Chapter 24 Beijing Circle Cooperation
In the 90s, with the introduction of Hollywood blockbusters into China, the embryonic form of the domestic film market gradually took shape.

Various types of private film companies began to emerge and show great vitality, while traditional film studios embarked on the road of reorganization and reform.

The reason, of course, is that the time has come to change.

For example, Changchun Film Studio, the first film studio in New China, created many firsts in the history of New China's film industry.

However, in the 90s when the market economy emerged, it encountered an unprecedented crisis.

In 97, it had been making losses for six consecutive years and was on the verge of bankruptcy. It was not until 2000 that it was restructured into Changchun Film Group.

Although the other film studios were not as miserable as Changchun Film Studio, they were not much better off either. They were all in the stage of struggling to maintain themselves, awaiting the fate of being restructured and reorganized.

But as "The Matrix" became a hit and achieved an astonishing box office of 1.43 million, the heads of various studios began to become active again.

It's not that I want to resist the reorganization, but I think that if I can cooperate with Jiang Heng and make some money to pay the employees' salaries and benefits, it would be good!

The thought that the production and distribution companies under Jiang Heng's name would receive nearly 50 million in box office revenue made all the film studio leaders extremely envious.

If we include the revenue share and copyright income of "The Matrix" in Hong Kong and overseas, it would be at least 100 or 200 million!
Although we don’t know how much Jiang Heng’s production cost was, it is certain that he made a lot of money.

Just for this reason, we have to find a way to cooperate!

Xi'an Film Studio was the first to call, but perhaps due to the box office failure of "A Chinese Odyssey" co-produced with Stephen Chow, the studio's attitude was not firm.

I called Jiang Heng twice, but he said he had no ideas yet, so I didn't contact him again.

The rest of the studios, such as Shanghai Film Group, Bayi, Xiaoxiang, and Emei, all called once, but when they saw that Jiang Heng didn't seem to have much desire to cooperate, they gave up.

Only Han Sanping from Beijing Film Studio seemed determined to make a film with Jiang Heng. He kept calling Jiang Heng to invite him to Beijing. He said the subject matter, inspiration and shooting time were all fine, as long as they could make it together.

Jiang Heng knew Han Sanping's future development, so it was naturally difficult for him to refuse.

Moreover, Hong Kong films are in decline, and his future career focus will have to be on the mainland, so he cannot afford to offend them.

In late February, Jiang Heng flew to Beijing again and stayed in the hotel again, but he had the idea of ​​buying a house and a car here.

After dinner, I called to inform them of my arrival.

Han Sanping asked about the flight time and complained, "Why didn't you tell me in advance? I would have sent someone to pick you up!"

Jiang Heng smiled, "It's not a big deal. Just call the hotel and they will send a car!"

He stayed in a five-star hotel and had airport pickup service.

Han Sanping said: "How can it be the same? We are partners, I must do my best to be a good host!"

Jiang Heng smiled and didn't respond.

Han Sanping looked at the time and invited them to go out for a drink.

Jiang Heng said that he had just finished dinner. Han Sanping said, "It doesn't matter. Let's just have a drink and chat. Wait for me to make arrangements!"

The call came back about half an hour after the call was hung up. The location was Donglaishun. Jiang Heng packed up and took the hotel car over.

After getting off the car and walking a few steps, I saw Han Sanping leading a group of people out. "Director Jiang, long time no see!" Han Sanping stepped forward and shook hands warmly.

It’s said that the two people didn’t have much contact before. When “The Matrix” was released, the two sides were still competitors because Beijing Film Studio produced and distributed “Party A and Party B”.

One more thing to mention is that because of the movie-watching craze brought about by "The Matrix", and the fact that the quality and genre of "Party A and Party B" were very suitable for the Lunar New Year period, the film eventually won more than 2700 million at the box office, not much less than its previous life.

Compared with the investment of more than 6 million, the box office revenue alone made a huge profit, not to mention the subsequent income from videotapes, TV broadcasts, etc.

This made all the leaders of Beijing Film Studio and the main creative staff of "Party A and Party B" very happy. In addition to the senior executives of Beijing Film Studio, those who came tonight included Feng Xiaogang, Ge You, Liu Bei, and the beautiful Xu Qing.

The latter is almost thirty years old now, but still looks bright and charming, full of girlishness. No wonder she was able to play the role of Ren Yingying in "Swordsman" three years later.

Han Sanping thought Jiang Heng didn't know them, so he introduced them to him enthusiastically. However, Jiang Heng was able to name several works of Liu Bei and Xu Qing since their debut, which surprised the men present.

Feng Xiaogang whispered to Ge You, "This kid has bad intentions, how come he knows everything?"

Ge You was afraid that he would not care, so he whispered: "Not really, not really!"

I thought to myself, he is young and rich, he can earn over 100 million yuan from making a movie, and he is also a well-known director. Now it is not him who covets female stars, but many female stars covet him!

After entering the box and sitting down, the topic naturally turned to the overseas distribution of "The Matrix". Han Sanping asked how the talks with the Americans went.
Jiang Heng said that he and Columbia would split the distribution method, and the release date was set for mid-March, which is less than a month away.

Ge You praised him, "That's amazing! Our Chinese-language films can be distributed by Hollywood. Your The Matrix should be the first one, right?"

Jiang Heng nodded slightly and said with a smile: "Well, I think so!"

As far as he knew, Jackie Chan's first Hollywood box office hit, "Rumble in the Bronx", was bought out and released, and after being re-dubbed, it was released in more than 96 theaters across the United States in February 2.

Prior to this, non-American films could only be released on a small scale in a few dozen theaters.

This is the first time in Hollywood that a non-American film has been screened on such a large scale.

Jiang Heng's "The Matrix" was the first Chinese-language film to be distributed on a large scale in the United States.

If Cheng Long wanted to get a share of the box office profits, he had to start with "Rush Hour" in 98.

At this moment, in the eyes of everyone in the room, Jiang Heng had already surpassed Cheng Long.

So everyone couldn't help but praise him, and although Feng Xiaogang felt unhappy, he had to praise him as well.

Although "Party A and Party B" made him famous in the film industry, he still didn't dare to act rashly in front of Han Sanping.

After talking about the sale of the copyright of The Matrix, Han Sanping couldn't help but ask, "Director Jiang, do you have any good creative ideas recently?"

Jiang Heng smiled and shook his head, "You don't know how much I worried about the film's distribution. I had to negotiate with film producers from various countries! It has been sold to more than 40 countries so far. It takes more than a month to sell one film a day!"

When these words were spoken, all the senior executives at the Beijing Film Studio were so envious that they felt like their gums were sore.

Feng Xiaogang's eyes became red when he heard this. He felt that he was a successful person just because a movie he made made less than 30 million at the box office.

But compared with Jiang Heng's results, there is a world of difference!
More than forty countries purchased the distribution rights, how much money can they make!
The two actresses present thought of the heroine played by Li Meiqi, who became an international superstar with the release of the film, and their eyes looked at Jiang Heng even brighter!
　Please collect and recommend!
　　

(End of this chapter)