Chapter 504 Warner's Decision

Warner Corporation headquarters.

More than half a year has passed since the last time I came here.

As soon as Gu Wei and Reid got out of the car, Mike, the head of Warner Company and an old acquaintance, was waiting at the company door.

After seeing Gu Wei, Mike was extremely enthusiastic and gave him a hug.

"Gu, long time no see. Will you stay in Hollywood for a few more days this time?"

After inviting Gu Wei and his group into the conference room, Mike couldn't wait to ask.

Looking at the Chinese director in front of him, Mike felt a little emotional. When they first met, he was just a fledgling new director who kept bargaining with Warner Bros. for a movie called "A Guilty Man".

Now, ten years have passed. Not only has the other party become a world-famous director, but he has also successfully become one of the vice presidents of the group.

Of course, the person Mike wanted to thank the most was Gu Wei. After all, it was thanks to the box office success of his several consecutive movies that Mike had the opportunity to rise to a senior position in the company.

"Long time no see, Mike. I'll probably stay here for about two weeks this time." Gu Wei said with a faint smile.

After chatting for a while, Gu Wei suddenly said, "Mike, let's talk business."

"No problem, Gu. I heard that one of your comedy movies in China has been watched by more than 30 million people. Many people had to line up in long queues to watch this movie. It's really shocking."

Because small town culture is popular in the United States and the population base is not large, there are only a dozen or so large cities with a population of over one million. For this reason, it is difficult for Mike to imagine what it would be like to have many people queuing up to see a movie.

As they were talking, the group came to the 3D screening room. A Warner employee took the copy from Reid and started fiddling with it.

Hearing this, Gu Wei laughed and was also proud of today's "demographic dividend". He said: "So the potential of China's film market is very huge!"

"Indeed, your film market has grown too fast in the past two years, while ours has only just..."

The two chatted casually, and after the equipment was debugged, they began to enter the main film.

The movie "The Wandering Earth" highlights the grand scenes and stunning visual effects. Although the content of the copy is incomplete, when the opening scene appears, Mike feels it is very imaginative. When the camera zooms out and the entire earth scene appears, Mike's eyes light up and he whispers, "This looks much more grand than the scene in "2012"!"

The plot continued. When thousands of planetary engines started to roar, Mike couldn't help but clench his fists and secretly said in his heart: "Even if we only see these few shots, it is likely to attract a lot of viewers. This movie is worthy of Warner's large-scale distribution!"

When the screen dimmed and turned into "Director Gu Wei's Work", Mike was shocked, "That's it?"

Gu Wei said: "Well, that's the end. The movie is not finished yet, so we can only see this far."

Mike was still a little unsatisfied and said, "Gu, according to the plot description you sent, this movie will also have a sequel, right?"

Gu Wei said bluntly: “There will definitely be a second part, but the timing of the second part will depend on the global box office revenue of this film.

Mike, you have to know that this movie cost 200 million U.S. dollars, and there are many companies involved. If there is a loss, the second movie will most likely be delayed for a long time."

"Haha, I understand. After all, no matter where you are, movies are just commodities that make money. Once they fail to make money, investors will definitely lose confidence in continuing to invest." Mike understood it according to the thinking of Hollywood filmmakers, which was both right and wrong.

For the movie "The Wandering Earth", it would be best if it could make money, but even if it makes a loss, Gu Wei will most likely continue to invest and shoot the second part.

Even if there is a real loss, and companies such as Wanda, Bona, and Guangxian no longer continue to invest, it is estimated that China Film will continue to support it. After all, for them, promoting domestic culture overseas is also an important indicator.

Thinking of this, Gu Wei suddenly shook his head, feeling that he had thought too much. Judging from Mike's expression just now, the effect brought by this movie was no less than that of a Hollywood blockbuster.

"Gu Wei, you have to know that opening 3,000 studios is not something I can decide on my own. I think you can go and take a look at the production of some special effects shots of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes". After our meeting, I will definitely give you a satisfactory answer." Mike's attitude made Gu Wei quite satisfied, and then he took Reid and others to the third floor.

Mike immediately reported to Warner's CEO, and in the following meeting, Mike said bluntly:
“It is really hard to imagine that in a nascent film market like China, a special effects blockbuster comparable to Hollywood’s top productions could be born.

In terms of the depth of the story background, I think it is no worse than Hollywood special effects movies.

Especially in terms of special effects and imagination, it is not inferior to the best Hollywood blockbusters currently available.”

In the conference room on the top floor of Warner Bros., everyone listened to what Mike said. Those who had seen the movie nodded slightly, while others looked skeptical, thinking that what the other party said was a bit exaggerated.

"Mike, as far as I know, the Chinese are very good at martial arts choreography. They always design action scenes that are both exciting and beautiful.

