"Oh, oh......"

Hearing Wang Yang's invitation to play the leading role, although it was expected, Will Smith was still surprised, he looked at his son Jaden crawling on the floor, sat down on the sofa, thought about it for a while, and replied: "Yang, thank you very much for the invitation, but you know, my "Hurricane" recently ......" He sighed in a low voice, "Oh, that's too bad! I want to rest for a while now, think about it." ”

"Hurricane Cop" was released on June 30 before, this $170 million movie, won 49.7 million box office in the first week, but then fell sharply, and now North America has been fully demobilized, and the final box office is only 113 million;

With a production cost of 170 million and a total global box office of 220 million, the producer Warner Bros. is determined to make a big deal this time. If it's just not a blockbuster, forget it, but the current situation is a flood of bad reviews, almost all film critics have stepped on it mercilessly, and the average IMDB score is only 4.1, boring, empty, stupid, anyway, it's a bad movie, a big bad movie.

The Golden Sour Plum Award has been released, and "Hurricane Warriors" will be the 20th Golden Sour Plum Hot next year, including the worst film, the worst director, the worst actor, etc., Will Smith has a good chance of taking the trophy.

There is also a situation that Will Smith gave up starring in "The Matrix" for this bad movie, which is naturally an extremely bad choice and a waterloo in his acting career. Usually as early as a few months ago, he would receive invitations to blockbuster films, and then choose the one that he was most interested in and agreed to star, but now there are no producers looking for him, they are all waiting and seeing, and even some are avoiding.

Wang Yang was the first filmmaker to invite him, which is why Will Smith was surprised, this young director seems not afraid that his film will be played by Jin Sumei's worst actor?

Will Smith's "thank you" is not polite, he is indeed very grateful for this in his heart, but he still decided to refuse, the risk is too great! Wang Yang is a "magical director", but he is only 19 years old, and he is just about to shoot "Juno", and he is going to shoot "When Happiness Knocks on the Door", which gives Will Smith a feeling of "playing". He can't make bad movies anymore, and if he makes two bad movies in a row, it will be a fatal blow to his acting career.

Wang Yang is naturally clear about the matter of "Hurricane Warriors", he feels that he can impress Will Smith's confidence, partly from this, and now no one is competing with him for Will Smith's schedule. So although he was rejected, Wang Yang didn't care, he thought about it and said encouragingly: "Will, I'm sorry about "Hurricane Warriors", but I have to say that the problem is not from your performance, but from the fact that it is a ...... Bad film. ”

"Thanks, man......" Will Smith said to his phone with a wry smile on his forehead, "That was a really wrong choice." ”

"Will, I know your worries, you don't want to make the same mistake a second time, don't you?" Wang Yang's voice was very honest, and when he heard Will over there laugh softly, he couldn't help but smile, picked up the script of "When Happiness Knocks on the Door" on the coffee table, and said, "But please believe me, I am very confident that I can make this movie well." Well, maybe you should hear me about the story first? It's a biographical film, and it's true, it's moving, it's inspiring. ”

Seeing that Wang Yang was sincere, Will Smith couldn't refuse directly again, so he nodded and said, "Okay, you can talk about it." Next, he heard Wang Yang say: "His name is Chris Gardner......" Will was calm from the beginning, and slowly listened to it a little fascinating, and when he heard the part where Chris Gardner and his son were sleeping in the toilet of the subway station, he couldn't help but stand up, picked up Jaden on the floor, and kissed his son's forehead.

Chris Gardner then became a stockbroker and he pursued happiness. Wang Yang told the whole story in detail, took a sip of water, and said to the phone: "This is the whole story of the movie." ”

Will Smith looked at the smiling face of Jaden in his arms, this cute baby laughed and wanted to scratch his chin, Will smiled and flicked his son's face, but his mind was full of Chris Gardner's things, this story made him full of interest, just like this young director said, touching, inspirational! Chris Gardner's fatherly love and persistence touched him.

