about film market transactions, so it must have been them who leaked it to the Hollywood reporters."

"I see!"

Liu Yifei suddenly realized and nodded.

Subsequently,

She grabbed Gu Bei: "What do you think about me acting in a horror movie? Your horror movie universe needs a lot of actors, right? I think I have a great talent for scaring people!"

"you?"

Gu Bei looked at Liu Yifei with a strange gaze.

"Don't you believe it?"

Liu Yifei, however, was eager to show Gu Bei her role as a female ghost. She rolled up her wrists and prepared to loosen her hair, ready to give Gu Bei a tutorial on how to play the role of a female ghost.

"No, no, no!"

Gu Bei quickly stopped her, "Be careful the flight attendants don't see you later."

Although the business class seats are quite private, the flight attendants can still see the passengers' condition as they walk around.

If a flight attendant saw Liu Yifei dressed as a ghost, she'd probably be mortified for a long time.

"Oh, I'll show you when we get back to the hotel."

Liu Yifei didn't want to die, so she chickened out.

However, she still longs to act in horror movies, and seems very confident that she has a talent for it.

Gu Bei suddenly felt a headache coming on.

Given Liu Yifei's usual habit of watching horror movies, it's understandable that she wants to carve out a place for herself in the Rose Horror Universe.

But can Liu Yifei's face really be scary?

Don't even mention the differences in aesthetics between China and the US.
If there are any differences,

Who could look at Liu Yifei's face without feeling like she's a ghost?
at this time,

Gu Bei suddenly remembered,
It seems a classmate had shared an interview video of Liu Yifei with him before, which included an interview where Liu Yifei said she wanted to act in a horror movie. The classmate even praised Liu Yifei for her genuine and authentic remarks during the interview.

What was the reason Liu Yifei didn't act in horror movies in the end?

Gu Bei carefully searched his memory and then said to Liu Yifei, "Acting in horror movies isn't necessarily a bad thing. There are also those unconventional horror movies with artistic merit."

But... are you sure you've thought this through?

"If you were to act in a horror movie, would you be able to sleep well on set at night?"

Liu Yifei was slightly stunned when she heard this.

This seems to be a really big problem!
(End of this chapter)