HuaYu97: Starting as a Singer

Chapter 179 [179] Tactical Lean Back, What is a Strong Luck!
Take people's money and eliminate disasters with them.

Qi Yuan decisively contacted Chen Kaige.

Chen Kaige was reading the script and became more and more satisfied with it. Without hesitation, he agreed.

"Honghong and I will be going back to Beijing in the next couple of days. I will personally visit Third Master then. He just took office as the vice chairman and vice general manager of China Film Group this month, and I didn't have time to congratulate him."

China Film Group Corporation (CFGC) was established in February of this year, formed by the merger of eight entities including China Film Corporation, Beijing Film Studio, Children's Film Studio, and China Film Equipment Corporation.

This is the initial stage of China Film Group.

Du Qifeng probably never expected that this matter would progress so smoothly.

……

On May 23, "The Mission" grossed approximately HK$2.1 million in Hong Kong, with a first-week gross of approximately HK$475 million.

The opening week box office does not refer to the box office revenue of the first seven days of a film's release, but rather to the first week of the film's release.

"The Mission" will be released at 6 pm on Friday, and the first week of its release will be from Friday to Sunday.

When Milkyway Image released its box office report, it announced that the company's box office had exceeded 500 million in its first week.

Nicholas Tse of Yinghuang was very frustrated when he saw this report. His film "Half a Cigarette" was released on May 11, but it has not yet reached 5 million in box office revenue.

On Sunday night, the film's main creators, including Qi Yuan, Du Qifeng, and Brother Crow, appeared on a variety show in Hong Kong.

In the show, Qi Yuan showed off her cooking skills, spending fifteen minutes frying a pot of high-quality ham and pork fried rice, which she then shared with the hosts, guests, and audience members.

"..."

Nicholas Tse was dumbfounded!
Damn it, if you're going on a show to promote a movie, just promote the movie. Why did you have to make such a mess of eggs and fried rice?

Are they really going to go this far? Leaving me no way out at all?

He could tell that Qi Yuan's cooking skills were just as bad as his own, but he was handsome! He was even more handsome than the poses he had practiced.

Qi Yuan's height and build are undeniable; even bending over to chop vegetables, he still manages to look good.

During the show, Qi Yuan also mentioned that he had learned twelve dishes, which he named "Qi Yuan's Twelve Flavors," and that he would like to show them to everyone one by one when he has the opportunity in the future.

Nicholas Tse: "..."

Sometimes I really want to punch someone.

……

Beijing.

Chen Kaige walked into the China Film Building with a copy of "The Mission".

A few hours later, he emerged from the building refreshed and took out his phone to make a call: "Ah Yuan, it's all settled. Third Master wants to talk to the person in charge of Milkyway Image."

The case of "The Mission" is special; it was allowed to be released in mainland China. Any future films wanting to be released there will have to comply with certain regulations.

After Hong Kong returned to the motherland, cultural exchanges between the two sides became even closer.

People within China Film Group are studying ways for the two sides to cooperate. The mainland has a huge market and capital, while Hong Kong has rich technical experience. The two sides can complement each other.

The film "The Mission" inspired the people at China Film Group.

Yes, that's right. In the future, if a Hong Kong film has more than one-third of its investment and more than one-third of its actors from the mainland, it can be considered a domestic film, not subject to import quotas, and will enjoy the same treatment as other domestic films in the mainland.

Qi Yuan was stunned for a moment. Wasn't this the CEPA agreement from a few years later? The path of co-productions.

Qi Yuan glanced at his system panel, where the 'Strong Luck' trait was shining brightly.

Wow! So this is the power of incredible luck, it's absolutely amazing!

The strong support from both the team and Chen Kaige facilitated this outcome, which inadvertently led China Film Group to conceive of a co-production.

Strictly speaking, the film "The Mission" did not meet the requirements for later co-productions, as the proportion of actors and mainland investment was not high enough.

However, this film features mainland Chinese lead actor Qi Yuan, who also owns a 20% share of the film, which is a good start. This film can be used to establish a reputation for attracting more and more co-productions.

This film can also send a signal to Hong Kong filmmakers: if they want to make money in the mainland, they should learn from "The Mission," use mainland actors as the main actors, and allow mainland companies to invest.

This is fair. Hong Kong films make money in the huge mainland market, so it's reasonable for mainland actors and industry professionals to benefit as well.

With more interaction between mainland and Hong Kong teams, and having learned most of the Hong Kong methods, co-productions, as temporary products, can gradually disappear.

The film "The Mission" also meets the release standards in mainland China. The film is about gangsters, but it is different from the "Young and Dangerous" series, which corrupts children.

"The Mission" is very ironic. Even though Ah Gui had clearly retired from the gang, he had to go back to help at the boss's word.

The five-man team risked their lives to solve Brother Wen's problem, and the reward they received wasn't even enough to fill an envelope.

Ah-Xin seduced his sister-in-law; both Ah-Xin and his sister-in-law must die.

These metaphors all tell the audience not to get involved in the underworld, because it will end badly.

Chen Kaige then told Qi Yuan another piece of good news: "Third Master read your script and said it was very good. China Film Group has agreed to invest 500 million yuan, and Third Master will personally serve as the producer."

Do you want to invest some money? If not, I'll find other investors to raise the funds, and then I'll credit you as the screenwriter and assistant director.

I can't promise you much, but I can definitely get you 5% of the film's shares.

Kaizi Pigeon is a righteous man!
His point was that Qi Yuan would not have to pay a single penny, would receive his full salary, and would also receive 5% of the film's shares to enjoy profit sharing benefits.

This is how all the world's top directors operate: director's salary plus a certain percentage of film shares.

Who in their right mind spends their own money to make movies? Aren't they all using other people's money?

If you lose money, you still get paid; if you make money, it's even better—you get both the paid salary and profit sharing.

Chen Kaige's suggestion is excellent; Qi Yuan doesn't need to take any risks.

However, Qi Yuan has high hopes for this film.

Chen Kaige promised not to change a single word, and that promise alone was enough to justify his investment.

What is the proposed budget for the film?

"Probably 1500 million."

“Then I’ll invest 500 million. I have some spare cash on hand.”

“You don’t need to invest that much. Just invest 3 million. The remaining 2 million can be covered by the actor’s salary and the screenwriter’s fee. I’ll offer you a higher salary.”

Chen Kaige made the final decision.

Qi Yuan received 100 million yuan for filming "Gunfire," but his salary couldn't have increased that quickly all of a sudden.

The combined salary for the lead actor and screenwriter should be around 170 to 180 million.

But who can blame him when Qi Yuan is his little brother? He said Qi Yuan's salary and screenwriting fee are worth 200 million, so Qi Yuan is worth 200 million. After he finished speaking, who agreed and who disagreed?

How could he not protect his little brother?

Based on this calculation, Qi Yuan owns one-third of the investment, but Qi Yuan cannot get the 33% share; she can only get 27%.

In the television and film industries, a certain percentage of investment does not guarantee a certain percentage of revenue.

This movie will make a lot of money thanks to Chen Kaige and China Film Group; they are the ones with the advantage.

China Film Group can get a 40% stake by investing 500 million, while Qi Yuan only needs to pay 300 million in real money to get a 27% share, which is a very good deal.

Other investors put up more money but received a smaller share.

Since this is a film directed by Chen Kaige, if you don't vote for it, plenty of others will.

(End of this chapter)