Chapter 148: Rise of the Planet of the Apes Copyright (Updated)
As soon as Gu Wei arrived in Los Angeles, he received a call from Matt Damon.

The movie "Jason Bourne" starring him is expected to be released on August 3, and the premiere will be tomorrow.

"If I had known, I would have come two days later."

After hanging up the phone, Gu Wei muttered something.

I lost interest in these cocktail parties after attending too many of them.

However, for Matt Damon's sake, Gu Wei still went with Ryder.

...

After six years of absence, Cheng Long, who has been on a downward spiral in Hollywood, returns to the entertainment industry and continues to solve cases with his rapper buddy Chris Tucker, who demands exorbitant amounts of money and offers terrifying pay.

The eccentric performance of "General Shining" Hiroyuki Sanada and the friendly guest appearance of "rapist + Oscar-winning director" Roman Polanski add a bit of "unfair" humor to this action comedy.

On August 8, Gu Wei came to the movie premiere.

"Director Gu, welcome, welcome."

Jackie Chan, dressed in a Tang suit, stood at the entrance of the venue to greet guests. He also came to Hollywood specifically for the premiere.

Similar to "Jason Bourne", after watching the movie, Gu Wei made an excuse that he had something to do and did not participate in the subsequent cocktail party.

"Director Gu, I hope to have the opportunity to work with you in the future."

At the hotel entrance, Cheng Long personally sent Gu Wei out and mentioned this matter.

"Haha, there will definitely be a chance. Next time if there's a good script, I'll consider it."

Gu Wei was speaking from the heart. If he wanted to launch "2012" in the future, he would like to invite Jackie Chan and prepare to build a luxurious lineup. Gu Wei also had an idea of ​​the general candidates in his mind.

"Thank you Director Gu, I look forward to working with you."

Cheng Long said cheerfully.

...

In China, Han Sanping recently organized a "China Film Day" under the pretext of analyzing and discussing the difficulties and development direction of the domestic film industry.

Even though Gu Wei was in Hollywood, he received a call from Han Sanping.

"I don't have time, I don't focus on technology, can holding meetings every day promote the development of the industry?"

Gu Wei replied directly without any politeness, which made Han Sanping a little depressed.

The meeting was held several times, and although many guests were invited, Han Sanping felt that, apart from boasting, these people had no concrete solutions to the current predicament of being crushed by imported blockbusters, not to mention how much development could be achieved.

In the company, Gu Wei was looking at the post-production special effects made by engineers. There was a group of employees surrounding him, who were the second group of people who came to learn.

"Director Gu, this technology and equipment is really advanced."

A well-mannered young man wearing glasses couldn't help but sigh that they had learned a lot during this period and everyone gained a lot.

"It's OK, but it's still a little bit worse than 3D production."

Gu Wei said lightly.

"Director, is 3D technology really that amazing?"

A little girl asked, they have heard a lot about this technology since coming to Hollywood, and have some understanding of it.

"Cameron's Avatar is currently being filmed. It is a brand new 3D movie with an investment of 2.6 million US dollars. You will know after the movie is released."

Such a high cost is second only to "Spider-Man 3" released this year, which cost 2.94 million US dollars.

后续的还有《加勒比海盗3》3.4亿美刀、《泰坦尼克号》2.94亿美刀，《未来水世界》2.71亿美刀，《加勒比海盗2》2.63亿美刀。

In addition, the 1963 film "Cleopatra" was invested with 4400 million US dollars, which is equivalent to 3.4 million US dollars today.

The producer of this film is 20th Century Fox, and this film almost bankrupted the company. In order to make this film, 20th Century Fox sold the land and stopped other film projects. It is said that the stopped film projects also included a Marilyn Monroe movie.

If you think about it carefully, Fox has indeed participated in many large investments, and the same is true for "Avatar".

I heard that Fox was almost driven to collapse by Cameron. They kept adding investments, but the film was delayed again and again. Now it is finally about to be finished.

However, Fox is exhausted. Everyone is waiting for the release of this movie and praying to God to guarantee the box office, otherwise Fox might be acquired in advance.

After seeing the production results, Gu Wei came to the office.

Reid then came over to make some reports, including recent matters, film expenses, revenue, etc.

The company has been developing smoothly in recent years, and the profitability of several films has amazed other film companies in the industry.

You have to know that competition in Hollywood is very fierce. Companies go bankrupt and new companies emerge every day.

It was by virtue of several blockbuster films produced in collaboration with Warner, Universal and DreamWorks that Rising Star Pictures was able to gain a firm foothold in Hollywood and gradually move towards the path of an independent film production company.

"Boss, should we get a seat on the MPAA?" Reid said in a loud voice, thinking about this.

The Motion Picture Association of America, or MPAA, stands for “The Motion Picture Association of America” and is headquartered in California.

The organization was founded in 1922 as a trade organization for the motion picture industry.

Today it is involved not only in movies shown in theaters, but also in television, home video, and other delivery systems that may emerge in the future.

