Before nine o'clock in the morning, Li An met Xu Ligong, took the car provided by the hotel, and rushed to the appointed place.

Xu Ligong asked, "How are you inquiring?"

Ang Lee said directly: "Ronan Anderson is the owner of Embassy Pictures. This embassy film is very powerful, established for more than 20 years, was acquired by Ronan Anderson last year, and the first film released after the acquisition was "Blair the Witch", which is said to have received nearly $300 million at the global box office with more than $20 million in publicity and distribution costs. ”

"So, the distribution capacity of Embassy Pictures is guaranteed?" Xu Ligong did not find it difficult to come to this conclusion.

Ang Lee said: "There was also "Death is Coming" in December last year, which grossed more than $80 million in North America alone. ”

Xu Ligong fell into thought.

"Embassy Pictures has been working with major cinema companies in North America for more than 10 years. Ang Lee continued: "Whether it is an art theater chain or a commercial chain theater chain, there are cooperation. ”

Xu Ligong nodded slowly, and after a while, he asked, "You have cooperated with many Hollywood companies, and there has been no result in contacting them?"

Ang Lee shook his head directly: "I sent invitations to all the six major companies for this premiere, but only Sony Entertainment came over, because Sony Classics had some investment relationship, and the filmmaker didn't talk to us at all." ”

He let out a long sigh: "My last "Riding with the Devil" ......"

Xu Ligong knows that the film directed by Ang Lee is indescribably a fiasco, and the film company has always been realistic, if he didn't know Ang Lee well enough, he wouldn't have made up his mind to cooperate with him in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

Ang Lee then asked, "How was your conversation with Harvey Weinstein last night?"

"It's not ideal. Xu Ligong said: "Miramax wanted to buy out the North American rights all at once, but Harvey Weinstein was only willing to pay $5 million. ”

Hearing this number, Ang Lee said: "This person has always liked to lower prices, and it is estimated that no other large distribution companies have contacted us, and he has always been well-informed." ”

Xu Ligong's contact with Harvey Weinstein seemed unpleasant, and a few hints of anger flashed across his face, saying, "We'll talk to Ronan Anderson later." ”

The films had their premieres in Cannes, and the most important North American release had not yet been released, so he was somewhat in a hurry.

Just after ten o'clock, Ang Lee and Xu Ligong waited for Ronan in the café.

The two sides shook hands and said hello, and quickly turned to the main topic.

Ronan did not directly say that he would release "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", but first questioned the film.

It's also a test to see if the other party has hole cards in terms of issuance.

"Director Li, Mr. Xu. Ronan said very seriously: "I have seen Mr. Wang Dulu's original work, the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", except for the background and the names of the characters, almost all the stories have changed. ”

Xu Ligong looked at Ronan in surprise.

Ang Lee has been in the United States for many years and knows that there are martial arts lovers, and said, "Mr. Anderson has also seen martial arts?"

Ronan nodded: "I've read the original, not the English translation." He directly switched to Chinese: "Don't doubt it, I can understand." ”

Hearing a somewhat Chinese-style northern accent, Xu Ligong reacted and said, "Mr. Anderson knows about martial arts films?"

"I guess I know a little bit. Ronan thought for a moment and said, "That's what makes me weird too. Director Li, with all due respect, the film you made is seriously inconsistent with the martial arts films of the East and the spirit of martial arts, and even completely subverts the martial arts films that have been developed in the East for many years. ”

Li An didn't answer, Xu Ligong said, "Mr. Anderson knows what martial arts represent?"

For Xu Ligong's continuous questioning, Ronan didn't pay attention to it at all, after all, the appearance is here, in the inherent concept of the East, how many Yankees will be interested in martial arts movies and martial arts?

Ronan ignored Xu Ligong's words and continued to question Ang Lee: "As far as I know, one of the themes of martial arts films is the feelings of family and country, and Mr. Jin Yong's works have described that the great man is for the country and the people." The other pays attention to the rivers and lakes, fights grievances, and is happy to enmity and hatred......"

Xu Ligong was a little surprised, a ghost old man could say such a thing, which means that he has not only watched martial arts movies and martial arts, but also studied them in depth.

A person who understands martial arts films to be the distributor of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" seems to be better than those distributors who don't understand anything and mess around.

Ang Lee suddenly smiled and said, "What Mr. Anderson said is very reasonable. He paused, and then said: "Your words summarize the essence of martial arts films and the spirit of martial arts. ”

Ronan didn't seem to take this compliment at all, and continued to probe: "But I didn't see these on "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", this ...... It's not like a martial arts movie. ”

Xu Ligong frowned, and suddenly had a feeling that it was also troublesome to meet a knowledgeable ghost elder.

Ang Lee was calm and asked, "Mr. Anderson, do you really want to release my film?"