Maybe it's because he's at a low point in his career right now, and he has a special feel for the stories of such inspirational characters, if Wonder Young is 39, or 29...... Will Smith thought for a moment and asked, "Jan, why do you think I'm a good fit for Chris Gardner? You know, I've never acted in a biopic like this." ”

"It's simple, I'm sure you have what it takes, Will, you can act in this kind of movie. Wang Yang said with great certainty, and then persuaded and said: "And I think that the failure of "Hurricane Cop" may mean that you need to have a screen transformation, and Chris Gardner is a good choice." ”

In fact, when Will Smith took over the filming of "Return to Glory", the investment of 80 million recouped more than 30 million at the box office, and after another fiasco, he would have the intention of seeking transformation, and then filmed the biographical film "Boxer Ali", although the final box office and response of that movie were not very good.

Hearing a very hesitant "hmm" sound from the mobile phone, Wang Yang knew that Will Smith's thoughts were beginning to waver, but he also understood that this kind of thing needed time to consider, and said: "Will, don't be busy rejecting me first, and make a decision after reading the script, okay?" He laughed and said self-deprecatingly: "Man, seriously, I don't have any filming anymore, everyone says 'Will Smith is finished', 'He's the worst actor'......"

"Ha, let's shoot "When Happiness Knocks on the Door"!" Wang Yang also laughed, the two laughed for a while, and he said seriously: "Will, think about it, if Chris Gardner's story can move you, then it can move others, right?"

After ending the call with Will Smith, Wang Yang put down his phone with a sigh of relief, he was really a little worried that Will Smith would resolutely refuse, but fortunately for now, he believed that with his sincerity and touching script, he could persuade Will Smith to act.

Wang Yang not only prepared to send the script to Will Smith's home, but he also wrote a long letter to clip in the script, including why he thought Will would be a good fit for Chris Gardner, why he wanted to make the film, and the filming plan and style of the film. Wang Yang knew that Will Smith's biggest concern was whether he was playing, so he needed to explain: "I'm not playing. ”

"I'm not going to spend tens of millions to play. Wang Yang muttered that if Will Smith agreed to star, his salary would probably be between 15 million and 20 million, and the production budget of the whole movie would be close to 40 million. Forty million to play with? Hell! Wang Yang shook his head with a smile, picked up a movie magazine on the coffee table, and flipped through it.

"Youth Musical" officially started filming, and it is planned to be released on July 1 next summer!

Wang Yang was half-lying on the sofa, holding the magazine in both hands, quietly looking at the content of this special report: "The cost of this sequel is as high as 30 million, in addition to the return of all the original cast, dance director Anne Fletcher and original music David Lawrence will also continue to choreograph and choreograph." But the most disappointing thing for fans is undoubtedly the change of director......" Seeing this, Wang Yang turned to the next page and saw Jessica with a sweet smile on the picture, and Rachel with a wicked smile next to her, introducing their information.

"Rachel-Anne-McAdams...... Wang Yang unconsciously looked at Rachel's name on the information and read it again, he frowned and said suspiciously: "Is Rachel also called Annie?" He looked at Jessica's side again, there was nothing he didn't know, he flipped through a few more pages, and suddenly a piece of news caught his attention.

"Fox's acquisition of Blue Sky Studios is at an impasse. ”

Wang Yang's eyes lit up, vaguely felt very familiar, he read the news carefully, it turned out that Blue Sky Studio was founded by Chris Waiki in 1987, at the beginning of the company just doing some TV commercial special effects, movie CGI shots to make a small profit, last year, they launched a 7-minute animated short film "Bunny Bunny" eight years in the making, a long-eared rabbit and a moth in the kitchen battle story.

The short film won the Best Animated Short Film Award at the 71st Academy Awards this year, which also attracted the attention of 20th Century Fox, the giant company intends to acquire Blue Sky Studios and invest in Chris Waiki to produce "Ice Age", but according to insiders, due to the purchase price, Fox wants to cut the number of employees in Blue Sky Studios, and then combine with its own animation department, Chris Wareki did not agree to the acquisition, and the negotiations have reached an impasse.

Wang Yang immediately understood why there was a sense of familiarity, he searched in his mind, and sure enough, "Ice Age"! This 2002, 60 million animation, the total global box office was as high as 380 million, followed by 06 years of "Ice Age 2" 650 million, 09 years of "Ice Age 3" 880 million, not to mention DVD sales, peripheral products and other income. With the "Ice Age" series, Blue Sky Studios is on a par with animation giants such as Pixar, Disney, and DreamWorks.

"Oh, my God......" Wang Yang couldn't help but sigh, and suddenly an idea came to his heart, which made him sit up straight, what if Flame Movies bought Blue Sky Studio?

