Chapter 617 Nantianmen Plan

"Director Gu, 2 billion RMB is more than 300 million US dollars when converted into US dollars. Such a huge amount of money is spent just to make a movie?" As Tai Chi Ma spoke, everyone reacted.

Yes, even the 3D blockbuster "Avatar", which was once known as the D blockbuster with the highest investment cost in history, did not cost more than million US dollars from the project approval to the completion of filming.

Although Cameron announced that the investment cost of "Avatar" exceeded 500 million US dollars, this requires adding the wasted time and the film's publicity and promotion costs. Even so, people still think that Cameron is still suspected of bragging.

"Director Gu, with an investment of 2 billion to make a movie, I'm afraid that Xingchen Film and Television won't even be able to recover its costs by then." Wang Zhongjun said with disdain.

"Then there's no need for Director Wang to worry about it. After all, Huayi has never made a movie with such a large investment. They must feel that they can't recover the cost, or even make a profit, haha."

As soon as these words were spoken, Wang Changtian and Yu Dong tried hard to suppress their laughter. Even Han Sanping shook his head slightly, thinking to himself, why did you provoke him? Are you looking for excitement?
At this, Wang Zhongjun's face turned red, but he couldn't lose his temper because of the situation. At the same time, he silently made up his mind that he would never confront Gu Wei face to face again. Not only could he not defeat him, the most important thing was that it would be embarrassing.

Didn't you see that Tai Chi Ma was looking at him unkindly? Why bother?
“Director Gu, independent production carries considerable risks. We at Alibaba Pictures can help share some of the burden. Three to five hundred million RMB should not be a problem,” Zhang Qiang said with a smile.

Chen Wu from Penguin also said, "Director Gu, we can also come up with some funds. It's not a big deal to invest 100 million or 200 million to test the waters."

When Zhao Fang from Wanda saw this, he immediately said, "Wanda has nothing but a lot of money. Director Gu, just give me an amount. Any amount is fine."

When Yu Dong saw this scene, he couldn't help but feel a little envious of Gu Wei. After all, there were not many cases in Bona's history where investors cried and begged for investment.

Wang Changtian was even more exaggerated. When he heard these people talking about hundreds of millions, he suddenly felt that the food on the table no longer tasted good.

The one who felt a little disappointed was Han Sanping, as he has now retired from the position of chairman of China Film Corporation. The future Chinese-language film market will be dominated by others.

Afterwards, Wang Changtian and Yu Dong looked at each other and immediately realized that someone was trying to snatch food from them.

"Director Gu, we all agreed at the meeting that the two parts of The Wandering Earth will cost a total of 30 billion yuan. Although Guangguang is not a large company, the capital for the second part is ready."

"Yes, Director Gu, the same goes for Bo Na. Regardless of whether this "The Wandering Earth" makes a profit or a loss, the next one will not lose a penny."

Wang Changtian and Yu Dong sang in unison, and everyone who listened rolled their eyes. You two are partnering up to perform a big show. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that "The Wandering Earth" has made a lot of money.

Gu Wei just laughed and said, "Don't worry about this matter. What was decided at the meeting will not be changed. A man cannot stand without trust. Don't you agree, Mr. Ma?"

"That's true, but 2 billion is not a small amount. Adding a few more investors can also reduce the production risk." Tai Chi Ma said.

"Haha, Mr. Ma is right, but Xingchen Films has sufficient funds of its own. Even if we invest alone, we can afford the risk."

The other party was determined to get involved, but Gu Wei directly refused.

Everyone was choked up when they heard this. They could afford the risk. Two billion! Xingchen Films really made a lot of money. If it went public, the market value would be close to 100 billion!

Therefore, the eyes they looked at Gu Wei and Song Ge became more eager. Since they didn't say anything definite at the moment, they would talk slowly. Everyone clinked glasses and continued to eat and drink.

Zhang Qiang, Chen Wu, Zhao Fang and others mainly chatted with the talkative Song Ge, and gradually heard the requirements of Xingchen Film and Television for making movies. It turned out that the investment funds cannot be too high, and the entire production process is controlled by Gu Wei.

Chen Wu, Zhang Qiang, and Zhao Fang were all amazed when they heard this, and they secretly thought in their hearts: "They say that great directors have many quirks. This Gu Wei is also a difficult one!"