When Gu Wei heard what Reid said, he took a breath of cold air. This guy really dared to think like that.

"You might as well consider buying back some Marvel superhero copyrights. This kind of thing is not something we can interfere with."

Gu Wei said bluntly. The issue of distribution is no longer a problem that can be solved with money. It is a channel for the dissemination of culture and the throat of cultural propaganda. The Americans will not let outsiders control it.

This guy actually wants to go the distribution channel route. You know, even Spielberg's DreamWorks was eventually acquired.

Sony invested a lot of money in its previous life, but in the end it was eliminated in disgrace, which was a heavy loss.

"Don't think too much. These things are not something we can get involved in right now. Besides, a hair channel costs 5 million US dollars now."

Gu Wei thought about it and it seemed that another company went bankrupt and sold one last year.

"It's around 4.8 million US dollars, and it's just a small to medium-sized distribution channel."

Reid knew this very well and spoke out immediately.

“We’ll just go the route of independent filmmaking and not get involved in other areas.”

Gu Wei's words shattered Reid's fantasy and set the tone for the company's development.

"How was the copyright acquisition negotiation with you last time?"

After finishing this topic, Gu Wei asked about other things.

In the 60s when science fiction was on the rise, "Planet of the Apes" and the famous "2001: A Space Odyssey" were released around the same time in 1968.

The film series and high-concept worldview it spawned have influenced countless science fiction works in later generations.

Later, the film was included in the National Film Registry by the U.S. Library of Congress, and together with other classic works such as "Forrest Gump" and "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", it represents an immortal masterpiece in the history of human art.

After "Planet of the Apes", the series quickly launched four sequels ("Lost in the Planet of the Apes", "Escape from the Planet of the Apes", "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes", and "War for the Planet of the Apes"), which lasted until 1973.

Starting from the mid-1970s, the series was "discontinued" for more than twenty years, until 2001, when Tim Burton, a well-known Hollywood genius director, soft-rebooted "Planet of the Apes" with respect for the series.

Unfortunately, abandoning the deep thinking in the original work and completely adapting this IP into a commercial entertainment movie has lost the soul of the series, and ultimately the film's reputation suffered a Waterloo.

This is also one of the main things that Gu Wei asked Reid to be responsible for.

Take advantage of this opportunity to acquire the IP copyright and make plans for the subsequent 3D version.

"Fox is planning to sell the copyright fees. They are currently working on Cameron's new movie and have financial problems."

Reid has had several talks with Fox, and the other party's attitude is slowly changing.

"Speed ​​up the process and make sure to get the subsequent adaptation rights."

It was a good opportunity before "Avatar" was released, otherwise after the movie was released, Fox would have recovered and it would have been difficult to acquire it again.

"Understood. I'll hurry up. What about the price?"

Reid wanted to know Gu Wei's bottom line.

“The price can be partially premium.”

.........

There have been many big productions in the circle during this period, but few of Wang Jinghua's artists participated in them. This made her vaguely understand the feeling when she was in Huayi Company.

Orange Sky Entertainment has also signed a large number of artists recently, but they are all signed with the headquarters, not the agency she is in charge of.

Thinking back to such a big production as "Red Cliff", few people under Wang Jinghua were involved, including the subsequent "Painted Skin", which made her feel powerless.

"The idea of ​​changing jobs came to my mind again."

In the office, Wang Jinghua was thinking calmly.

At the end of August, the 64th Venice Film Festival officially began.

Domestic director Zhang Yimou was invited to serve as chairman. Under his leadership, there are six famous directors, some of whom are world-class celebrities - including the famous "Babel" director, Mexican Inarritu.

It can also be seen from here that Zhang Yimou's status in the international film industry is unquestionable.

This is also a position that can decide the final winner of the "Golden Lion Award".

Last year, because Jia Zhangke's "Still Life" and "Curse of the Golden Flower" were released at the same time, the two film companies had a war of words.

After Jia Zhangke won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, Zhang Weiping said that there was something fishy going on between Jia Zhangke and the chairman of the jury.

This time, the Venice Film Festival put aside past grudges and resolved the grudge between the Venice Film Festival and Zhang Yimou in a special way.

Zhang Yimou was also very considerate. This year's Venice Film Festival will open on August 8. Although he has been busy preparing for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, Zhang Yimou successfully "asked for leave" after coordinating with the Olympic Organizing Committee. His trip to Venice will last more than ten days.

...

"Director Zhang Yimou is leaving for Venice today."

"The cast and crew of Lust, Caution and others have arrived at the Venice Film Festival."

In the past two days, the media have been reporting on matters related to the film festival.

Meanwhile, at the Venice Film Festival.

Director Li An has arrived with the main creative staff and rented a screening hall. "Lust, Caution" has begun its premiere, attracting many film producers from all over the world.

A large poster was placed at the entrance of the screening room, and the half-naked poster of Tang Wei was very eye-catching.

...

(End of this chapter)