It's not impossible, the negotiations between Fox and Blue Sky Studios have reached an impasse, and according to the only bit of information in mind, this impasse will continue for a long time until Fox compromises.

In June 2000, Fox invested 75 million yuan and took three years to release the animated film "Frozen Planet" on a large scale, but this film, which carried the company's high expectations, only received 36 million box office worldwide, leaving Fox with no face. Discouraged and angry, Fox disbanded his animation department, bought Blue Sky Studios for 80 million, and without laying off a single employee, he fully supported Chris Weckey in making "Ice Age."

But in fact, Fox does not pay much attention to blue skies and animated films, and in 2002, Fox wanted to sell Blue Sky Studios, but of course, the success of "Ice Age" made them dismiss this idea. But the success of "Ice Age" does not seem to have increased Fox's confidence, and the scale of Blue Sky Studios has not expanded, and there are still only more than 200 people, which is simply shabby compared to Pixar and DreamWorks.

The more Wang Yang thinks about it, the more excited he becomes, he has always loved animated films, this form of film has a peculiar charm, full of childlike and innocent dreams, warm and moving. It opens up the world of imagination for the world, makes children crazy and adults fascinated by it, and it is such a wonderful thing.

And in the future, the market for animated films will get bigger and bigger, creating absolutely amazing revenues, just like "Ice Age 3", with a production cost of 90 million and a global box office of 880 million! Wang Yang can't help but think of what Chris Gardner said at today's dinner: "When you are facing a good investment, don't hesitate too much, you must know that the opportunity is fleeting, and seizing the opportunity will get a rich return!"

"Blue Sky Studios, it should become as big as Pixar......" Wang Yang made up his mind, anyway, the company has money now. But how much money is there? He scratched his head and couldn't figure it out, picked up the mobile phone on the coffee table, dialed a number, and smiled in a good mood: "Hi, Mark, it's me! I want to know how much money the company's account has now?"

Mark Slunt couldn't react for a while, and said suspiciously: "What, how much? My boss, what do you want to do? Do you have a new plan?" The reason why he felt strange was because Wang Yang had always paid little attention to the financial aspect, saying "just look at the financial statements every quarter", and now he suddenly asked, there must be some new plan to throw money.

"Well, there's an idea, but first you can talk about how much money you have. Wang Yang pretended to smile mysteriously, looked at the logo of Blue Sky Studio on the magazine, and urged a little excitedly: "Say it quickly!"

"My boss, I have to turn on the computer before I know the accounts! Mark Slunt said that, and then he was silent, and after a while, Wang Yang heard him again, and he began to report the company's accounts.

In North America alone, it brought 85.13 million after-tax payments and more than 62 million net profits to the company, while in overseas regions, it was screened for two months, setting off a whirlwind of singing and dancing around the world, and frantically collected 210 million box office, making "Youth Musical" The global box office figure is set at $411 million, and it generates a proportion of revenue that far exceeds the predictions of Wall Street analysts, and if the production cost of 8 million is removed, the box office revenue will reach 51 times, making Wang Yang easily the youngest billionaire.

Of course, the overseas 210 million is also almost half of the cinema company, and at the same time, it has to be divided by the distributors of various countries by an average of 30%, fortunately, the overseas publicity costs, screening costs, etc. are borne by them, and then they have to pay taxes, so the after-tax profit that is finally distributed to the hands of the flame film is only 51.24 million.

In terms of net profit at the box office, "Youth Musical" set a figure of more than 113 million, and with those costs recovered, the company's account has $136 million.

But that's not the only thing, on the movie soundtrack CD, the sales of "Youth Musical" continue to go crazy, more than 4 million sets have been sold in North America, more than 1.5 million sets overseas, and more than 5.5 million sets of sales worldwide, bringing more than 36.48 million after-tax benefits to Flame Films; The DVD released in North America just in August sold for 22.9 yuan per set, and more than 2.5 million sets have been sold, and more than 27.95 million after-tax accounts have been received for the company; plus those radio music playbacks, toys, Clothes and other messy income, at present, "Youth Musical" has made the deposit number of the company's account reach 210 million US dollars!

"210 million ?...... Wow!" Wang Yang sighed a little dumbfounded, he suddenly remembered the days when he was thrifty, he could only eat half full every day, and he didn't dare to call his friends in order to save phone bills...... He now has 210 million? unbelievable!