Of course, Ronan will not give an affirmative answer, saying: "I personally like martial arts movies, but your "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" gave me a lot of doubts, because the adaptation is too large, and it is completely different from the martial arts movies I know. ”

As soon as these words came out, Ang Lee immediately understood that if he couldn't dispel the doubts of the boss of the distribution company, this business would definitely be blown.

At present, there is only one Miramax interested publisher in North America, and the offer price is extremely unsatisfactory, if the current publisher gives up, when will a suitable North American publisher be found.

The tragic failure of "Riding with the Devil" has shaken Ang Lee's self-confidence.

Xu Ligong wanted to interject, but he couldn't help it, compared to Ang Lee, he didn't know enough about Hollywood.

Ang Lee thought for a moment and said: "This is indeed an unconventional martial arts movie, which contains a lot of personal things for me. A few years ago, I read Wang Dulu's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Among the martial arts, I like Bai Yu the most, followed by Wang Dulu. During the filming of "Sense and Sensibility", I conceived "Ice Storm" while Mr. Xu negotiated the rights to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" on behalf of Mr. Xu. ”

Ronan's real purpose is not to question the film, but to test whether the other party has other cards in the release, and to dismantle the psychology that the other party may have too high expectations, and he did not interject at this time.

Li An's voice was not high, and he seemed to be worried that Ronan would not understand, and the speed of Chinese he spoke was very slow: "Generally, martial arts always have men as the protagonists, which is more masculine. The focus of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is the heroine Yu Jiaolong, with a treacherous and complex psychological level, she is a daughter during the day, and she fights, talks about love at night, is an untamable girl who has fantasies about the love of children in the rivers and lakes, and is also a rare character in Chinese dramas. ”

"At the beginning of the project, many people were not optimistic, because the heroes in the book Li Mubai and Yu Xiulian did not have many scenes, and Liu Taibao, a very long-written and interesting little character, could not take the lead, and the protagonist Yu Jiaolong was a fierce character that everyone avoided, except for my liking, no one agreed. But I've made three Western films in a row, and I have to make a medium film. ”

"That's what I think about the adaptation. There are two ways to adapt a movie: you can choose to ruin the original book and make a good movie, or stay faithful to the original book and make a bad movie. ”

Ronan agreed with this very much, and nodded faintly.

Ang Lee continued: "I think movies are different carriers, and when adapting, they often have to be replaced from the inside to the face, and the film is mainly good-looking. If it is bad, why should it be faithful to the original work? If it is good, how can it be replaced by sound and shadow if it is good? On the contrary, the best movies must be indescribable. Then it doesn't matter if you're loyal to the original or not. ”

Ronan was unmoved, as if he had limited interest in the film.

Compared with director Ang Lee, Xu Ligong is more like a businessman, and then interjected: "Mr. Anderson, in fact, this film is tailor-made for Western audiences!"

Ronan gradually determined the results of the trial, looking at the words of these two people, eighty percent did not find a suitable publisher, and it is estimated that there are no candidates.

Coupled with the exclusivity of the North American market and the upstream position of the distribution company's industrial chain, it instantly gave him sufficient confidence.

Ronan deliberately wondered, "How do you say that?"

Xu Ligong, unlike Ang Lee, immediately said from the perspective of the market: "We have tailored two pairs of protagonists and two clues for Westerners. The two protagonists of Li Mubai and Yu Xiulian are prepared for Western intellectuals, and platonic love, Shakespearean dialogues, and lofty humanistic realms are all typical Western cultures. ”

Like many producers, he is also selling his films to distributors: "The protagonists of Luo Xiaohu and Yu Jiaolong, who dare to love, hate, and dare to fight and kill, are intended for ordinary American audiences; ”

Xu Ligong emphasized: "Therefore, the significance of this film is not to show many oriental elements, but to make Westerners understand and accept this display in an appropriate way." ”

"There's some truth to what you said. Ronan said lightly: "But there is one thing that is very bad! Director Li, this film is mixed with too many of your thoughts, so as to make it more author-oriented, not popular! "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" has been out of the category of popular martial arts films!"

Faced with someone who knows enough about martial arts movies, Ang Lee can't deny it.

Ronan continued to hammer their psychology: "The reason why I am willing to talk to you is because there is a group of martial arts film lovers in North America, and they are the potential audience for this film, but the subversive style of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is very likely to make this group of people give up. ”

He emphasized: "Martial arts films are inherently niche, and the audience of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" will be even smaller. Releasing such a film is extremely risky. ”

Ang Lee and Xu Ligong's hearts were sinking, especially Ang Lee, who didn't want to cooperate with the Weinstein brothers.

Ronan said in due course: "Embassy Pictures has to take a huge risk, and if there is a slight mistake in operation, we may lose all our money." If you really want this film to appear on the market, I can ask Embassy Pictures to try it out of my personal hobby. However, the issuance commission shall be 50% of the total income, and the publicity and distribution expenses shall be accounted for separately. ”