But can special effects blockbusters really achieve the same results as Hollywood?" said a company vice president.

"Yes, you know, Gu Wei's world-famous special effects blockbusters were all produced with the help of Hollywood technology."

The general manager of Warner's business unit, a white woman, said with a frown.

"Gentlemen, do you think I would lie? The copy of the movie is downstairs, you can go and see it and you will know." Mike said very dissatisfiedly, suppressing his anger.

In the final analysis, North American filmmakers look down on Chinese film technology. Even if they see it with their own eyes, they will still have various doubts. "Dongdong, now everyone is discussing whether to introduce this film to North America, and whether its appearance will have an impact on the existing market structure!"

The CEO tapped the table, reiterating the subject of the meeting.

At the same time, he looked at the people around him with some dissatisfaction, "These old guys are getting more and more excessive. They take the company's dividends and still make decisions all day long."

"I think we should refuse to import and distribute them. Chinese films should just stay in their own market. They are not welcome in North America." An older shareholder of the company proposed directly.

“But if we don’t do it, Universal, Disney, DreamWorks, and even the infamous Harvey might bring this movie to the U.S. for a large-scale release!

Who can resist the temptation of the US dollar? "

After hearing this, everyone was speechless. Yes, even Warner Bros. is only a part of the Hollywood market.

Not to mention that the two parties still have the "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" project to cooperate on. Even if Warner refuses to distribute it on a large scale, Disney and DreamWorks, which have signed an agreement with Gu Wei, can provide no less than 3,000 theaters for the film.

In just a short moment, the CEO of Warner Bros. made up his mind to obtain the distribution rights of "The Wandering Earth" in the European, American and Australian markets.

As for movies, no matter how lofty they sound, in the final analysis, it is just a business.

"It is impossible for Chinese blockbusters to completely occupy the European and American markets. Just with "The Wandering Earth", Chinese-language films will not enter the mainstream theaters in Europe and the United States. This is just a single film business!"

In the end, Warner's CEO made a decision and agreed to Gu Wei's request.

Subsequently, the two parties signed an agreement, in which Warner Bros. guaranteed that the film would be released in no less than 3,000 theaters, and would also promote and distribute the film at the lowest market price.

The price Gu Wei paid was to give up 10% of the share of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", let Warner Bros. take 40% of the investment, and not allow any third company to join in the production.

.........

Every year, the Oscars, like the three major European film festivals, are the focus of attention of filmmakers around the world.

In China, the list of nominees for this year's Oscars is also being reported.

After settling the release arrangements for "The Wandering Earth", Gu Wei went to Universal again, and after paying another sum of money, he got an agreement from Universal to release "The Wandering Earth" in one thousand theaters.

So far, Gu Wei has directly achieved a good result of no less than 7,000 theaters for "The Wandering Earth", although there is still some gap compared with the theaters where other Hollywood blockbusters opened.

But Gu Wei believes that with the special effects shown after the release of "The Wandering Earth", other distributors will definitely come to him.

For three consecutive days, Gu Wei stayed in the Tomorrow's Star Film and Television Company and saw the email from Song Ge, asking him when he would return to China and the progress of opening the cinema chain.

Gu Wei thought about it and replied to Song Ge's email, saying that everything was going well, but he would stay in Hollywood for a few more days.

……

At the same time, domestic film information is also updated in real time.

"Lost in Thailand" has surpassed 12 billion, with the total box office reaching 12.45 billion, with daily revenue of one million. It is expected that the box office of 13 billion will be impossible."

"The total box office of Chinese Zodiac reached 8.28 million yuan. Cheng Long said frankly that he hoped to break 9 million yuan before the film is released."

"The Grandmaster grossed 2940 million yuan on its first day, which is director Wong Kar-wai's best box office performance in the mainland market. Its box office in just one day exceeded the total box office of 2046."

I have to say that after four years of work on "The Grandmaster", Wang Jiawei has achieved quite good results.

The entire Chinese-language film industry has been generous in praising Wong Kar-wai and "The Grandmaster."

"A director who can make The Grandmaster must also be a master."

“It takes four years of hard work and meticulous craftsmanship to produce such an ultimate film.”

However, compared with the collective praise in the film and television industry, the Internet is relatively objective.

There are still many viewers who think that this movie is a bit too boring.

In terms of word of mouth, although "The Grandmaster" is good, it is still far behind the two films "Life of Pi" and "1942". The reviews of the latter two are all one-sided praise, with almost no objections.

It is mid-January now and the promotion and pre-production of movies for February have already begun. That is the prime time between the Lunar New Year and Spring Festival periods, as well as Valentine's Day.

The crews of several movies including "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons", "Perfect Match 2", and "Together" will appear.

.........

(End of this chapter)