However, now that they have taken the initiative or are begging to cooperate with Star Film and Television Company, they have to listen to the rules set by them. As for whether they can accept these terms, they have to go back and discuss it further.

Tai Chi Ma started chatting with Gu Wei and Han Sanping. After the three of them clinked glasses, he said with emotion: "Director Gu, I really admire you."

"Mr. Ma, you're joking. You've built such a big business, and I should be the one who admires you." Gu Wei also flattered him. Although the other party did not start from scratch, it does take some ability to build an Internet company to this scale.

"Director Gu, let me speak the truth in front of President Han. Although Alibaba is larger than Star Films, the money Alibaba earns is always Chinese people's money, unlike you who can earn money from Americans. Just for this reason, I admire you." Tai Chi Ma said sincerely.

Han Sanping beside him nodded helplessly. This was the reason why he treated Gu Wei completely differently from others.

"Mr. Ma, you're too polite." Since he didn't know what the other party meant, Gu Wei could only say this modestly.

“I am older than you, so I call you my brother. Brother, you have talent, ability, and channels, and Alibaba has funds. Why don’t we join hands and make more Hollywood blockbusters?

On the one hand, we can all make money from the Americans, and on the other hand, we can spread Chinese culture.

If you don't want to sell your shares in Xingchen Films, that's fine. We can set up a joint venture company, with Alibaba paying for it and you managing it...

When President Han comes, we can make two or three blockbusters a year and compete well with the six major Hollywood studios..."

After a few drinks, Tai Chi Ma, with a slightly red face, talked freely.

To be honest, Gu Wei was a little moved when he heard Tai Chi Ma's lofty ambitions, but he realized instantly that the other party was targeting his resources in Hollywood.

With only a few special effects blockbusters a year, he is being treated like a beast. What's more, talking about going to Hollywood to compete with the six major companies is nonsense. Didn't you see that even most of the foreign language films shot by Gu Wei involve the participation of Warner, Universal and other companies.

Even if all these could be accomplished, Gu Wei couldn't think of so many science fiction scripts. Did he really think that good movies were as plentiful as cabbages in the vegetable market?
"Mr. Ma, I'm barely able to handle one film in the past two years, let alone several films a year? I can't even write the script. This is a bit unrealistic." Gu Wei said quietly.

"Brother, it's definitely not easy to write a new script, but you can take out "The Day After Tomorrow", "Interstellar" and "2012", and make a few more sequels for each movie to form a series of big IPs. Isn't this easy for you?"

"Of course, when the film is taken, Ali's name will need to be added, and then..."

"Wait, none of these movies have sequels. Besides, The Day After Tomorrow and 2012 are both disaster movies. Even if they do make sequels, what would they use? We can't have another disaster."

Gu Wei was almost fooled. At the same time, he also felt that there was something wrong with Tai Chi Ma. You are such a big chairman, and you always think about these things?

"Haha, the follow-up film could be about an alien invasion, just like the movie Battleship that Hollywood released last year, which is about fighting against aliens. I watched it twice and thought it was pretty good."

Now, Gu Wei was completely certain that the other party's brain circuit was unusual. With a turn of his eyes, he also started.

"In that case, let's start a new one, focusing on humans fighting against aliens..."

Han Sanping, who was standing next to them, listened to the conversation between the two people with a slight twitch in the corner of his mouth, but as he listened, he felt something was wrong.

"Why don't we just follow the old aesthetics and make a Transformers series? Anyway, this series of movies was launched by them for recruitment propaganda. Let's create a Chinese version of the "Recruitment Series" IP, come up with a Nantianmen Project, and have a space battle against aliens, followed by a naval battle, and then a land battle..." Gu Wei also started his imaginative and tactical mode.

He talked for a full ten minutes. When he finished, Tai Chi Horseman was stunned. "Haha, you are indeed a great director with a rich imagination. Space battles and the Nantianmen Project. Can special effects be achieved in China now?"

Hearing this, Gu Wei was also stunned. Brother, I was just joking, but you took it seriously.

"Haha, Mr. Ma, I'm just kidding. These are not realistic." Gu Wei said with a smile, and then said with a serious expression: "But domestic special effects can indeed be achieved. After all, many special effects shots of Hollywood blockbusters are made by domestic companies."

"Haha, brother, you are really funny. I haven't had such a good chat with someone in a long time." Taiji Ma laughed, and then immediately changed his face to a serious one, saying: "But I am serious. I hope Director Gu will consider it carefully."

