Los Angeles is similarly congested in the morning, and almost everyone in the country on wheels drives.

When the ordinary employees parked their cars one after another, they found that the cars of several bigwigs in the company had been parked in the garage for a long time.

"What happened? I remember the garage was empty when I got off work yesterday!"

"I saw them there when I arrived at eight o'clock in the morning. Obviously, these people are planning something big. ”

The employees of Universal Pictures are all very active and serious today, and there are many fewer people who secretly read the newspaper and read the news and chat during their working hours, and they are all waiting for the news to come out.

In the conference room on the top floor, Donna Longray, the only female president of the six major Hollywood companies, took off her reading glasses on the bridge of her nose and asked her subordinates: "Chris passed back the results of his negotiations, what do you think of the terms of this contract?"

All of you here are the heads of the planning department, production department, finance department, global distribution department, derivatives development department, and legal department, and they uncharacteristically arrived at the company early today because of the copyright of the "Lord of the Rings" series.

Ron Des Moines shook his head and said, "I have to say, I'm very disappointed in Chris. He would have taken back such harsh terms, could it be that he was controlled by mysterious oriental witchcraft?"

"The $50 million in royalties doesn't seem like much, but they ask for a split in all subsequent profits, which is obviously impossible. Global box office dividends can be had, but 8% of derivatives sales revenue is too high, and our department feels that this part is better not to have it, and if the other party insists, 5% is the highest level. I hope Chris can do his best in China!" Quirrey from the Derivatives Development Department immediately began to question the ability of the gold medal producer.

Almost all of them have the same idea, after throwing out a sky-high copyright fee of 50 million US dollars, shouldn't the young Chinese kid just start signing the contract?

Powell, from the Global Distribution Department, took a sip of coffee next to him and said: "From the perspective of film distribution, because of the author's point of view, there should be a good box office in China, and the content will also have a strong sense of identity in Europe and North America." Now his work is selling well, which will lay a strong basis for us to release the film. And his recent adaptations of movies should be worth looking forward to, tomorrow the Cannes Film Festival will close, "Farewell My Concubine" has a very good reputation, and some people have put it above the top ten films of the year. The other two films are also cooperated by famous directors and large companies, and the probability of success is very high. Taken together, the increment clauses of 4%, 5%, and 6% are very favorable. Do you remember the previous youth idol sci-fi movie? After the success of the first film, when the author wants to sign another contract, he directly starts negotiating from 10%!"

The old fellow said a lot in one breath, which sounded a little verbose, but everyone could understand the meaning.

If you don't take the opportunity to sign the trilogy directly, you will have to spend more benefits when the time comes.

And people even have box office dividends for "Youth Pi", and it is impossible to lower the requirements after becoming more and more popular.

At the beginning of the development of this project, these departments made estimates and financial trial calculation models from different aspects such as market demand, artistic value, production difficulty, budget volume, issuance wave, derivative output, legal risk, etc., and formed data results!

The standards of each company are different, and the Universal side must achieve a 15% profit return target for each film before it can pass the review, and now the amount of money involved in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy is too large, and the difficulty of filming is not low, and the focus in the next few years must be cautious on this work.

"In addition to the proportion of derivatives, I actually have a personal problem. As you know, we wanted to make these three works something like a cinematic universe. But in this contract, if our company wants to launch any spin-off movie or TV series, it has to get permission from their side. This license is definitely to collect benefits from it, and it is impossible to give it to us directly. Scott slapped his hand on the table, "If we had a tense relationship with him during the filming of this film, it would be almost impossible to shoot a spin-off movie, right, he could master it all." ”

This is also what Donna Longray is worried about, although the spin-off film and television works of "The Lord of the Rings" are far away, but now they have to start preparations in advance, and she doesn't want to be left to the public.

"Now you guys put all the comments together and give them to Chris, I'm going to video chat with Chris. ”

It's already past eight o'clock in the morning in Los Angeles, and it's the dead of night in Yanjing, and there are far fewer cars on the road.

Today, instead of going out to enjoy the nightlife in this strange place, Chris honestly collapsed on the hotel couch and waiting for a response from the company's side.

After receiving the Facetime video connection, he quickly put down the beer bottle in his hand, then wiped his face with his hand and sat upright.

Donna Langray spoke: "We are all very disappointed in you, the content of this contract is beyond our acceptance. ”

Chris chuckled inwardly, although he had expected it, but this reply was indeed not expected.

"All I can say is that I tried my best, and I can't think of them as ordinary writers, they know more about Hollywood than many American writers. In addition to us, he has already rejected Warner, Disney, and Paramount, and it is normal for him to reject us this time. ”

Although the people on the other side of the phone are all at the top of the company, Chris is not bad, and the status of the gold medal producer in any film company is not lower than that of these executives.

Chris doesn't worry too much, if Universal Pictures is not willing to make this price, he can take "The Lord of the Rings" to other companies, and I believe they will be very happy to take over!

"Man, we mean, you can push the price a little bit lower than the percentage. A familiar voice came, Patrick, who was usually the person with whom Chris had the most dealings, and now spoke the hearts of the rest.

"Believe me, this is already the result of my cut in half. Their original conditions have also been issued to you, and that is called excessive. Since you chose me to come to Yanjing, you have to trust me. I can't negotiate with others and be questioned by my own people. ”

Chris was a little dissatisfied in his heart and complained directly in front of the president.

These people rarely negotiate contracts on their own, they talk on paper, saying that this is not good and that is not good, but if you really ask them to come forward, you will only mess things up!

