Chapter 412 Rejecting Harvey's Proposal

A post suddenly circulated on the Internet and received quite a lot of clicks.

A netizen named "Qianyang Qianxia" gave a comprehensive review of several domestic films that were released recently.

Looking at the sources of bad films in China, more than half of them are films shot by Hong Kong directors, especially the typical representative Li Rengang. From "See You, Resurrection of the Dragon", "The King's Guards" to the current "The Banquet", each one is worse than the last.

As for other films directed by Hong Kong directors released in the same period, there is no need to mention them. For example, "Magic Love" took less than a million yuan on the first day and didn't even make a splash.

It has to be said that as soon as this post came out, it put the Hong Kong director in the spotlight. A large number of netizens liked it and cited many examples to express their agreement.

"The Banquet", which earned 20 million yuan at the box office on the first day, finally killed itself with a large number of negative reviews.

One week after the movie was released, the box office barely exceeded 100 million yuan, but then the daily box office took a sharp drop. The producers were dumbfounded. How could it suddenly fail?

The producer and director Li Rengang did not look for the reasons in themselves and turned a blind eye to the large number of negative reviews online.

Instead, during an interview, he accused some companies of hiring internet trolls to discredit "himself" and talked about how difficult it was for people from Hong Kong Island to go north to make movies. Not only were they ostracized by their peers, but they were now also being suppressed by mainland film and television companies.

As soon as these words were spoken, they immediately received support from many Hong Kong filmmakers, and even the media there were reporting on this. For a time, public opinion was everywhere.

Although the other party did not say it explicitly, as the most anticipated film during the Spring Festival, "The Flowers of War" was naturally the first to be affected.

It is said that these Hong Kong people know how to pick the time. Previously, Zhang Weiping offended most of the film and television companies in the circle for his own selfish interests. Now facing the insinuations of the Hong Kong media, few people have voiced their support.

Faced with this situation, Zhang Dapao, who was already in a bad mood, started to rant.

"Some historical films directed by Hong Kong Island are really unwatchable. The various nonsensical adaptations make the audience want to ask a hundred thousand questions after watching them."

"Some directors are really not suitable for making mainland historical films. With their historical level, they should go back to school and read history textbooks for a few more years. They blame this and that for the poor box office. It's embarrassing!!"

Zhang Weiping's words are always so direct and ruthless.

Li Rengang was criticized to pieces.

It even prompted many netizens to leave sarcastic comments, asking him to stop damaging historical themes in the future.

Seeing this, the Hong Kong media also opened fire and fought back.

"Inception cost $1.6 million; Battle Los Angeles only cost $0.7 million from start to finish; the upcoming Mission: Impossible 4 cost about $1.4 million. Is it possible for Flowers of War to cost so much? Are there other unexplained expenses included in the cost?"

"The film's scenes are mainly war scenes and church interiors, and there aren't many war scenes. The actresses are all newcomers, so they definitely won't be expensive. Even Bale, who played Batman, is said to have made 1.2 million RMB. How did they get the 6 million?"

"One thing I don't understand is how did Doukou and Xianglan escape from the church? In the face of death, Doukou went to find the strings to play "Qinhuai Scenery" for the injured soldier Pu Sheng. Xianglan went there for the earrings. Doesn't that make sense?"

The Hong Kong media has made a big fuss about the unreasonable production costs and plot of "The Flowers of War".

In the end, even Zhang Yimou could only respond, "There is such a scene in the original novel, and it is true in the plot."

"Some scenes are faithful reproductions of the plot in the novel, so they can't be considered bugs."

The two sides went back and forth, and it was very lively. In the end, it was the central media that stepped in to put an end to the farce.

But no one talked about it in public, and everyone treated it as a joke in private.

The investment in "Hongmen Banquet" was increased to 200 million yuan, and the pressure to recover the investment was not small.
And looking at the box office trends over the past two days, it’s hard to say whether the final total box office can reach 200 million.

This is even more true for "The Flowers of War". With such a huge investment, one billion is only the bottom line. If this goal cannot be achieved, the initial investment will be like throwing meat buns at a dog, which will never come back.

Seeing the fight between the two sides, Gu Wei was reminded of a program in China.

It has to be said that "The Tenth Screening Room" is a really good program. It once commented on "Warring States" like this: "Warring States" is not the worst. Of course, if you look at it from another perspective, the fact that this movie is so mediocre is actually quite tragic...

Unfortunately, due to many reasons, the comments on domestic films in "The Tenth Screening Room" are no longer so sharp. Maybe it is true, as the host said, that Chinese-language films are developing and bad films are decreasing!
……

On the other hand, Gu Wei's negotiations with Disney and DreamWorks were also coming to an end.

After a long and complicated negotiation, Gu Wei finally took the lead in reaching a cooperation agreement with Disney.

Disney agreed to invest a 30% premium in "Frozen", with the production cost tentatively set at US$1.5 million. Both parties will contribute proportionally to the subsequent cost increases and publicity and promotion expenses.

