When it comes to the overseas distribution of Chinese films, the first thing that comes to many people's minds is "Hero". The film has won the North American box office championship for two consecutive weeks, and its "amazing" results have made many domestic filmmakers still feel excited when they think about it today.

But the reason why "Hero" was able to achieve a North American box office result of 53.71 million US dollars is largely because of the good publicity and distribution. Miramax Film has arranged for more than 2,000 theaters to release it, and the famous director Quentin has strongly recommended and even signed the producer.

Since "Hero", the box office performance of Chinese films in the North American market has deteriorated, and it has even reached the point of "disappearing" since 10 years.

The main reason for this is that the six major Hollywood studios are not very interested in Chinese-language films. Miramax Films, which once distributed "Hero", also no longer favors Chinese-language films after terminating the North American distribution contract with the producer of "Wu Ji". Its founder, Harvey Weinstein, was even denounced as a liar by Director Feng at the 10-year film festival.

The overseas distribution of Chinese films after 2010 is mainly done by Huasi Pictures. Its boss Jiang Yanming has been doing post-production and special effects work before founding Huasi Pictures. Since "Night Banquet", he has been the main partner of Director Feng's film special effects.

Founded in 2010, North America Huasi Film Distribution Company has a small team, only six or seven people, and its distribution capacity is really limited.

In addition, the poor overseas box office of Chinese films is also related to the viewing habits of Europeans and Americans, Western audiences prefer the original English sound, and the acceptance of English subtitles and dubbed versions is much worse.

But the Chinese-language films released by Huasi have English subtitles at most, and they have not even tried the dubbed version. can't enter mainstream theaters, just open paintings in dozens of theaters in Chinatown, targeting local Chinese and Chinese families.

The reason why I don't go to dubbing is mainly because of the difference in money and time. As soon as you want to do global distribution, you have to keep up with the domestic schedule, otherwise once the pirated version comes out, there will not be much box office in the theaters in Chinatown. And spending time on dubbing and making related materials, the film may not be able to attract Western audiences, increasing the risk of distribution.

Therefore, the global distribution of Chinese films is often just a gimmick for producers and distributors to brag about.

But "Hou Yi Shoots the Sun" is still expected to attract Western audiences, and in Jiang Yanming's view, this film is not inferior to Hollywood's top blockbusters in terms of plot stories and special effects fights. If it is dubbed into the English version, it is well promoted, and it is fully expected to recreate the glory of "Heroes". And Huasi Pictures can also make a name for itself in mainstream theaters in North America!

Therefore, since Boss Jiang watched the film at the premiere, he has been in contact with Yu Dong, Song Ge, etc., and wants to buy the North American distribution rights of "Hou Yi Shooting the Sun".

But Yu Dong and others are well aware of Huasi's distribution strength, and they feel that the quality of "Hou Yi Shooting the Sun" exceeds expectations, and they can talk to the six major Hollywood film companies. Even Miramax Films is better, at least it has arranged for more than 2,000 theaters for "Hero", and 800 films like "The Grandmaster" can be arranged!

Although the six major Hollywood studios are far away in the United States, they have offices in China, and Warner, which was the first to enter China, set up an office in China as early as 93, and the rest are also following up one after another.

These offices are very low-key on weekdays, and there are not many staff, usually six or seven people, or even only one, with a "low-key lurking" posture of keeping an eye on the Chinese market.

But then again, there are not many Chinese movies that are worthy of the six major film companies, such as "Thai Embarrassment", which has exploded at the box office this year and has accumulated more than 1.2 billion in China, you can't get the laughs in the film if you get North Americans!

But "Hou Yi Shooting the Sun" is different, the special effects scenes are not inferior to the same Hollywood production, the storyline is not so difficult to understand, but the background is very grand. When sending an email to the head office, some representatives in China even said that "Hou Yi Shoots the Sun" is the Chinese version of "The Lord of the Rings".

This word has made many Hollywood film industry bigwigs excited, and the trilogy has earned 2.9 billion US dollars, so naturally I don't expect that Chinese film to have such results, but as long as it performs a little better, it can make a fortune!

For a time, there was an endless stream of Hollywood studios that came to negotiate the distribution rights in Europe, the United States and Australia, and the conditions were generally not very high, and most of them bought out the distribution rights at low prices.

For this reason, Longlin, Bona, and Guangxian held several meetings, and also disagreed on the way of buyout and account sharing. Da Lao Wang means that he will accept it when he sees it, 20 million US dollars is a lot, if it is really issued in separate accounts, there may not be 20 million US dollars in hand!

Yu Dong was a little hesitant, but Song Ge was resolutely opposed, ""Hou Yi Shoots the Sun" is different from previous domestic films, and the story of the two lich clans fighting for hegemony in the flood era is not so difficult for Western audiences to understand. In terms of special effects fights, we are not inferior to the same production level in Hollywood. Even if it is sold as a monster movie, it can attract a lot of foreign audiences. ”

Speaking of this, Song Ge paused, and suddenly said: "And I overheard Warner's representative mention a word, Lord of the Rings, they are still very optimistic about this film, and now they just want to lower the price!"

Yu Dong thought about it and said: "I think, aside from the discussion of artistry, in terms of commercial attributes alone, "Hou Yi Shooting the Sun" is definitely the highest peak of Chinese films. Then, if the agency distributor is strong enough, the publicity can be in place, and the theater is enough, there should be a great chance of surpassing "Hero" at the overseas box office, so I think you can take a gamble!"

Song Ge continued: "Anyway, there is no pressure on the domestic market to recover the cost, and the profits brought by Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia are also considerable. It's better to be bought out by others, and the box office will be a big hit when you turn around, but you will be depressed!"

Several other executives also spoke, most of whom were in favor of the account-sharing model. Wang Changtian lifted the glasses on the bridge of his nose and said with a smile: "I'm a conservative, since everyone says so, it's hard for me to stick to it." But Miramax Films, I don't agree!"

Of the Hollywood companies that came to negotiate, this one offered the best terms, but its founder, Harvey Weinstein, did not have a good reputation.

In Director Feng's words: his usual trick is to buy the North American distribution rights of our films. He bid 8 million at the beginning, and others didn't rob him when they saw it, and he gave a deposit of $200,000 at that time. When the final filming was finished, he said, I don't want this movie anymore, return it, and it's too late if you want to sell it to others. When he looks for you at this time, he will pay $1 million.

Although Song Ge didn't know much about such a criminal record, Yu Dong knew it, and said with a smile: "That is, there are the Big Six in Hollywood, why wouldn't you choose this!"