Donna Longray didn't want to see the infighting, "We don't want to accuse you, but we hope you can find a way to change this contract again, there are too many constraints on us." ”

Hollywood's big corporations have always had the upper hand and can always kick writers out of the way, but this time it's a bit of a constraint.

"The only thing they have to do is that the copyright fee can be reduced from 50 million to 30 million, and the rest have made it clear that they can't reduce it again, otherwise the contract will be stranded until his other two books are sent out and then negotiated. ”

This is the method that Zhang Chu and they came up with, it is not a matter to keep the price down, it is better to freeze the contract and publish it first!

This move is a common sense move that is good for both parties, saving Universal Pictures from making risky choices when they haven't seen the content.

Now they feel that the contract is not good for their company because of the original book.

If the Lord of the Rings trilogy has already been released and has a large number of fans around the world, then this contract is not at all harsh, but extraordinarily generous.

But the last thing Universal Pictures wants is to wait for publication, they are playing a time difference.

The companies that have been rejected now have no plans to re-quote for the time being, and only one of the global companies in the market is quietly contacting Zhang Chu.

"We are waiting for your good news, hard work. ”

After hanging up the video call, Chris threw his phone on the couch and pressed his head with his hand.

……

In the courtyard, Zhang Chu was originally sitting on a recliner wearing a vest, who knew that after a few dull thunders came in the distance, bean-sized raindrops fell from the sky!

Thunder and lightning seemed to tear a space through the sky above the tall buildings in the distance, and the lightning looked particularly terrifying.

Holding the Kindle reader in one hand and putting the chaise longue away with the other, he reacted very quickly and didn't get wet much.

"It's raining so hard that the thundershowers are supposed to be summer. ”

The room was a little stuffy, and there were some small flying insects near the light bulbs, which could be seen constantly colliding on the lamp walls.

He had no intention of writing today, only a fifth of "The Return of the King" was left, and now that the One Ring had been destroyed, the Demon Lord Sauron was wailing and dying, and the orcs were scattered and fleeing for their lives.

This ending will probably disappoint many people, because Frodo did not voluntarily throw the Ring into the volcanic magma of the apocalypse, but was bitten off by Gollum in a scramble with Gollum who came over quietly!

Gollum, who treats the Ring as a "treasure", is eventually swallowed up by the lava along with its treasure.

In this way, Frodo's destruction of the One Ring was completely accidental and accidental, and if it weren't for Gollum, he would have been bewitched by the Ring at the last moment, because he had actually put on the Ring and entered a state of invisibility.

So Frodo is not actually a tall and complete heroic image, but an ordinary hobbit with greed and strength in his heart.

It's human nature, it's a living human being.

"Next, we just need to establish the end of the human emperor. ”

Zhang Chu sat at the window, looking at the torrential rain pouring outside, in a daze, and thinking about whether to put the content of the establishment of the emperor in the text.

Sauron died, Mordor was defeated, and the bloodline of the former human king returned to Gondor.

The once withered white tree now blossoms, for the warrior in the chain mail is the true king of Gondor.

The human ranger Freelander Aragorn who had led Frodo's group on their adventures had finally returned to his place, and in the presence of the guests and the bard's praises, Gandalf put the crown on the king, and the true king had finally returned!

If it ends here, it's actually quite a happy ending.

It's just that Tolkien's brushstrokes continue, and after such a legendary and magnificent expedition, these hobbits return to the ordinary, to ordinary life.

In the first part, Bilbo writes his own story, and now he gives the pen and notebook to his nephew Frodo, who writes his own story.

The dark red cowhide notebook records the adventures of the two Baggins, and also briefly mentions Bilbo's unexpected journey and ring legend.

The war in the outside world doesn't seem to affect life in Charles Hobbiton, and as peaceful as ever, Sam finds his true love.

However, Frodo's health has never been well, and he was stabbed in the chest by the ring spirit and left a permanent pain, which will never heal in this life.

Grey Harbor, the last ship of the Elves of Middle-earth is moored on the shore.

King Elon boarded the ship, Galadriel and her husband boarded, and Gandalf boarded the Elven ship along Frodo and the dying Bilbo.

When the ship disappears into the fog, it's the end of a story!

This part of the content seems a bit bland, and many people feel that it should be put in the afterword, or shorten the time and length.

But Zhang Chu felt that this choice of being willing to live an ordinary life after experiencing adventures was great. Charles, who has no quarrel with the world, has no idea what these hobbits have accomplished, and the fate of each character is explained.

Their friendship is eternal, but they have to go their separate ways!

"So you still have to put it in the text, and you have to explain everyone's ending clearly. ”

Frodo had to go to the home of the Western elves to heal his wounds, and no one who had ever held the Ring could stay on Middle-earth, so Sam was taken over by the elves decades later, as he had briefly held the Ring.

It's just that these contents are all in "Elven Diamond", and Zhang Chu will not let them be reflected in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy!

It's not a good thing to let readers know too much, and the follow-up plot should be explained when it should be explained.

The ending of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" also did not write that Guo Jing and Huang Rong gave birth to three children and died in Xiangyang City, which is not the content of this one.

After thinking about these things clearly, Zhang Chu silently memorized them in his mind and prepared to write all the content in one go tomorrow.

The thought of finishing the first draft of the Lord of the Rings series tomorrow makes him feel excited!

"I'm finally going to finish writing, I really don't know how old Mr. Tolkien has lasted so long, it's amazing, I hope everything goes well. ”