The two parties signed an agreement that when Gu Wei's next domestic film is released in North America, Disney must, in principle, ensure that it is shown in no less than 600 theaters and charge a commission based on the most basic fees.

The two parties set up an animation film and television company in China, with Xingchen Film and Television holding 60% of the shares and Disney holding 20%. The other party will send professional animation film production personnel to work in the domestic company, and Gu Wei will also purchase a batch of Disney's latest equipment, and the other party's engineers will come to China to teach Xingchen Film and Television employees how to use it. Gu Wei plans to leave the remaining 20% ​​to other companies in the industry, no more than two at most, preferably companies involved in publicity and theaters, so that the publicity channels, theaters, and production will all be involved to ensure that there will be no loopholes.

After dealing with Disney, the pressure naturally came to DreamWorks. After considering for a long time, the other party agreed to the corresponding conditions, but DreamWorks added a clause.

Regarding the image of the Minions in "Despicable Me", DreamWorks has the right of priority investment when it is subsequently adapted into a separate animated film.

Gu Wei also added one more point, that is, under the same conditions, DreamWorks can have priority investment, and if the conditions offered by other companies are significantly different from those of DreamWorks, they can be rejected.

Faced with Gu Wei's strong attitude, the head of DreamWorks agreed reluctantly.

As for the establishment of a new company, since Disney had already joined, Gu Wei changed the conditions and the two parties signed an agreement to release the film in no less than 1,200 theaters.

In the conference room, watching the three parties sign the contract, Song Ge and Reid couldn't help but give Gu Wei a thumbs up.

"Director Gu is really amazing. If it were any other domestic company, they would definitely not dare to propose such a condition. Even if they did, they would probably soften their stance first after seeing the other party's tough attitude."

Song Ge expressed his sincere admiration.

"Haha, the six major Hollywood companies are also human beings, and they are profit-seeking capitalists. As long as the price is right, it is no problem for them to sell their souls."

"The boss understands these people's psychology very well. What's the old Chinese saying?" Reid said suddenly.

"Know yourself and know your enemy!"

The three of them said it in unison.

"Haha." Then they looked at each other and burst into laughter.

They argued fiercely during the negotiation, but after the contract was signed, Durrant seemed like a different person. After a few drinks, he talked to Reid about everything, and the two of them were like brothers who had been separated for many years.

The next day, Reid, Durrant and others set off and returned to Los Angeles.

Harvey continued to stay, and Gu Wei waited for good news to see what the other party wanted to say.

"Gu, congratulations on reaching a new cooperation with the Big Six in Hollywood. I believe that under your leadership, the Chinese film industry will develop better and better." Harvey came up and complimented him.

Gu Wei waved his hand and said, "No industry can rely on the strength of one person. Mutual benefit is the fundamental reason for it to continue."

"Haha, you are too modest. Apart from you, I can't think of anyone else in the Chinese film industry who can have the upper hand in negotiations with Hollywood companies.

For example, the most popular movie in your country recently, "The Flowers of War", as far as I know, will be released in North America soon, but it has not undergone sufficient publicity and promotion, so even if it is released, the box office will be a problem.

Although it was nominated for the Golden Globe and Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, in my opinion, it has little hope. "

Hearing this, Gu Wei nodded without refuting. As an expert in this area, some of Harvey's judgments were still very accurate.

"Harvey, just say what you want to say!" Gu Wei didn't want to listen to the other party's rambling anymore, so he interrupted.

"Haha, Gu, I like your personality." Harvey's expression remained unchanged after being interrupted.

"Honestly, Miramax Films is not very interested in animated films, but we are very interested in your next new Hollywood movie, such as the Planet of the Apes series.

I know that the copyright is in your hands. There is also news from Warner Bros. that they will jointly develop this IP with you. We hope to be involved.

Of course, in return, I can swear that when you or the next movie you invest in competes for an Oscar, we will do our best to ensure that it wins a "proper" award. "

It has to be said that Harvey's words were still very tempting, but after considering for a moment, Gu Wei found an excuse and finally chose to refuse.

Harvey left with an unhappy look on his face, and Song Ge looked at Gu Wei with some confusion.

"This kind of people are like the cruel officials in ancient dynasties. They can get things done but have a bad reputation. We can use them, but we can't involve them too much, otherwise if something goes wrong, it will affect us."

When "The Pursuit of Happyness" was competing for an Oscar, it was Harvey who was in charge, but it was Warner Bros. who came forward and he paid for it. The two parties did not have direct and open contact, and even the media did not involve the two too much.

But this time it involves the development of the "Planet of the Apes" series. Regardless of whether Gu Weitong agrees or not, even Warner Bros. will not agree to Miramax Films' involvement.

Warner Bros. is an important player in the future domestic special effects blockbusters entering North America, so Gu Wei certainly won't lose the big picture for the small.

.........

(End of this chapter)