Then, the two of them looked at each other directly, both with expressionless faces.

"Haha."

"Haha."

In less than ten seconds, both sides laughed loudly again, and the sound attracted the attention of many people.

Han Sanping, who was standing next to them, and representatives from the Naval Political Department Television Art Center and the Jinling Military Region Television Art Center, who were attracted by the conversation between the two, looked at each other and had the same idea in their minds.

After they drank for a while, the celebration banquet was already halfway through, and everyone was talking and negotiating cooperation with each other.

Especially Gu Wei and Tai Chi Ma, if you don’t see their dizzy state, they would look like brothers who have been separated for many years.

Gu Wei: "That's nonsense. Am I not more handsome than him?"

Tai Chi Ma: "Money is appearance, haha!"

Since it was a celebration party for Alibaba's successful acquisition of China Culture Media, everyone naturally mentioned the current mainland film market during their conversation.

As everyone got drunk, Yu Dong asked half-jokingly and half-boastingly: "By the way, how much did The Wandering Earth do at the North American box office?"

Song Ge said: "1.56 million, the average daily box office has dropped a lot since then."

Zhang Qiang said: "That's not a small amount. It's not easy to make money from the Americans!"

Chen Wu said: "This is the influence of a great director. If you make a good movie and promote it a little, many foreigners will go to the theater."

This is the conclusion drawn by senior executives of Penguin Films. After all, almost every special effects blockbuster produced by Gu Wei is a global hit.

For example, "The Day After Tomorrow" and "Interstellar" not only achieved box office success in North America, but also broke many records in markets such as mainland China, Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia.

2012 is even more like a cheat, and it has topped the global box office without anyone noticing. The current box office is nearly billion US dollars, which is equivalent to the market value of Huayi, Bona Film Group, and Guangguang Film Group combined.

Hearing the praise, Gu Wei smiled but said nothing. Song Ge blushed and said, "Yes, indeed. If it weren't for Director Gu's personal guidance, no director or company in China would dare to make such a movie, let alone release it on a large scale overseas."

Everyone was stunned when they heard this. Indeed, even now, no company would dare to invest 100 or 200 million US dollars to make a movie.

Huayi? They have started to enter the capital market. Guangguang? They have always been playing the game of small bets for big gains.

As for Bona? It has produced some big productions, but the results have been mixed and far from successful.

On the contrary, the up-and-coming LeTV Pictures and Pony.com are more courageous. The two companies actually dared to invest 4000 million US dollars to get involved in the Chinese version of "Titanic" directed by Hong Kong's John Woo. Recently, it was reported that LeTV is interested in acquiring the shares held by China Film.

However, this Chinese version of Titanic has run into problems now, and no one knows what the outcome will be.

"Director Gu is unmatched by other directors when it comes to commercial blockbusters," Zhao Fang said unintentionally.

Gu Wei smiled and said, "Mr. Zhao, you are too kind." He had a good relationship with Ye Ning, but he had not seen this person very often and was not familiar with him.

In such occasions, one can only exchange opinions briefly but cannot discuss any serious matters.

As it approached midnight, the guests began to disperse, and some people formed teams to go somewhere else for the next show. It was hard to say whether it was a hotel or a bar.

The banquet lasted for more than four or five hours. Gu Wei, whose face was flushed, immediately sobered up after separating from the other party.

"Come on, let's go back."

"Seeing you and Mr. Ma chatting so enthusiastically, I thought you had drunk too much." Song Ge drank a lot, but after years of fighting, he always kept a limit on his drinks every time he sat at the table.

"Today I saw his ability to deceive people. Fortunately I was careful, otherwise I would have been fooled."

The temperature in the capital dropped at the end of October. The cold wind blowing on Gu Wei's body at the hotel entrance late at night made his originally hot body feel much more comfortable.

Just as the two were about to get into the car, Han Sanping came out from behind, accompanied by two representatives from the Navy and Nanjing.

"Gu Wei, Mr. Song, let's find a place to sit down and chat."

Han Sanping, a seasoned drunk, looked like nothing had happened, and the two people next to him were similar, with no sign of having drunk too much. It seemed that everyone was holding back.

"Mr. Han, I've drunk too much and want to go home to sleep." Gu Wei said helplessly.

"Stop talking nonsense, let's go. Let's stop drinking and have some tea to sober up. Otherwise, you'll reek of alcohol and when you go back you might not be afraid that Yifei won't let you in." Han Sanping joked.