In fact, there is not so much 210 million in the account, because Flame Movies is also spending money, the company's daily expenses, and dozens of new employees are still second; "Song and Dance Youth 2" invested 30 million, which has been allocated to the crew to ensure that the film can be completed, and 20 million is set aside for post-production, publicity, screening, etc.

"Juno" currently only signs contracts for the male and female leads, Michael Pitt is paid 300,000, and Natalie Portman is paid as much as 7 million, so 7.3 million is spent here. Regardless of the final production cost and publicity costs, the project will not be restarted until June next year, and the company should not be short of money when the company continues to earn from the original CD and DVD of "Youth Musical".

If "When Happiness Knocks on the Door" can invite Will Smith to join, the production cost will not be less than 40 million, and the post-production cost will also need to be more than 20 million.

So 210 million, not counting the reserved funds, minus the 30 million of "Song and Dance Youth 2", minus the 7.3 million of "Juno", and then subtract the 40 million of "When Happiness Knocks on the Door", and now there are 132.7 million available funds!

Fox spent 80 million yuan to acquire Blue Sky Studio, which is enough! Wang Yang knocked the logo of Blue Sky Studio on the magazine, and said excitedly to his mobile phone: "Mark, contact Blue Sky Studio, we want to join the acquisition!" He sighed and said, "You know Blue Sky Studio, right? This year they won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film, and now Fox is buying them, but the talks are deadlocked, this is our opportunity." ”

"Yes, I know Blue Sky Studios!" Mark Slunt seemed to be taken aback, and said in surprise: "But, you want to join the acquisition?" Wang Yang smiled and nodded: "Why not? The company has so much money." Mark Snout still said a little puzzled: "Boss, are you serious?" Wang Yang couldn't help laughing and said: "Mark, I won't joke about this, yes, I'm serious, I'm going to buy it." ”

"Oh my God, this is a crazy decision, my boss, have you ever had a thorough understanding of Blue Sky Studios?" Marc Slunt sighed a little helplessly, explaining, "In fact, I've been following these market dynamics all the time, and of course it's my job. Boss, do you know why Fox is stiff with them? Blue Sky Studios can't even do animal hair and eyes, and their skills are very limited. ”

Wang Yang knew this, but he didn't care much, he had seen "Ice Age" in his head, compared to Pixar, this work does seem rough, animal hair, eyes are very simplified, but Blue Sky Studio cleverly made this a style, the lines are simple and natural, the picture is smooth and beautiful, and there are settings and story content that emphasize the character of the character, so as to make up for the lack of technology. By the time Ice Age 2 arrived, Blue Sky Studios had grown and made a number of breakthroughs in technology, it just needed time to grow.

"Mark, I know that, but I've decided. Wang Yang said undoubtedly, there are some things he can't explain, fortunately he is the chairman, and he has the final say in some decisions. He added: "If the acquisition of Blue Sky Studios fails, I will also start to build the company's animation department." Mark Slunt sighed, "It looks like you've really decided." Wang Yang smiled and said, "Yes, Mark, go and get in touch, the purchase price can reach 100 million, and tell Chris Weckey that I will not lay off any employees of Blue Sky Studio, and he will also get the greatest creative freedom of "Ice Age". ”

Mark Slunt sighed again and again: "Crazy! Crazy! 100 million acquisition of Blue Sky Studios? Wow!" His voice was full of emotion, and said: "Boss, this is a very risky investment, I don't think it will fail, but the risk is really, really big." Saying that, he seemed to accept the reality, and said with a smile: "Boss, you always bring miracles, and I hope this time is the same." But if the deal goes through, I think the newspaper headlines will say 'Amazing Jan!', haha!"

"Oh, that's crazy!" Wang Yang couldn't help laughing. The two talked about some details of the acquisition, and Wang Yang ended the call, 100 million US dollars, 100 million US dollars? Indeed, this is really crazy!

After thinking silently for a long time, Wang Yang picked up his mobile phone again, leaned on the sofa and dialed Jessica's number, and said, "Hey, Jesse, how was the shooting today? I have something to tell you...... Well, I'd better not tell you yet. Jessica over there said angrily: "Say, what's the matter?" Wang Yang smiled and said, "Don't say it, leave a surprise." Just a hint to you, it's a gift for our future daughter......"

(To be continued)