"Haha."

Several people laughed.

……

The place Han Sanding found was a private club not far from the Platinum Hotel. It was open 24 hours a day and only admitted members.

"Tsk tsk, Mr. Han, you really know how to enjoy life." Gu Wei sighed as he watched Han Sanping skillfully walk into the private room on the second floor.

"Haha, are you saying I'm corrupt?"

"That's not what I meant."

"It's opened by a friend. I don't come here usually, but now that I'm retired, I come here when I have time, drink tea, and chat with old friends..."

"And massage and pinch your feet at the same time." Of course, this was what Gu Wei thought in his mind but he didn't say it out loud.

However, Han Sanping was an experienced person and could instantly tell what Gu Wei was thinking from his expression.

"I'm old, not as good as you young people." Han Sanping sighed.

"Boss Han is still strong and healthy, haha."

A few people walked into the private room while joking with dirty jokes.

I have to say that the environment here is really good, the service is up to par, and even the staff are all beautiful women. Some of them are no worse than celebrities, and some are even more beautiful.

"Okay, everyone, go down, we can do it ourselves."

"Okay, Director Han."

It can be seen from the waiter's answer alone that Han Sanping is indeed a regular customer.

Afterwards, they drank some tea, and when the alcohol wore off, Han Sanping asked, "Is what you said at the dinner table just now true?"

"what?"

"It's the Nan Tian Men Project, a movie about promoting China's military power, a space battle or something like that?"

"It's fake, just treat it as me bragging." Gu Wei denied it flatly.

"Director Gu, we think that the idea you put forward at the dinner table has great potential, so we troubled Director Han to ask you to come over to have a chat." The representative of the Navy Political Department suddenly said.

"Yes, you have the most experience in domestic special effects blockbusters. Why don't you tell me about it in detail?" Jin Ling followed up.

"You two, I was just talking nonsense." Gu Wei was completely speechless.

"Hey, after listening to what you said at the banquet, I suddenly understood the meaning of mainstream movies again." Han Sanping continued.

"No, brother, what do you understand?" Gu Wei thought anxiously.

"The country has always encouraged us to make mainstream films, including the military films we have made over the past few decades, most of which are based on real cases.

But times are changing. To put it bluntly, when the Gulf War broke out, we were really scared. Many people discovered that war could be fought in this way. Now I find that our traditional military-themed movie routines are a bit outdated.

Since the Americans can make high-tech military war films like Transformers and Battleship, why can't we make Chinese versions of Transformers and Battleship? "

You know what, you really have to say, Han Sanping's statement made Gu Wei a little tempted, but after thinking about it for a while, he felt that it was a bit unrealistic.

"Boss Han, everyone, the Americans rely on their global influence to make modern military-themed movies to guarantee a market, but we can't guarantee that we won't lose money after making the movie."

When they heard that Gu Wei did not raise any technical issues but directly talked about market issues, everyone became excited.

Han Sanping, in particular, seemed to have suddenly become several years younger, and his eyes rolled around as if he had an idea.

"We will provide the funding, and you will be responsible for the script, filming, and overseas distribution. I think we can give it a try."

"Yes, Director Gu, Director Han's idea is fine. If there is a director in China who can do it, I can't think of anyone else except you."

"Director Gu, how about giving it a try?"

"Uh, I really don't have this ability." Gu Wei felt that he was being entangled and tried hard to get rid of it.

"I don't know about others, but I know you and I well. Comrade Gu Wei, you are capable of doing all this." As he said this, Han Sanping stood up and patted Gu Wei on the shoulder.

Suddenly, a sense of mission arose.

"Hehe, Mr. Han, don't be like this, I'm scared." Gu Wei was a little frightened by the title.

"Haha."

Seeing this scene, a burst of laughter suddenly broke out.

……

It's about two o'clock in the morning.

Gu Wei returned to the villa, washed up, and tiptoed into bed.

"Hmm..." The young lady felt the movement and opened her eyes dazedly. After seeing Gu Wei, she said, "You're back. What time is it?"

"It's past two o'clock. I talked with Mr. Han and the others for a long time and came back late."

"Eh, it smells so strongly of alcohol." Liu Yifei frowned in disgust.

"Oh, you despise me, woman." Gu Wei suddenly felt it.

In an instant, the room was filled with spring...

.........

(End of this chapter)